BBC iPLAYER & ALL 4
International hitwoman Villanelle and MI6 operative Eve did not exactly part on the best of terms at the end of last series, and things are not going particularly well for either of them at the start of Series Three.
Villanelle (Jodie Comer, above with Stefan Iancu) and Eve did not part on the best of terms at the end of last series, and things are not exactly going well for them at the start of Series Three
Eve (Sandra Oh) is attempting to put her obsession with Villanelle (Jodie Comer) behind her and to move on with her life; Villanelle is about to have a special day spoiled. Look out for Harriet Walter as new character Dasha, a gymnastics teacher from hell and an old Russian associate of Villanelle’s.
Original writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who was in charge of the first season, remains as an executive producer. BBC iPlayer, from tomorrow
School Of Hard Tricks
If you’re a fan of Harry Potter and Dynamo, chances are you’ll love this new three-part series, which is a cross between the two and is being made available as a box set. It follows the progress of six disenfranchised youths from Bradford who are trained in the fine arts of illusion, sleight of hand and misdirection by a trio of professional magicians.
After only three weeks of instruction, they must take their skills onto the streets before putting on a show at a local theatre – during which their futures in the business could be made or broken. BBC3/iPlayer, from Tuesday
Green Wing
Sharp, hilarious and at times deliciously surreal, this sitcom from the makers of Smack The Pony was a highlight of Channel 4’s schedules in the mid-Noughties. It would be rather marvellous to find out what the eccentric staff at the fictional East Hampton Hospital are up to these days, but for now we’ll have to make do with looking back at their earlier antics.
Stephen Mangan, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Mark Heap and a gloriously over-the-top Michelle Gomez are among the cast breathing life into the kind of medics you would hope never to need, while Olivia Colman also appears as an administrator. All 4, available now
The Windsors
It’s the Royal Family, but not quite as we know them. Channel 4’s satirical comedy pokes fun at Britain’s most famous clan, charting their lives as if they were characters in a very posh soap opera.
Channel 4’s satirical comedy pokes fun at Britain’s most famous clan, charting their lives as if in a very posh soap opera. Above: Haydn Gwynne and Harry Enfield as Camilla and Charles
The members are all depicted as larger-than-life versions of themselves. At times it’s rather near the knuckle but it’s hugely funny too, although if the real Royals have ever seen it, we can’t imagine they’re thrilled with their fictional counterparts, who are all either silly, stupid or attention-seeking.
Haydn Gwynne and Harry Enfield play Camilla and Charles, while scene-stealers Ellie White and Celeste Dring play the vacuous Beatrice and Eugenie. All three series are available to stream. All 4, available now
Mafia Only Kills In Summer
The darkly comic Italian series, which offers a fascinating insight into organised crime during the 1970s, returns for its second run. Despite having decided against leaving Sicily at the end of the first series, some members of the Giammarresi family aren’t sure they’ve done the right thing.
Lorenzo would love to move up north, but a lack of support makes him ponder his decision. Pia, meanwhile, lands a new teaching job – but her continued attraction to mobster Tommaso Buscetta is set to cause friction. Inspired by real events, it’s a thrilling watch.Walter Presents/All 4, from Friday
Mark Kermode: Secrets Of Cinema
There are three new episodes of the fascinating series in which film critic Mark Kermode expertly dissects the tropes and conventions of a particular film genre and highlights the ways in which movies are influenced by their predecessors. Here, superheroes, spies and British history are under the microscope.
When Kermode makes an observation – such as, for example, on the similarity of spymasters in films – you’ll find yourself wondering why you never noticed that before. If you enjoy his amiable, mildly professorial approach to presenting, try the excellent weekly podcast he does with Simon Mayo: Kermode And Mayo’s Film Review. BBC iPlayer, available now
SKY, BRITBOX, DISNEY+ & APPLE TV+
Michael Palin In North Korea
In 2018, Michael Palin charmed his way into North Korea and, by dint of politeness and just a little bravado, revealed more about the secretive communist state’s inhabitants than any hard-hitting reporter ever could.
In 2018, Michael Palin charmed his way into North Korea and, by dint of politeness and just a little bravado, revealed much about the secretive communist state’s inhabitants
Accompanied everywhere by members of the regime, he strikes up a touching rapport with his interpreter as he joins a class at a secondary school and visits a table tennis centre – a sport the supreme leader Kim Jong-un wishes North Korea to conquer the world at.
Monty Python fans will be amused to observe that Palin does indeed find such elements as fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to the leader on his travels.
Our self-effacing guide for this two-part travelogue is taken aback by the sinister sound of the early-morning call to work for the republic’s citizens, but does find an abundance of ‘joy and humanity’, and not a little drunkenness, when he attends an International Workers’ Day festival in the park. BritBox, available now
Elephant/Dolphin Reef
Now’s your chance to judge for yourself the Duchess of Sussex’s first TV gig post-Megxit, in one of a double bill of nature films. She narrates Elephant, a film made in partnership with conservation charity Elephants Without Borders, which tells the story of Shani, her son Jomo and their extraordinary 1,000-mile journey across the Kalahari Desert in search of water on an annual pilgrimage that will change their lives.
