February 5, 2024
What’s good to watch on Disney who’ve used their production expertise to craft some impressive original programmes.
Star Wars fans will love this channel featuring a series of superior TV spin-off programmes, most notably Andor. Need to entertain the kids? There’s a raft of Marvel and animated programmes and there’s definitely something for the discerning viewer, as you’ll discover below.
Dopesick
Starting in the mid-1990s, Purdue, owned by the Sackler Family, set about making their new “slow release” opioid the most popular pain relief drug in the US, claiming that it was less addictive than other drugs in the same class.
Beginning with industrial mining and logging towns, where chronic pain from injuries was more common, the drug spread out across the country converting users into addicts.
This eight-part series with a gifted cast, headed by Michael Keaton, lets the narrative skip between the Sacklers, the sales reps, the enforcement agencies and the end users to tell a story that is scarcely believable and leaves you feeling angry.
A great example of how TV can take a major issue and serve it up to an international audience.
Now also available on BBCiPlayer.
The Dropout
Amanda Seyfried excels in this jaw-dropping drama about Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of Theranos, a medical company that claimed it had developed technology that would revolutionise blood testing.
The entrepreneur ended up raising more than $700 million from some of the most powerful investors in America — before it emerged that everything she had done was flawed. She is now serving a prison sentence for financial crimes. This drama is well-crafted, compelling and engrossing.
Seyfried won best actress at the Golden Globe awards for her outstanding performance.
The Good Mothers
Based on a true story, it tells how three women took on the Calabrian Ndrangheta mafia.
Their reasons and consequences for doing so and how they collaborated with the public prosecutor determined to crush the power of the gangs.
It vividly portrays what life is like in such a male dominated society and how difficult it is to break away.
Renegade Nell
In Sally Wainwright’s whimsically wild magical historical drama, Derry Girls’ Louisa Harland shines as the spirited accidental highwaywoman, Nell Jackson.
Known for her portrayal of dynamic female characters, Wainwright takes a playful turn with Harland leading the charge, weaving a tale that pays homage to classic stories like Dick Turpin, Moll Flanders, and Pinocchio.
With Nell framed for a murder she didn’t commit, the plot unfolds with delightful surprises, as Nell is assisted, physically and morally by a Fairy bestowing a superpower on Nell in dangerous situations.
Goodies and Baddies abound and it’s Wainwright’s deft touch that prevents the story from subsiding into complete daftness. A perfectly pleasant way to spend a few hours.
Shogun
In the late 1970s, James Clavell’s historical novel about an English sailor in feudal Japan was a household staple. Its success led to a celebrated nine-hour miniseries in 1980, starring Richard Chamberlain and Toshiro Mifune.
Now, nearly 50 years later, FX has invested heavily in a ten-episode drama series, ensuring every detail reflects authenticity.
The show follows the journey of John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis sounds remarkably like the late Richard Burton), a “barbarian” pilot navigating the foreign court of Lord Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada). With meticulous attention to detail, this series is not just television, but art.
Multiple Award Winning Emmy series.
Black Cake
In 2023, a production by Oprah Winfrey, based on Charmaine Wilkerson’s bestseller, emerged.
It’s a bold family melodrama centered on Eleanor Bennett, a Caribbean woman, whose tumultuous life unfolds through letters and recipes left for her children.
The story brims with intrigue, featuring gangsters, poisonings, faked deaths, stolen identities, and more. Though the dialogue occasionally lacks depth, the stellar performances elevate the narrative. The later episodes don’t quite measure up to the early ones but still very watchable.
The Artful Dodger
This is a very watchable sequel to Oliver Twist. In a bold move, the writers propel the concept forward, envisioning a new chapter for the iconic urchin, the Artful Dodger, beyond the streets of London.
“Love Actually” Thomas Brodie-Sangster portrays Jack Dawkins, now a Royal Navy surgeon in Australia, performing flamboyant amputations.
When he encounters his former mentor, Fagin (played by the always excellent David Thewlis), in Port Victory, it becomes evident that his past still haunts him. Meanwhile, the governor’s spirited daughter, Lady Belle Fox (Maia Mitchell), uncovers secrets about Dawkins that fuel her ambition to become a surgeon.
While not suitable for family viewing due to its mature themes, it offers a lively exploration of Dodger’s continued adventures.
It’s romping along television and all the better for it.
The Bear
Now in Series 2, The Bear, in the opinion of many, was the best show of 2022.
