PICK OF DIGITAL & ON DEMAND TV

SON OF A CRITCH, PARAMOUNT+

YOUNG British actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth has come a long way since his 2018 screen debut in Emmerdale. He’s in Netflix’s The Sandman, was one of the creepy children in The Haunting of Bly Manor, and voices Pinocchio in Disney’s new remake (which is coming to Disney+ tomorrow). He also stars in this hit Canadian sitcom as 11-year-old Mark Critch, who’s growing up in 1980s Newfoundland. An old soul, Mark is a target for bullies at his junior high school, but he survives by telling jokes like, ‘I didn’t think I needed orthopaedic shoes, but I stand corrected.’ The show also stars Malcolm McDowell as Mark’s grandfather, who’s full of questionable wisdom. Sweet but sharply written, the series is reminiscent of Young Sheldon. The real Mark Critch, a popular Canadian comedian on whose memoir this is based, plays young Mark’s father, Mike (pictured second from left, with Claire Rankin, Ainsworth, Colton Gobbo and McDowell.