The best of TV and streaming this weekOur pick of the best television showsBBC1’s The Luminaries is menacing and clever — but uninvitingPoor lighting in this adaptation of Eleanor Catton’s novel set in 19th-century New Zealand leaves viewers in the darkBillion Pound Cruises on ITV investigates the cost of coronavirus on the cruise industryThe documentary explores how infection rapidly spread across liners and turned dream trips into floating nightmaresDark forces haunt 1930s LA in Penny Dreadful on Sky AtlanticThere are evil spirits and gruesome murders aplenty in this period sleuth seriesThe School That Tried to End Racism, Channel 4 — can bias be reprogrammed?The story of a ‘segregation experiment’ is a tough watch at times, but the children exude enthusiasm and kindnessScandalous! The Tabloid That Changed America brings The National Enquirer to BBC4This Storyville documentary charts the history, glory years and notoriety of the muck-raking paperPerry Mason returns in a show of slick, gruesome storytellingThe HBO/Sky reboot imagines the defence attorney as a young private detective in 1930s Los AngelesMore from this SeriesDeadly Russian intrigue comes to Wiltshire in BBC1’s The Salisbury PoisoningsThis suspense-filled mini-series dramatises the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia SkripalMy Brilliant Friend, Season 2 — a world rendered in exquisite visualsThe rewarding adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel returns to Sky Atlantic and HBOFascinating riches and dazzling sights in BBC4’s Art of PersiaThis three-part investigation into the art and history of Persia beguiles the eye and mindI May Destroy You, BBC1 — a millennial drama from the remarkable Michaela CoelStick with this 12-part portrayal of the search for self-worth and the perfect orgasmChannel 4’s Murder in the Outback investigates the mysterious case of Peter Falconio The four-part documentary re-examines the evidence surrounding the missing British touristInside Monaco: Playground of the Rich — just don’t ask who owns the yachtA three-part documentary gives viewers access to the once-discreet principalitySpace Force — Steve Carell lands as a lunatic general in cosmic Netflix comedyLisa Kudrow and John Malkovich also feature as wife and scientific adviser to Carell’s cocksure but clueless generalJeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich — Netflix series deconstructs a “sexual abuse pyramid scheme”Lisa Bryant’s four-parter includes victims’ testimony and details how the billionaire aggressively evaded justiceCardinal, BBC2 — Canada brings its own menace to detective noirA serial assassin with a ghastly MO targets a politician’s husband in a gripping episodeThe Plastic Nile — Sky documentary exposes the extent of Africa’s waste problemImages capturing the catastrophic pollution of the river are an antidote to ravishing nature filmsDystopian sci-fi Snowpiercer is a rickety Netflix spin-off of Bong Joon-ho’s filmJennifer Connelly stars in series about a strictly hierarchical train carrying Earth’s last remaining inhabitantsMcMillions tells the gripping story of the McDonald’s Monopoly scamThe six-part documentary follows an FBI agent’s hunt for the mastermind prize-riggerMen at the Barre on BBC4 has leaps, pliés and lots of testosteroneAthletes could be mistaken for young gods in this dance documentaryIbiza-set drama White Lines brings violence and hedonism to NetflixNew series follows a British woman in search of answers about her brother’s murder on the Spanish party islandAn exhilarating picture of resilience in BBC4 documentary Climbing BlindThis inspiring film traces the record-breaking ascent of a blind climber and his wifeComedian’s struggle told in BBC2’s What’s the Matter with Tony Slattery?Documentary follows the once-nimble comic as he attempts to confront mental illnessMark Ruffalo plays diverging twins in I Know This Much Is TrueSix-part series adapts Wally Lamb’s novel about family, loss and mental illnessMichelle Obama’s charm shines in Netflix documentary BecomingThe film captures the former first lady’s warmth as it chronicles her stadium-filling book tourDave — US comedy about a bumbling rapper comes to BBC2The series follows an idiotic yet