It tells the story of a Michelin starred chef forced to return to Chicago to run the family sandwich shop after the suicide of his older brother. Coming to grips with the business and the great mixture of characters who work in the kitchen is what drives the story.
It’s not always easy to follow the dialogue, so you might need to turn on your subtitles, but stay with it because it’s worth it.
The third series doesn’t quite measure up to the previous two.
The Old Man
Anything starring Jeff Bridges is always worth a look. He plays former CIA operative and Vietnam veteran Dan Chase who has spent the last three decades living off the grid in Vermont.
However, his quiet life is disrupted when he kills an intruder in his home, leading him to seek refuge and rent a room from Zoe McDonald (portrayed by Amy Brenneman).
As Chase tries to evade capture, his complex history with FBI Assistant Director Harold Harper (played by John Lithgow) comes to light. Harper is tasked with apprehending Chase, setting off a fast-paced and gripping drama filled with twists and turns.
Justified
The original six series were on Amazon Prime and the latest is now on Disney+. Described by The Guardian “As been one of the best-made, least-known programmes ever to wallow on Prime”.
The original series centred around Deputy Marshal Raylan Givens returning to his Appalachian roots and dealing with a host of hillybilly crimes perpetrated by interesting characters who had to deal with the cool cowboy marshal.
It was one of those series that grips from the start and just keeps drawing you in and the latest series doesn’t disappoint as Givens is in Detroit trying to reconnect with his daughter and having to adapt his own form of justice in an entirely different environment.
Extraordinary
This is one of those programmes that you think I’ll give it a go, not expecting much and then find yourself watching episode after episode.
In an eight-part comedy drama, the delightful premise is that in a parallel universe everyone possesses a unique superpower—everyone except Jen, a 25-year-old Irish ex-pat costume-shop worker living in London.
Played by the ever-ebullient Máiréad Tyers, Jen navigates a world where adults around her flaunt supernatural abilities. The series is a playful, raunchy, and irreverent blend of acerbic slice-of-life rom-com and superhero coming-of-age drama.
Now in it’s second series, it offers plenty of comic set-pieces and caustic one-liners to keep viewers engaged. Sometimes you want a last thing at night 30 minute programme to put you in the right frame of mind and this does.
Only Murders In The Building
A refreshingly humorous approach to the true crime genre.
The show follows the adventures of three unlikely amateur sleuths brought together by their love of true crime podcasts.
The show stars the comedy legend Steve Martin as Charles-Haden Savage, a 1960s TV star, his regular co-conspirator Martin Short as Oliver Putnam, a struggling Broadway director, and Selena Gomez as Mabel Mora, a young artist living in her aunt’s apartment in the same building.
The trio team up to make a podcast about a murder in their own building — and crack the case along the way. It gallops along in a pleasing way that in the words of a famous detective is “not going to trouble the little grey cells.”
Three series available.
Mr Inbetween
This crime drama unfolds amidst the gritty streets of Sydney’s underbelly, far from the iconic Opera House.
Ray, portrayed by Scott Ryan, is a criminal tasked with unsavoury jobs like digging graves for underworld bosses. Yet, Ray’s character is multi-dimensional; he’s a devoted father and caretaker for his brother battling motor neurone disease, often navigating the mundane aspects of daily life like school drop-offs.
Mixing devilish humour with poignant moments, it’s akin to The Sopranos with an Australian twist. Each episode, some as short as 32 minutes, is a morally complex and efficiently crafted mini-epic. What’s remarkable is that Ryan, the star, embodies only one character: Ray.
This series evolved from a 2005 film titled The Magician, where Ryan played the same role. Despite facing skepticism about his potential, Ryan’s journey from taxi driver to acclaimed actor underscores the show’s theme of personal resilience. Mr. Inbetween is a gem of a TV original, deserving of wider recognition and appreciation.
Tell Me That You Love Me
If you like the film Past Lives, (my film of 2023) you should like this Korean series.
Cha Jin Woo, a deaf artist, communicates through his art due to others’ reluctance to learn sign language. His world changes when he meets Jung Mo Eun, an aspiring actress who learns sign language to connect with him.
As they navigate communication barriers, their friendship starts with chance meetings and whilst you know they are likely to fall in love, it’s an ever evolving scenario that at times can frustrate because you so want them to acknowledge their depth of feeling.
It’s 16 episodes and that might put you off. If it does, then you have missed something utterly enchanting and a little bit special.
Read our guide to other streaming channels
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