Top shows to watch on streaming platforms and TV this week
From a historical drama about the Holocaust to a documentary about a stranger-than-fiction murder plot, 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.
THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ
STAN
Four years ago, a US survey revealed that a nearly two-thirds of young Americans did not know that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust and almost half of the millennial and Gen Z adults aged between 18 and 39 could not name a single concentration camp or ghetto from World War II.
For that reason alone, historical dramas like The Tattooist of Auschwitz – and Brisbane based, Kiwi-born Heather Morris’ 2018 bestseller from which it was adapted – remain important.
Morris was integrally involved in this six-part series based on the memories of Lali Sokolov, who survived the most infamous of death camps by agreeing to tattoo identification numbers on the new arrivals.
The elderly Sokolov, played by Harvey Keitel, is haunted by visions of long dead prisoners and thuggish guards and wracked by survivor’s guilt as he recounts his experiences to Morris, played by Yellowjackets star and fellow Kiwi Melanie Lynskey.
The casual violence and murder, dehumanisation and the mass exterminations of the evil Nazi regime in the flashbacks are as hard to watch as ever but there is also kindness, sacrifice and love in the darkest of places.
RICK STEIN’S FOOD STORIES
WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, SBS FOOD
For a long time, England stood in the culinary shadow of its more gastronomically celebrated neighbour France, but Rick Stein says that in the 50 years that he has been a chef, that perception has changed out of sight.
For his new cooking show, the ever-curious and young-at-heart 77-year-old is on mission to celebrate the “best and boldest ideas in British food”, which has now embraced influences from around the world as well as reinventing staples such as roast beef and Yorkshire pudding and fish and chips.
His first stop is Cumbria, home to the stunning Lakes District, where he spruiks the virtues of traditional sustainable farming before returning home to Cornwall to cook a mouth-watering Leftover Lamb Shephard’s Pie with son Jack, from an old family recipe.
TEXAS CHEERLEADER MURDER PLOT
WEDNESDAY, 8.30PM, CHANNEL 9
From the same stranger-than-fiction, only-in America files as the Tonya Harding v Nancy Kerrigan imbroglio comes this true story of Wanda Holloway, who was convicted in 1991 of trying to hire a hit man to bump off the mother of her daughter’s cheerleading rival.
This documentary first paints the picture of just how revered football – and by association cheerleading – was in the whitebread Houston suburb of Channelview and how Shanna was prepped for a path that could lead to the famous Dallas Cowboys from the age of three.
Using archival footage, recreations, interviews with journalists and, especially, the adult Shanna, a new light is shed on the case that became a national obsession.
REBEL MOON PART 2
NETFLIX
If you’re going to rip someone off, you might as well rip off the best and Zack Snyder has basically done that with his Rebel Moon sci-fi epics.
And if the first chapter borrowed liberally from Star Wars, the second part has very strong echoes of The Magnificent Seven (both of which in turn were heavily influenced by Akira Kurosawa films anyway).
In this chapter, which won’t make a whole of sense if you haven’t seen the first, Sofia Boutella’s outlaw soldier Kora and her rag-tag band of elite warrior companions, return to the humble farmers who employed them to protect their village from an evil empire with the obligatory training montages, booby traps and noble sacrifices.
It’s loud, silly, totally over-the-top – but also good, mindless fun.
HARD QUIZ
WEDNESDAY, 8PM, ABC
Tom Gleeson, who is currently making his way around the country with his very funny stand-up show Gear, is in typically rude form in tonight’s episode of his ever-reliable quiz show, milking some comedy gold from hapless contestants who have chosen as their special subjects Van Halen, the America’s Cup, the Howard Government and UK sitcom The Inbetweeners.
And for those who want to find out what makes the Gold Logie winner tick, be sure to turn into next week’s Creative Types (Tuesday 9pm, ABC) as Virginia Trioli investigates the secrets to his success, just how far he will go to land a gag, the story behind how he landed Australian TV’s top prize – and why he worried it might end his career.
THE VEIL
DISNEY+
Best known for her acclaimed roles as Peggy in Mad Men and June/Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale, this is Elisabeth Moss like you have never seen her before.
Her MI6 agent Imogen Salter in this spy thriller is cool, calculated, capable and kick-ass.
She’s also the best in the world at winkling out the true identity of enemy agents, and has been tasked with tracking down and transporting a mystery woman from a Syrian refugee camp, who may or may not be an ISIS agent known as The Genie of Raqqa – the most wanted woman in the world – and part of a terror cell planning a large scale attack on an unknown Western target in 7-10 days.
Great fun, plenty of thrills and spectacular locations ensue as Imogen races against the clock, while negotiating the squabbling French and US spooks.
A LEAGUE WOMEN’S GRAND FINAL
SATURDAY, 4.15PM, PARAMOUNT+
There might have been contrasting methods of getting there – but the grand final between Sydney FC and Melbourne City this weekend should be a cracker.
Sydney are there for the seventh season in a row, having squeaked past the Central Coast Mariners to progress 2-1 on aggregate.
City, on the other hand, made short work of the Newcastle Jets, winning the home and away semis 3-0 for a 6-0 aggregate.
But the last contest between the two remaining sides in season 2024 ended in a scoreless draw, so anything can happen at Melbourne’s AAMI Park.
MY NEXT GUEST NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION
NETFLIX
It’s a big call when David Letterman calls you the comedian who restored his faith in stand-up comedy and John Mulaney is clearly chuffed with the accolade in the latest episode of the former talk show host’s series of in-depth chats with luminaries from many different fields.
The writer and performer tells Letterman he knew he wanted to be a comedian from a young age as they walk the halls of his former school and he reveals insights into his early inspirations and comedy process.
He’s just as candid in talking about the addictions to drugs and booze that could easily have ended his career – or his life – and how being a father has turned his life around.
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE
TUESDAY, 7.30PM, SBS
French chef Manu Feildel says he’s long felt that “food has always been in my blood” and with the return of another season of the heartwarming SBS family history documentary, he finally had a chance to find out.
The MKR judge, who has lived in Australia for more than 20 years, crisscrosses his homeland in search of culinary ancestors and finds a veritable feast of bakers and restaurateurs on his mother’s side going back hundreds of years, some of whom endured intolerable work and financial struggles that remind him of his own challenges over the years.
It’s even more emotional when the big-hearted Frenchman starts to research the forebears of the father who walked out on the family when he was just four years old and with whom his relationship is still strained.
Plus, he finally gets an answer to his childhood fantasy of being descended from Vikings.
BABY REINDEER
NETFLIX
It’s fair to say that Richard Gadd’s buzzy TV adaptation of his one-man play is not for the faint-hearted and indeed, many of the episodes come with trigger warnings.
Gadd, who also plays the lead role of aspiring comedian Donny Dunn, has mined his own experiences with a stalker as well as a victim of sexual assault, and what looks and feels initially like a black comedy soon turns into something far darker and more disturbing.
When Donny meets Martha, a lawyer who claims to represent the rich and powerful but can’t afford to buy her own drinks, he takes pity on her – but she mistakes his kindness for a deeper connection.
As her obsession grows, he is forced to face up to his own deep traumas before they completely ruin his life.
Not unlike Phoebe Waller Bridges’ Fleabag or Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You, it’s a singular, searing piece of work that you won’t forget in a hurry.
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