The Herald - The Herald Magazine
BOX SETS AND ON DEMAND
The Doctors (BritBox, from Thu)
Believe it or not, there are Doctor Who fans out there who feel that the original run of the series, which ran from 1963 to 1989, remains far superior to the revamped version, which has been hugely popular since its first appearance in 2005.
You might agree with them after watching this in-depth, 11-part documentary, which features more than 60 hours of insights, including clips and interviews with those who have appeared in the show.
All incarnations of everyone’s favourite Time Lord will be included, but there are special editions focusing on the versions played by William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy and Paul McGann.
The Attache (StarzPlay, from Sun)
Actor Eli Ben-David was inspired by his own experiences to create and co-write this 10-part Israeli drama in which he also stars. He plays Avshalom, a Jewish man of Moroccan descent who has carved himself a successful career in the music business.
When his wife Annabelle announces she’s landed a new job as an attache to the Israeli embassy in Paris, the couple relocate to the so-called city of love and are looking forward to an exciting year full of adventure and romance.
However, the reality turns out to be very different. Avshalom immediately feels like a fish out of water, a situation made even worse when the largest terror attack in French history takes place.
His marriage also begins to flounder, while an immigration crisis also looks set to turn the couple’s dream into a nightmare.
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal (Netflix, from Wed)
The latest in a long line of documentaries from the
screening giant also features in-depth dramatic reconstructions featuring Matthew Modine. Made by the team behind the smashhit Tiger King, it focuses on the headline-hitting story from 2019 that eventually saw actors Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin, among others, sentenced to jail.
Their crime was to secure their offsprings’ place in a top US university – not through sheer hard work and dedication, but by paying for them. Modine plays Rick Singer, who came up with a number of schemes, such as cheating on college admissions tests, creating fake athletic profiles and bribing school officials.
The programme’s makers reveal how Singer was eventually caught, using transcripts taken from FBI wiretaps.
Mountain Rescue (Walter Presents/All 4, from Fri)
Are in Sweden is one of Scandinavia’s most popular skiing resorts and was set to host the 2021 Special Olympics World Winter Games, until it was delayed by a year and moved to Kazan in Russia. But it’s still getting a little publicity thanks to this thrilling 10-part drama series which offers breathtaking panoramas of the amazing local scenery.
Although it’s a picturesque place, we soon learn that it can be dangerous too because each episode follows the lives of the local mountain rescue team, as well as the police, fire service and local doctors.
At the centre of it all are Asa and her son, who left the big city to start afresh after her husband died, and Sofia, a medic with a reckless love life.