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This week’s very special guest is a living legend and bona fide National Treasure: Sir Ian McKellen. He chats to Simon from the comfort of his very own East London pub The Grapes about his new film ‘The Christophers’. This Steven Soderbergh directed drama of art, family feuds and friendship is a late-career gem from McKellen, who plays cantankerous celebrity artist Julian Sklar in an unlikely and uneasy friendship with Michaela Coel’s Laurie, his new assistant. Sir Ian and Simon prop up the bar and talk grumpy old men, unfinished business… and what it’s like to be Gandalf.

Mark will review The Christophers next week, but for now we’ve got three more fresh film releases to dissect. Three fresh reviews this week too: first up, the new Hugh Jackman-starring family adventure that’s like “Babe meets Knives Out”: ‘The Sheep Detectives’. A star-studded affair with roles played by Hugh Jackman, Emma Thompson, and Molly Gordon with sheep voiced from the likes of Chris O’Dowd, Patrick Stewart and Bryan Cranston, the ‘cozy-crime’ tale sees the sheep turn sleuths. Plus, a full review of Legends, the new Netflix series form last week’s Take guest Steve Coogan, where ordinary customs workers go undercover to fight Britain’s heroin crisis. And finally a look at the fourth time made, second era’d Mortal Kombat II.

And as always we’ve got top correspondence from you lovely listeners, extended and unadulterated wittering from Mark and Simon—and Laughter Lift jokes guaranteed to induce the most exasperated groans. It’s what The Redactor lives for.

You can contact the show by emailing [email protected] or you can find us on social media, @KermodeandMayo

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Timecodes:

00:00:00 audio start

00:09:59 The Sheep Detectives

00:19:18 Box office 10

00:30:08 Sir Ian McKellen interview

00:46:11 Legends review

00:54:56 Laughter Lift

01:00:27 Mortal Kombat review

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