From Time Bandits to Stormy: What to watch this week

From a fun family remake of an ‘80s classic to a documentary on Stormy Daniels tryst with Donald Trump, these are the shows you don’t want to miss this week.

We’ve sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week.

Fantasy adventure Time Bandits is fun for the whole family.

TIME BANDITS

WEDNESDAY, APPLE TV+

Long-time friends and collaborators Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement dug deep into their nerdy teenage years and love of history for this ten-part, fantasy-adventure reinvention of Terry Gilliam’s much loved 1981 movie of the same name. The pair live out their time-travelling dreams through 11-year-old Kevin, who joins a rag-tag band of (not very good) thieves who have the ability to visit different historical eras – from prehistoric times to ancient Troy and the Middle Ages – in search of booty by using a magical, but not very reliable, map. Waititi and Clement also play the opposing forces of the universe, Supreme Being and Pure Evil, who want to get their hands on the map for their own nefarious reasons, and bring their usual sense of whimsy and anarchy to the family-friendly comedy. Lisa Kudrow is a standout as Penelope, the self-appointed leader of the bandits, and there are plenty of tasty cameos and familiar faces as they whiz back and forth thorough impressively recreated historical events and eras. Top fun for parents and kids alike.

STORMY

WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, SBS

Porn star and director Stormy Daniels tells her own story.

Of all the bizarre elements surrounding the political career of Donald J. Trump – from before his run at the presidency, to his time in the Oval Office and its bumpy aftermath – the Stormy Daniels saga is among the oddest. In this movie length documentary, the former porn star and director recounts events from her perspective. Starting off with her self-confessed “white trash” upbringing and her success in the adult movie business behind and in front of the camera she recalls the fateful day in 2006 when she had sex with self-promoting playboy. That set off a chain of events that escalated with Trump’s ambitions, with the attempts to kill the story and buy her silence that would eventually see him become the first former president to be found guilty on 34 charges related to the hush money payments. While Daniels is upfront on capitalising on the fame the case has brought her, she’s also open about the personal cost and a life lived in fear from his most extreme supporters.

WINTER FESTIVAL OF FOOTBALL

PARAMOUNT+

Erling Haaland’s reigning Premier League champs Manchester City are back in action. Picture: Naomi Baker/Getty Images

While the Olympics might be hogging the sporting limelight for the next couple of weeks, football enthusiasts will be well aware that the new season of the biggest leagues in the world also kicks off next month. Coaches will be finding out whether the millions they spent reshaping their teams have been well spent with a series of friendlies over the coming weeks. There’s a blockbuster between Spanish giant Barcelona and reigning Premier League champ Manchester City at 9am today, then a clash between Newcastle United and Japanese Club Urawa Red Diamonds at 8.30pm. Other teams in action over the weekend include Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan and VFB Stuttgart.

JUNIOR DOCTORS DOWN UNDER

THURSDAY, 8.25PM

Javed Machikan the in SBS documentary Junior Doctors Down Under

Every year, Australian hospitals lure hundreds of junior doctors from the UK and Ireland to help bolster a stressed health system adjusting to an ever-growing population. And while the aspiring medicos are attracted by the promise of a beachy lifestyle Down Under, there’s a catch – namely eight to 10 weeks in the emergency department. Many have never worked in the high-stress environment before, where they will be expected to deal with births, heart attacks, strokes, broken bones and much more, in an unfamiliar environment and often away from their loved ones. They are an talented and inspirational bunch though – like Javed, from Ireland, who cops a car crash victim on his very first day and moonlights as a lifesaver on the weekend, and Laura from Bournemouth, who is confronted with elderly diabetic Donald who says he won’t miss his very angry red toe should it have to be removed, as long as he catches his flight to Sydney in ten days’ time.

BATMAN: CAPED CRUSADER

THURSDAY, PRIME VIDEO

Batman: Caped Crusader takes the character back to his roots.

It doesn’t look like we will be seeing a live-action Batman on the big or small screen any time soon, but the DC Comics superhero favourite has a rich tradition of animated offerings as well. This very cool, retro take – with a look and feel inspired by the comic book character’s 1930s and 1940s roots – is made by one the creative minds behind the celebrated ‘90s cartoon Batman: The Animated Series. All the familiar elements are there – Bruce Wayne waging his one-man war against organised crime in grimy Gotham city and classic villains such as Catwoman and Two Face. And where the Penguin will be played by Colin Farrell in next month’s frankly awesome looking live action spin-off of the same name, here she’s been gender-flipped and menacingly voiced by Minnie Driver.

