What you should be watching on streaming platforms and TV this week
From the highly-anticipated return of the fantasy franchise to a documentary about the “pain index”, these are the shows worth watching this week.
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We’ve sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week.
HOUSE OF THE DRAGON
MONDAY, BINGE
First things first, viewers would be well rewarded by doing a little homework or watching the final episode of the first series, because the eagerly anticipated second series of the Game Of Thrones spin-off really hits the ground running. The action picks up right after the shocking finale which saw young Lucerys Velaryon and his dragon Arrax chomped by the much bigger dragon of his nasty, one-eyed uncle Aemond. This only escalates the feud between the Black faction, led by Emma D’Arcy’s would be Queen Rhaenyra and her ruthless, shifty husband Damon (Matt Smith), and the newly crowned King Aegon II’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) Green faction as they press their cases for who has the right to sit on the Iron Throne. Fans of the first season will be pleased to know that with so much to explore in this ever-expanding world, all their favourite elements are still very much in play as the two side square off: sex, violence, scheming, betrayals and, yes, shocking twists and brutal killings. There will be fire – and there will be blood.
AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING TRIALS
WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, CHANNEL 9
Whether the sight of Karl Stefanovic in budgie-smugglers is a drawcard or a deal breaker will be a matter of individual taste, but kudos to the Today host for literally leaping in a the deep end as part of the 2024 Celebrity Relay Race at the Australian Swimming Trials. The self-styled “Karlnado” will face off against fellow celebs including Michelle Payne, Johnathan Thurston, Sylvia Jeffreys – as well as swimming greats such as Susie O’Neill, Duncan Armstrong, Mack Horton and Jess Schipper – for bragging rights. Stick around for the real trials to determine who gets to compete at the Paris Olympics, with the official naming of the Australian Paralympic swimming team on Friday and the naming of the Australian Olympic swimming on Saturday.
PRESUMED INNOCENT
WEDNESDAY, APPLE TV+
Last seen on the small screen as an absolutely shredded bouncer in the daft but fun Roadhouse, the always watchable Jake Gyllenhaal shows his versatility in this gripping adaptation of Scott Turow’s 1987 bestseller (previous made into the 1990 movie with Harrison Ford). He plays Rusty Sabich, a brilliant Chicago lawyer who is put in charge of the case when one of his fellow prosecutors is brutally murdered. But when it’s revealed that their relationship was more than just professional, he goes from saviour to prime suspect, with ambitious colleagues (including Gyllenhaal’s brother-in-law Peter Sarsgaard in terrifically oily form) just itching to ruin his career and family by putting him behind bars.
THE BOYS
WEDNESDAY, PRIME VIDEO
The stakes are higher than ever for the fourth season of Eric Kripke’s savage superhero satire and its brutal takes on politics, modern media and celebrity culture continue to make it one of the best shows around. This time, with an election looming, the leading vice-presidential candidate is secretly a superhero with a power and penchant for blowing up people’s heads and is a heartbeat away from America’s top job. Top supe Homelander wants to make her his puppet, but is going through his own existential crisis, surrounded by idiots and sycophants and realising that maybe he isn’t as invulnerable as he thought. He’s also ranting at lawmakers, appealing to supporters for cash and planning to use his very public trial to further divide the country to his own advantage. Sound familiar?
TOP GEAR
FRIDAY, PARAMOUNT+
Top Gear Australia and its hosts Jonathan LaPaglia, Beau Ryan and Blair Joscelyne have settled into a satisfying groove in their first season, with fun banter and a good mix of aspirational and informational car talk. This week the lads are taking on the Alps with a 600km journey across Switzerland, Italy and France in ultra-sporty (and ultra-expensive) SUVs. JLP is in a magnificent looking Aston Martin DBX 707, Blair slightly misunderstands the assignment in a Porsche 911 Dakar and Beau opts for a beast of a Mercedes G Wagon variously described by his companions as a black filing cabinet, a plastic pig and Darth Vader’s helmet with wheels on it. There’s also a fascinating segment on the marginally more affordable Hyundai Ionic 5N – a sporty EV hot hatch that simulates the sound and feel of a petrol car – and Melissa Leong cranks it up as the star in the reasonably priced car.
