Daily Mail - Daily Mail Weekend Magazine
BEST DRAMAS
midlife mayhem
Bridget Christie, who also wrote the show, stars as Linda (left), who’s just turned 50 and treats the menopause as a reason to find herself – or to find something, anything, other than her life as it is. Beautifully written and performed, this is sharp as a razor, subversive and inventive, a gem for any time of life. true-crime shocker When novelist and teacher Peter Farquhar fell for his ex-student Ben Field, he had no idea their names would be forever linked after a shocking crime in 2015 in the Buckinghamshire village of Maids Moreton. Timothy Spall leads the cast as Peter in this four-part true-crime drama; Anne Reid co-stars as Ann MooreMartin, who also fell under Ben’s spell. Holding his own among these acting heavyweights is Normal People’s Eanna Hardwicke as Ben, who exudes charm and menace in equal measure. gritty belfast cops Think you’ve seen enough police dramas? Then here’s a reminder of what a really good one looks like. From the team behind The Salisbury
Poisonings, it’s gritty and unvarnished, but also upbeat and shot through with fitting black humour, as we follow a trio of rookie cops having a baptism of fire in postTroubles Belfast.
hunt for a serial killer The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, struck fear into the heart of Britain during his reign of terror in the late 1970s, which left 13 women dead, including Emily Jackson (Katherine Kelly, left). A sense of dread fills this compelling drama that follows the police’s desperate five-year hunt for one of Britain’s worst serial killers. What this does so well is give voice to the victims and their families, while keeping Sutcliffe away from the limelight. extraordinary wildlife
No one does natural history shows quite like David Attenborough – who, aged
97, fronted this spectacular eight-parter nearly two decades after the original Planet Earth series first aired. Although TV schedules are saturated with wildlife shows (Our Planet,
long-awaited finale We waited nearly seven years for the third and final series of Sally Wainwright’s brilliant, Baftawinning Northern noir, and it really was worth the wait.
Sarah Lancashire’s no-nonsense police
Sergeant Catherine
Cawood and her criminal nemesis
Tommy Lee Royce
(James Norton, above right with Lancashire, top, and Rhys Connah, right, as Cawood’s grandson Ryan) finally had their climactic showdown. No prizes for guessing who came out on top.