1 Atonement, cinemas from Friday Keira Knightley, James McAvoy and Romola Garai star in the British film of the year: a masterful adaptation of Ian McEwan’s bittersweet novel of frustrated love, with Joe Wright, in the director’s chair, proving that Pride and Prejudice wasn’t a one-off. A poleaxing tear-jerker.

2 All About My Mother, Old Vic, now The hit Almodovar film gets a high-octane stage outing, with Diana Rigg and Lesley Manville; www.oldvictheatre.com .

3 The First Emperor, from Sept 13 The terracotta army has been flown business class from China to the British Museum; make sure you don’t miss them in the exhibition of the year; www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk .

4 Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, UK tour, Tue-Oct 10 The dynamic Americans visit Sadler’s Wells, then tour; www.alvinailey.org .

5 A Disappearing Number, Barbican, from Wed The ever-inventive Complicite take on the unlikely subject of a maths genius. Go figure; www.barbican.org.uk .

6 Casanova, from Friday The poet Carol Ann Duffy gives the great lover a sex change. West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, then touring; www.toldbyanidiot.org .

7 Frank Skinner Live, from Sept 9 The “resting” stand-up gets back onto the pitch; www.frankskinnerlive.com .

8 Brian Wilsontour, from Sept 10 The lost Beach Boy is back at Festival Hall, then nationwide; www.south-bankcentre.co.uk .

9 Billy Connollytour, from Sept 9 Forget riding round foreign places on a jessie’s trike: the Big Yin returns to what he does best; www.chortle.co.uk .

10 Iphigénie en Tauride, from Sept 10 Susan Graham brings her utterly mesmerising portrait of Gluck’s sacrificial priestess to Covent Garden; www.royalopera.org .

11 King Cotton, from Sept 12 Jimmy McGovern’s first stage work in 25 years. Lowry, Salford, then touring; www.kingcotton.co.uk .

12 Royal Court’s International Season, from Sept 13 Includes Benedict Cumberbatch in Martin Crimp’s version of Ionesco’s Rhinoceros, and Alistair Beaton’s take on Max Frisch’s The Arsonists; www.royalcourttheatre.com .

13 Fragments, Young Vic, from Sept 15 Five short Beckett plays, starring the inimitable Kathryn Hunter and Marcello Magni; www.youngvic.org .

14 The Masque of the Red Death, Battersea Arts Centre, from Sept 17 Punchdrunk, who specialise in exhilarating site-specific theatre, adapt some of Edgar Allen Poe’s short stories; www.bac.org.uk .

15 Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company, Sadler’s Wells, Sept 19-23 The star British choreographer Christopher Wheeldon launches his company; www.sadlerswells.com .

16 Macbeth, Gielgud, from Sept 21 The rave-reviewed Patrick Stewart version comes up from Chichester; www.gielgud-theatre.com .

17 Where Are We? Questions of Landscape, Graves, Sheffield, from Sept 21 Discover how good landscape photography can be; www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk.

18 The Sacrifice, WNO, from Sept 22 James McMillan’s new opera, based on the Mabinogion. Lisa Milne and Christopher Purves star in Katie Mitchell’s production at the Millennium Centre, Cardiff, then touring; www.wno.org.uk .

19 The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947-1957, V&A, from Sept 22 Forget austerity and feast on the New Look; www.vam.ac.uk .

20 PJ Harvey, new album, Sept 24 She has put down her guitar and recorded a piano album, White Chalk.

21 Joni Mitchell, new album, Sept 24 Back from “retirement” (they never mean it), the doyenne of singer-songwriters releases Shine, her first proper album for five years.

22 Foo Fighters, new album, Sept 24 The reliable grunge-pop band release Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

23 Millais, from Sept 26 Tate Britain plays host to a long-overdue survey of works by the popular preRaphaelite; www.tate.org.uk .

24 Theatre Royal Haymarket Company launch season, from Sept 27 Jonathan Kent’s new outfit start with a saucy comedy, The Country Wife, with Patricia Hodge, David Haig and Toby Stephens; www.trh.co.uk .

25 Irène Nemirovsky’s Fire in the Blood, Sept 27 Another unpublished manuscript by the French Jewish writer of the excellent Suite Française, who died at Auschwitz in 1942.

