Saturday Review

Tom Sutcliffe and this weeks panel discuss the film Selma, which tells the story of Martin Luther King and struggle for black voting rights in 1960s America. Human Rights Human Wrongs is the latest exhibition in The Photographers Gallery.It charts, through photojournalism, how violent flash points through the world in 20th century have shaped our perception of conflict, race, empire and ourselves. The illuminations is the 5th novel by author Andrew O'Hagan, it tells the tale of Anne, a Scottish pensioner and her Grandson who is serving with the Army in Afghanistan. The panel also discuss comedian and artist Kim Noble's new show You're Not Alone. He uses live action, video, music and audience participation to paint a picture of darkly comic loneliness. Better Call Saul is the prequel to cult series Breaking Bad. Its from the same creator, so can it capture the magic of the original series? Presenter Tom Sutcliffe. Producer Ruth Sanderson

Tom Stoppard's play The Hard Problem is his first new work for the National Theatre in 13 years; is it worth the wait? Paul Thomas Anderson has adapted a Thomas Pynchon novel Inherent Vice - the first time a cinema director has wrestled this famously difficult author onto the screen. How well does it work? Documentary maker Adam Curtis's Bitter Lake attempts to explain the complicated political situation in Afghanistan. It's only available on iPlayer; might this be a new way for the BBC to 'broadcast' material? If so, what might the consequences be? Joyce Carol Oates has published more than 40 novels in her five decade long career. Her latest 'The Sacrifice' is based around a notorious alleged rape case in the US. Christian Marclay's exhibition at White Cube in Bermondsey includes a post-pub-crawl soundscape and paintings of sound effects - turning representations of audio experiences into fine art.

The RSC's latest production is Oppenheimer, a play about the man behind the invention of the nuclear bomb - a flawed hero, is it a flawless production? A Most Violent Year is set in New York in 1981, a year when more than 1.2m crimes were committed. JC Chandor's film follows a man trying to build up a family business in the face of alarming violence and corruption. Fortitude is Arctic-noir TV: set in an Icelandic Research Station where mysterious and untoward things start happening, the cast includes Sofie Grabol, Michael Gambon, Christopher Eccleston and a host of other big names. Will it leave the reviewers cold? Rubens And His Legacy at the Royal Academy attempts to explore the influence of the great Flemish master on artists over the last three and a half centuries. Sandip Roy's first novel Don’t Let Him Know tells the story of a young man in modern India exploring his sexual identity.

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown; Pedro Almodovar's film has been turned into a stage musical with Tamsin Greig as Pepa Marcos. It flopped on Broadway, now thoroughly rejigged, can it succeed in London? Reese Witherspoon is in the running for an Oscar playing Cheryl in Wild, about a woman who sets off to discover herself on a 1100 mile walk in the wilderness. Wolf Hall was first a best-selling book by Hilary Mantel, then an RSC play and now it comes to BBCTV, with Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. Adam Thirlwell is a young British writer whose third novel Lurid and Cute focusses on an ordinary egotistical young man whose life spirals out of control. Bull at The Young Vic is a play about the consequences of ruthless office bullying. At only 55 minutes long it has to come out swinging, but does it land any punches?

Two films about tyrannical mentors, being talked of as Oscar-worthy. Foxcatcher has comedian Steve Carrel playing a straight role as a millionaire wrestling coach and Whiplash, about a young drummer who wants to be the best. Comic performer and writer Daniel Kitson has a unique approach to fame and publicity: basically avoiding it when possible. His new play Tree, is a double hander with Tim Key, will it bring him unwanted attention? Russell T Davies wrote Queer as Folk and then took Dr Who to its current golden era. His latest project Cucumber Banana Tofu is a TV series about sex. A mix of dramas about modern gay relationships, short narratives about love and sex and factual programmes about sex. Award-winning author Lucy Wood's novel Weathering is a story about a grandmother, mother and daughter of the same family coping with growing up, together, and apart. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Adam Mars-Jones, Susan Jeffreys & Louise Doughty. Produced by Oliver Jones

Birdman starring Michael Keaton is director Alejandro G Inarritu's first comedy and hotly tipped for Academy Awards: does it live up to the hype? 10:04 by Ben Lerner is the poet and novelist’s 2nd work of fiction which probes the reality of his own life and so raises questions about the nature of fiction itself. Golem - on at the Young Vic and staged by the 1927 theatre company. It combines performance and live music with handcrafted animation and film. Inspired by Meyrink's The Golem published in 1915 - the play challenges our current obsession with technological gadgets. Crisis is a new drama on UKTV Watch channel starring Gillian Anderson and revolves around a mass kidnapping of teenagers on a school bus – the children of America's rich and powerful elite. And Kentucky Route Zero, an innovative point and click computer game in 5 acts which employs storytelling and graphics to involve the player in the character's choices - how entertaining and different is it?

London's V+A Museum has reopened the Weston Cast Court,housing lifesize casts of statuary & artefacts from around Europe. It includes the museum's largest items, can it draw their largest crowds? Larry Gelbart's City of Angels is revived at London's Donmar Warehouse. A musical which garnered awards galore 25 years ago in its original run, will this production be a winner? Tim Burton's new film Big Eyes is about 1960s housewife Margaret Keane whose paintings of waifs with enormous dark eyes were wildly commercially successful. Small Books: We look at 3 very short works. Hanif Kureishi, Haruki Murakami and AN Wilson all have stories to tell, that they feel are best-suited to new diminutive formats. The BBC has remade EF Benson's Mapp and Lucia in sumptuous style; is it a new classic? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Meg Rosoff, Deborah Moggach and John Carey. The producer is Oliver Jones

