Things to do in London: November edition

Fantasy fashion at feasible prices

Nobody does winter florals or ethereal femininity quite like Erdem and this month there are two opportunities to stock up without breaking the bank. A hotly anticipated H&M collaboration launches on 2 November – you can bet there will be queues. Canny shoppers will hold out for the real deal and take advantage of big sample sale discounts just a few days later to bag some original Erdem pieces.

The Good Egg, Soho, London

Great brunch comes to central as Stoke Newington favourite The Good Egg opens a second restaurant in Soho. After more than two years feeding Jerusalem-style brunches all day long to lucky Stokey folk, the Good Egg crew are ready to bring their morning-minded Middle Eastern to Kingly Court.

All the jazz

The EFG London Jazz Festival is by far the country’s biggest Jazz festival, with dozens of events taking place across the city. Alongside the Barbican and the Southbank, the world’s greatest jazz musicians will storm Cadogan Hall, King’s Place and a whole host of smaller spaces.

Could you murder your employer?

The feminist novelist we’ve been obsessing about this year, Margaret Atwood, sees her second book adapted for the small screen this year. If you thought Hulu / Channel 4’s The Handmaid’s Tale was good, just wait and see what Netflix does with Alias Grace, the true, troublingly ambiguous story of a Canadian servant convicted of the brutal murder of her employer.

Watch the media machine go into overdrive

America's most lovable teacher-turned-drug-baron, Bryan Cranston, will make his National Theatre debut this November. Led by Ivo van Hove, the hottest director around (Hedda Gabler, A View From the Bridge), the multi-award-winning Breaking Bad actor will star in Lee Hall's stage adaptation of 1976 movie, Network. The post-truth dystopian depiction of the media machine might be more than 30 years old, but the story still chimes.

Skate in the starlight

Wapping's highest party playground will freeze over this winter as Skylight unveils London's first-ever rooftop ice rink. The Tobacco Dock highlight swaps croquet lawns and Pimms for something decidedly more festive – this winter season promises Christmas cocktails, toasty mulled wine, and cheese-tastic street food until 11pm. Bust a groove with guest DJs, get competitive in an ice hockey shoot-out, or snuggle up with a blanket in one of the heated lounge marquees.

Muse over whodunnit

All aboard the Orient Express, where you’ll find 13 strangers stranded on a train. Kenneth Branagh directs a new version of Agatha Christie’s most enduring murder mystery.

There’s Leslie Odom Jr., winner of the Best Actor in a Musical Tony Award for Hamilton, and Derek Jacobi, who also has a Tony, an Emmy, a BAFTA and two Oliviers. Judi Dench has made it back from Spectre and, ah, Michelle Pfeiffer – where have you been? Best of all is a mustachioed Branagh as the iconic detective Hercule Poirot.

Why the long face?

Amadeo Modigliani's story is one of the most Romantic - and tragic - in modern art, and it shines from each of his sultry, expressionistic works. Nudes and elongated figures with blank, unknowable eyes come to the Tate Modern this November in the most comprehensive Modigliani exhibition ever held in the UK. Bringing together a wide range of the artist’s most exceptional portraits, sculptures, and the largest group of nudes to be shown in this country, Modigliani could well be the exhibition of the year.

Feast on fermented food

What happens when you mix French, Persian and Korean cuisine, and throw in a chef with a love of fermenting? Look no further than the Drunken Butler, a brand new restaurant in Clerkenwell from the former head chef of The Chancery. It’ll be the first solo project from chef Yuma Hashemi, who’ll be bringing experience gleaned all around the world with much emphasis on thorough fermenting, smoking, salting and pickling. We’re eyeing up the £40 tasting menu, which will span five courses.

Think deeply about porn

The underbelly of the porn industry might not sound like the sort of subject to consider on your commute, but this fascinating new podcast will have you hooked. Jon Ronson, journalist, investigator, and author of best-sellers including Men Who Stare At Goats, The Psychopath Test and So You've Been Publicly Shamed released his seven-episode podcast series to paying Audible subscribers in July. But from November it’s free to everyone on itunes and other podcasting platforms. Focussing on The Butterfly Effect of online pornography, it’s an insightful, intelligent and utterly entertaining listen.

Dare to be different

A 16-year-old living on a Sheffield council estate breaks the mould in this uproarious coming of age musical. Everybody's Talking About Jamie transfers to London after glowing reviews at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre. Based on a true story told in a 2011 BBC documentary, it follows a teenager who doesn't fit in. Jamie is openly gay – and adept at dealing with the school bully's homophobic taunts. But when your career prediction is forklift truck operator, how do you reveal a preference for high heels, short skirts, and glitter?