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4 hours ago
6
Pick of the week
Down Cemetery Road
When a gas main explodes in a quiet Oxford street it initially comes as a merciful respite from the awkward dinner party being hosted by Sarah Tucker (Ruth Wilson). But soon, the fallout from the explosion becomes more disconcerting. Sarah (by day, a bored art historian) turns detective when an attempt to deliver a card to a child injured in the blast drags her into a conspiracy; soon she’s in cahoots with Emma Thompson’s spiky PI Zoe Boehm and getting entirely out of her depth. As befits a thriller adapted from a novel by Slow Horses creator Mick Herron, it’s an enjoyably astringent, increasingly nervy mixture of edgewalking intrigue and unsentimental, pitch-black humour.
Apple TV, from Wednesday 29 October
Jimmy Carr’s Am I the A**hole?
Fresh from lampooning a repressive theocracy at the Riyadh Comedy Festival via the neat satirical device of accepting their money, Jimmy Carr returns to TV in this series derived from a popular Reddit subreddit. Ironically, it’s a show about, as Carr puts it, “defining the parameters of morality” - admissions of questionable behaviour are submitted to Carr (and his panel of Jamali Maddix and GK Barry) before an audience vote. The infractions are light-hearted, although one woman draws gasps for admitting to pushing her brother out of his wheelchair during childhood. Carr is clearly well placed to pass judgment.
Paramount+, from Tuesday 28 October
Mayor of Kingstown
“I fix flawed institutions.” The mission statement of warden Nina Hobbs (Edie Falco) as she arrives in the fictional setting of Kingstown, Michigan spells trouble for Jeremy Renner’s Mike McLusky and indeed, everyone taking a piece of the pie in a place where correctional facilities underwrite a whole local economy. After the demise of the Russian cartel, Mike is already facing a power vacuum which threatens to cause a gang war. As it reaches its fourth season, Mayor of Kingstown remains gritty but generic – one of those crime dramas that seems to take place in perpetual twilight.
Paramount+, from Sunday 26 October
Selling Sunset
“Friend is a loose term in this office.” It’s the ninth season of casual brutality in expensive kitchens, and the real estate agents of LA continue to wallow in their poisonous constructed reality. Nicole and Chrishell are still feuding; indeed Chrishell threatened to leave the show but has subsequently relented (“I will always be able to change my mind if you add a zero”). And there’s a new recruit: Sandra Vergara arrives amid a flurry of suspicious air-kisses but will presumably have knives hanging out of her back before long. You know the drill.
Netflix, from Wednesday 29 October
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Hazbin Hotel
This adult animation, which began life as a YouTube short by Vivienne Medrano, returns for a second season. It’s an eccentric approach to a familiar premise: a battle between heaven and hell. The hotel of the title is a version of purgatory where damned souls can attempt to cleanse themselves and escape the wrath of heaven. However, the vibe is surreal rather than epic – the camp demons burst into song at any opportunity. As the battle continues and the hotel is infiltrated, can Lucifer’s daughter Charlie continue her soul-saving?
Prime Video, from Wednesday 29 October
The Witcher
It’s all change in Witcher-world as Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as the charismatic, musclebound quester Geralt for this fourth season. They’re big shoes to fill in more ways than one: Cavill brought a likable dry wit to the role that Hemsworth must work to acquire. However, in other respects, it’s business as usual – Ciri (Freya Allan) is once again in danger as sorcerer Vilgefortz looks to build an army. Geralt is caught slightly off-guard but soon, he’s assembling a(nother) rag-tag army and setting out to rescue his Princess. Again.
Netflix, from Thursday 30 October
The Roots of Evil
A trail of murdered girls is the sadly overfamiliar focus of this self-consciously dark German drama from the Walter Presents slate. After a girl is found dead in a forest with runic markings carved into her skin, two cops are assigned to the case. The story is set in 1993 so it’s significant that, so soon after German reunification, the partnership features an East and West German officer. As other girls go missing, the detectives are forced to plunge into painful aspects of their country’s recent past – and face some difficult truths about themselves too.
Channel 4, from Friday 31 October
