A landmark moment for British cultural life unfolds this week as one of the nation's most incisive political comedians embarks on a major tour, while a 70-metre-long woven chronicle of the Norman conquest makes its historic first journey to England in nearly a thousand years.
Going out: Cinema
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass (out now) takes a concept popularised by a Friends episode—in which Ross embarrasses himself with Isabella Rossellini—and completes the circle by casting Jennifer Aniston as a version of herself. She becomes the object of Tom's (Michael Cassidy) guilt-free fantasy pass in this romantic comedy directed by David Wain, who made Wet Hot American Summer.
The Incomer (out now) is a British comedy centred on Isla (Gayle Rankin) and Sandy (Grant O'Rourke), siblings who have lived in isolation on a remote Scottish island for three decades after their parents vanished. Their self-sufficient existence is disrupted when Daniel (Domhnall Gleeson) arrives with orders to relocate them.
Super Nature (out now) represents an ambitious nature documentary shot on Super 8mm film. Director Ed Sayers sent cameras to 40 collaborators spread across 25 countries and five continents, assembling footage of wildlife ranging from rhinoceroses to snails into a single work.
Late Fame (out now) pairs Willem Dafoe and Greta Lee in Kent Jones's adaptation of a posthumously published novella by Austrian modernist Arthur Schnitzler. Dafoe portrays a former poet working at a post office in downtown Manhattan who finds himself the unexpected focus of attention from a circle of wealthy young writers intent on reviving his literary career.
Going out: Live music
Hilary Duff (6 to 15 September; tour starts Dublin) is sustaining momentum following her return to recording after a decade away. Her February album Luck … Or Something reached the top five, and this arena tour will give audiences the chance to hear both new material and the 2003 teen-angst anthem So Yesterday. The UK leg includes Dublin on 6 September, Cardiff on 8 September, London on 10 September, Manchester on 12 September and Glasgow on 13 September 2026, marking her first global tour in nearly two decades.
Melanie Martinez (The O2, London, 11 September; touring to 12 September) is bringing her theatrical spectacle to the UK. With a follow-up to her March alt-pop album Hades expected by year's end, the New York artist's show promises elaborate staging, dramatic pyrotechnics and darkly hued theatrical anthems.
Tête-à-Tête: The Opera festival (The Cockpit, London, 8 to 20 September) showcases new work from the Cornwall-based opera company. This year's programme spans Orpheus and Mary, Queen of Scots alongside folk horror, morris dancing and Old Norse-inspired pieces—a colourful assertion that opera remains vital.
Emma Rawicz (London, 5 September; Manchester, 9 September; Gateshead, 10 September) has evolved dramatically since releasing her debut album at 19 in 2022. The UK saxophonist now leads her own orchestra and collaborates with A-list musicians across European dates. She performs at Ronnie Scott's on 5 September before taking her fusion-focused Inkyra quintet to other venues.
Going out: Visual art
Monika Sosnowska (South London Gallery, London, 10 September to 22 November) presents ultra-minimal installations and half-tonne suspended sculptures by the Polish artist. Using industrial materials, Sosnowska examines architecture's everyday impact and the legacies of modernism and communism.
The Bayeux Tapestry (The British Museum, London, 10 September to 11 July) represents a watershed moment in British cultural life. The world-famous 70-metre embroidered narrative of the 1066 Norman conquest is arriving in England for the first time in nearly a thousand years, while the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy undergoes renovations. King Charles, Emmanuel Macron and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham viewed the tapestry at the British Museum on 2 September 2026, ahead of its public opening. The exhibition has already sold out until the end of 2026, with approximately 7.5 million visitors expected during its run in the museum's Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery. The tapestry's journey represents a historic loan spanning nearly a millennium.
A Mughal Songbook (The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 8 September to 7 March) offers a richly illustrated exploration of the Plowden songbook, a rare manuscript documenting musical traditions from the Mughal empire, which governed most of the Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1857.
Tschabalala Self (Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth, London, from 10 September) will occupy the famous public sculpture platform with a monumental human figure striding forward in a blue dress. Following previous installations including a giant thumb, a ship in a bottle and an oversized cream dollop, Self's work represents a return to traditional figurative sculpture at monumental scale.
Going out: Theatre and dance
Scottish Ballet: Emergence (Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 10 to 12 September; touring to 3 October) features a visually striking ballet by Crystal Pite. Originally created in 2009, Emergence harnesses the corps de ballet's collective power to striking effect. The programme also includes a premiere from Julia Cheng, the award-winning choreographer behind Cabaret and Fiddler on the Roof.
