The best on the box
James Croot’s television picks for the week ahead.
The Graham Norton Show, 8pm, Friday, Three
The best talk show on TV returns for a 22nd season with the Irish comedian once again attracting the cream of the entertainmentindustry crop. This week’s episode features Blade Runner 2049 stars Harrison Ford and Ryan Gosling, Australian actress Margot Robbie, Home Again’s Reese Witherspoon and 1980s girl band Bananarama.
Doctor Foster, 8.30pm, Monday, TVNZ1
As season two of this popular British drama opens, life seems to be back on track for talented doctor Gemma Foster (Suranne Jones) after the turmoil that followed her husband Simon’s betrayal. But can you ever really move on from your ex – especially when a child is involved? ‘‘Jones – conflicting emotions skidding across her face – gives an extraordinarily precise performance,’’ wrote The Telegraph’s Ben Lawrence.
The Handmaiden, 8.30pm, Monday, Rialto
Memoirs of a Geisha this ain’t.
Fans of Korean director Park Chan Wook will have some idea of what to expect from this unlikely 2016 adaptation of Sarah Waters’ 2002 novel Fingersmith. From Old Boy to Lady Vengeance and Stoker, Wook has created blood-soaked and sensual tales of revenge. If the plot is filled with salacious moments and head-spinning changes in direction, then the true delights of The Handmaiden are in the details.
The Great British Bake Off, 7.30pm, Tuesday, Prime
Just a mere 14 months after it aired in the UK, Sky finally gets around to showing the final Mel, Sue and Mary season of this muchloved reality cooking competition. First up, the 12 new amateur bakers must take on cake week.
Cutie and the Boxer, 8.30pm, Tuesday, Maori TV
This New York-set documentary explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara to his wife Noriko. ‘‘Zachary Heinzerling’s feature-length documentary gathers force slowly, but with such wisdom and calm mastery that I found myself stunned, toward the end, by the beautiful vastness of it all,’’ wrote The Wall St Journal‘ s Joe Morgenstern.
800 Words, 8.30pm, Wednesday, TVNZ1
In the third season of the popular Australasian drama the town mounts a search and rescue operation; twins arrive, bringing more than just paternity complications; and George (Erik Thomson) faces a moral dilemma. ‘‘There’s still a sense of playfulness, but it’s evenly balanced with the more weighty plotlines and George’s whimsical, thought-aloud 800-word columns that bookend each episode,’’ wrote TheSydney Morning Herald‘ s Bridget McManus.