David Farnor | On 20, Dec 2018

As the end of 2018 looms, it’s time to look back and reflect upon the best things you saw this year, and what you’ve still got to catch up on. But it’s also time to count down until a whole flood of titles leave your favourite subscription services, as licences expire on New Year’s Eve and aren’t renewed for the immediate future.

Sky’s box set collection – and NOW’s Entertainment Membership – is bidding farewell to HBO’s The Night Of, the most recent season of The Walking Dead, a double helping of Atlanta, an entire dose of Dexter, new gems Sally4Ever and Get Shorty, plus Italy’s My Brilliant Friend.

Sky Cinema, meanwhile, is waving goodbye to Logan (and Logan Noir), The Sound of Music, Split, Loving and two festive favourites.

Whichever you subscribe to, this coming month is your last chance to stream the following:

 

TV

The Night Of – 24th December

Based on BBC drama Criminal Justice, this gripping eight-part HBO adaptation stars Riz Ahmed as a man accused of a brutal murder and follows the police investigation and legal proceedings in New York City.

The Walking Dead: Season 9 Part 1 – 25th December

Before AMC’s zombie smash hit returns for Part 2 near year, don’t miss the chance to catch the first half.

Atlanta: Season 1 to 2 – 30th December

Donald Glover’s Golden Globe winning series is an exciting show that offers something refreshingly evolutionary in the modern TV landscape.

Broadchurch: Season 1 – 31st December

“I can’t be outside. I don’t want to be.” That’s DS Ellie Miller (Olivia Colman) to DI Alec Hardy (David Tennant) in Broadchurch Season 1. The ITV drama follows their investigation into the death of a local boy – 11-year-old Danny Latimer – who is found lying on a beach. When forensics suggest strangulation rather than suicide, the familiar procedural plot begins to unravel. But Broadchurch is more than a compellingly plotted and densely layered crime thriller: it’s a study in grief that reverberates with humanity, even as it pulls it apart. A tragedy, the saying goes, can bring people together. This is a distressingly brilliant piece of television.

Dexter: Season 1 to 8 – 31st December

By day, mild-mannered forensics expert Dexter Morgan (Michael C Hall) spends his days solving crimes for the Miami police. By night, he is a serial killer. But Dexter lives by a strict code of honour in that he only targets other murderers.

Nathan for You: Season 1 and 2 – 31st December

One of the best TV shows you haven’t heard of, this US docu-reality comedy sees comedian Nathan Fielder use his business degree and life experiences to help actual small businesses turn a profit. A sharp-edged satire of commercialism, stuffed with amusingly over-the-top marketing ideas.

Nashville: Season 1 to 3 – 31st December

Take a toe-tapping trip to America’s Deep South with this compelling country music drama starring Friday Night Lights’ Connie Britton and Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere.

Alias: Season 1 to 5 – 1st January

J.J. Abrams’ TV series stars Jennifer Garner as Sydney, a student who is recruited to secret organisation SD-6. When she discovers it is a global criminal group, rather than the CIA as her recruiter claimed, she turns into a double-agent for the good guys – a triple-identity cover-up that causes havoc with her personal life, as everyone around her is drawn into the world of espionage. Cameos across the five seasons include everyone from Christian Slater and Rutger Hauer to Faye Dunaway and David Cronenberg.

Sally4Ever: Season 1 – 5th January

Any TV show from Julia Davis is always worth putting on your watchlist. Catherine Shepherd stars as Sally who has lived a comfortable and dull-suburban life with David for 10 years. But on the day he asks her to marry him, she embarks on a wild affair with a young, charismatic actress, Emma (Julia Davis). The cast also includes Julian Barratt, Mark Gatiss, Sean Bean, Steve Oram and Joanna Scanlan. Need we say more?

Boardwalk Empire: Season 1 to 5 – 5th January

Don’t miss the chance to catch all five seasons of HBO’s dazzling gangster epic.

My Brilliant Friend: Season 1 – 10th January

Based on Elena Ferrante’s bestselling book of the same name, HBO’s lushly produced first foreign language miniseries hits Sky Atlantic. Set in a dangerous and fascinating Naples, the story follows the lives of two girls over six decades of their friendship. After receiving a phone call, Elena Greco discovers the most important and significant figure in her life, Raffaella “Lila” Cerullo, has gone missing. Knowing this disappearance has been a long time coming, Elena, now a writer, finally sits down to put the story of their intertwining lives on paper, starting from the 1950s where the two first met at school, in an attempt to describe the mystery of Lila – her brilliant friend, and in a way, worst enemy.
 

Other titles leaving Sky Box Sets and NOW in December 2018 / January 2019:

21st December
The Last Ship

23rd December
Gary and his Demons: Season 1
Stan Against Evil: Season 1

24th December
Bobby & Harriet Get Married: Season 1

25th December
How Things Work: Season 1
Last Outpost: Season 1
Small Talk: Season 1
Monkey Life: Season 11

27th December
**** That’s Delicious
Nathan Barley: Season 1

29th December
Dimension 404: Season 1
Rob Delaney’s Stand Up Central: Season 1
Ultimate Ninja Challenge: Season 1

30th December
MTV Floribama Shore: Season 2
Occupied: Season 1
Relic Hunter: Season 1 to 3
South Of Hell: Season 1
The Seventies: Season 1
Yukon Vet: Season 3 to 5

31st December
Are You The One?: Season 1 to 4
Comedy Central At The Comedy Store: Season 3
Eureka Seven: Season 1
Ascension: Season 1
Brotherhood: Season 1
Californication: Season 3 to 7
Chicago Fire: Season 4
Lip Sync Battle: Season 2
Million Dollar Baby: Season 1
South Park: Season 19 to 21
Luciano Pavarotti: South Bank Show Originals: Season 1
Monty Python’s Personal Best: Season 1
Nurse Jackie: Season 4
Oz: Season 2
Stargate Universe: Season 1 to 3
The Borgias: Season 1
The South Bank Show: Season 3
Twin Peaks: Season 2

