However, while there are more ways than ever to watch TV, it remains remarkably hard to know what to watch. We’ve taken the hard work out of the task and identified the very best of the forthcoming shows.
Draw the curtains and pour yourself a glass of red wine. Heck, you could even light a fire. A bonanza awaits. If you’re lucky, this list might just take you through until Christmas.
Dirty John: Betty Broderick
Based on a true crime case from the 1990s, this stylish series follows the cuckolded Betty Broderick as her husband Dan divorces her in the most bitter and grisly way possible. All does not end well. The story is compelling and the clothes, interiors and skulduggery will have your eyes on stalks. Expect brilliant acting from Amanda Peet and Christian Slater (albeit with a curiously static face). Meanwhile, if you were foolish enough to miss the first series of Dirty John, we urge you to tune in immediately.
All Creatures Great And Small
One word describes this brand-new dramatization of James Herriot’s memoirs – and that is ‘cosy’. The show charts the life of James Herriot, a young and newly qualified vet, as he begins his practice in a rural Yorkshire community in the 1930s. The cast includes old favourites like Diana Rigg and Samuel West and, as Herriot, the newcomer Nicholas Ralph. Soothing, bucolic and beautiful, the six-part series acts as a balm in these muddling times and is already a total hit. There’s even talk of a Christmas Special…
Ratched
Remember Nurse Ratched, the cold and heartless tyrant of a nurse from One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest? This unspeakably slick new series, which begins before One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, introduces us to a young Mildred Ratched in her first nursing job at a psychiatric hospital in California. Played exquisitely by Sarah Paulson, she looks impeccable but darkness lurks beneath. The show seems to ponder the question of whether villains are made or born. Paulson said of Nurse Ratched: “This is a woman who is a victim of a patriarchal infrastructure in this hospital. It could it be considered that she didn’t have any choice about whether or not she can access her heart in her way, if she could bring her femininity and her womanhood to the job.” Have a watch and make up your own mind.
The Undoing
The building blocks for this new TV series are as strong as they come. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant are the stars. David E. Kelly – who penned the screenplay for Big Little Lies – is the writer. Susanne Bier – who also directed The Night Manager – is the director. The New York Times bestselling novel You Should Have Known by Jean Hanff Korelitz is the inspiration. All of which, you must admit, makes for a very strong start. The thrilling drama sees the perfect life of New York therapist Grace Fraser fall apart as she faces a series of appalling revelations and disasters. The show’s central questions, according to Bier, are: “How well do we know anyone? How well do we know people who we think are really close to us?” Yup, we are sold.
Emily In Paris
This one is a treat. Perhaps not so much for the menfolk in your life – but who knows? From the creators of Sex and the City and The Devil Wears Prada – see, we told you it was a treat) – the frothy drama tells the story of a young marketing executive from Chicago who has been handed her dream job in Paris. Cue a flood of fabulous frocks, bittersweet romance and buckets of champagne – all filmed on location in Paris. The bite-size episodes last just 30 minutes, so this glorious guilty pleasure won’t take up much of your time.
The Crown
Thank the good lord: The Crown returns to Netflix for its fourth season on November 15. Watch Olivia Colman sparkle as Queen Elizabeth II as we head into the Margaret Thatcher years. Gillian Anderson plays the first female Prime Minister and said of the role: ‘As we got closer to filming, I almost died. My heart has never beat so fast in all of my life.’ Also central to the plot this time around is Princess Diana and her courtship with, marriage of and divorce from Prince Charles. Romance, rivalries and a great big dose of royalty: bring it on.
By Becky Ladenburg
September 2020
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