SKY/NOW TV, APPLE TV+ AND MORE
Trying
The streaming service’s first British series looks like being one of its best shows to date. The series’ pedigree is certainly impressive. Directed by Catastrophe helmer Jim O’Hanlon and written by former Mock The Week scribe Andy Wolton, the cast of Trying includes Rafe Spall, Esther Smith, Phil Davis, Darren Boyd and Imelda Staunton.
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith lead the cast of Trying, Jim O’Hanlon’s amusing yet poignant comedy about a happy couple on the long road to adoption
Spall and Smith take the lead roles of Jason and Nikki, a happy couple whose lives would be complete if they had a baby. Unfortunately, despite their best efforts, it seems they can’t make one, so set out on the long road to adoption instead.
It might not sound as if it’s the perfect laugh-generating premise, but the duo’s life-changing journey is full of touching, amusing and poignant moments. Apple TV+, from Friday
Oprah Talks
If there’s one thing Oprah Winfrey is good at, it’s talking – she’s made a fortune out of it over the years. In recent times she’s concentrated largely on worthy causes, and there are currently few more worthy than dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
Here she has conversations – remotely, of course – with experts who offer tangible advice about maintaining our mental health amid possibly the greatest challenge any of us has ever faced. Apple TV+, available now
The Banker
Pulled from its original release date following sexual abuse allegations against Bernard Garrett Jr, son of the true-life drama’s central character and a co-producer, this classy film is available at last – and it was worth the wait.
Anthony Mackie and Samuel L. Jackson head the impressive cast as Garrett Sr and Joe Morris, revolutionary businessmen who hit on a way to help their fellow African-Americans circumnavigate the racist establishment of the 1960s that prevents them from heading out on the road to success.
They hire a working-class white man (played by Nicholas Hoult) to pose as a successful real-estate agent and banker, while they attend his meetings in the guise of a janitor and chauffeur. Apple TV+, available now
Andres Iniesta: The Unexpected Hero
Ask any football fan for a list of the greatest midfielders of the 21st Century and Andres Iniesta is bound to feature. He spent 22 years, man and boy, at Barcelona, winning every trophy available and captaining the team for three seasons before joining Japanese club Vissel Kobe in 2018; he also scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final.
This insightful documentary charts his rise to prominence as a player, as well as looking at key moments from his private life. Lionel Messi, Neymar and Pep Guardiola are among those offering their expert opinion. Rakuten, available now
Queens Of Mystery
A new subscription service launches today with an original series that’s sure to go down a treat with fans of classic crime drama. Olivia Vinall stars as DS Mattie Stone, a perennial singleton and dedicated police officer who tries her best to keep the streets of her local village clear of crime.
A new subscription service launches today with a series sure to go down a treat with fans of classic crime. Olivia Vinall, Siobhan Redmond & Sarah Woodward (above with Redmond) star
She has help from her three aunts – motherly Beth (Sarah Woodward), bookish Jane (Siobhan Redmond) and rebellious Cat (Julie Graham).
However, there’s still one mystery they haven’t been able to assist in – the disappearance of Mattie’s mother. Acorn TV, from Wednesday (subscribe at acorn.tv – 30-day free trial then £4.99 per month/£49.99 per year)
Dispatches From Elsewhere
Four disparate characters, all vaguely dissatisfied with life, are recruited to take part in a strange quest to find someone called Clara, Keeper of Divine Nonchalance. They have to follow clues and solve puzzles to progress.
Is it a game? A marketing stunt? Some sort of surreal art event? Or, as one of the four believes, ‘an international conspiracy’? The mysterious Octavio Coleman (Richard E. Grant) seems to be running things and acts as a (possibly unreliable) narrator for this ten-part mystery set in Philadelphia.
Jason Segel – who created the show – and Sally Field also star. Unlikely though it sounds, the series was inspired by real events. AMC UK (exclusive to BT customers), from Wednesday
Dynamo: Beyond Belief
He’s walked on the Thames and levitated over the Shard, and in this three-part series Dynamo performs yet more jaw-dropping feats, this time all around the world.
In Moscow he drives a taxi blindfolded; in Dubai he turns a sandcastle into beetles; and on the US border, in his final showstopper, he walks through the wall and into Mexico.
