Don't Miss: Your essential guide to the best movies, podcasts, TV, musicals and Edinburgh concerts in 2022

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FIVE MOVIES TO SEE IN 2022

Scream - Opens January 14

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette

Twenty-five years after a stream of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, California, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask to resurrect deadly secrets from the town's horrific past. How much more trauma can poor Sidney Prescott take?

The Batman Opens March 4

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Jeffrey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell

Scream returns

Director Matt Reeves helms an even darker take on the Batman story with an impressive cast that includes Pattinson as Bruce Wayne, Farrell as the Penguin, Dano as the Riddler, and Wright as Commissioner Gordon.

Jurassic World Dominion - Opens June 10Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff GoldblumThe plot may be being kept a secret but it’s safe to assume the Lost Kingdom will face more threats from the past, especially as original stars Dern and Neill return alongside Goldblum, Howard and Pratt.

Minions: The Rise of Gru - Opens July 1

Starring: Pierre Coffin

The Gilded Age

Details are scant but expect more of the same from the Minions. The first Minions movie earned in excess of $1.5 billion globally helping the Despicable Me franchise become the highest grossing animated franchise of all time. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

Halloween Ends - Opens October 14

Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Nick Castle

Director David Gordon Green and writers Danny McBride and Scott Teems bring their Halloween trilogy - Halloween, Halloween Kills, Halloweeen Ends - to an end but will Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode finally defeat Michael Myers and lay his reign of horror to rest forever?

Olly Murs

FIVE PODCASTS TO LISTEN TO IN 2022

Bad Women: The Ripper Retold - Pushkin.FM

In the fall of 1888, five women were brutally murdered in the slums of London. The attacks were so violent the killer earned a nickname, Jack the Ripper. Historian Hallie Rubenhold uncovers new facts about the five victims overturning the accepted Ripper story in​ ​a riveting retelling of a story you think you know, but don't.

Listen here

Uncanny - BBC Sounds

After the phenomenal success of The Battersea Poltergeist podcast, Danny Robbins, master of spine chilling tales, returns to investigate some compelling real-life stories of the paranormal ranging from ghosts and ghouls to UFOs. Don't listen alone... unless you enjoy a good scare.

Uncanny podcast

Listen here

Unspeakable Scotland - TheBigLight.com

Join Janice Forsyth as she listens to arresting true crime stories. Presented by a weekly guest star, uncover the gritty and gorier aspects of Scotland in this unsettling conversational podcast. History as you’ve never heard it before​. Guests include crime writers Val McDermid, Denise Mina, and Douglas Skelton.

Listen here

Hunting Ghislaine with John Sweeney - LBCGhislaine Maxwell, daughter of a disgraced billionaire and the former partner of a super-rich paedophile who killed himself while awaiting trial for sex trafficking, has been found guilty of helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually exploit and abuse under-age women. Investigative journalist John Sweeney pieces together just who Maxwell is.Listen here

Ecstasy: The Battle of Rave​ - BBC Sounds

When Ecstasy and Acid House first swept Britain, a group of lives changed forever. ​This podcast tells ​one ​story. Half real life​, ​half drama, the episodes go from ​archive-led explorations of the drug-fuelled underground rave culture to monologues delivered by David Morrissey, Ade Edmondson and Meera Syal recounting memories of ex-ravers, dealers, DJs, and undercover cops.

Listen here

FIVE TV SERIES NOT TO MISS IN 2022​

Trigger Point​ - ITV ​

By Jed Mercurio​, who is reunited with Line of Duty's ​Vicky McClure​, this six-part thriller ​focuses on the officers of a police bomb-disposal squad​ ​who risk their lives on ​'​the long walk​'​ towards danger. It follows two bomb-disposal officers, both ex-military​ having served together in Afghanistan. McClure plays Lana Washington​ ​while Adrian Lester plays ​her colleague ​Joel Nutkins​.

Lord of the Rings - ​Amazon Prime ​

​One of the most expensive TV series of all time - reputedly $1 Billion plus for five seasons - ​​this eight part series is set in the Second Age of Middle-​E​arth​, before the events of the Lord of the Rings novel and films. It's expected to premiere on Prime Video on September 2.

The Gilded Age​ - Sky Atlantic ​

​This much anticipated nine-part HBO/Sky Original show reunites the creative team behind the award-winning Downton Abbey.​ ​Set during the American Gilded Age, the story begins in 1882 ​as​ young Marian Brook moves​ from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to live with her thoroughly old money aunts. Period drama at its most opulent.