SUPER NETBALL GRAND FINAL

SATURDAY, 6PM, FREE ON KAYO

The Adelaide Thunderbirds and the Melbourne Vixens will meet in this year’s grand final. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

Last weekend, the Melbourne Vixens bounced back from what head coach Simone McKinnis described it as “one of their worst performances ever” in the major semi-finals to squeak past the Sunshine Coast Lightning by a single point and reach the grand final. But can they repeat those heroics against defending champs, the Adelaide Thunderbirds, the very team that handed out that 25-goal drubbing the weekend prior? Eloise Sohier will host the coverage from 6pm, with analysis from Cath Cox, Bianca Chatfield, Sue Gaudion, and roaming sideline host Emily Beaton.

COWBOY CARTEL

FRIDAY, APPLE TV+

Narcos fans will love the new documentary Cowboy Cartel.

Fans of true crime and the Narcos franchise will love this documentary set on the US-Mexico border, where horseracing, illegal drugs, cartel violence and money laundering collide. Into this brutal and terrifying world stepped rookie FBI agent Scott Lawson, whose persistence, tenacity and courage helped uncover a multimillion-dollar operation run by the ruthless Los Zetas cartel through the largely unregulated quarter-horse racing industry in Texas. On his first assignment out of training – and without knowing the world of pain he was about to step into – Lawson connected the dots between the Trevino brothers on both sides of the border and the pattern of illegality and intimidation that would eventually bring them down.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR: THE LOST TAPES

SUNDAY, BINGE

Elizabeth Taylor’s extraordinary life is spotlighted in a new documentary.

The impetus for this movie-length documentary on one of the last grand dames of Hollywood is the discovery of 40 hours of interview audiotapes made by journalist Richard Meryman, when Taylor was at the height of her fame. Around those candid recordings – and using personal photos, home movies, archival interviews and news footage – is built a thorough portrait of a Hollywood legend, as well known for her many marriages as her double Oscar-winning acting career. Professionally, it traces her sometimes uncomfortable transition from child sensation to over-sexualised young adult, her battle to be taken seriously as an actor rather than just a star and her triumph in the troubled Cleopatra that made her the first actor to earn $1 million for a role. And personally, there’s the many weddings and affairs, including her two great loves of her life in Mike Todd and Richard Burton, and her longstanding support of the LGBTQ community and trailblazing AIDS activism.

HAVE YOU BEEN PAYING ATTENTION?

MONDAY, 8.30PM, CHANNEL 10

Comedian Tommy Little joins the Have You Been Paying Attention panel next week.

The ever-reliable and always hilarious comedy-news-quiz show is a short-priced favourite to its eighth Logie award later this month and it’s still as sharp as ever in its 12th season. This week radio host, stand-up comedian and all-round loose-unit Tommy Little makes his well overdue debut on the panel alongside veterans Claire Hooper, Anne Edmonds, and regulars Ed Kavalee and Sam Pang. Expect much mockery of the Olympics (if Tubby Taylor calling the diving and Matthew Pavlich doing the equestrian don’t get a serve then they are just not trying hard enough), the US election and any other hot-button items that spring up this week.

INTO THE GOBI DESERT

MONDAY, 8.30PM, SBS

Nick Knowles heads into the vast and vacant Gobi desert.

As someone who nearly froze to death while horseriding in the Gobi Desert, and had to be slowly thawed by some kindly but frankly startled locals in their yurt, I was fascinated to see this documentary on one of the world’s most remote regions. Roughly the size of South Australia, and stretching across the bottom half of Mongolia, the Gobi is vast, vacant and surprisingly varied and UK presenter Nick Knowles literally heads off the beaten track to follow in the footsteps of the mighty Genghis Khan, who conquered most of the known world more than 800 years ago. On the way he visits an academy that still teaches horseback archery, a mobile museum stocked from the largest fossil bed in the world, a luxury yurt resort, meets Aussie adventurer Tim Cope and learns how to play the horse-head fiddle. And I was gratified to see his response to the local delicacy of fermented mare’s milk was exactly the same as mine. Yes, it’s even worse than it sounds.

Originally published as From Time Bandits to Stormy: What to watch this week