In this three-part series Dynamo performs jaw-dropping feats all around the world from driving a taxi blindfolded in Moscow to walking through a wall across the US border into Mexico
In between the tricks, Dynamo charts his journey back to health after being struck down by horrific food poisoning, exacerbated by his Crohn’s disease, which caused reactive arthritis.
The medicine he took made him pile on two stone, but he says the illness made him more creative in his magic. We can only agree. Sky/NOW TV, available now
NETFLIX
Medici: The Magnificent
It’s glossy, overly melodramatic, the cast is ridiculously photogenic and not too much attention is paid to historical accuracy – and yet we can’t get enough of this big-budget drama.
Daniel Sharman returns as Lorenzo in the third, and final, season of big-budget drama Medici: The Magnificent which picks up immediately after the events of the end of season two
Sadly, this third season will also be its last. It picks up immediately after the events of its predecessor, as the Medicis attempt to get back to normal following the Pazzi conspiracy.
Unfortunately, Lorenzo’s position is threatened by a coalition between the Pontifical states and the Kingdom of Naples, led by the dangerously ambitious Girolamo Riario. Lorenzo must try to broker a peace deal or risk losing his head – literally. Daniel Sharman (pictured, right, as Lorenzo), Sarah Parish, Julian Sands and Jack Roth star. From Friday
The Last Kingdom
If you thought Brexit divided Britain, things were much worse in the 9th Century. The Last Kingdom, based on Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories, began on BBC2 in 2015. But by the third series it belonged to Netflix, ushering in a bigger budget, more lavish sets and bloodier battle scenes.
Now, Alexander Dreymon (Uhtred), Ian Hart (Father Beocca), David Dawson (King Alfred), Emily Cox (Brida) and a giant cast embark on the much-awaited fourth series. The six Cornwell books covered so far have seen King Alfred’s Wessex locked in a bitter struggle with the all-conquering Vikings and the series’ hero, fearsome warrior Uhtred, switch sides more often than a tennis ball at Wimbledon.
Will Alfred’s dream of a united England ever be fulfilled? Expect lots of shield-wall action, clanging weaponry, Sutton Hoo-style armour and some frankly bizarre hairstyles. From Sunday
Hollywood
The new series from screenwriter and producer Ryan Murphy, the creator of Glee and American Horror Story, is a glossy ‘what if?’ drama set in post Second World War Hollywood and examining racism, sexism and homophobia in the film industry.
Ryan Murphy’s new series is a glossy ‘what if?’ drama set in post WWII Hollywood & features a mix of fictional & non-fictional characters including Katie McGuinness as Vivien Leigh (above)
It features a mix of fictional and non-fictional characters including Queen Latifah as the first African American to win an Oscar, Gone With The Wind’s Hattie McDaniel, Katie McGuinness as Vivien Leigh, Jake Picking as closeted gay heartthrob Rock Hudson and Michelle Krusiec as Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American star. From Friday
Dangerous Lies
After losing her job, Katie is thrilled to land a new position as the housekeeper for a wealthy, elderly Chicago resident. Despite seemingly having little in common, they hit it off, and on his death she discovers he’s left his sprawling estate and fortune to her.
Katie and her husband can hardly believe their luck, but there’s a twist in the tale – with the money comes a complex web of deception and murder. Suddenly Katie doesn’t know who to trust, and will need all her wits about her if she’s to survive. Camila Mendes, Jessie T. Usher and Elliott Gould star. From Thursday
House Of Flowers
Remember Soap, the old sitcom that sent up TV soap operas? This Mexican show is its contemporary equivalent – a black comedy satirising the ‘telenovelas’ popular in Latin America.
The well-to-do but dysfunctional de la Mora family made their money from a florist business in Mexico City and a dodgy cabaret. But everyone in the family has secrets to hide and in this, the final series, we learn about matriarch Virginia’s youth in flashbacks to the 1970s. Available now
Why is there such a buzz about..?
Devs (BBC iPlayer)
Thinkers have been arguing about free will versus determinism for two-and-a-half millennia, and the ancient philosophical debate is given a futuristic upgrade in Alex Garland’s haunting sci-fi thriller, prompting online discussion and a host of think pieces.
