Top TV shows to watch this week: The Rings Of Power, Slow Horses
From an outstanding documentary about the creator of The Sopranos to the return of epic fantasy drama Rings Of Power, there’s plenty to enjoy on the small screen 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.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS: RINGS OF POWER
PRIME VIDEO
After a patchy and sometimes meandering first season, which not only had to do a lot of world-building, but also needed to justify its own existence, it’s a relief to have this second season of the epic fantasy drama inspired by the writing of J.R.R. Tolkien hit the ground running. With big reveal in the finale that Aussie actor Charlie Vickers’ character Halbrand was in fact the dark lord himself, Sauron, the show can finally properly get to premise of its title, by forging the rings that will eventually slave Middle-earth. As Vickers’ says: “You start to see Sauron with the mask off – whereas in the first season he was hiding in the shadows, now he is out and about.” In his new guise of the angelic-looking Annatar, and by appealing to the vanity of elf-lord Celebrimbor, Sauron is putting his master plan into action and drawing the squabbling races of elves, dwarves and men into his web. Speaking of webs, there’s also giant spiders, towering trolls, devious orcs and bloody battles – all of which are marvellously rendered – as well as the continuing adventures of the wizard who may or may not be Gandalf. What’s not to like?
SLOW HORSES
WEDNESDAY, APPLE TV+
If this crime drama based on Mick Herron’s books (this season is based on Spook Street) isn’t the best thing on TV right now, it’s pretty damn close. And rarely do you see an actor play a character as unappealing as the crafty, booze-soaked, flatulent and frequently unwashed MI5 agent Jackson Lamb, with as much relish as Oscar-winner Gary Oldman does. What may be the finest season yet kicks off with a bang as a terrorist bomb rocks a London station and the perpetrator may well have links to the secretive British intelligence service. As ever, the spy rejects and misfits known as the Slow Horses are several steps head of their better regarded colleagues as River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) follows the trail to France, where he discovers a shadowy terror cell, a formidable new foe (Hugo Weaving) and a plot that will also lead to some life-altering revelations.
SECRETS OF OUR UNIVERSE WITH TIM PEAKE
WEDNESDAY, 7.35PM, SBS
British astronaut Tim Peake is a member of an extremely exclusive club – and as one of the 602 people who have ever travelled into space, he had a particular perspective on the world beneath him and the vast emptiness of space beyond. He puts both to good use in this three-part documentary, the first chapter of which focuses on planets, with episodes on stars and black holes, and living in space to come. The easygoing and accessible Peake travels around the globe from the West Australian desert to the Grand Canyon to find environments that can help unlock the secrets of our solar system neighbours as well as deciphering what distant planets can tell us about life on Earth.
TERMINATOR ZERO
NETFLIX
It’s been five years since Terminator: Dark Fate got a lukewarm reception in cinemas so it doesn’t look like there will be another movie any time soon – but like the ruthless, steel-wrapped-in-flesh machines, the franchise refuses to die. This latest iteration is a very cool-looking anime reboot, set in the same universe but with a fresh take on Judgement Day, the apocalyptic event when computers became self-aware and set out to destroy humanity. This time a Terminator is sent from 2022 Tokyo back to 1997 (along with the obligatory human protector) to target the scientist who is perfecting a rival AI that might prevent the catastrophe. It’s top-notch anime for sci-fi fans but sometimes brutal and bloody, so definitely not for the little ones.
RETURN TO PARADISE
SUNDAY, 7.30PM, ABC
This homegrown spin-off from the hugely popular Death In Paradise series, is a low-key, local delight, thanks in no small-part to Anna Samson’s enjoyably odd but gifted lead female detective Mackenzie Clarke. Having been forced to leave to her job in London with New Scotland Yard under a professional cloud, Clarke returns to her sleepy but idyllic coastal hometown of Dolphin Cove to visit her mother. As she accidentally becomes embroiled in a murder mystery involving a local real estate agent, it also becomes apparent that not everyone is glad to see her, from the taxi driver who boots her out to the local constabulary whose toes she keeps treading on. And then there’s hunky local coroner (a frequently shirtless Tai Hara) Glenn, who she left at the altar six years previously – will sparks fly again? No prizes for guessing.
WISE GUY: DAVID CHASE AND THE SOPRANOS
SUNDAY, BINGE
More than 25 year after it first aired, is The Sopranos still the greatest TV show ever made? That was a trick question – of course it is and this outstanding two-part documentary from Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief) helps to explain why by focusing on its creator, the mercurial and brilliant David Chase. Along with interviews with cast members including Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli and Steve Van Zandt – and archival footage of the late, great James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano – Gibney examines how Chase’s vision and personal life shaped the show and why it’s “money and death” credo and how the American Dream turned into the American Nightmare is more relevant than ever.
REVEALED: KILLJOY
SUNDAY, STAN
The remarkable, brave and resilient subject of this sobering documentary, Kathryn Joy, describes it as “a love letter to my mother”, who was killed by their father in northern New South Wales on New Year’s Eve 1985 when they were a baby. Shockingly, he served just 22 months in prison and by the age of four, Joy was back living with him in the family home where she was killed. Joy’s aim in making the doco was to connect with and properly grieve the mother they never knew by talking to her friends and investigating her short life so she would not just be remembered for the manner of her death and also to spotlight the little talked-about effects of domestic homicide on children and young people. Not always easy viewing, but powerful and important stuff.
MKR
MONDAY, 7.30PM, CHANNEL 7
Manu Feildel and Colin Fassnidge are back as a double act for the 14th season of the long-running cooking reality show, accompanied by the usual motley crew of wannabe chefs from around the country playing for the $100K prize. First to get a grilling in the opening episode are Rob and Liam – aka the bros with mos – a couple of brothers and best mates from the Mornington Peninsula with a penchant for barbecuing. But while the food-related challenges in the kitchen prove largely solvable, it’s the dramas around the table that will have fans licking their lips for the season ahead, with shots fired early between the straight-talking Italian amici Simone and Viviana and the judgy, scheming friends, Mike and Pete.
THE WEEKLY FOOTBALL WRAP
MONDAY, 10. 20PM, SBS VICELAND
The Premier League is back in full swing in England, as is Serie A and La Liga, and qualifying for the 2026 World Cup in North America marches on. With such a festival of football SBS is kicking off a brand-new program presented by host of The World Cup Daily Show from Qatar 2033, football personality, Claudio ‘Claudes’ Fabiano, alongside a team of analysts and special guests. The weekly show will cover all the colour, personalities and action from the world of football, with expert opinion, news, analysis and insight. Beginning this month, SBS has also nabbed the rights to broadcast the South American World Cup qualifying matches, featuring reigning champ Argentina and perennial giant Brazil.
8 OUT OF 10 CATS DOES COUNTDOWN
MONDAY, 8.40PM, SBS
The ever-reliable stand-up comedian Jimmy Carr does an admirable job of wrangling his guests on a very funny (and rather rude) mash-up of two popular British shows. The two teams are led by funnyman Alan Carr and TV host Jonathon Ross, as they and their guests (Judi Love and Russell Kane in the first episode) are tasked with making the longest possible words from a random selection of vowels and consonants and then arriving a nominated number by devising a formula using other numbers. Actual experts Susie Dent and Rachel Riley oversee the words and numbers respectively, but like the best comedy game shows, it’s more about the laughs along the away than arriving at the correct solution – and the formidable Ross would be a welcome addition to any quiz team brains trust.
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