Then, in Dolphin Reef, the Oscar-winning actress and long-time animal-rights activist Natalie Portman takes us under the sea to frolic with some of the planet’s most engaging animals. It’s a deep dive into the reef life of the oceans of Polynesia, and it follows Echo, a young bottlenose dolphin who can’t quite decide if it’s time to grow up and take on new responsibilities or give in to his silly side and just have fun. Disney+, available now
Humans
Escape our increasingly surreal real world by bingeing on all three series of this captivating sci-fi drama set in an alternative reality where the latest must-have is an anthropomorphic robot or ‘synth’, which is ready and waiting to do all those menial tasks you hate. That is, until some of them develop consciousness.
Gemma Chan, Colin Morgan, Katherine Parkinson and Tom Goodman-Hill star in a show whose premise is reminiscent of Westworld but on a smaller, more intimate and domestic scale.
The sad news is that there won’t be a fourth series in the future. Despite being thought-provoking and brilliantly acted, the show, based on a Swedish programme, has officially been axed. Still, there’s plenty here to get your teeth into. BritBox, available now
Homefest: James Corden’s Late Late Show Special
With Corden’s Emmy award-winning entertainment show currently off air, the British host fronts this one-off edition from his Los Angeles garage resplendent in jacket and tie – ‘the first time I’ve got dressed in weeks’.
Performances from quarantined stars around the world are beamed in, from Andrea Bocelli in Tuscany, Dua Lipa in London, BTS in South Korea, and John Legend as well as Billie Eilish with her songwriting brother Finneas in LA. Other guests include David Blaine performing card tricks and Will Ferrell giving a comedy masterclass in the art of handwashing. Sky/NOW TV, available now
Doctor Foster
After finding a strand of long blonde hair on her husband’s jacket, brunette Gemma starts suspecting that he may be having an extramarital affair and sets out to find the truth. As her investigation proceeds, she discovers some mysterious revelations and starts to slowly build her case against him to get her revenge.
Doctor Foster, written by Mike Bartlett, unexpectedly gripped the nation with a whopping ten million of us tuning into the series one, dinner-party-from-hell finale.
Starring Suranne Jones, Bertie Carvel and a pre-Killing Eve fame Jodie Comer, Doctor Foster is the literal definition of hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. BritBox, available now
Home
Similar in style to House Of The Year or The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes, this lavish new series takes viewers inside the kind of properties most of us can only dream about owning.
Architects have clearly had a field day while designing them – there are no dull boxes here. Instead, the emphasis is on the unusual and innovative. Think Homes Under The Hammer but turned up to the nth degree. Apple TV, from Friday
Why is there such a buzz about..?
Ozark (Netflix)
When the first season of this fast-moving, gritty crime drama appeared in 2017, some critics dismissed it as a wannabe Breaking Bad, but viewers loved it, audiences kept growing and it won awards. Now there are suggestions that – whisper it – it might actually be better than Breaking Bad.
Financial adviser Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) has been forced to move his family from Chicago to the Ozarks, a popular tourist destination in Missouri, and start laundering money for a ruthless Mexican drug cartel.
Financial adviser Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman, above with Laura Linney) has been forced to start laundering money for a ruthless Mexican drug cartel in the gritty Ozark
Understandably, this puts something of a strain on his already rocky relationship with his unfaithful wife Wendy (Laura Linney). And as well as the cartel, they also have to deal with the equally terrifying local crime outfits.
So what makes Ozark so different to other crime series? It has a very distinctive look with a blue-grey colour palette, sharp shadows and visually striking locations in an area of outstanding natural beauty. And it bucks the current trend for brooding, contemplative crime dramas. A single episode can have more incidents than an entire series of other shows.
At the start of the third season, which fans agree is the best yet, a vicious cartel war is heating up in Mexico. Wendy, who is taking to crime like a duck to water, sees the crisis as an opportunity for expansion. But Marty’s not convinced that strengthening ties to homicidal gangsters is necessarily the best path to security and peace of mind. Oh, and 1980s soft rock favourites REO Speedwagon are involved. The finale will leave you desperate for Season Four.
Neil Armstrong
NETFLIX
Fauda
Gripping Israeli drama about an elite Arabic-speaking unit of the Israel Defense Forces, which goes undercover to kill terrorists in the Palestinian West Bank. Fauda means ‘chaos’ in Arabic but is also a term special forces use when a mission goes wrong.
