50-41<\/p>\n
50<\/p>\n
The Last of Us<\/p>\n
(Sky Atlantic\/Now) TV\u2019s best ever video game adaptation screamed back to life with the year\u2019s most traumatic killing off of a beloved character. Losing one half of the show\u2019s central duo was no easy thing to move past, but The Last of Us morphed into a touching meditation on grief, loss and the pain of love left unspoken \u2013 with added mushroom monsters. 49<\/p>\n All Her FaultNo one is more watchable \u2026 Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning in All Her Fault. Photograph: Peacock\/AP<\/p>\n (Sky Atlantic\/Now) Is anyone as watchable as Sarah Snook? Her performance as Marissa, whose son Milo was kidnapped when she thought he was on a play date, was an absolute powerhouse as we\u2019ve come to expect from the Succession star. It started with the most profound fear a parent can face, before it turned out to be even worse: orchestrated from within her own inner circle. But the plight of Dakota Fanning as her friend Jenny, trying to navigate the incessant hell and guilt of being a working mother, was relatable and affecting too. Together, they deepened this thriller into something far more intriguing. 48<\/p>\n The Last Musician of Auschwitz<\/p>\n (BBC Two\/iPlayer) This exceptional film told the extraordinary story of the now 100-year-old cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, the only surviving member of the women\u2019s orchestra at Auschwitz. First-hand testimonies \u2013 including from the stoic, straight-talking subject herself \u2013 plus archive footage and musical performances merged to show the emotional turmoil of prisoners playing beautiful music in a hellscape, as well as tiny glimmers of resistance. 47<\/p>\n Apple Cider VinegarA tissue of lies \u2026 Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar. Photograph: Ben King\/AP<\/p>\n (Netflix) A remarkable true story, superbly told; this series dramatised the rise and fall of Belle Gibson, an Australian woman who established herself as a \u201cwellness guru\u201d by falsely claiming to have mitigated cancer via dietary tricks and alternative medicine. The truth was simpler: Gibson didn\u2019t have cancer and her career and persona was a tissue of lies. Kaitlyn Dever\u2019s portrayal of Gibson was admirably nuanced; she\u2019s deeply dishonest but also desperately needy and in denial about the consequences of her actions, not least for her followers, some of whom relied upon her hokum to combat life-threatening conditions. 46<\/p>\n The ResidenceCharmingly good fun \u2026 The Residence. Photograph: Erin Simkin\/Netflix<\/p>\n (Netflix) Something terrible has happened at the White House! No, not Donald Trump\u2019s new ballroom extension but a fictional murder at the heart of American power. This funny, quirky whodunnit starred Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, an eccentric detective (she\u2019s a keen birder, dresses entirely in brown tweed and frequently utilises her binoculars for work purposes) sent to solve the case. It\u2019s charmingly good fun \u2013 essentially a country house murder mystery with added snark and West Wing trappings. 45<\/p>\n Common Side EffectsAn absolute triumph \u2026 Common Side Effects. Illustration: Adult Swim<\/p>\n (Adult Swim\/Channel 4) Has Mike Judge ever made a bad show? This is the question it was hard not to ponder while watching this impeccable animated thriller-comedy. The plot? A fungi expert discovers a mysterious mushroom that seems to cure all illness, and ill-advisedly tells his childhood crush Frances \u2013 who now works for big pharma. The resulting high-octane deep-state drama was a blackly humorous adventure with real heart that satirised the state of healthcare in a capitalist society. An absolute triumph of TV-making. 44<\/p>\n Gaza: Doctors Under Attack<\/p>\n (Channel 4) The film the BBC couldn\u2019t broadcast. Thanks be, then, to Channel 4 for stepping into the breach and airing it \u2013 for this was an essential document of our times. Its unsparing look at the targeting of Palestinian medics showed a pattern that has emerged over the past two years at hospitals across Gaza. First, they are bombed. Then, they are raided and doctors detained and tortured. Then, when their workplaces are reduced to rubble, the cycle starts on the next hospital. The testimony by Dr Khaled Hamouda, whose home was bombed, killing most of his family \u2026 before a drone strike mere moments later hit the supposed safe house his remaining children had escaped to, was an unforgettable piece of television that really needed to be aired. 