1st January
S.W.A.T.: Season 1

3rd January
Just Tattoo Of Us: Season 4
The Reluctant Landlord: Season 1

5th January
Dual Survival: Season 5 and 6

7th January
Bad Universe: Season 1
Border Patrol: Season 1
How the Universe Works: Season 2 to 6
NASA’s Greatest Missions: Season 1
NASA’s Unexplained Files: Season 3
Secret Space Escapes: Season 1
Stephen Hawking’s Grand Design: Season 1
Strip the Cosmos: Season 2

10th January
Are You The One?: Season 7
The Orville: Season 1

11th January
Insane Pools: Off the Deep End: Season 3
Jersey Shore Family Vacation: Season 2

12th January
Discovering: Judi Dench
The Royal World: Season 1

13th January
The 2000s: Season 1
South Park: Season 22
Nathan For You: Season 3
The Heist: Season 1

14th January
Futurama: Season 5 and 6
The Deuce: Season 1

18th January
Geordie Shore: Season 18
Your Face or Mine: Season 4

19th January
Stargate Atlantis: Season 1 to 5

20th January
Wolf Creek: Season 1 and 2
Key & Peele

 

Movies

Logan / Logan Noir – 23rd December

This dark, grizzled thriller is a violent punch to the face of superhero movie convention – and a moving end to Hugh Jackman’s run as Wolverine. Seen it before? Don’t miss the chance to see it again in black-and-white.

The Muppet Christmas Carol – 24th December

The Muppets give Dickens a hefty injection of fuzzy humour without losing the story’s dark edge. From Gonzo as Charles himself and Rizzo’s jelly bean-eating sidekick providing the post-modern narration to Michael Caine’s surprisingly moving turn as Ebenezer, this is not only a fantastic, family-friendly adaptation of A Christmas Carol; it’s arguably the definitive version.

Christine (2016) – 26th December

Rebecca Hall is remarkable in this drama about Christine Chubbuck, the Florida newsreader who, in 1974, shot herself live on air. This nuanced, sensitive character study is a provocative, powerful watch that will stay with you for days.

Fences – 29th December

Denzel Washington’s directorial debut, starring Viola Davis, crafts a moving drama fuelled by two powerhouse performances.

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York – 31st December

Bigger traps, bigger laughs and a big slice of ham from Tim Curry as a sycophantic Manhattan hotel employee, Home Alone 2 is a proper delight.

The Sound Of Music – 31st December

“The hilllllllls are aliiiive…”

Split – 4th December

M. Night Shyamalan is back in business with this creepy psychological horror. It begins with the abduction of three teenage girls – BFFs Claire (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula), plus loner Casey (The Witch’s Anya Taylor-Joy). They wake up in the underground lair of one Kevin Crumb (James McAvoy), a man whose struggles with dissociative identity disorder are about to take a profoundly unsettling turn.

Loving – 11th December

After getting married in Washington DC, unassuming working man Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton), who’s white, and his bride Mildred (Oscar nominee Ruth Negga), who’s black, return to their home state of Virginia to be with their families. But with interracial marriage outlawed in the state, the couple find themselves jailed and then banished from everything they hold dear. But after years in exile, they decide to take their case to the Supreme Court. Two admirably understated performances and direction to match from Jeff Nichols (Mud, Midnight Special) make this a splendidly clear-eyed account of a civil rights case that changed American history.

 

Other titles leaving Sky Cinema and NOW in December 2018 / January 2019:

20th December
Come and Find Me
Pitch Perfect

21st December
Girl Asleep
Sing
T2: Trainspotting
The Accountant

23rd December
Fred Claus
Thor: The Dark World

25th December
The Bounty Hunter

26th December
Dude, Where’s My Car?
Hard Eight

28th December
Let Her Out
Out Of The Shadows
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Rings (2017)
Table 19
Xxx: Return of Xander Cage

30th December
In Dubious Battle
Kicks
Nina
Prancer
Rules Don’t Apply

31st December

American Ninja
Antibirth
Best Defence
Bite
Bloodsport
Blue Hawaii
Boomerang
Broken Arrow (1996)
Cemetery Of Splendour
Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Christmas With The Kranks
City Slickers
Cyborg
Damien: Omen II
Death Warrant
Dinosaur
Domino
Flashdance
Fun In Acapulco
G.I. Blues
Hostage
In The Line Of Fire
Interlude In Prague
Kiss The Girls
Laws Of Attraction
Lolo
Love Story
Masters Of The Universe
Movie Musical Greats With Hugh Jackman
Muppets from Space
Neither Heaven Nor Earth
No Deposit, No Return
Once Upon A Time In Mexico
One Last Score
Paradise, Hawaiian Style
Paulie
Police Academy
Roustabout
Saw II
Summer Rental
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV – The Quest For Peace
Tales Of Halloween
Tangled
The Delta Force
The Grass Is Greener
The Grinch: Special
The Hunt For Red October
The Lesson (2014)
The Little Mermaid
The Muppets Take Manhattan
The Phantom Of The Opera (2004)
The Running Man
The Secret Of Moonacre
Tramontane
Tyler Perry’s Boo! A Madea Halloween

2nd January
My Father Die

4th January
Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Extortion
Fugitives
The Hatton Garden Job

7th January
Louis & Luca: The Big Cheese Race

8th January
Collateral Beauty

11th January
Aftermath
The Escorts
The Great Wall

13th January
Angels & Demons

16th January
Cape Fear

19th January
Maleficent

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