26 Glengarry Glen Ross, Apollo Theatre, Sept 27 Mamet’s best play gets a star cast, led by Jonathan Pryce and directed by James Macdonald; www.nimaxtheatres.com .

27 The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, ITV2, end Sept Billie Piper fleshes out Belle de Jour in an attention-grabbing piece of casting.

28 Teddy Thompson,new album, Oct 1 The son of Richard and Linda goes country on Upfront & Down Low.

29 Max Hastings’s Nemesis: The Battle for Japan 1944-45, Oct 1 HarperCollins publishes this companion to his bestselling Armageddon.

30 Annie Lennox, new album, Oct 1 The former Eurythmic returns to the fray with an album whose title could perhaps have done with a bit more work: Songs of Mass Destruction.

31 The Turner Prize: A Retrospective, from Oct 2 The history of Brit Art is laid out at Tate Britain. The 2007 prize exhibition can be seen at Tate Liverpool from Oct 19; www.tate.org.uk .

32 Der Ring des Nibelungen, from Oct 2 Wagner’s great tetralogy, in Keith Warner’s debatable staging for the Royal Opera, starring leading Wagnerians Bryn Terfel, John Tomlinson and Placido Domingo; www.royalopera.org .

34 Dance Umbrella, Oct 3-Nov 10 This year’s highlights range from new work from Siobhan Davies Dance (Oct 4-6) to the Michael Clark Company’s final take on three great Stravinsky scores (Oct 31-Nov 10); www.danceumbrella.co.uk .

35 Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, Radio 4, early Oct Harry Enfield stars as the gumshoe who believes all things are connected.

36 Robert Harris’s The Ghost, Oct 4 Hotly anticipated thriller, in which a former prime minister attempts to defend his record to a ghostwriter; published by Hutchinson.

37 Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Festival Hall, Oct 5 and 6 Riccardo Muti and arguably America’s finest orchestra; www.southbankcentre.co.uk .

38 Philip Roth’s Exit Ghost, Oct 6 The seventh, and most likely last, book to feature the novelist’s alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman; published by Cape.

39 Control, cinemas from Oct 5 Anton Corbijn directs a study in black-and-white of Joy Division’s Ian Curtis, with knockout performances.

40 Stewart Lee: 41st Best Stand-up Ever, from Oct 5 Lee is at a peak with this dark quest through celebrity, creativity and family. Tour starts in Canterbury; www.stewartlee.co.uk .

41 Royal Ballet autumn season, ROH, from Oct 6 The new season starts with two of the company’s famous spectaculars, Petipa’s La Bayadère and MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet; www.royalopera.org .

42 Art Treasures in Manchester 150 Years On, from Oct 6 In 1857, Old Trafford hosted what was then the UK’s biggest-ever art show. Among its 1.3m visitors were Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens and John Ruskin; Manchester Art Gallery commemorates that

43 The Golden Compass, Dec 7 For Philip Pullman fans, the wait will be over event and reassembles some of the can-vases; www.manchestergalleries.org.uk .

43 if.comedy shows, Oct 7, 14, 21, 28 Edinburgh’s finest, at the Gielgud, in the West End; www.if.com/eddies.

44 Bob Dylan, new “greatest hits”, Oct 8 Just in case there’s anyone out there who isn’t au fait with the man’s oeuvre, Sony releases a career-spanning three-CD set, entitled Dylan.

45 Cirque du Soleil’s Delirium , from Oct 8 The proliferating Québécois visit Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield; www.cirquedusoleil.com .

46 War Horse, Olivier, National Theatre, from Oct 8 Michael Morpugo’s first world war novel (ages 12+) is staged by the award-winning Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris; www. nationaltheatre.org.uk .

47 Louise Bourgeois, Tate Modern, from Oct 10 The extraordinary, unsettling French artist, now in her late nineties, is a one-woman powerhouse; www.tate.org.uk .

48 Cowboy Junkies, Albert Hall, Oct 10 One of the likely highlights of this year’s Don’t Look Back season – they perform the Trinity Session album, including their stunning take on Sweet Jane; www.royalalberthall.com .

