Wolf Hall and Mozart

Drama in January is really brightening a dull, thankless month. Broadchurch continues to develop in fascinating and unexpected ways, the new series of Last Tango is as delightful as the first two, and for Hilary Mantel fans - and those of historical drama - Wolf Hall begins next Wednesday. I loved these books for their wonderfully uncompromising and utterly absorbing portrayal of Thomas Cromwell, and although I get nervous about adaptations of books that have a place in my heart, I am excited about this adaptation. Written by Peter Straughan and directed by Peter Kosminsky? That's a quality team to start with: there will be subtlety, intelligence and attention to detail, as well as a unique style. And the cast is stunning: Mark Rylance, Damian Lewis, Claire Foy and Jonathan Pryce in lead roles and an equally good supporting cast (Anton Lesser - Qyburn - as Thomas More, Game of Thrones fans ...) Wednesday, 9pm, BBC2. Really excited.

This week I've also been watching the reruns of W1A, because it is just too funny not to. The BBC's comedy about the BBC is so beautifully timed, so gloriously deadpan and so alarmingly reflective of real-life broadcasting that it's even funnier second time around.

And ... Mozart in the Jungle. Anyone watching this? It's an Amazon Studios production: one of their first forays into original programming. I stumbled on it because I still have a month or two left on my Amazon Prime account and thought I'd make the most of it.

I LOVE this series.

And I wish and hope that it will find a bigger audience. Starring Gael Garcia Bernal as the mercurial, stunningly talented new conductor of the 'New York Symphony Orchestra', it's about an ambitious young oboist (Lola Kirke) who's trying to get a break as a musician, desperate for a chair in the orchestra. There is huge competition for places, and her small successes are hard won, and as we follow her story we are swept up in a world of backstabbing, insecurity, affairs, drugs, glamorous parties and doing whatever it takes to keep the Maestro happy. All bound in a package that includes some of the most beautiful, stirring music ever written - and music is everything for these characters. As Hailey (Kirke) says, she's been practising for five hours a day since she was eight years old: it is her life. And when people are very, very good at what they do, they can be both arrogant and paranoid: multiply this by the number of people in an orchestra and you have a group of very volatile, constantly intriguing characters. Mozart in the Jungle is witty, surprising, touching and inspiring; at ten short episodes it didn't last nearly long enough for me and I am fervently hoping that it gets enough viewers to justify a recommission.