Hello!
Here’s your newsletter with what to watch this week.
Fleabag (BBC Three and BBC One, tonight 10.35pm) - Tonight’s Fleabag is likely to be the very last one and I just want to say: it is perfect.
I’m not going to say anything else about the episode, but can we talk about how refreshing it is to see a show bowing out with everyone wanting more? It’s still such a rarity.
Too many shows have dragged out for so many series that we would like to forget. Keeping it short and sweet can be infuriating, but it is a very British thing and it helps make it some of the best television in the world.
The Yorkshire Ripper Files: A Very British Crime Story (BBC iPlayer) - There are a lot of crime documentaries on television right now. Arguably, way too many. What makes this one worth your time, though, is that it doesn’t feast on gruesome evidence or intrusive testimony. Instead, it looks at the flaws of the original police investigation, the astounding misogyny and how much valuable evidence and testimony had been ignored. Thanks to Rachel, a Worth Watching reader, for suggesting I take a look.
The Victim (BBC One, Monday-Friday at 9pm) - Quite intrigued by this one. A man is beaten at his front door by someone in costume. He’s taken to hospital and tries to work out why he was attacked. It turns out, someone uploaded a photo of him to the internet accusing him of committing a notorious murderer as a child. The drama, which will be aired over four separate nights, raises questions about whether you can be rehabilitated from a childhood crime and the consequences of taking justice into your own hands.
Mimi on a Mission (iPlayer) - This is a show for teenagers, but I want to put it on your radar. It looks at the differences in attitudes towards sex education between here and Amsterdam. I’m including it as a show I wish had existed when I was a teenager as sex education back then was so damn poor. The lack of it, especially LGBTQ-based info, messed me up a bit when I became an adult if I’m honest.
In WTF news… It looks as if we have to wait months for Killing Eve to be shown in the UK, even though you can currently watch it in Portugal and Ireland. According to The Guardian, much of this is down to the international rights and the BBC wanting to release all the episodes at the same time, rather than once a week. A bit ridiculous, considering that a lot of people may end up illegally streaming it instead and Fleabag was released weekly, but there we are.
Can we also talk about Race Across the World? Last night’s finale was astounding. Proper shouting-at-the-television stuff. You have got to read this behind-the-scenes piece in Broadcast about how they made it. The most remarkable thing was how two assistant producers did a trial run to prove that you could get from London to Singapore without taking a flight before they started filming for the series.
In this week’s Radio Times column… I decided to watch all of those weird Channel 5 niche shows where they countdown snacks and I sort of lost it.
And what to avoid… The Widow (ITV, Monday 9pm) - For a drama set in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s remarkable how little you learn about the country. The lack of context in this is absolutely baffling.
Thanks for reading. See you next week.
Scotty x