Watch Netflix’s The Stranger and Next in Fashion. And Channel 4‘s Michael Barrymore documentary
It’s your weekly Worth Watching email.
Hello,
Welcome to the Worth Watching newsletter. Here’s some shows that are out this week that I reckon are worth your time.
The Stranger (Netflix, out now) - There’s a simple premise at the start of this new British drama, based on a Harlan Coben novel: how would you react if a stranger told you, out of nowhere, an unexpected and explosive secret about a partner or spouse? That simple premise is then pretty much forgotten when three completely seemingly unconnected storylines are then mixed into the plot, including a detective who is investigating a murdered alpaca named after Louis from One Direction. No, I am not taking this out of context. This actually happened.
The Stranger is completely silly and I am addicted to it. It feels so much like a BBC midweek crime drama, but all of the dials turned up to 11. It also stars Jennifer Saunders as a cake shop owner who owns two six foot tall dogs that demolish bowl upon bowl of dog food. And Richard Armitage and Hannah John-Kamen, who constantly wears a baseball cap in her role as 'The Stranger' so that she can blend into her surroundings undetected (from watching this it works, apparently).
Next in Fashion (Netflix, out now) - Netflix have been pushing this Tan France / Alexa Chung competitive fashion reality show hard, where 18 designers from around the world compete in teams to create runway looks in less than 48 hours. And it’s good, although every time Tan France says “Alexa” to her co-presenter you assume that instead of the TV presenter responding back, an AI home assistant will. In fact, several people have told me that their home assistants have actually reacted whenever Tan France asks her a question during an episode. Do let me know if this happens to you too. It’s delightful.
You don’t need to have studied at Central St Martin's to care about what is going on, by the way. Even though some references to the fashion world might fly over your head (“OMG the Head of Fashion Partnerships at Instagram is here etc”), you will leave with a great deal of appreciation of the creativity and perseverance that goes into creating an innovative runway look. It is so well cast too, with contestants from all over the world.
Barrymore: The Body in the Pool (Channel 4, Thursday 9pm) - Michael Barrymore was one of the biggest TV stars in the nineties, bigger than Ant & Dec, host of practically every mainstream Saturday night entertainment show out there. Then, on the night of the 31st March 2001, the body of Stuart Lubbock was discovered at the side of a pool outside Barrymore’s home in Essex.
Barrymore has always said that Lubbock must have drowned in the pool following a late night party, but questions surrounding the incident have remained to this day and the case of what happened on this night remains unsolved. Working closely with Lubbock’s family, this Channel 4 documentary looks into what happened that night. Expect there to be a lot of news coverage into this feature length documentary before and after it airs.
On this week’s Must Watch podcast… We speak to Skin from Skunk Anansie about being a duck in the Masked Singer (obviously). Plus other reviews of what's on telly this week. Also, you should be absolutely bewatching The Masked Singer on ITV by the way. It’s delightfully shit. It’s also a show that you shouldn’t watch alone, as most of the show consists of you just shouting guesses at the television and then claiming to your friends you got it right when it is revealed who the singer is an hour later.
If you want some podcast recommendations, I was on BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Podcast Radio Hourthis week… interviewing Clara Amfo about her latest podcast where she chats to others about why they love London. Amanda Litherland and I then go through more than podcasts worth your time, with excerpts of them all.
If you have enjoyed this newsletter, please do tell others to subscribe by heading to the Worth Watching site. And if you have a show you love and want others to know about it too, respond to this email and I’ll mention it in the next one.
Have a great week.
I’ll leave you with this Simon McCoy moment.
Scotty / @scottygb