Season Three of gripping Israeli drama Fauda sees Doron (Lior Raz, above with Marina Maximilian Blumin), the leader of the commandos, undercover in the West Bank
The show portrays a complex, ambiguous world: the Israelis aren’t morally spotless; the terrorists aren’t simply evil ciphers.
At the start of season three, Doron (Lior Raz), the leader of the commandos, is undercover in the West Bank, posing as an Israeli Arab boxing instructor in a gym belonging to a Hamas member. From Thursday
The Innocence Files
True-crime documentaries and Netflix go hand in hand these days. The latest is a nine-parter split into three compelling segments – the evidence, the witness and the prosecution – giving viewers the inside track on various wrongful convictions.
The programme has been made to highlight the work of the Innocence Project, a non-profit organisation that toils to free those incarcerated on the flimsiest of evidence.
Among those featured is Levon Brooks, who received a life sentence after false testimony from dubious sources led to his conviction for raping and killing his ex-girlfriend’s daughter. That allowed the real culprit to remain free to commit other crimes. From Wednesday
Too Hot To Handle
We’ve only just got over the extraordinary Love Is Blind, and already we’re being hit with another dating series. There’s a hint of Love Island – it features photogenic, single young folk in an exotic setting – but there’s a twist.
Where hanky-panky is usually encouraged (or at least not discouraged), here the ten participants must resist temptation if they’re to walk away with the $100,000 grand prize. Expect cold showers to become hugely popular… From Friday
Sergio
It’s Iraq, 2003, and the UN’s charismatic High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sérgio Vieira de Mello, has arrived in Baghdad for one last assignment after a storied career in the world’s most unstable hotspots. The assignment is meant to be brief, before de Mello (Wagner Moura) retreats to a simpler life with the woman he’s fallen in love with (Ana de Armas).
Then a bomb rips through the UN’s headquarters in Baghdad, setting in motion a gripping life-or-death struggle as Sergio is forced to confront his own divisive choices about ambition, family and his capacity to love. From Friday
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
Bosch
Amazon Prime’s longest-running series is back for its eagerly awaited sixth season. Based on the best-selling novels by Michael Connelly, the thrilling crime drama once again stars Titus Welliver (Sons Of Anarchy) as Los Angeles homicide detective Harry Bosch.
This time he’s on the trail of whoever killed a medical physicist. And although catching the villain is hugely important, there’s something bigger than simple justice at stake – deadly radioactive material was stolen during the murder and is about to be used to hold the entire city to ransom. From Friday
Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project
Who would you like to see fronting a documentary about criminal justice reform? Probably someone who has worked on its front line for years.
Cameras follow the Kim Kardashian West as she meets inmates, lobbies politicians (such as President Donald Trump, above with West) and speaks to lawyers in The Justice Project
Reality TV sensation Kim Kardashian West probably wouldn’t be at the top of many people’s lists, but to be fair, she has become an advocate for the cause, and attaching her name to the project might help such an important subject reach a section of society who might otherwise have ignored it.
Cameras follow the media personality and socialite in this two-hour documentary as she meets inmates, lobbies politicians and speaks to lawyers about the chances of securing releases for those whose sentences don’t fit their crimes. Available now on Hayu (currently available via Amazon Prime Video on a 30-day free trial)
Selah And The Spades
Some of us might prefer to forget our school days, but however awkward they may have been, they can’t have been as dangerous as those depicted in this disturbing coming-of-age drama, the first film from writer-director Tayarisha Poe.
Five groups control the student body at Haldwell, an elite Pennsylvania boarding school, the largest of which is led by 17-year-old Selah (Lovie Simone). When her sidekick and protégé begin to rebel, she takes sinister steps to make sure she remains top dog. From Friday
Alice Fraser: Savage
The Australian comedian’s debut Edinburgh Fringe show from 2015 is one of her best. Described by Fraser herself as ‘an unorthodox art-comedy/morality tale’, it’s the first in a trilogy of sets straddling the line between comedy and tragedy, and focuses on her upbringing and its subsequent impact on her life.
Fiercely funny yet profoundly moving, it details growing up with her mother, who suffered from multiple sclerosis yet lived a vibrant, creative life, and how a chance conversation about faith led her to a rage-filled existential moment. From Friday
FILMS
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker
It’s time for the Resistance to make a final stand against the evil forces of the former Emperor, Palpatine, who has returned from the dead to reclaim his empire.
It’s time for the Resistance to make a final stand against the evil forces of Palpatine in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. Above: Daisy Ridley
Features the late Carrie Fisher, plus Mark Hamill and British stars Jon Boyega and Daisy Ridley. Sky Store, available to buy, and Rakuten from Monday
Little Women
Greta Gerwig’s Oscar-winning adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel frames the story of the March sisters’ journey to adulthood as if written by a grown-up Jo (Saoirse Ronan).
The device neatly book-ends the sprawling tale. Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Meryl Streep and a lovely Laura Dern also star. Sky Store, available to buy, from Monday