From The Bear to a top new Aussie drama, these are the shows worth your viewing time this week
From the return of an award-winning favourite to a top-notch Aussie drama starring Asher Keddie, here’s this week’s must-watch shows.
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From the return of award-winner The Bear to a quality new Aussie drama and a springing doco just in time for the Olympics, these are the shows worth checking out this week
THE BEAR
DISNEY+
Jeremy Allen White returns to the role that won him last year’s Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Emmy Award for a third course that is both rich and satisfying. After finishing last season with a complete freak-out that left him locked in the fridge while his long-dreamt of high-end restaurant finally opened, the new season kicks off with a sublime episode of Carmy recalling the hard road that finally got him there, followed by the realisation that getting to the top is one thing – staying there is another. The brutal realities of the hospitality caper kick in quickly, with ongoing tension between Carmy’s search for perfection no matter what the personal and financial cost, Richie’s (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) practicality of getting the customers what they want, financier Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) trying to actually make some money and cool-headed Sous Chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) desperately trying to bind the whole operation together. The season is not flawless – it spins its wheels storywise occasionally and the celebrity cameos are a bit hit and miss – but not unlike Ted Lasso, these are characters you just want to spend more time with. Oh, and don’t watch it on an empty stomach.
MICHAEL MOSLEY: A TRIBUTE
WEDNESDAY, 7.35PM, SBS
Michael Mosley’s untimely death in Greece last month robbed us of one of the finest medical and scientific communicators of his generation, as outlined in this documentary that traces his journey from would be doctor to a much-loved TV personality who opened audiences’ eyes to a healthier way of life. Right from the time he joined the BBC on a whim, his boundless curiosity and humanity shone, whether he was spotlighting trailblazing scientists such as Aussie Professor Barry Marshall, who won a Nobel prize for his work on ulcers, or spruiking the benefits of intermittent fasting. His willingness to walk the walk as well as talking the talk will be sorely missed as he put his body on the line in the name of science by ingesting tapeworms, smoking and vaping, sticking pins through his hand and being an early adopter of the cold water challenge.
SPRINT
NETFLIX
From the team behind the F1 doco Drive To Survive, comes this excellent window into the world of elite sprinters, the true rock stars of the track and field world, where success and failure is measured in fractions of a second. Front and centre is the flashy, charismatic Noah Lyles, the reigning 200m world champ who is also muscling in on the 100m and is current favourite to win the blue-riband event at this month’s Olympics. With its usual amazing access to some of the top names in the men’s and women’s events – plus former sprint greats including Michael Johnson, Ato Boldon and the still peerless Usain Bolt – it follows their highs and lows in the lead-up to last year’s World Championships, as well as the ongoing rivalry between the US and Jamaican teams.
HISTORY’S GREATEST HEISTS
THURSDAY, 8.30PM, SBS VICELAND
It’s astonishing that the Antwerp Diamond Heist – the first episode of this six-part stories – hasn’t already been made into a film given its colourful characters, high-stakes and Ocean’s 11 level of audacity. Pierce Brosnan, who starred in the heist classic The Thomas Crown Affair, narrates the stranger than fiction story of a crew of Italian thieves whose aliases included master planner The Ringleader, fix-it man The Monster, gadgets guy The Genius, wheelman Speedy and the self-explanatory King of the Keys. Together, they devised an ingenious plan to beat 10 layers of security protecting one of the most secure vaults in the world with hundreds of millions of dollars of loot behind it. But did they get away with it? Don’t Google the answer before you watch.
FAKE
THURSDAY, PARAMOUNT+
Both Asher Keddie and David Wenham are absolutely mesmerising in this new Australian thriller, based on Stephanie Woods’ memoir of the same name. Multiple Logie winner Keddie plays a 40-something journalist Birdie, who has almost tapped out of the romance game until she meets Wenham’s Joe, who claims to be a successful grazier, on a dating app. After an awkward first date, and follow-up messages from Joe that tread the fine line between romantic persistence and borderline stalker behaviour, she agrees to see him again – against her instincts and mostly as the insistence of friends and family worried she will end up alone. Soon, she’s falling for his roguish charm and romantic gestures, but lingering suspicions still remain that all is not as it seems …
TROPPO
FRIDAY, 8.20PM, ABC
The first season of this quality, Far North Queensland shot crime drama established that while there were plenty things that could kill you in those wild parts, from crocs to snakes, flaming, falling bodies were not among them. But that’s exactly where the second season picks up six months later, when the owner of a local family retreat is set ablaze and pushed off a cliff, killing a canoodling camper beneath. Fledgling private investigators Amanda (Nicole Chamoun) and gruff ex-cop Ted (Thomas Jane) – each still wrestling with their own past traumas – are hired to figure out how, why and what happened to his rare vintage sports car. As the mismatched pair dig deeper, links emerge to a local drug ring putting them at odds with the local bikies and a driven and sometimes abrasive homicide detective.
WALLABIES V WALES
SATURDAY, 7.30PM, CHANNEL 9
It’s been a big week in Australian rugby already, with the retirement of one of the greats in former skipper Michael Hooper and veteran Kurtley Beale suffering a potentially career ending injury just after being recalled to the national team. But after last year’s disastrous World Cup, the Wallabies have slumped to a lowly No.9 in the world rankings and all eyes will be on new coach, Kiwi Joe Schmidt, to see if he can turn things around on his first match in charge. One consolation will be that Wales, their opponents for the Test matches in Sydney this week and Melbourne next week, are ranked one place lower and the Green and Gold will be out for revenge for the mighty hiding they copped in the World Cup group match.
DANCING WITH THE STARS
SUNDAY, 7PM, CHANNEL 7
After the departure of Daryl Somers, Channel 7’s star recruit Chris Brown slips into the hosting role alongside Logie-winner Sonia Kruger like the well-tailored blue tuxedo he wears in this week’s season opener. Ballroom dancing royalty Helen Richey returns to the judging panel after a year off, taking her place on the panel alongside Mark Wilson, Sharna Burgess and the acid-tongued Craig Revel Howard, who drops truth bombs and zingers in equal measure. Of this year’s crop of contestant’s Logie-winner, Lisa McCune sets the bar high early, looking like an absolute natural and using her acting experience to sell a physically challenging tango. And despite a huge grin and infectious enthusiasm, so far as a dancer ex-AFL player Ben Cousins makes an excellent goalscoring midfielder.
I WAS ACTUALLY THERE
TUESDAY, 8PM, ABC
This new six part documentary on first-hand accounts of some the most remarkable events in Australian history begins with one of its darkest days – April 28, 1996, when an evil grub murdered 35 innocent people with high-powered weapons at the Port Arthur Historical Site. Following a time line that begins at 1.28pm on a beautiful Sunday, eyewitnesses including survivors, law-enforcement, journalists, first responders and more recount the horror that unfolded and how they reacted. There are also details of the killer’s arrest, trial and incarceration but it’s clear his appalling actions had repercussion far beyond that fatal day, as relationships ended, lives fell apart and some still affected by traumatic flashbacks. Riveting stuff.
SUPACELL
NETFLIX
Just when you thought we’d reached peak superhero, comes this new six-part series of five seemingly ordinary and unconnected black South Londoners who gain powers in moments of extreme duress. While there’s plenty that’s familiar here to fans of shows like Heroes or The Umbrella Academy – super speed and strength, teleporting, telekinesis – it’s the environment of casual and overt racism they live in and how they use the powers, for good and bad, that drives the action forward and makes this worth a look for fans of the genre. Central among the disparate group of fledgling heroes is Michael, whose ability to travel through space and time put him on a mission to unite the others to save the world – and the woman he loves.
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