43<\/p>\n Am I Being Unreasonable?Dangerously addictive \u2026 Daisy May Cooper as Nic in Am I Being Unreasonable? Photograph: Simon Ridgway\/BBC\/Boffola Pictures<\/p>\n (BBC One\/iPlayer) This riot of marital, sexual and social awkwardness (with a side order of murder and betrayal) came courtesy of Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli, who have created a worthy successor to Julia Davis\u2019s scabrous 2004 sitcom Nighty Night. Cooper stars as Nic, a woman juggling guilt, trauma and parenting catastrophe, still finding time for extramarital hi-jinks and yet somehow remaining deserving of sympathy, mainly because of the cavalcade of monsters around her. A dangerously addictive chamber of horrors. 42<\/p>\n Task<\/p>\n (Sky Atlantic\/Now) This crime drama starring Mark Ruffalo as gone-to-seed cop Tom Brandis allocated a dangerous new assignment in Philadelphia certainly wasn\u2019t for the faint-hearted. But if you could handle the all-pervasive air of impending catastrophe, it was a fine, gritty, twisty procedural centred on stick-up merchants, biker gangs and the grim ramifications of the fentanyl trade. An intense downer, in the best possible way. 41<\/p>\n The TraitorsThe worst traitor ever to roam the castle \u2026 Linda, with fellow traitor Minah and faithful Fozia. Photograph: Euan Cherry\/BBC\/Studio Lambert<\/p>\n (BBC One\/iPlayer) Before the celebrity version gave us Alan Carr, the third series of normies Traitors delivered Linda, AKA the worst\/best traitor to ever roam the castle. Her head-turn when Claudia Winkleman said \u201ctraitors\u201d wasn\u2019t the only golden moment. Charlotte\u2019s fake Welsh accent! Lisa the vicar\u2019s bare-faced lie about her job! The shock return of Alexander! Rare is the show that makes appointment TV and creates national watercooler chat in 2025. But beyond all that \u2013 Claudia\u2019s gothic outfits alone were worth tuning in for. 40-31 coming soon<\/p>\n Stay tuned for the next episode<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"50-41 50 The Last of Us (Sky Atlantic\/Now) TV\u2019s best ever video game adaptation screamed back to life…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-177067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
What we said: \u201cA gutsy and thoughtful rendering of humans on the edge.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cAll Her Fault is fantastically well done. All the carefully planted seeds come to fruition. All the narrative cogs turn and interlock fast and seamlessly. You come for the terrifying premise and stay for the absolute pleasure.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cThis incredibly impressive programme does not let us forget about Auschwitz\u2019s corpse mountains or stench of burning bodies for a second, all the while posing questions about art and humanity that should ring in your ears for years to come.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cA fast, drily witty, acutely intelligent, compassionate and furious commentary on greed, need, mass delusion, self-deception, the exploitation of the credulous and the enabling of insidious new forms of all of these by technology.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cA gorgeous, gleeful romp.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cNot merely the best thing I\u2019ve seen on TV this year but one of the best shows I\u2019ve seen in my life.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cIn an open letter before its broadcast, Channel 4\u2019s Louisa Compton warned that Doctors Under Attack would \u2018make people angry, whichever side they take\u2019. She is right. This is the sort of television that will never leave you.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cHowlingly funny.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cA meditation on guilt, sin and the possibility of redemption.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n
What we said: \u201cAs a study of human behaviour \u2013 of deception, manipulation, self-preservation \u2013 it remains captivating. As perhaps the best example of social experiment-style reality TV, it has cemented its place in the cultural firmament.\u201d Read more<\/a><\/p>\n