Worth Watching: 'Juice', 'The Lovers' and 'Celebrity Race Across The World'
It's your Worth Watching email.
Hello,
Welcome to your Worth Watching email.
Reality show fans… we’re in for a bumper couple of months. Celebrity Race Across The World, Strictly Come Dancing and Married At First Sight UK have all started this week (CRATW is written up below), plus Bake Off starts next week. And, coming soon will be Big Brother’s grand return and the UK debut of Survivor.
Oh, and it was announced that former Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow is going to be on the next series of The Traitors US, along with Ekin-Su from Love Island and Peppermint from Drag Race.
No idea how reality show fans are going to keep up.
SHOW OF THE WEEK
Juice (BBC Three and BBC iPlayer - all episodes) - Mawaan Rizwan (above) stars as Jamma, a hyperactive, childish and wildly creative individual trying to navigate a blossoming relationship with his partner, played by Russell Tovey. In a nice twist, which makes this six-parter stand out from the rest of the genre, you see Jamma’s imagination come alive in various scenes; in one, you see him delve underneath a duvet to reveal a complex labyrinth of tunnels, in another, a nearby performing choir provides a melodramatic accompaniment to a private conversation.
Also, it’s lovely to have a show about a same-sex relationship without it having to be about bigotry and discrimination. This doesn’t mean that this important topic shouldn’t be a theme within a show, but I do love how this one deals with themes of: love, moving in with partners, and working out your future, in exactly the same way heterosexuals do — whilst still capturing the beauty of what it means to be queer.
This sitcom is an utter joy to watch.
REALITY SHOW OF THE WEEK
Celebrity Race Across The World (BBC One and BBC iPlayer - new episodes out weekly) - I know what you’re thinking. The word CELEBRITY. It can often result in a watered down or half-hearted version of a show. But this series of Race Across The World — a format in which teams of two race from one part of the world to another without the use of a plane — has not changed a bit to accommodate, and it looks just as exhausting to participate in as the non-celebrity version. It is also a nice choice, after the Canadian series, for the show to return to a race across different countries, rather than just one big one.
In fact, the inclusion of the celebrities also takes the stories which come up each episode in a rather interesting direction — with much discussion about how fame can inadvertently make you rather distant from loved ones.
The celebrities are Harry Judd and his mother Emma, Melanie Blatt and her mum Helene, Billy Monger and his sister Bonny, and Alex Beresford and his dad Noel.
IGNORE THE PUBLICITY AND WATCH IT
The Lovers (Sky Atlantic, Sky Q and NOW - all episodes) - Looking at the image above you might be completely put off from watching this romantic comedy, starring Johnny Flynn and Roisin Gallagher. Heck, I was. From the image, it looks absolutely dreadful. One of those rom-com posters you would see on the side of a bus around Valentine’s Day.
But this is an absolute (and unexpected) delight of a series, following the courtship of a successful political broadcaster called Seamus and a supermarket worker called Janet, who could not give a hoot about his fame and success. The writing by David Ireland is sharp and witty and takes the plot into some rather unexpectedly dark places.
It totally surprised me.
OTHER SHOWS WORTH WATCHING AT THE MOMENT:
The Super Models (Apple TV+) - A four part series that looks at how Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington became global supermodels in the 80s and 90s. There’s a lot here for fashion fans, but there might not be so much for the more general viewer.
The Morning Show (Apple TV+) - The first series of the Reese Witherspoon / Jennifer Aniston fronted production was a fascinating deep dive into workplace bullying and harassment. In the opening episode of the third series (don’t worry, this is not a spoiler) one of them goes into space. Even though something like this has actually happened (with host Michael Strahan on Good Morning America) the plot feels increasingly baffling and wonderfully ludicrous. I cannot stop watching. Well done, everyone.
WHERE TO FIND ME:
On Must Watch this week we reviewed Juice on BBC Three, The Super Models on Apple TV+ and The Lovers on Sky Atlantic.
I wrote about the return of Neighbours for The Guardian: “Is Neighbours set in the future now? This maddening Ramsay Street reboot makes no sense.”
I was also a guest on Fi and Jane talking about the BBC pulling Russell Brand’s content off BBC iPlayer and Channel 4.
Thanks so much for reading,
Scotty / @scottygb
If you find this newsletter helpful, please consider a subscription to Worth Watching. You’ll receive more frequent editions and help support my journalism.
Subscriptions begin at £3.50 a month, or £35 a year.