House of the Dragon ​- Sky Atlantic ​

Based on George RR Martin’s Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon is set a few hundred years before​ ​Game of Thrones and tells the story of House Targaryen. Emma D’Arcy stars as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, the king’s first-born child who is of pure Valyrian blood and a dragonrider.​ Former Doctor Who Matt Smith is Prince Daemon Targaryen, the heir to the throne,​ and Paddy Considine ​is King Viserys Targaryen ​in this​ ​10 part ​series​ from​ HBO​.

The Devil’s Hour​ - Amazon Prime Video ​

This six-episode​ series tells the story of a woman who wakes up every night at exactly 3.33am​, the middle of the so-called devil’s hour between 3am and 4am. Starring Jessica Raine and Peter Capaldi ​expect scares and sleepless nights​... as long as you don't find yourself waking at 3.33am.

FIVE SMASH HIT THEATRE SHOWS FOR 2022

Bedknobs and Broomsticks - Festival Theatre, January 19-23

Dianne Pilkington stars as the mysterious lady the three orphaned Rawlins children ​find themselves evacuated ​to live with ​from wartime London... and they have no idea the adventures that lie in wait, their carer is a trainee witch. Based on the magical film of the same name, you will believe a bed can fly.

Bat Out of Hell - Edinburgh Playhouse, February 8-19

Having electrified audiences worldwide, ​Jim Steinman’s spectacular musical tells the story of Strat, the forever young leader of The Lost Gang as he falls in love with Raven, beautiful daughter of the tyrannical ruler of Obsidian.​ Expect to hear I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Paradise By The Dashboard Light, Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, Dead Ringer For Love and​, of course,​ Bat Out of Hell. ​

The Addams Family - Festival Theatre, January 25​-​29

They may be creepy and kooky but this smash-hit Broadway musical comedy​ remains a favourite​. Starring Strictly Come Dancing's Joanne Clifton as Morticia, there's trouble brewing when Wednesday Addams falls in love with a sweet young man from a respectable family.

The Book of Mormon - Edinburgh Playhouse​, ​September 13-October 8

Th​e​ outrageous musical comedy from the creators of South Park follows the misadventures of a mismatched pair of missionaries​ and has been hailed as, 'The best musical of this century​,​’​ while becoming a ​nine-time Tony Award ​winner ​and four-time Olivier Award-winner along the way.

​Laurel and Hardy - Royal Lyceum, June 3-25​

Finally, looking further ahead, the Royal Lyceum welcomes Barnaby Powell and Steven McNicoll back to reprise the roles of Stan and Ollie in Tom McGrath's Laurel and Hardy after a 17 year break. Watch as the iconic funnymen look back over their lives, loves and friendship in a story mixing slapstick humour, melancholy and theatricality.

FIVE CONCERTS TO CATCH IN 2022​​Deacon Blue - Edinburgh Castle ​​Evergreen Scottish popsters Deacon Blue formed in Glasgow in 1985 and they're still going strong​. ​Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh and the gang are set to return to ​the Castle for the first time since 2017 on July 9.

Simple Minds - Princes Street Gardens

Scottish pop legends Simple Minds are always a huge draw when they play the Capital. Expect Glittering Prize, Alive and Kicking and my own favourite, Up On The Catwalk, or is Someone, Somewhere in Summertime, it changes by the day. You can see Jim Kerr and co when they play the Summer Sessions in the Gardens on August 12. They last played in there in 2006.

Olly Murs - Castle Esplanade

Back to Edinburgh Castle Concerts and on July 8 it's one time X Factor winner Olly Murs who will play the Esplanade for the third time having previously appeared there in 2011 and 2017.

Lionel Richie - The Ross Bandstand

Hello, is it Lionel Richie you're looking for? Well if it is, you'll also find him in Princess Street Gardens when he plays the Edinburgh Summer Sessions on August 7. Lionel last had Edinburgh music lovers dancing on the ceiling in 2015 when he played the Castle.

Gary Numan - O2 Academy ​

With a career spanning more than 40 years, Gary Numan returns to the Capital to promote his latest album, Intruder. The Electric Warrior last played here when he rocked the Assembly Rooms in 2018. Then breakthrough singles Cars and Are Friends Electric? proved highlights of his set. They're sure to again on May 9 when he plays the 02 Academy.

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