charming nerd trying to make it big as Lil DickySleaze and racism in Netflix’s Hollywood take shine off ‘golden age’New period drama about an aspiring actor pulls back the curtain on postwar TinseltownDavid Stratton’s Stories of Australian Cinema is a riveting overviewThe much-loved film critic traces how the nation’s film industry found its voice in a three-part series on BBC4Brassic’s cast of grotesques returns for a second series on Sky OneVinnie and his misfits are back for more misadventures in their small Lancashire townThe Eddy — Netflix’s Parisian jazz drama is stylish and scuzzyAndré Holland stars as a beleaguered club owner in a series that accents the downbeatAtmospheric and beautifully acted: Sally Rooney’s Normal People comes to BBC1The best-selling novel by the ‘voice of the millennial generation’ comes alive in a 12-part TV adaptationComedy Code 404 brings mismatched inspectors to Sky OneDaniel Mays and Stephen Graham are paired in a new sitcom about a murdered detective rebooted through AISimon Schama and Alastair Sooke explore Museums in Quarantine on BBC4Unmissable four-part series visits masterpieces by Warhol and Rembrandt hanging in closed galleriesGangs of London is a revoltingly inventive crime seriesA kingpin’s murder sparks a frenzy of revenge and investigation in the Sky Atlantic/Cinemax seriesAfter Life, Netflix — performances lift an uneven second season of Ricky Gervais’s showThe comedian returns to the role of a bereaved husband whose serenity proves short-lived amid a cast of oddballsKilling Eve Season 3 — gruesome exits and bad behaviour in divine locationsSandra Oh and Jodie Comer return in the hit BBC series where violence and vengeance reign supremeAtlanta’s Missing and Murdered revisits killings of children in 1979HBO mini-series captures the fear and chaos that gripped a city in the wake of a series of crimesHome Before Dark — crime show with a hero who’s tough, ruthless and nine years oldApple TV+’s quirky and accessible series stars a self-styled reporter trying to crack a cold caseDevs: Futuristic thriller about a secretive tech company comes to BBC2Alex Garland’s mysterious eight-part series is full of lengthy silences and philosophical questionsPrue Leith: Journey with my Daughter, Channel 4 — a gripping and heartbreaking return to rootsThe restaurateur travels to Cambodia with adopted daughter Li-Da to reconnect with heritage and tragic historiesDomhnall Gleeson and Merritt Wever play old flames reunited in Run on Sky ComedyThe emotional and sometimes awkward comedy series is executive-produced by Phoebe Waller-BridgeNoughts and Crosses — looking back over a series reversing racial imbalancesThe BBC drama set in an alternate reality has its flaws but its central message is clear and urgentMagic, malaise and feats of recovery in Dynamo: Beyond Belief on Sky OneThe Bradford magician shows off a fresh arsenal of tricks in a globetrotting new seriesThe Countess and the Russian Billionaire, BBC2 — wealth, death threats and self-isolationThe twisty tale of an Englishwoman and her oligarch husband reveals the risks and rewards of being close to the KremlinMaya Erskine and Anna Konkle play their 13-year-old selves in Pen15 on Sky Comedy/HuluIt’s all braces and bad haircuts as the pair depict their awkward high-school days in the early 2000sDetective drama London Kills returns to BBC1 for an underwhelming second seasonA new crime squeezed into each episode leaves the plot feeling compressed to the point of absurdityFeel Good brings comedy, love and other addictions to Channel 4Canadian comic Mae Martin stars in new series drawing on her own life that also features Lisa KudrowChannel 4’s Putin: A Russian Spy Story traces the rise of the presidentThe documentary relates Putin’s life from his early days as a KGB officer to a political adeptMel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins reunite to play killers in HitmenThe duo have a lark tackling kidnap and murder in this awkward assassin comedy on Sky One/Now TVThe Letter for the King brings evil princes and knights-in-training to NetflixPacked with quests, prophesies and plucky characters, this new fantasy series is tremendous funBingeWatch: the BBC’s Handmade offers calming