Forest (Nick Offerman), the messianic founder of a Silicon Valley tech giant called Amaya, doesn’t believe in free will and thinks all human behaviour is, theoretically, predictable. ‘The sense that you were participating in life was only ever an illusion,’ he says. ‘Life is just something you watch unfold. Like pictures on a screen.’
Lily (Sonoya Mizuno, above) is on the trail of her missing boyfriend in Alex Garland’s haunting sci-fi thriller which has prompted online discussion and a host of think pieces
His company is the sort of place where genius-level employees sit around discussing encryption algorithms and theoretical physics and quoting poets Yeats and Larkin at length.
However, as a general rule of thumb, if a tech outfit has a creepy giant statue of a little girl in its grounds, it’s not a good sign. The Devs division – the development team at the heart of Amaya – is using a powerful quantum computer to work on a secret project. Its lab is in a specially built structure suspended in an electromagnetic field and separated from the outside world by an eight-yard vacuum seal.
When a brilliant young coder wins a promotion to Devs but mysteriously goes missing after his first day, his equally gifted girlfriend Lily (Sonoya Mizuno) has no choice – or does she? – but to investigate. This eight-part series is a mind-bending mix of the cerebral and the visceral.
Neil Armstrong
iPLAYER, UKTV, INSTAGRAM, YOUTUBE
The Bill
The Bafta-winning ITV series, which ran for more than a quarter of a century from 1984 to 2010, followed male and female officers enforcing law and order from the fictional Sun Hill police station in East London. To date, it’s the longest-running police procedural drama to air in the UK.
All 26 series of The Bill will soon be available to watch. Over the years regulars Mark Wingett and Eric Richard (above) were joined by A-listers such Keira Knightley and David Tennant
The show, which featured regulars Mark Wingett and Eric Richard was noted for providing big breaks to a number of (now) A-listers, including Keira Knightley, David Walliams, comedian Russell Brand and David Tennant.
Now it’s back on the beat and, with 26 series in the can, this is one show that can definitely see viewers through the longest of lockdowns. UKTV Play, series 1-5 from Friday; subsequent series drop on the first of each month
Ross Noble’s Lockdown Lounge
Lockdown necessity has been the mother of some brilliant inventions over the past few weeks, creating stars from Zimmer-frame hero Captain Tom to Charlie Watts playing air drums with the Stones on One World Together. And they don’t come much more inventive than Ross Noble, hirsute panel-show stalwart and sometime off-road motorbike rider.
His daily, interactive Instagram livestream show, Lockdown Lounge, presented from the surreal Geordie comic’s underground bunker, takes all conventional formats – chat show, variety, public information – and bungs them all together in a bizarre mix.
Add to that regular guests such as buddy Baby Sting (his daughter’s doll wearing a Sting mask), chats with ‘Bungalow Russell’, and virtual game shows with fans, including ‘fruit ninja’ with real swords, and pet buckaroo, in which contestants try to stack socks on their dogs. Madcap fun. Instagram, daily at 11am
The Countess And The Russian Billionaire
If you missed this documentary on BBC2 recently, do yourself a favour and grab it on catch-up while you can. It features the extraordinary tale of British Countess Alexandra Tolstoy and her partner, Russian oligarch Sergei Pugachev.
This documentary features the extraordinary tale of British Countess Alexandra Tolstoy and her partner, Russian oligarch and former banker to Putin, Sergei Pugachev (above)
He was once known as Vladimir Putin’s banker, a man with a $15 billion fortune who owned shipyards, a coal mine and designer brands. However, Pugachev’s falling out with the president now means the couple’s fairytale lifestyle is under threat.
Here we learn how he’s fighting back from his chateau in France, while Tolstoy holds the fort with their three children in London. BBC iPlayer, available now
The Hubble
A fascinating film about the Hubble Space Telescope to mark the 30th anniversary of its launch. The telescope orbits the Earth at an altitude of more than 335 miles, and what it sends back has transformed our understanding of the universe.
