NO TIME TO DIE (Cert 12, 163 mins, Universal Pictures (UK) Ltd, Action/Thriller/Romance, available now on BT TV Store/iTunes/Prime Video/Sky Store/TalkTalk TV Store and other download and streaming services, available from December 20 on DVD £19.99/Blu-ray £26.99/4K Ultra HD Blu-ray £34.99)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Jeffrey Wright, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes, Christoph Waltz, David Dencik.
JAMES Bond (Daniel Craig) bids adieu to active service at MI6 under M (Ralph Fiennes) following the capture of arch-nemesis Ernst Stavro Blofeld (Christoph Waltz).
A tranquil new life in Jamaica, nursing a broken heart apart from Dr Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux), is threatened by the arrival of CIA friend Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright).
He needs Bond's help to track down scientist Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik).
The mission pits Bond against MI6 agent Nomi (Lashana Lynch) but fractious inter-agency rivalries are quickly put to one side to defeat Machiavellian mastermind Safin (Rami Malek).
No Time To Die concludes Craig's muscular tour of duty in style. Director Cary Joji Fukunaga wrings the living daylights out of action sequences including a showdown at sea and screeching car chases that barely touch the brakes (note to gun-toting henchmen: aim just one bullet at the Aston Martin's tyres to immobilise your target or you deserve a grim fate).
MI6's head of research and development, Q (Ben Whishaw), provides some subtle LGBTQ visibility as the hi-tech wizardry comes thick and fast: a bionic eyeball, nanobots, a prototype glider with retractable wings and a wristwatch with an explosive secret.
In many ways, there's a back to Bond basics approach to storytelling. However, every female character is well rounded, proactive, self-sufficient and serves a purpose beyond simply furthering the plot.
It's surely no coincidence that this richness of female characterisation, coupled with a more emotionally satisfying storyline for Bond, coincide with Phoebe Waller-Bridge becoming only the second female screenwriter in the franchise's almost 60-year history.
Rating: 4stars
THE WONDER YEARS (9 episodes, starts streaming from December 22 exclusively on Disney+, Comedy/Drama/Romance)
IN 1988, the first episode of coming-of-age comedy The Wonder Years created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black aired in America, introducing TV audiences to the trials and tribulations of 12-year-old Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) in late 1960s suburbia.
The show earned numerous plaudits including the Emmy for outstanding comedy series and a Golden Globe.
This nine-part reboot developed by Saladin K Patterson remains in the 1960s but shifts focus to a black middle-class family in Montgomery, Alabama.
New instalments arrive every Wednesday and chronicle the growing pains of 12-year-old Dean Williams (Elisha 'EJ' Williams) as he navigates home life with his father Bill (Dule Hill), mother Lillian (Saycon Sengbloh) and older sister Kim (Laura Kariuki).
Meanwhile at school, Dean nurtures a crush on classmate Keisa Clemmons (Milan Ray).