49 English National Ballet’s The Snow Queentour, from Oct 11 Premiere of Michael Corder’s new ballet, to Prokofiev; www.ballet.org.uk .

50 Frieze Art Fair, Oct 11-14 The cream of the world’s galleries in Regent’s Park. This is the art event to be seen at; www.friezeartfair.com .

51 Alex: the stage play,Arts Theatre, from Oct 11 Peattie and Taylor’s cartoon character gets an unusual staging, with Robert Bathurst, as the City type, interacting with projected videos; www.alexcartoon.com .

52 Northern Ballet Theatre’s The Nutcrackertour, from Oct 11 The premiere of David Nixon’s Regency-set version is at the Palace, in Manchester; www.northernballettheatre.co.uk .

53 Hairspray, Shaftesbury Theatre, from Oct 11 The hit Broadway musical adaptation of the John Waters film, with Michael Ball fatsuited up as the mother and Mel Smith as “her” hapless husband; www.hairspraythemusical.co.uk .

54 Mr Brooks, cinemas from Oct 12 Intriguing change of pace for Kevin Costner, as a family man who morphs into a serial killer, with William Hurt excellent as his murderous alter ego.

55 Ratatouille, cinemas from Oct 12 Pixar comes up with its oddest concept yet: a rat that does haute cuisine.

56 Desperately Seeking Susan, Novello Theatre, from Oct 12 A stage musical based on the film for ever associated with Madonna, but actually using Blondie songs; www. seeking-susan.com .

57 The Counterfeiters, Oct 12 The next foreign contender for big box office is a German film based on the true story of the concentration-camp forgers kept alive by the Nazis to produce fake currency.

58 The Relief of Belsen, C4, Oct 15 In a feature-length drama, Jemma and Corin Redgrave recreate the heroic attempt to rescue the 50,000 found alive.

59 Alice Sebold’s The Almost Moon, Oct 16 The Lovely Bones author turns to suburban matricide in her new novel.

60 The Fortunes of King Croesus, touring from Oct 17 Reinhard Keiser’s rarity is typically adventurous Opera North programming. Paul Nilon stars in Tim Albery’s staging; Harry Bicket conducts. Grand Theatre, Leeds, then touring; www.operanorth.co.uk .

61 The Times BFI London Film Festival, Oct 17-Nov 1 Opens with David Cronenberg’s Eastern Promises; closes with Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited. Full lineup announced on Sept 13; www.timesonline.co.uk/lff .

62 The Coronation of Poppea, Coliseum, from Oct 18 The budding British soprano Kate Royal stars in Monteverdi’s valedictory masterpiece, staged by Chen Shi-Zheng (who did Damon Albarn’s Monkey) for English National Opera; www.eno.org .

63 Once, cinemas from Oct 19 The lowest-budget film ($160,000) of the year is also one of the most charming: a love story played out via the actors’ self-penned songs.

64 Glassworks, Barbican, Oct 19-21 The cult minimalist Philip Glass gets his own festival. Patti Smith and Leonard Cohen also appear; www.barbican.org.uk .

65 Super Furry Animals, touring from Oct 19 Stripped-down show to match Hey Venus’s stripped-down sound. Starts in Liverpool.

66 Stardust, cinemas from Oct 19 Matthew Vaughn’s unusual fairy tale, with Claire Danes as a star fallen to earth, Michelle Pfeiffer as the witch out to catch her and Robert De Niro as the crusading pirate bent on saving her.

67 An American’s Passion for British Art: Paul Mellon’s Legacy, Royal Academy, from Oct 20 Reynolds, Gainsborough, Stubbs, Constable, Turner, Blake and Van Dyck – they’re all here; www.royalacademy.org.uk .

68 Sandra Bernhard Live, Oct 21-29 The Grace Jones of comedy’s mini-tour kicks off in Huddersfield; www.sandrabernhard.com .

69 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, album, Oct 23 An intriguing pairing, and further proof that Plant is the textbook case of how to continue to operate. T Bone Burnett produced the album, Raising Sand.

70 Carlos Acosta, with guest artists from Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Sadler’s Wells, Oct 23-28 The superstar dancer with friends from his national company. Expect fireworks, as the Cubans know how to put oomph into the classical style; www.sadlerswells.com .