creativity in troubling timesOur new series on TV that is perfect for lockdown and isolation begins with a meditative documentary about making thingsBabylon Berlin captures the murky glamour of the late Weimar periodSeason Three of the show on Sky Atlantic/Netflix combines intrigue with period authenticityWestworld series 3 — robots and pseudo-reality do battle on Sky Atlantic/HBOEvan Rachel Wood and Aaron Paul are great, but there’s enough cod philosophy to restock the North SeaJulian Fellowes’s Belgravia — glossy period drama lords it over LondonTamsin Greig, Harriet Walter and Philip Glenister among top-flight cast in an entertaining account of the 19th-century aristocracyMartin Freeman is perfectly cast as a furious father in Breeders on Sky OneThis expletive-heavy family comedy elicits resigned smiles rather than belly laughsHilary Mantel plays with ghosts in Return to Wolf HallThe dead are ‘like a backing group’, reflects the novelist in this insightful BBC2 documentaryRob Brydon and Steve Coogan back on form in The Trip to GreeceThe pair return for their fourth gastronomic odyssey following in the footsteps of the AncientsThe Accused: Damned or Devoted? — Pakistan’s blasphemy trialsMohammed Ali Naqvi looks at those affected by the country’s controversial laws in a BBC4 documentaryThe Twilight Zone, Syfy/CBS — Jordan Peele narrates chilling talesEpisodes deliver thought-twizzling chills with nightmares in the air and supernatural twistsThere’s much to treasure in royal spoof The Windsors on Channel 4Real life has begun to outface parody but in Series 3 there are divine performances — including an adorably daft WillsI Am Not Okay With This, Netflix — a rites-of-passage tale turns supernaturalA show based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel about vulnerable teenagers blends the surreal with deadpan witConfronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel is a chilling investigationThe presenter goes abroad and online to understand how anti-Semitic groups continue to refute an unspeakable atrocityThe Battle for Hong Kong, C4 — a front-line view from the streetsA powerful new documentary follows five young activists and their fight for democracyWork in Progress, Sky Comedy/Showtime — navigating non-binary loveAbby McEnany plays a middle-aged lesbian discovering new queer etiquetteBaghdad Central on Channel 4 is a crime thriller that pulses with menaceA new series based around the Iraq war is rich in emotional succourUniversal Credit: Inside the Welfare State, BBC2 — behind the scenes of a creaking systemA three-part documentary looks at the UK’s biggest welfare reform ten years onThe Righteous Gemstones has fun with a fraudulent family of televangelistsDanny McBride’s series about Bible-bashing millionaires comes to to HBO and Sky ComedyStar Trek: Picard — Patrick Stewart makes it slow with leisurely return on Amazon/CBSThe Next Generation star still has gravitas but the new series takes a while to get off-planetCobra, Sky One — a catastrophe drama with high stakesRobert Sutherland exudes calm and competence verging on ruthlessness as his character handles a national disasterSex Education, Netflix — the unofficial teen ‘sexpert’ returnsBeyond the bouncing bodies and trembling flesh run a myriad tender emotional storylinesDeadwater Fell, C4 — a slow-burning, brooding taleA doctor and family man is suspected of doing something unspeakableApocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed the Planet, C4 — a radical take-down of food farmingBritish writer and activist George Monbiot on how the food industry is destroying the living worldThe Planet is Burning, Amazon Prime — Ilana Glazer is naturally warm, shrewd and very New YorkIn an atomising world with diminishing shared culture, it’s interesting to note what topics comedians can now rely on for common groundThe Deuce, Sky Atlantic — Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Franco deliver impressive performancesSocial issues and new technology bring change to streetwise but tender charactersSticks and Stones, ITV — words cut deep in Mike Bartlett’s workplace dramaNew psychological mini-drama explores the corrosive effects of bullying and mind-playThe Marvelous Mrs Maisel Season 