This week: A Moriarty mystery, two British dramas debut on ‘Masterpiece,’ and a Paul Simon doc
1. Liane Moriarty is becoming another Harlan Coben, as her novels — including “Big Little Lies” and “Nine Perfect Strangers” — are almost systematically being turned into TV adaptations. The latest is her 2021 mystery “Apples Never Fall,” now a seven-episode miniseries premiering Thursday on Peacock. In it, the lives of retired tennis coaches Stan and Joy Delaney (Sam Neill and Annette Bening) are shaken up when a mysterious woman befriends them and moves into their empty nest. When Joy disappears, joy disappears, and the adult four Delaney kids — played by Alison Brie, Jake Lacy, Conor Merrigan, and Essie Randles — try to figure out who dun dunit.
2. Russell T Davies, creator of the 2005 revival of “Doctor Who,” “A Very English Scandal” with Hugh Grant, the original “Queer as Folk,” and the HBO drama “Years and Years,” has a three-parter coming to “Masterpiece.” Called “Nolly,” it’s based on the true story of Noele Gordon, a popular British TV star in the 1960s and ’70s whose abrupt firing from the soap opera “Crossroads” in 1981 made headlines. Need more British excellence? Helena Bonham Carter stars, along with Mark Gatiss and Augustus Pew. It premieres Sunday at 9 p.m., followed at 10 by another “Masterpiece” miniseries called “Alice and Jack,” in which, “One Day”-like, we chart a complex relationship across the decades. Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough star.
3. Tobias Menzies — he was Prince Philip for two seasons on “The Crown” — stars as Secretary of War Edwin Stanton in Apple TV+’s sevenparter “Manhunt.” After the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln, Stanton goes on a search for the killer, John Wilkes Booth (played by Anthony Boyle of “Masters of the Air”). The show, based on James Swanson’s book “Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer,” features Hamish Linklater as Lincoln, Lili Taylor as Mary Todd Lincoln, Matt Walsh as Booth conspirator Dr. Samuel Mudd, and Patton Oswalt as a detective. It premieres on Friday.
4. As the election approaches, Max has a new drama series about four female political journalists covering a (fictitious) presidential campaign. Inspired by Amy Chozick’s nonfiction book “Chasing Hillary,” “The Girls on the Bus” stars Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Natasha Behnam, and Christina Elmore as the journalists, who form a kind of family despite being competitors. Also in the cast of the show, which premieres on Thursday: Griffin Dunne, Scott Foley, Mark Consuelos, and Brandon Scott.
5. He’s certainly no one-trick pony, nor is he fakin’ it. He’s older — he’s 82 — and I’m betting (I have no proof ) that he’s still crazy after all these years. OK, so maybe he can’t run … but his brilliance keeps bouncing back like a red rubber ball. It’s not slip slidin’ away, as his most recent album, “Seven Psalms,” shows. He could write a song about the moon, say, and it would likely be something so right and keep the customer satisfied. OK, maybe I think too much. I’m referring to Paul Simon, who’s getting the documentary treatment by Alex Gibney. Called “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” the two-parter premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on MGM+.