71 White Stripes, touring from Oct 24 Rock’s pearly king and queen kick off their biggest UK tour at SECC, in Glasgow.

72 Renaissance Siena: Art for a City, National Gallery, from Oct 24 Promises virtuoso and luminous beauty; www.nationalgallery.org.uk .

73 Arcade Fire, touring from Oct 26 The incendiary Canadians start in Glasgow, with their original lineup.

74 Period Brahms, RFH, Oct 28 and 29 John Eliot Gardiner and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique put Brahms in context; www.southbankcentre.co.uk .

75 James Thiérrée: La Compagnie du Hanneton’s Au Revoir Parapluie, Lilian Baylis Theatre, Oct 30-Nov 10 Chaplin’s grandson shows off his extraordinary athletic skills and eye for stunning visuals; www.sadlerswells.com .

76 Britz, Channel 4, end Oct-Nov Top docudramatist Peter Kosminsky’s two-part thriller about Muslim siblings. One joins MI5; the other becomes a terrorist.

77 Volume III of John Richardson’s A Life of Picasso, Nov 1 Subtitled The Triumphant Years, 1917-32, and published by Cape, this will be the great biography of our time. Picasso, now in his thirties, is working with Diaghilev and Stravinsky, resisting the surrealists, discovering classicism, getting married for the first time and embarking on his most passionate affair.

78 Sibelius Symphonies, Barbican, Nov 1-10 Marking the 50th anniversary of the Finnish composer’s death, his compatriot Esa-Pekka Salonen leadshis Los Angeles Philharmonic through the complete cycle; www.barbican.org.uk .

79 Fairy Tales, BBC1, early Nov Four get a contemporary treatment, including The Empress’s New Clothes, with Denise Van Outen as a fading soap star.

80 Channel 4 Comedy Showcase, early Nov To mark Channel 4’s 25th birthday, six weeks of sitcom pilots, including The Office’s Martin Freeman as a failed magician in Other People and The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith in an 1865 flatshare comedy, Ladies and Gentlemen.

81 Elizabeth: The Golden Age, cinemas from Nov 2 Handsome-looking second part of Shekhar Kapur’s portrait, with an older Cate Blanchett now contending with the wayward Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen).

82 Bill Bailey’s Tinselworm tour, Nov 7 The musical clown seems to improve each time. Starts in Glasgow; www.billbailey.co.uk .

83 Aida, Coliseum, from Nov 8 Verdi’s monumental drama, in a production from Houston by Jo Davies, with designs by Zandra Rhodes. Clare Rutter stars, Edward Gardner conducts; www.eno.org .

84 RSC’s King Lear and The Seagull, New London Theatre, from Nov 12 The season’s hottest ticket: Ian McKellen as Lear. He and Frances Barber, Romola Garai and Sylvester McCoy lead the repertory cast in Trevor Nunn’s acclaimed Stratford productions; www.rsc.org.uk .

85 Amy Winehousetour, from Nov 12 Tabloid hell permitting, the talented but flawed Winehouse will be starting her new tour at the Manchester Apollo.

86 Reopening of St Pancras station, Nov 14 London’s axis will shift when the greatest of Victorian railway stations reopens as the terminus for the High Speed 1 Eurostar line; www.highspeed1.com .

87 My Boy Jack, ITV1, mid-Nov Daniel Radcliffe, in his first role for television, plays Rudyard Kipling’s son Jack, killed in the trenches aged 17. Radcliffe has just turned 18.

88 Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs,O2, Nov 15 This ultra-populist show about the young king opens the Dome’s new exhibition 2 Bubble. The BM must be grinding its teeth at the young upstart; www.visitlondon.com/tutankhamun .

89 Magdalena Kozena, Barbican Hall, Nov 15 The exquisite Czech mezzo presents highlights from her latest album of Handel arias, Ah mio cor, with the Venice Baroque Orchestra; www.barbican.org.uk .

90 Cranford Chronicles, BBC1, mid-Nov BBC1’s big autumn drama is based on Elizabeth Gaskell’s affectionately observed portrayal of an 1840s market town. It stars Judi Dench, Michael Gambon and Fran-cesca Annis. Need we say more?