LADIES IN BLACK
SUNDAY, 8.30PM ABC
It’s 1961 and the mission of the ladies in black who work in women’s fashion at the up-market Goodes department store is to “create the best dressed women in Sydney”. The eagle-eyed, uptight, ruthless Mrs Ambrose (Miranda Otto), latterly of Harrods, has just replaced Magda (Debi Mazar), who is finally leaving to start her own boutique – or so she thinks. Working the floor are Fay (Jessica DeGouw), whose new immigrant husband might sink Magda’s dream and uni student Lisa, who dreams of being a famous writer but is forced back to work after her father dies. All of them will encounter the casual sexism and racism of the era in this six-part drama, which looks fantastic thanks to its exquisite attention to period details and boasts a top-notch supporting cast, from Todd McKenney’s officious floor manager to Kate Box’s fashion maven.
STUFF THE BRITISH STOLE
MONDAY, 8PM, ABC
When you think about stuff the British stole, the so-called Elgin marbles are right at the top of list and it’s here that presenter Marc Fennell begins the second series of his excellent documentary. The statues that adorned the top of the 2500-year-old Parthenon – the home of democracy – were moved from Athens to Greece by British Aristocrat Lord Elgin in the early 1800s but whether they were saved or stolen remains a matter of hot debate. Fennell addresses both sides, talking to Greek journalists and activists and Brit Stephen Fry, who all say they should never have been taken and should be returned. Presenting the counter argument – and the position taken by successive British governments – is a former British Supreme Court judge who posits that they belong to all humanity and as such should stay in their current British Museum home.
REN FAIRE
BINGE
This strangely compelling three-part documentary has been billed as Tiger King meets Succession and that’s not far from the truth. It’s centred around “King” George Coulam, who founded a renaissance faire (think jousting, town criers, wenches and cosplay) in Texas 50 years ago and built it into a multimillion dollar business that attracts more than 30,000 visitors a day. But George is 85 and convinced he’s only got nine more years on the throne and wants to cash-out so he can pursue his quest for companionship and his dream of, er, dying in the saddle. With no family to inherit the kingdom, the stage is set for a battle royale between loyal, but conservative general manager Jeff and the ambitious, big thinking Louis.
HOTEL COCAINE
MONDAY, STAN
This drama from the creator of Narcos and The Godfather of Harlem takes elements from both of those shows and throws them into the blizzard of cocaine that was Miami in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Kinda, sorta based on a true story, its central character is Roman Compte (Danny Pino), the manager of the Hotel Mutiny, an infamous party spot that makes Studio 54 look like a church picnic and attracts celebrities such from Hunter S. Thompson to Rick James. When a ruthless DEA agent (who else but Michael Chiklis), puts the squeeze on him to inform on his drug lord brother, Roman must use every bit of guile and charm to play off both sides and stay alive.
KINGS OF PAIN
TUESDAY, 8.30PM, 7MATE
The start of this intense new nature documentary comes with a warning to not try this at home. But even if you could get your hands on the requisite snakes, spiders, scorpions and other creepy-crawlies, no sane person would attempt the feats of Aussie wildlife expert Adam Thorne and American professional handler “Caveman” Rob Alleva. The pair are on a quest to create a new, scientific pain index – rated on a scale of 30 and taking into account intensity, duration and damage – by subjecting themselves to the bites and stings of some of the scariest critters on the planet. First up is a visit to the Bolivian rainforest to have a crack at the Warrior and Executioner wasps, as well as the Goliath Bird-eating Tarantula, all of which are as terrifying as they sound.
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