TV DETECTIVE

If you liked... SPICKS AND SPECKS

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SPICKS AND SPECKS ’00S SPECIAL

7.40PM, SUNDAY, ABC

THIS show should come with a medical warning – prepare for an injection of Vitamins J, O, and Y, in its purest form. Host Adam Hills, and team captains Alan Brough and Myf Warhurst, are the trio I want to be isolated with, such is their infectious humour and obvious adoration for each other. The result is smile-until-your-face-hurts TV, and this special – on the music of the noughties – is no exception. I giggled from the introductions, welcoming Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper, Jet’s Nic Cester and comics Joel Creasey and Sarah Kendall to swap anecdotes and answers in this beloved music trivia show. What impresses me about the production is the constant creativity, not just resting on the same format for all of its 277 episodes across seven seasons.

If you liked... THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA

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MRS AMERICA

8PM, TUESDAY, FOX SHOWCASE AND STREAMING, FOXTEL NOW

CATE Blanchett doesn’t waste her time on middle-of-the-road material, so you can rest assured her decision to sign on to play Phyllis Schlafly – one of the most influential political forces in US history – is going to make for fascinating viewing. It probably says something of the Republican Party and their contemporary view of a woman’s place that Schlafly remains a footnote in the election of Ronald Reagan to the White House and the one-woman blockade to passing the Equal Rights Amendment which would provide gender parity. The costuming is luxe and Rose Byrne (pictured) as Gloria Steinem is utterly mesmerising. But for modern-day feminists, still fighting the same battles as these sisters, it also hits a note of despair that we haven’t come as far as we think we have. We owe it to their legacy to continue what they started.