3 delivers vintage screwball comedyThe Amazon Prime series stars Rachel Brosnahan as stand-up comedian Midge in 1950s New YorkThe Crown Season 3 brings wonderful visuals and the genius of Olivia ColmanFarewell to Foy and Smith in a new series of palace family drama and treachery on NetflixClimategate: Science of a Scandal, BBC4 — a global storm of controversyThe story behind a hacking case that derailed a UN conference and tried to sway nations on an issue of global concernThe War of the Worlds, BBC1 — a timely take on HG WellsRafe Spall and Eleanor Tomlinson star in the new three-part adaptation of the 1898 sci-fi classicHis Dark Materials, BBC1 — James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson star in Pullman adaptationThe eight-part series gives space to address the ever pertinent themes of the Milton-inspired trilogyThe Accident, Channel 4 — the aftermath of tragedyWriter Jack Thorne has constructed his drama with an almost mathematical approach to apportioning blameGiri/Haji on BBC2 is a masterful cross-continent thriller starring Kelly MacdonaldA Tokyo detective is dispatched to London to investigate a suspicious murder in a winning series directed by Julian FarinoNetflix’s The Politician — a complex, cynical and stylish portrait of ambitionBen Platt stars as a wealthy high-school Machiavel alongside manoeuvring mom Gwyneth PaltrowRussell Crowe stars as Roger Ailes in The Loudest Voice, Sky Atlantic‘How do they sleep at night?’ is a question that resonates throughout this pummelling drama series about the launch of Fox NewsHBO’s ‘Succession’ returns to Sky Atlantic with a savagely brilliant second seasonThe drama starring Brian Cox is back with raging sibling spats and coarse put-downsUndercover: Inside the Chinese Digital Gulag, ITV — chilling insightA film-maker travels to so-called ‘re-education centres’ where reports of torture aboundStranger Things 3, Netflix — a plague of rodents, hormones and ’80s pop hits HawkinsJobs and kissing replace bikes and board games as the goofy young kids turn teenagersThe Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files — a tragedy of the highest orderIn a new BBC documentary, historian David Olusoga reveals the history of racial prejudice in the UKGeorge Clooney’s Catch-22 recaptures the humour and horror of the novelGlossy, visceral and with an exceptional cast, the satirical mini-series conjures a paradox-laden second world warThe Handmaid’s Tale is back, praise be! — season 3 reviewedElisabeth Moss’s Offred is all eerie composure as Gilead’s foundations begin to totterBlack Mirror Season 5 — Andrew Scott as a creepy cabbie, Miley Cyrus as a doll in captivating new episodesNetflix’s tech anthology series continues with three cunningly plotted storiesTales of the City — Laura Linney and Ellen Page star in this Netflix revivalHas Armistead Maupin’s classic series about a queer community in San Francisco dated badly?Gentleman Jack — the BBC and HBO series about a 19th-century lesbian landowner is a sparkling delightWas Anne Lister a lesbian superhero — or an unashamed forerunner of class-privileged white feminism?63 Up, ITV — is this the last of the Seven Up saga?The cast of Michael Apted’s 1963 TV social experiment reunite for a ninth timeYears and Years, BBC1 — a sharp, nightmarish vision of the futureRussell T Davies’ drama presents an all-too-identifiable 21st century through the lens of one Mancunian familyChernobyl, Sky Atlantic — shrouded in mystery and smokeThis series starring Emily Watson and Jared Harris dramatises the events surrounding the 1986 nuclear accident to gripping effectThe final series of Game of Thrones is more of the same — but just as addictiveThe last six episodes of the fantasy epic are set to be an enjoyable panoply of improbable sets, outlandish names and ‘sexposition’Climate Change: The Facts — David Attenborough shows that the truth hurtsThe BBC documentary is a sobering, uncompromising portrait of the effects of global warming on our worldFleabag returns, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s creation remains irresistibleAfter the success of Killing Eve, the writer-director is back with a second — and starrier — season of her brilliantly offhand comedy-drama
