Treats on stage and screen and in the galleries from around the country

King & Conqueror, BBC One and iPlayer
James Norton plays Harold Godwinson and Game of Thrones star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays William of Normandy in this drama focused on the best-known battle in English history. The drama takes us to Hastings in the days that preceded the showdown between the two men and their armies. According to the BBC synopsis, it focuses on “two allies with no design on the English throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown”. Broadcast later this month.

Turner Prize 2025, Cartwright Hall, Bradford
Nnena Kalu, Rene Matic, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa are this year’s Turner shortlisters, and their work will be exhibited as part of the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture celebrations. Works include Kalu’s large-scale hanging sculptures and drawings, Matic’s photography as well as sculpture, textiles and sound, focusing on identity and a sense of belonging, and Sami’s use of ambiguity to create paintings about memory and conflict. Xa’s work explores themes such as interspecies communication, cultural traditions and spirituality. The winner will be announced on 9 December at an award ceremony in Bradford. Exhibition is from 27 September to 22 February 2026.

Uncrated! Carvings and drawings by John Roberts, St Andrew’s Church, Alfriston, East Sussex
In the ancient church of Alfriston – known as the cathedral of the Downs – stone sculp tures by John Roberts have been un-crated more than 20 years after his death. Roberts, who carved three of the life-size figures of twentieth-century martyrs on the west front of Westminster Abbey, is known especially for the sensitivity of his carving of South African Manche Masemola, killed by her mother aged 16 for being Christian (her mother later converted to Christianity) and was known for the fluidity and quality of line in his work. Orphaned at the age of eight, raised in Port Talbot by an aunt, he found solace in art, history and religion. Open daily 7-21 September.

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