The Plot Against America

Sky Atlantic, 9pm & 10.10pm The Wire’s creator David Simon adapts the superb 2004 novel by Philip Roth, imagining a horrific alternate history in which the US is overtaken by the forces of fascism after Franklin Delano Roosevelt loses the 1940 presidential election to legendary aviator and populist right-winger Charles Lindbergh.

This six-part series begins with a double bill in which the Levin family in New Jersey are disturbed by reports of their fellow Jews in Europe, but initially believe they have little to fear themselves. We are introduced to all the family members – including the troubled orphan nephew Alvin (Anthony Boyle) – as well as the strangely contradictory figure of Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf (John Turturro), a charismatic Lindbergh supporter who wins over the naively vulnerable Evelyn (Winona Ryder, far right). ★★★★★