Worth Watching: 'Toxic Town' and 'Get Millie Black'

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Welcome to Worth Watching.

I was under the weather last week, but I’m back with a new newsletter today. Hello.

Not only does it feel like Spring today, but Amandaland has also been confirmed for a second series.

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ON TELEVISION NEXT WEEK

• Netflix releases Adolescence (Thursday 13th March), a new drama created and written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham where each episode is one continuous break. That’s quite a feat.

• BBC Two is airing a new competitive chess series hosted by Sue Perkins. The series is called Chess Masters: The Endgame, and runs in the Only Connect slot.

• Michael Sheen has a new Channel 4 documentary looking at debt companies and how they profit from some of society’s most vulnerable. As part of the doc, he has written off £1m of people’s debts. Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway will air on Monday.

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SHOWS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

Toxic Town (Netflix, all episodes) – Jack Thorne’s drama on the Corby toxic waste scandal is one of the best dramas of the year so far. It looks at how cleanup of the local steelworks resulted in women giving birth to children who had limb differences and health issues. Toxic waste had been transported through Corby in open lorries, resulting in waste spilling onto the road and being released into the air.

The writing is excellent and the acting, particularly by Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood, is compelling. The series delicately explores the personal hell and self-blame the victims experienced, whilst never losing sight of the near impossible legal mountain they all had to climb to receive compensation.

The origin story of the drama is also interesting. The show’s creator and executive producer is Annabel Jones, Charlie Brooker’s longtime collaborator in everything from Screenwipe to Black Mirror. Jones originally heard about the Corby toxic waste scandal from one of her friends from the town and was amazed that not more people knew about this story.

Toxic Town is made by Jones’ and Brooker’s production company Broke and Bones, which Netflix made a significant investment in five years ago.

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Imagine: The Academy of Armando (BBC One) – I have a soft spot for documentaries on how television shows are made (naturally), so this new profile on Armando Iannucci and how shows such as The Day Today and The Thick of It was the highlight of my week.

They both pour through old scripts, talk about memorable scenes (and swear words) from his shows and highlights Iannucci’s quest for “shorter, funnier, better” in all of his work.

What was also rather interesting was how hard Iannucci to pin down to interview, with Yentob saying that the documentary has been in the works for ten years.

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