Astronauts, several of whom are interviewed here, have risked their lives to maintain and upgrade it during extraordinary spacewalks. One reveals that before each mission, he gave a letter to his wife to be read in the event of his death. So why do it? Well, in what other job do you get to float outside a spacecraft and gaze down in awe on our beautiful planet? BBC iPlayer, available now
The Secret World Of Japanese Bicycle Racing With Sir Chris Hoy
The keirin is the velodrome cycle race in which competitors circulate behind a moped rider at the start before launching a banzai sprint to the finish. Chris Hoy knows a thing or two about it, having taken keirin gold in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic events.
For this short but absorbing documentary he travels to Japan, where the sport is a national obsession on which a staggering £10 billion of bets are placed every year and riders can become millionaires.
At the Izu keirin school – part military academy, part training camp that Hoy himself attended in 2005 – he meets 23-year-old Brit Joe Truman, one of the stars hand-picked to learn the sport and the culture of respect, self-control and honesty that goes with it. BBC iPlayer, available now
Mark Watson’s 24-Hour Watsonathon
Bristolian stand-up Watson is renowned for his marathon comedy fundraisers. Now he attempts to create a virtual 24-hour comedy club, along with fellow comics both planned and uninvited including Adam Hills, Romesh Ranganathan and Nish Kumar. Expect a shambolic extravaganza of the red-eyed variety. YouTube/Twitch, from Friday 9pm
AMAZON
Upload
‘The best days of your life could be after it’s over,’ says the advert for a business that uploads terminally ill customers into a computerised simulation where they can live on digitally for ever.
This clever sci-fi comedy series, about a man who elects to be uploaded into a computerised simulation after being fatally injured in a car crash, will grow and grow on you
When Nathan (Robbie Amell) is fatally injured in a self-driving car crash, he elects to be uploaded into Lakeview, a disappointingly glitchy simulation that doesn’t match the ads. He becomes increasingly close to Nora (Andy Allo), his customer service representative in the actual world.
This clever sci-fi comedy series, from one of the creators of Parks And Recreation, will grow and grow on you. From Friday
Vida
Drama about estranged Mexican-American sisters who move back to their childhood home in Los Angeles following the death of their mother. It’s won millions of fans but, sadly, it’s about to come to an end – this new series will be its last.
The programme’s writers knew well in advance of Starz’s intention to pull the plug, allowing them to tie up all the loose ends. Starzplay, from Sunday
David vs Goliath
For a year, champion boxer David Haye was trained by experts in the fine art of poker. His coaches claimed they could turn him into a great player capable of taking on the world’s best at the Grosvenor Casinos Goliath championships, the biggest tournament outside Las Vegas. This documentary follows his progress. Available now
Blow The Man Down
Sisters Mary Beth and Priscilla Connolly are not feeling their best when we meet them in Easter Cove, a sleepy fishing village on the Maine coast.
They’ve just lost their beloved mother and they’re about to cover up a gruesome, deadly encounter with a dangerous man. However, somebody has seen what they’ve done and has the evidence needed to convict them. Can the siblings find a way out of their predicament without any more blood being shed?
Hugely acclaimed on the festival circuit, this comedy drama is a highly original project. Remember the names of writer-directors Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy; big things are sure to come from them in the future. Available now
FILMS
Jojo Rabbit
Ten-year-old JoJo (Roman Griffin Davis) has three friends: an imaginary Führer (a joyously over-the-top Taika Waititi, who also directs), his dance-loving mother Rosie (Scarlett Johansson, above, with Davis and Sam Rockwell) and a Jewish girl, Elsa (Thomasin McKenzie), whom his mother is hiding in their home.
Taika Waititi plays a joyously over-the-top imaginary Hitler in his irreverent and moving film which also star Roman Griffin Davis, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell (above)
Irreverent and moving, the film traces JoJo’s path to maturity in the last days of the war. It’s impossible to watch without chuckling guiltily, but it also packs a shuddering shock or two: beware the scene with the shoes… Sky Store, from Monday
Sonic The Hedgehog
After a huge online backlash following the trailer, the creepy blue hedgehog was given a much less offensive look. The result: a frothy adventure as Sonic teams up with new friend Tom Wachowski to prevent the evil Doctor Robotnik – Jim Carrey in typical OTT style – from capturing him. Decent family lockdown fun. Sky/Rakuten/Amazon, from Monday