Paul Howlett

Adaptations of David Walliams's teen-lit offerings have rapidly become a Christmas staple. The latest book to get a small-screen rendering is his debut - the story of 12-year-old Dennis, a small-town boy whose feelings of difference are crystallised by Kate Moss on the cover of a fashion mag. The title hints at Dennis's habit: it's probably the kind of thing to raise the blood pressure of your local Ukip candidate but it is also a story boasting warm-hearted inclusivity and lessons in tolerance and Christmas cheer.

Frears and screenwriter Moira Buffini make a funny, touching and witty film out of Posy Simmonds' marvellous cartoon strip that spatchcocks awful middle-class country life. Gemma Arterton is a delightful Tamara Drewe, the young woman who returns to her native west country village with a nose-job, micro-shorts and an ambition to write a chicklit blockbuster; she understandably stirs up the passions of ex-boyfriend Andy (Luke Evans), pop star Ben (Dominic Cooper) and slimy middle-aged philanderer Nicholas (Roger Allam).