10 shows to watch
OUR NATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT WRITER LISA WOOLFORD SHARES HER PICKS FOR THE WEEK AHEAD
THIS IS GOING TO HURT Wednesday, 9pm, ABC + iView
Based on Adam McKay’s best-selling memoir, this gritty dramedy gives viewers an accurate and somewhat scary sneak peek behind the curtain of Britain’s National Health Service. Set in 2006 in a busy obstetrics and gynaecology ward, the series follows junior doctors Adam (Ben Whishaw) and Shruti Acharya (Ambika Mod) as they juggle tricky patients, the worst bosses and medical emergencies as they work seemingly never-ending shifts. It’s laugh-outloud funny, then rips your heart out in the next moment.
THE MARVELS Streaming, Disney+
This film, rather surprisingly, didn’t excel at the box office last year “only” making $US206m, which didn’t even cover its budget, but it’s definitely worth a watch. Filled with the usual clever Marvel humour, it follows Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) who is once again trying to save the universe, this time alongside Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) and Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris). It’s perfect for a family movie night.
HALO Thursday, Paramount+
It’s just one more sleep until the hotly anticipated second season of the live action-sci-fi series – which takes place in the universe introduced in the hugely successful 2001 Xbox game – drops and fans are frothing. The futuristic adaptation – which boasts Steven Spielberg as an executive producer – dramatises an epic 26th-century conflict between humanity and an alien threat known as the Covenant. This second instalment picks up the story of Master Chief John-117 (Pablo Schreiber), a soldier who leads his team of elite Spartans against the Covenant.
ONE DAY Thursday, Netflix
This is the second attempt at adapting David Nicholls’ hit 2009 novel about two Edinburgh University students, Dexter and Emma, who platonically spend their graduation night together and vow to reunite on July 15 every year, leading to a heap of romantic longing, and struggles. The 2011 film, with Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway, was not universally loved. But a TV series can often do justice to a book. This time Dexter and Emma are Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) and Ambika Mod (This is Going to Hurt), and there’s a whole lot to like in their performances and this new adaptation.
BELOW DECK DOWN UNDER Thursday, 9.30pm Channel 7 and 7plus
Captain Jason and Chief Stew Aesha (viewers all fell even more in love with her last year on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here) are back on board for another full-throttle charter season in the stunning waters off Cairns. Jason, at the helm of the vintage M/Y Northern Sun, navigates tumultuous crew dynamics and unruly guests breaking his rules, along with a side of breathtaking underwater sight-sea-ing, a slew of hook-ups, breakups, and a rare “love pentagon”. Aesha also faces one of the most confronting moments in the series. New crew in this second season include Chef Tzarina MaceRalph, Bosun Luke Jones, and Stews Laura Bileskaine and Margot Sisson.
SUPER BOWL LVII Monday, 9.30am. Seven and 7plus
So, yeah, the actual game sees Taylor Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs take on the San Francisco 49ers. I have no tips. What I’m here for is the halftime show, which will be headlined by R&B great Usher. It’s not his first time grabbing the mic during the big game. He joined Guns N’ Roses’ Slash with the Black Eyed Peas in their set in 2011. The Yeah! singer has dubbed the gig the “honour of a lifetime”, but he’s keeping which songs and who – if anyone – might pop up as a guest performer tightly under wraps. I’m also hanging for the ads – especially Posh and Becks (for an Uber Eats extravaganza), who have teased a hilarious parody of a scene from their Netflix doco.
GRIMSBURG Monday, Binge
Look, we all wish it wasn’t just Jon Hamm’s voice that is the star of this animated comedy series. The Mad Men actor – who exec produces the series – voices Marvin Flute, who may be the greatest detective ever. He’s caught a cannibal clown and can correctly identify a mid-century modern armoire. But there’s one big mystery he still can’t crack – his family. He’s back in his home town – the Grimsburg of the title – where everyone has a secret (or three), and Flute’s following every lead he’s got to redeem himself with the ex-wife he never stopped loving, including hanging out with the son he’s never really bothered to get to know.
FIVE BLIND DATES Tuesday, Prime Video
The Family Law’s Shuang Hu stars in this heartwarming rom-com as 20something Lia. Faced with her failing traditional Chinese tea shop inherited from her grandma, and the prospect of attending her older sister’s wedding alone, she’s gifted a “prophecy” – the fate of her shop and her love life are intertwined, and the secret lies in one of her next five dates. Under pressure, Lia agrees to be set up with five potential suitors. It’s a truly joyful rom-com, with heaps of heart.
CRIMINAL RECORD Streaming, Apple TV+
This eight-ep series begins on a seemingly normal night in London. Veteran detective Chief Inspector Daniel Hegarty (Dr Who’s Peter Capaldi) is moonlighting as a chauffeur. Elsewhere, a frightened young woman calls emergency from a phone booth. She quickly tells the operator her boyfriend has been trying to kill her and that he killed an ex-girlfriend years prior, but another man is currently serving a 24-year prison sentence for the crime. Before the operator can get further details, the call drops. Hegarty isn’t averse to getting his hands dirty to get a job done, and when ambitious young detective June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) prises open the cold case that raises questions of Hegarty’s methods and motives, the duo are drawn into a tense game of cat-and-mouse. It’s both captivating and deeply disturbing – episodes drop weekly with just two more left to the stunning finale.