Pick of the week
Half Man<\/p>\n
Richard Gadd\u2019s first TV project since Baby Reindeer is a visceral drama likely to have a similar impact. Half Man is fictional but its exploration of agonised youth still packs a mighty punch. Playing out across two timelines, it stars Gadd and Jamie Bell as Ruben and Niall, \u201cbrothers from another lover\u201d negotiating a toxic but weirdly tender relationship. When closeted teen Niall is forced to share a room and a school with swaggering, violent Ruben, it could be his worst nightmare. But it\u2019s much more complex than that. The underlying trauma is rendered brilliantly by Mitchell Robertson as young Niall and Stuart Campbell, whose portrayal of Ruben overflows with alpha aggression and neediness.
BBC iPlayer, Friday 24 April<\/p>\n
UnchosenCult viewing \u2026 Molly Windsor stars as Rosie in Unchosen. Photograph: Justin Downing\/Netflix<\/p>\n
In the wake of The Testaments, here\u2019s another creepy thriller set within a brutal patriarchy. Molly Windsor stars as Rosie, a woman who lives in a tradwife-style cult helmed by Christopher Eccleston\u2019s domineering Mr Phillips. When bedraggled but beguiling Sam (Fra Fee) turns up on her doorstep, Rosie\u2019s instinct is to help. But what kind of person is she letting into this controlled environment? And how will her husband Adam (Sex Education\u2019s Asa Butterfield) react to his arrival? Unchosen leans into the tension of its claustrophobic, pressure-cooker setting and a ripe melodrama is the result.
Netflix, Tuesday 21 April<\/p>\n
Ramy Youssef: In LoveStandup guy \u2026 Ramy Youssef performs his show In Love. Photograph: Elizabeth Sisson\/HBO<\/p>\n
Ramy Youssef\u2019s special power is his ability to address sensitive cultural issues in ways that are both pointed and universal. And so it remains in his third special for HBO. The Riyadh comedy festival is an open goal for a Muslim-American standup and here, Youssef wonders why he wasn\u2019t invited, given that he visits regularly anyway (\u201cI\u2019m the only guy in Hollywood that loses money going to Saudi Arabia\u201d). Elsewhere, whether he\u2019s suggesting the niqab as a defence against porn-generating AI or deconstructing modern masculinity, he\u2019s as smart, playful and disarming as ever.<\/p>\n
HBO Max, Saturday 18 April<\/p>\n
Criminal RecordUnsuited \u2026 Mismatched detectives June Lenker (Cush Jumbo) and Daniel Hegarty (Peter Capaldi) return in Criminal Record. Photograph: Matt Towers\/Apple<\/p>\n
The first season of this gripping thriller went somewhat under the radar. But this is a welcome return: the negative chemistry between Cush Jumbo\u2019s diligent DS June Lenker and Peter Capaldi\u2019s shifty DCI Daniel Hegarty is a wonder. As we return, Lenker is part of a team trying to keep a far-right group away from an Islamist rally. As everything kicks off, she sees a familiar face in the crowd. Her inquiries hit an internal brick wall but they do attract the attention of Hegarty. Might another dalliance with the Met\u2019s dark side be Lenker\u2019s only route to the truth?
Apple TV, Wednesday 22 April<\/p>\n
OrangutanJungle queen \u2026 young primate Indah in Orangutan. Photograph: Disney<\/p>\n
We have been spoiled by a lifetime of exposure to the works of David Attenborough. As a result, most other nature films seem trite and lacking in gravitas. This documentary dispatch from Borneo and Sumatra is a case in point: while the footage is intimate and remarkable, Josh Gad\u2019s playful, slightly cutesy narration frequently feels jarring, as does the somewhat overripe soundtrack. Still, it\u2019s impossible not to root for plucky young primate Indah as she strikes out into the jungle, dodging snakes and tigers as she goes.
Disney+, Wednesday 22 April<\/p>\n
Running PointCentre stage \u2026 Kate Hudson as Isla Gordon in Running Point. Photograph: Katrina Marcinowski\/Netflix<\/p>\n
The first season of this comedy didn\u2019t quite manage a slam dunk as a basketballing Ted Lasso. Still, it\u2019s back, again pivoting round Kate Hudson\u2019s Isla Gordon who is now firmly entrenched as president of her family\u2019s team, the LA Waves. However, familiar problems remain: the club has no money and no coach and, to make matters worse, Isla\u2019s reformed crack addict brother Cam is back in the picture. Running Point\u2019s themes of a likable underdog battling against the odds aren\u2019t without promise but the plotting and dialogue never quite catch fire.
Netflix, Thursday 23 April<\/p>\n
Stranger Things: Tales from \u201985Back with the gang \u2026 Stranger Things: Tales From \u201885. Photograph: Netflix<\/p>\n
Surely no one thought Netflix was done with Hawkins? The main narrative may be over but now it\u2019s time for the latest batch of spin-offs. This series (set between seasons two and three of the original drama) is animated, which at least feels like a good way of addressing issues around ageing cast members. The gang are happily anticipating an end to the supernatural drama that has overwhelmed their lives and making friends with Nikki, a new arrival. But when strange creatures start emerging from the depths, Nikki has plenty of questions.
Netflix, Thursday 23 April<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the weekHalf Man Richard Gadd\u2019s first TV project since Baby Reindeer is a visceral drama likely…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-383826","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\/383826","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=383826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}