Told across five episodes that barely add up to 70 minutes of sardonic viewing, this British sitcom is a study in intimacy. Every episode begins with the couple lying in bed, wary of getting vertical and involved. Their exchanges are circuitous and probing, but also blessed with a private vernacular and moody retorts. Even with their age difference – Carla’s younger, with more goals – they sound completely intertwined.

Dan loses his job as an advertising copywriter and Carla’s ex, Maya (Eleanor Fanyinka), reappears, but this concise anti-romantic comedy prefers to use outside events as a lens to study the duo’s relationship. The dialogue is bespoke and biting.“You’re looking at me like a crime scene,” Dan laments at one point. That makes sense: beneath the banter, this unhurried comedy is forensic.

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
Disney+

Made with goofy humour and some occasionally wonky digital effects, this Yuletide intermission is a knowing addendum to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. With the writer/director of both movies, James Gunn, in charge, this is primarily an aliens visit California comedy (see Star Trek IV) as Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) travel here to retrieve a famous actor (who cheerfully plays along) to serve as a Christmas present for their human buddy, Peter Quill (Chris Pratt). As the exploitation of blockbuster power goes, it’s agreeably amusing.

The Flatshare
Paramount+

Communicating by Post-it notes sounds like a passive-aggressive triumph, but it makes for an implausibly gooey hook in this British romantic comedy about the two participants in a time-share deal for a London bedroom who naturally become attracted to each other. Magazine staffer Tiffany (Jessica Brown Findlay) has the bed from 8pm to 8am, while palliative care nurse Leon (Anthony Welsh) gets 8am to 8pm. It’s daft, but enjoyable if you’re willing to surrender to the genre’s cliches and charismatic lead performances that are in on the joke.

Branson
Binge

Richard Branson is not easily summarised, but this four-part HBO documentary does a good job of at least contrasting his numerous sides: hard-nosed businessman, celebrity, environmental activist, and philanthropist. With impeccable archival footage, stretching back to Branson as teenage entrepreneur in late 1960s Britain, director Chris Smith (Bad Vegan) captures the perpetual motion of the 72-year-old’s life, complete with interviews in the days prior to his visit to outer space to launch Virgin Galactic. Branson is careful in his self-analysis, but the series has the necessary rigour to at least make him pause.

Ally McBeal
Disney+
All five seasons of David E Kelley’s wildly quirky romantic comedy set at a Boston law firm are now available for reappraisal on Disney+, bringing back memories of Calista Flockhart’s diminutive, exuberantly awkward lawyer and the show’s many late 1990s totems: the dancing baby, the unisex bathrooms, and the suggestive peccadillos. It feels in part like a precursor to many subsequent dramedies, and the casting is bang on, from a pre-30 Rock Jane Krakowski as an indiscreet secretary to Robert Downey Jr’s terrific fourth season as Ally’s love interest.

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