Watch... Sex Education, The Windermere Children and Little America
All of Parks and Recreation and Flight of the Conchords has also dropped on Now TV.
Hello,
Scotty here, with your Worth Watching newsletter. Here’s some shows worth watching this week. And if you find this email useful, tell others to subscribe too (for free!) by entering their email address on this website.
Sex Education (Netflix, out now) - I admit, I wasn’t that much of a fan of the first series of this British drama. Why? I felt distracted from the plot by its confusing American-style school setting and the slightly trippy nostalgic feel that made it feel the show had forgotten what decade it was supposed to be set in.
But now, honestly, I can’t get enough of it. Part of it is because I am used to its feel, but it’s also because it's so confident, witty and well-plotted. Sex Education is incredibly thoughtful in the way it deals with a number of issues surrounding sex and consent, a great example being the storyline surrounding Aimee’s sexual assault on public transport. If you dropped out of the first series like I did, you can rejoin in series two without being out of the loop.
The Windermere Children (BBC Two, last night) - Shortly after the end of World War II, 300 child survivors of Auschwitz were taken to an estate near Lake Windermere for rehabilitation, many not knowing them what had happened to other members of their family. This 90 minute drama, coinciding with Holocaust Memorial Day yesterday, is so striking because of the small points it makes, such as despite having beds offered to each of them, many young children instead slept huddled under one of them in groups out of habit. The sequence near the end of the drama, where Holocaust survivors meet the characters in the drama who told their story, is unforgettable.
I also recommend Auschwitz Untold: In Colour, which uses similar colourisation techniques to Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old.
Star Trek: Picard (Amazon Prime, now) - Having seen an episode or two of the new Jean-Luc Picard series, I can report that this one is firmly for the Trekkies. Plot references to earlier stories are barely explained, and it picks up where a film I had forgotten I'd watched left off in the mid-noughties, which makes it rather difficult for relative newbies (like me) to jump on. Having said that, I enjoyed it.
It feels like one of those shows that wouldn’t have been possible if we weren’t in this peak-TV ultra competitive television world.
Little America (Apple TV+, now) - This anthology of stories about immigrants who have made America their home will be an absolute joy to anyone who fell in love with Netflix’s Master of None. Both shows share the same executive producer, Alan Yang (who is joined here with Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon from The Big Sick) and each episode generates feelings of hope or hopelessness based on the character you root for. This is the second thing I have seen from Apple that has been unmissable television over the last month, the other being Servant from M. Night Shyamalan.
If this trend continues, I would actually start recommending Apple TV+ as something worth subscribing to. It’s not there yet (if you’ve bought an Apple device in the last year, the first year of watching is free anyway).
Other shows out at the moment… Deadwater Fell on Channel 4, The Masked Singer on ITV (so bad it’s iconic). By the way, Michael Palin gets a lifetime achievement award at the National TV Awards tonight.
On BBC Radio 5 Live’s Must Watch this week… we interviewed Joey Essex about Celebrity Ex on the Beach (he accidentally revealed the ending of the 15-part series during the interview and said he will have two kids before he turns 32). We also talked to Richard Armitage and Hannah John-Kamen about The Stranger. Subscribe on BBC Sounds or listen live every Monday at 3pm.
Your recommendations… Cheer (Netflix) - A documentary series following a cheerleading team as they prepare for Nationals. Charlie, a subscriber to the Worth Watching newsletter, told me: “It definitely challenges preconceptions about cheerleading, it's full of great characters that you really warm to, plus it's incredibly thrilling as you watch them pull off eye-watering stunts that leave you terrified they might injure themselves - which they do more often than you'd like to see.”
Meanwhile Allie said: “It is one of those instant armchair expert shows where I start saying that they didn’t extend well enough on that back flip two episodes in.”
If there’s a show that you love at the moment that you think other people should be watching, respond to this email and I’ll include it in a future newsletter.
On your radar… Sky Comedy launched this week. Quite a few shows have dropped to watch on-demand on NOW TV as a result, including all of Parks and Recreation, Flight of the Conchords, Looking, 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Mindy Project and Veep.
In Gavin & Stacey news… BBC have announced that in the 28 days since it aired, the Christmas special has been watched by 18.5 million people. It was the fifth biggest show of the 2010s. In a press statement Charlotte Moore (head of BBC content) said: “Like everyone, I’m longing to find out what happens next.”
I’m available to talk about TV or write for you, by the way… If you are looking for TV analysis, features or want someone to talk about television, drop me an email at scottglennbryan@gmail.com. Or simply respond to this email and I’ll get back to you.
Also… if this email was to arrive twice a week, but the second one be only for subscribers (for a small fee), what would you want that email to consist of? Shows that you should watch that weekend? Little tidbits? Email me your thoughts. Thank you.
And, finally, a word on the cancellation of Victoria Derbyshire… It is absolutely gutting that the BBC is axing this current affairs show. It provides a space for social affairs news and investigations that a lot of other shows wouldn’t cover, from sexual assault, to poverty and domestic abuse.
Take last Thursday’s show, for instance. They looked at dire council housing conditions and investigated preventable NHS deaths.
Meanwhile on This Morning, they did a trollesque feature on “traditional wives,” they interviewed Alexa Chung and talked about Meghan Markle’s Dad.
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Thanks for reading. Questions, comments or reviews, you know where to find me.
Scotty / @scottygb