ON DEMAND HIGHLIGHTS

PAY-PER-VIEW MOVIES

Blue Story (2019) 15 u (Sky Store) ★★★ Tough gang drama set in London – it was pulled from cinemas due to violent incidents, although the film itself is strongly anti-violence. From Monday.

SKY ON DEMAND

DRAMA Olive Kitteridge (All four parts) ★★★★★ Brilliant HBO drama that’s a masterclass in acting, writing and pretty much everything else. At its centre is the marriage of a terse teacher (Frances McDormand) to a soft pharmacist (Richard Jenkins).

COMEDY The Cockfields (All three parts) ★★★★ In Joe Wilkinson’s finely observed comedy, Bobby Ball and Sue Johnston play the couple ‘welcoming’ son Simon (Wilkinson) and his girlfriend (Diane Morgan) to their Isle of Wight home for his 40th birthday. What they think of as welcoming, though, feels like something else entirely to him.

DRAMA True Blood (All seven seasons) ★★★ This Deep South vampire drama was utterly gripping in its early seasons, and stars Anna Paquin as a waitress with hidden supernatural depths.

NETFLIX

NEW! After Life (Season 2) ★★★ Ricky Gervais’s (above) grief comedy returns, and the best thing about it is the sheer number of familiar faces on screen. From Penelope Wilton and Peter Egan to Diane Morgan and an excellent Tracy Ann Oberman, it’s packed with talent. It’s also packed with swearing, especially from Annette Crosbie’s 100year-old woman in the opening episode. From Friday.

NEW! Middleditch & Schwartz (All three episodes) ★★★ Deft comedians Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley) and Ben Schwartz (Parks And Recreation) stretch their legs with three entirely improvised comedic forays into the unknown. From Tuesday.

MOVIE Extraction (2020) 18 ▲ ★★★ Marvel’s Chris Hemsworth is the big draw for this violent new thriller, in which he plays a hardened mercenary on a mission that changes his perspective. From Friday.