Nish Kumar (9 September to 27 November; tour starts Belfast) brings his new stand-up show Angry Humour from a Really Nice Guy to venues across the UK and Ireland. The 41-year-old comedian has established himself as the nation's leading progressive political voice, balancing righteous conviction with self-deprecating humour. His tour begins in Belfast on 9 September, followed by Dublin on 10 September and Cork on 11 September 2026, with dates continuing through 30 September in Bath. His new material mines comedy from the threats posed by autocracy and the anxieties of ageing.
Bloodsport: After Helen of Troy (Theatre Royal Stratford East, London, to 10 October) is a new work by Ava Pickett, whose previous play 1536 garnered critical acclaim. Pickett imagines Helen's return home after the Trojan War fought in her name. The cast includes Michelle Dockery and Laura Aikman.
Tartuffe (Remixed) (Marylebone theatre, London, to 24 October) presents Mark Rylance alongside Intermission Youth graduates in Darren Raymond's contemporary adaptation of Molière's comedy. This version relocates the action to a Nigerian-Jamaican family whose wedding plans are upended by the arrival of a mysterious stranger.
Staying in: Streaming
Last Seen (Apple TV, 9 September) marks a significant departure for Patrick Brammall, best known for the warm romcom Colin from Accounts. Here he leads a chilling drama alongside Maxine Peake about a police dispatcher convinced he has answered a call from his daughter, abducted a decade earlier.
The Paper (Sky One & Now, 10 September, 9pm) continues its second season. Season one followed ambitious editor Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) as he transformed the Toledo Truth Teller from a clickbait factory into an award-winning journalism outlet. Now he pursues a major investigative story to cement his reputation.
Britain's Forgotten Girls (BBC Two, 9 September, 9pm) is a documentary by Alessia Camoirano Bruges, whose 2022 film about the Italian mafia's recruitment of teenagers via social media earned an Emmy nomination. This investigation examines vulnerable children exploited and trafficked by drug-dealing gangs in the UK and questions why authorities have failed to intervene adequately.
The Drop: A Snowfall Saga (Disney+, 9 September) is a spin-off from the critically acclaimed Damson Idris series Snowfall. The narrative shifts from 1980s Los Angeles and its crack epidemic to the following decade's west coast hip-hop ascendancy. Greta Bean's character Wanda, now sober, seeks to capitalise on rap's explosive growth—a path requiring shrewd navigation of street politics and unwavering nerve.
Staying in: Video games
Halloween: The Game (PC, PS5, Xbox; out 8 September) allows players to assume the role of either a hapless teenager or the masked killer Michael Myers in this mult horror game set during the timeline of the original film.
Valheim (PC, PS5, Switch 2, Xbox; out 9 September) is achieving full release after several years in early access. This Viking-inspired survival adventure supports up to nine players navigating a hostile purgatory, battling creatures, gathering resources and constructing dwellings.
Staying in: New music releases
Kasabian – Act III (out now) is the ninth album from Serge Pizzorno and his ensemble. Co-produced by Mark Ralph, who has worked with Years & Years and Clean Bandit, Act III balances bright pop moments such as Superpowers with new wave-influenced tracks like the festival-ready Great Pretender.
Natalie Imbruglia – Algorithm (out now) is the seventh album from the Ramsay Street-turned-pop star. Following 2021's Firebird, Algorithm addresses Imbruglia's ADHD and OCD diagnoses through the peppy soft-rock of single Upside Down and the Robyn-influenced electropop track Just Drive.
Mykki Blanco – Cafe Paradiso (out now) draws inspiration from a life spent in transit across New York, Paris and Tangier, where the American rapper and performance artist is currently based. Marketed as a record for artsy audiences, the album features the scuzzy art-rock of Butt Sex.
Adéla – Prima (out now) marks the long-awaited debut album from the Slovak alt-pop experimentalist. Her current single Ain't in LA, which has circulated widely on TikTok, exemplifies the bratty pop sensibility evident throughout Prima, alongside the sultry midtempo catharsis of Red Bottoms. Adéla previously auditioned for the girl band Katseye.
Staying in: Podcasts and online content
What Music Looks Like is a podcast in which writer Paul Weedon explores how thoughtful design amplifies musical experience. He speaks with artists including Adam Smith, who creates immersive stage visuals for the Chemical Brothers, and Laura LiPuma, reflecting on her 1980s work with Prince.
InCinematic is a video essay series presenting inventive and often specialised analyses of creative filmmaking techniques. Recent episodes have examined Leslie Nielsen's deadpan comic timing in Airplane! and the experimental storytelling of The Lion King.
Hamza: African Birds of Prey follows wildlife cameraman Hamza Yassin to Kenya in search of Africa's most endangered raptors, including the crowned eagle. The film captures his infectious enthusiasm for the natural world.
