Rebel Wilson stars in TV drama Les Norton as it returns to screens on Tubi
As she stars as a madam in a ‘seedy’ TV drama, Rebel Wilson returns to screens on Tubi, and Ed Sheeran stars in a new Netflix doco.
We’ve sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week.
ONE SHOT WITH ED SHEERAN: A MUSICAL EXPERIENCE
NETFLIX
Anyone who sat in awe at one of Ed Sheeran’s huge stadium shows here a few years ago will know the power and passion the UK singer-songwriter can summon to captivate a crowd with just a guitar, some effects pedals and that soulful voice.
But in this fun and fascinating special, Sheeran takes his music to the masses in a very different way – with a camera following him around the streets of New York in one continuous take.
The affable Englishman busts out his biggest hits – including Shape Of You, Castle On the Hill, The A Team and Photograph – while strolling the streets, riding the subway, sound-tracking a wedding proposal, crashing a bus tour and jamming with the band in an Irish pub (to Galway Girl of course).
Directed by the man behind this year’s stunning and similarly-filmed drama Adolescence, it will also have you scratching your head as to how the hell they got some of the shots – and the reactions of the selfie-grabbing and simply startled bystanders in the Big Apple are just as priceless as the footage of the man himself.
JAMES WIGNEY
Using one long continuous shot in Adolescence, Philip Baranthi took viewers on an immersive journey designed to build tension as a boy was interrogated for the murder of his peer.
Here, the director applies the same technique to take us on a joyful jaunt through New York with Ed Sheeran as our minstreling tour guide.
Opening with Sheeran conducting his final soundcheck in an empty theatre, we follow him as he strolls through crowded streets, posing for selfies, strumming his guitar and fist bumping strangers without breaking stride.
He swings past to serenade a pal as he proposes, performs at a party, then heads to a pub for a pint. While much of it is carefully staged – most obviously Camilla Cabello turning up to give him a lift and perform a spot of Carpool Karaoke en route – Sheeran’s joy in his craft is utterly authentic.
While this doco won’t leave it’s mark on you in quite the same way that Adolescence did, it will leave you in absolutely no doubt that Sheeran is by far and away music’s nicest rock star.
SIOBHAN DUCK
PREHISTORIC PLANET: ICE AGE
WEDNESDAY, APPLE TV
It’s a testament to just how well this series is made by the BBC Studios Natural History Unit that you might well find yourself tearing up at the slim survival prospects of a baby woolly mammoth – despite it being entirely computer-generated and extinct for about 10,000 years. For this third season, which follows the rise of megafauna after the demise of the dinosaurs in some of the most inhospitable and frigid conditions the planet has ever known, Tom Hiddleston takes over from veteran David Attenborough as narrator. His calm, curious tone makes the perfect companion to the incredible photorealistic renderings of gambolling giant sloths, cunning cave lions and much more.
TOPKNOTZ
THURSDAY, 8.30PM, CHANNEL 9
For those who like their travel with a shot of adrenaline, look no further than this new offering hosted by Gold Logie winner Grant Denyer, celebrity chef Miguel Maestre, pro surfer Felicity Palmateer, stuntman Rob Palmer and veteran presenter Tom Williams.
With a focus on marine leisure, the team travel the South Pacific in search of adventure, putting their bodies and dignity on the line while diving with bull sharks in Fiji, trying out the Hydro Attack – a mix of boat, fighter jet, submarine and torpedo – in extreme sports mecca Queenstown and test driving an electric jetboard.
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
FRIDAY, 7PM, CHANNEL 7
I’m always a little suspicious of Christmas specials outside of the month of December, but at least the Better Homes and Gardens team is striking a practical note ahead of the silly season as the mercury rises.
There’s some handy tips on how to summer-proof your garden from Charlie Albone and Graham Ross, instructions for a not-half-bad looking, handmade, two-tiered serving tray for drinks and snacks that would be a welcome addition under any tree, plus Juliet Love’s ideas for a festive decor on a budget and a delicious looking twist on the Christmas ham from Colin Fassnidge.
A MAN ON THE INSIDE
NETFLIX
The first season of A Man on the Inside, with Ted Danson as a retired professor who infiltrates a retirement home to solve a mystery was one of last year’s sweet surprises, with plenty of gentle laughs and some thoughtful moments on ageing, grief and loneliness. Season two is more of the same, with Danson’s charming Charles warming to his second wind as a private investigator but tired of catching out cheating husbands. He jumps at the chance for a new undercover assignment at a struggling college trying to find the person blackmailing its rich, arrogant benefactor (Gary Cole). Among the suspects is quirky music professor Mona (played by Danson’s real-life wife Mary Steenburgen), who might also offer Charles a second chance at love.
AFLW GRAND FINAL
SATURDAY, 7PM, CHANNEL 7, 7MATE, KAYO, FOX FOOTY, BINGE
It’s starting to feel like deja vu for the AFLW grand final – with the North Melbourne Kangaroos and the Brisbane Lions facing off for the third straight year.
Tantalisingly it’s all square at one a piece, but the last time the all-conquering Kangaroos actually lost a game was to the Lions in the 2023 decider.
Still, last weekend’s narrow, come-from-behind preliminary final win against Melbourne showed that the defending champs are beatable, while the Lions had a much easier time of it in their 35-point win over Carlton. ARIA-winning electronic duo Peking Duk will headline the pre-game entertainment from Melbourne’s IKON Park.
THE ROSES
DISNEY+
Old friends Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Colman are electric together as a seemingly perfect couple whose marriage unravels in spectacular style in this hugely enjoyable jet-black comedy adapted from Warren Adler’s novel The War of the Roses.
The Doctor Strange star plays celebrated architect Theo, whose career implodes when his grand vanity project goes awry at the same time as wife Ivy’s restaurant business is taking off. As resentment builds between the two and divorce seems inevitable, they set out to destroy each other in increasingly appalling and hilariously inventive ways.
The perfect delivery and the cut-glass English accents of the two veteran thespians make the worst insults sounds almost Shakespearean.
SONGS INSIDE
MONDAY, 8.40PM, ABC
This documentary about a new music rehabilitation program at the Adelaide Women’s Prison can make for tough viewing at times but is a compelling look at life behind bars as well as a testament to the transformative power of music.
Ten inmates were selected to work with Barkindji singer-songwriter Nancy Bates to write and rehearse music for what would become the largest concert ever staged in an Australian prison, accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
It’s by turns heartbreaking and inspirational as they reflect on their personal histories scarred by violence and substance abuse – and the seriousness of their crimes – and juggle hope and regret as they try to stay on the straight and narrow in the lead-up to the big event.
#TRENDING
STREAMING, TUBI
Rebel Wilson’s ongoing legal battle with the producers of her directorial debut film, The Deb, have made headlines again thanks to the star’s interview with Tara Brown on 60 Minutes.
The musical comedy has been mired in controversy ever since the Bridesmaids’ star posted a video online in which she made a slew of accusations against producer Amanda Ghost, Gregor Cameron and executive producer Vince Holden.
Claiming she’s a whistleblower, Wilson denied that she’s behind a series of websites targeting Ghost.
Unlike The Deb, any nastiness on this Australian-made series featuring Wilson is purely scripted for the screen.
Set in seedy 1980s Sydney, Wilson plays a brothel madam named Doreen who has a run in with the titular character Les Norton (Alexander Bertrand) and casino kingpin Price Galese (David Wenham).
Like so many of Wilson’s signature roles, Doreen is a larger-than-life character who delivers smutty double entendres at a lightning pace.
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Originally published as Rebel Wilson stars in TV drama Les Norton as it returns to screens on Tubi