91 American Gangster, Nov 16 Ridley Scott teams up again with Russell Crowe, for a grittier project than their previous jaunt in Provence. Denzel Washington is a 1970s drug lord, Crowe the detective on his case.

92 Korngold, RFH, Nov 21 A mini-festival of concert and stage works by the Austrian émigré Hollywood film composer includes the first London performance of his opera Das Wunder der Heliane (The Miracle of Heliane). Vladimir Jurowski, in his debut season as principal conductor of the London Philharmonic, presides, with Patricia Racette in the title role; www.southbankcentre.co.uk .

93 Babyshamblestour, from Nov 22 Reprising the tabloid-hell note (see Amy Winehouse, above), there’s also a reasonable chance that Pete Doherty’s band will be setting off on their biggest tour yet from the MEN Arena, in Manchester.

94 Bauhaus 1919-1933, MIMA, from Nov 23 Middlesbrough’s feisty new contemporary gallery has this promising art and design exhibition about the influential Bauhaus school; www.visitmima.com .

95 Royal Ballet: Jewels, from Nov 23 The first time the Royal Ballet have danced Balanchine’s masterly three-parter in full, comprising the romantic Emeralds, to Fauré, the jazzy Rubies, to Stravinsky, and the grand-classical Diamonds, to Tchaik-ovsky; www.royalopera.org .

96 Sleuth, cinemas from Nov 23 A promising-looking remake of the 1972 Anthony Shaffer hit, with Kenneth Branagh directing, Harold Pinter scripting, Michael Caine switching roles to the Olivier part and Jude Law (in Caine’s old role) as his antagonist.

97 The Golden Compass, premieres in London on Nov 26 Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig star as the Asriels, with Bond girl Eva Green as Sera-fina, in the first of the adaptations of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. Released on Dec 7.

98 Othello, Donmar Warehouse, from Nov 29 Michael Grandage directs Chiwetel Ejiofor as the Moor, opposite Kelly Reilly’s Des-demona. But the surprise is Ewan McGregor in a rare straight-theatre role, as Iago; www.donmarwarehouse.com .

99 Oliver Twist,BBC1, end of the year After the revelation of Andrew Davies’s soap-style Bleak House, BBC1 takes the same approach with Oliver Twist. This time, it even gets a soap writer (Sarah Phelps of EastEnders) to do it.

100 A Year with the Queen, BBC1, late Nov This series – in which the Queen did not storm out of a photographic session with Annie Leibovitz – precipitated a crisis of confidence in television. But will we get to see the Elizabeth R beneath the crown?

Top 5 films

Atonement, Sept 7 Moving McEwan tale of lost love

The Counterfeiters, Oct 12 This year’s The Lives of Others

Once, Oct 19 Small in budget, big in soulful music

Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Nov 2 Cate Blanchett gets back into whiteface and dallies with Sir Walter Raleigh

Top 5 books

Exit Ghost by Philip Roth: The last of his alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman?

A Life of Picasso, Vol III: The Triumphant Years, 1917-1932 by John Richardson: The great biography of our time.

The Ghost by Robert Harris: Former PM tussles with ghostwriter

Fire in the Blood by Irène Nemirovsky: Rediscovered work by the writer who died in Auschwitz

The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold: Lovely Bones writer’s latest

Top 5 exhibitions

The First Emperor, British Museum: The terracotta army arrives

The Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain: the history of Brit Art

Renaissance Siena: Art for a City, National Gallery: Promises beauty

Louise Bourgeois, Tate Modern: Extraordinary and unsettling – arguably the foremost female artist

Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, O2: Can an upstart lure the crowds needed to the former Millennium Dome?

Top 5 theatre

The Masque of the Red Death, Battersea Arts Centre: Punchdrunk’s latest site-specific adventure

Complicite’s A Disappearing Number, Barbican: Should add up to compelling theatre

Ian McKellen’s King Lear, New London: Stratford hit transfers

All About My Mother, Old Vic: Stage version of Pedro Almodovar

Awake and Sing!, Almeida: Stockard Channing in Clifford Odets