Treasure Island is The National Theatre's seasonal offering, full of pirates, parrots and seaspray. How does it play to the various audiences who come to the theatre at Christmas? Electricity is a film starring Agyness Deyn whose character deals with her epilepsy as she tries to find a community to be a part of. Charlie Brooker is back with a one-off feature-length Christmas special of Black Mirror on C4. It's a worrying look at a future world that may be closer to the present than we expect - guaranteed to inject some darkness into the joviality of Christmas. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Robert Olen Butler's new novel is The Hot Country; a historical thriller set in Mexico 1914 with a hardbitten journalist as hero. The V+A has an exhibition of Dolls' Houses a world of wonder in miniature. How do they reflect the society of the children for whom they were made? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Deborah Bull, Neil Brand and Misha Glenny. The producer is Oliver Jones

Jason Reitman's latest film Men Women & Children is a lighthearted look at the way the internet has become woven into everyone's existence. Hope is a new play by Jack Thorne at the Royal Court Theatre about a cash-strapped Labour council trying to balance its books and do the least harm in the face of cuts. William Blake was a printmaker, painter and revolutionary poet and is now the subject of an exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford. The show attempts to reveal how he acquired and developed his skills and to show his legacy. HBO's new 4 part mini-series, Olive Kitteridge is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and stars Frances McDormand in a tale of marital affairs, crime and tragedy in a small American town. Acclaimed novel End of Days by German author Jenny Erpenbeck explores a multi-narrative story of a family whose destiny could spiral in many directions. Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Charlotte Mendelson, Kate Mossman and Michael Arditti. Produced by Oliver Jones

William Gibson's novel The Peripheral is set in 2 dystopian futures filled with drugs, 3D printers, high-tech surveillance and other legally dubious practices. When readers are immersed in a completely new universe how do they orientate themselves? Netflix newest production is an epic series telling the story of Marco Polo; full of spectacle, does it have substance or is it an Oriental Game of Thrones? London's Gate Theatre is staging Chimera - a play about DNA, genetic inheritance and kitchens. Tate Modern's exhibition Conflict Time Photography looks at the relationship between photography and sites of conflict over time. Concerning Violence is a documentary that deals with the struggle for independence of former colonies - is violent rebellion the most effective way to gain freedom? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Bidisha, Jim White and Alice Jones. The producer is Oliver Jones

London's Wellcome Institute has a new exhibition entitled The Institute of Sexology which it describes as "a candid exploration of the most publicly discussed of private acts". How will our reviewers tiptoe gently around the explicit nature of what's on show? What We Do In The Shadows is a New Zealand vampire comedy film about a group of bloodsucking flatmates (a 'dracumentary' if you will). Who does the washing-up and vaccuuming in the house of the undead? Behind The Beautiful Forevers is David Hare's new play at the National Theatre, based on the non-fiction book by award winning author Katherine Boo. It deals with life death and hope in a Mumbai undercity. Robert Edric’s latest book explores the life of Branwell Bronte - brother of the more famous sisters. Legacy is a new Danish TV police programme. What is it about ‘Scandi Noir’™that keeps gripping UK audiences? Tom Sutcliffe is joined by Helen Lewis Pat Kane & Amanda Craig. Producer: Oliver Jones

Rose Tremain's latest book is a collection of short stories called The American Lover; how do her short stories compare to her novels? Benedict Cumberbatch plays the WWII codebreaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. How successfully does it breathe new life into the biography of a private man? Roy Williams' new play Wildefire, deals with 'the precarious world of modern policing'; how does a good copper stay good when her world turns nasty? British artist Allen Jones is probably best known for 3 works he created 45 years ago; Hat Stand, Table and Chair. An exhibition at London's Royal Academy looks back at his career. Do accusations that his early work demeans women still hold sway in the more broadminded 21st century? Michael Palin returns to a British TV series for the first time in more than two decades in Remember Me on BBC1 - a supernatural thriller.

Grayson Perry's new exhibition at London's National Portrait Gallery is called "Who Are You". Through pots and paintings, a hijab and tapestry it explores the nature of identity. Brad Pitt's latest film Fury follows a tank crew towards the end of WW2, when a rooky soldier joins the grizzled old conflict-hardened team in the hell of war. London's Young Vic Theatre plays host to Dance Umbrella 2014. We review Harlem Dream - a work by young British choreographer Ivan Blackstock. Norwegian writer Per Petterson's 2003 novel Out Stealing Horses won widespread acclaim. His newest 'I Refuse' has been hailed as a masterpiece in Norway. And every parent's nightmare - a child disappears on a family holiday overseas - is the plot of BBC1's new drama The Missing, which stars James Nesbitt.

Here Lies Love is David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's disco musical that tells the life story of the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos, from poverty to the Presidential Palace. Gia Coppola is the grand-daughter of Hollywood titan Francis Ford Coppola and her debut film Palo Alto has just been released in the UK. David Attenborough's ninth 'Life' series begins on BBC1 this week. Life Story follows animals from all over the world on their journey through life. US surgeon and writer Atul Gawande's latest book Being Mortal is about how to make the inevitable process of dying as good as possible. To celebrate 25 years since the fall of The Berlin Wall, The British Museum's major new exhibition 'Germany: Memories of a Nation' tries to encapsulate 600 years of German history.

Razia Iqbal and guests review Phyllida Lloyd's all-female production of Henry IV at London's Donmar Warehouse. '71, a film about a young British army soldier who becomes separated from his unit while on patrol during The Troubles in Belfast. Gotham is a new series on Channel 5 that explores that city in the days before Batman. Our novel is Lila by Pulitzer-winning Marilynne Robinson; the third part of her Gilead trilogy. Tracey Emin's latest exhibition of drawings, paintings, neon, embroidery and bronze work at London's White Cube.