5 TV shows guaranteed to lift your spirits

Ah, summer. A time for beaches, barbecues and bingeing on the TV shows you’ve been wanting to catch up on. But if you’ve had your fill of dystopian dramas, paranoid thrillers and bleak Euro murder mysteries involving mutilated bodies in forests, something more uplifting might be nice.

So here are a handful of shows that, for different reasons, lifted my spirits. Think of them as happy surprises. Some didn’t get the attention that they deserved, others were greeted with criticism that could have discouraged viewers who might enjoy them.

Hugh Bonneville in Douglas Is Cancelled.Credit: BBC Studios/Hartswood

Douglas is Cancelled (ABC iview)

This cleverly constructed four-part series starts out looking like a conventional, if topical, comedy. Then it ambushes you. Douglas Bellowes (Hugh Bonneville) and Madeline Crow (Karen Gillan) are co-hosts of a popular TV chat show and their playful chemistry is widely acknowledged; they convey a vibe of genial older bloke and sparky younger woman and their viewers warm to it.

Then Douglas is apparently overheard making an inappropriate joke at a party and the comfortable existence of a white, middle-aged male who’s been secure in his life and career is disrupted. Soon, those close to him, including his hard-charging tabloid newspaper editor wife (Alex Kingston), rattled program producer (Ben Miles) and hilariously ineffectual agent (Simon Russell Beale), are caught up in the controversy.

In the skilled hands of writer Steven Moffatt (Sherlock, Dracula, Inside Man, Dr Who), the series stealthily grows into an insightful examination of the times that takes in gender politics and the machinations of the media. By the final episode, it has completely and convincingly shifted gears, morphing into a probing and provocative #MeToo parable.

A Gentleman in Moscow (Paramount+)

Set in post-Revolution Russia, this beautifully crafted, achingly poignant drama is one of the sadly under-appreciated series of 2024. Based on a novel by Amor Towles, it’s anchored by a masterfully restrained performance from Ewan McGregor as Count Alexander Illyich Rostov.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Anna, Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov and Alexa Goodall as Nina in A Gentleman in Moscow.Credit: Paramount+

After years living in Paris, Rostov returns to his homeland to find it radically changed. Now regarded as an enemy of the people, he’s spared the death penalty due to the intervention of a family friend (Fehinti Balogun), but is sentenced to indefinite house arrest in the Hotel Metropol.

The slightly faded but still-glamorous establishment in the heart of the capital is a magnet for all types of people, from newly installed Bolshevik powerbrokers to government spies, criminals and entertainers.

Evoking a brutal political climate in which deadly violence and bloody retribution are commonplace, series creator and showrunner Ben Vanstone weaves an intriguing and expansive upstairs-downstairs tale that takes in the hotel’s staff as well as residents and visitors. Rostov gradually transforms from an isolated inmate to a proficient waiter, adapting the values and the life lessons that he absorbed as an aristocrat to his restricted circumstances and discovering unexpected allies.

Enhanced by sumptuous production and costume design and written with intelligence and compassion by Vanstone and Nessah Muthy, the series becomes a moving and inspiring tale of resilience, and of a triumph of humanity and decency in dark times.

Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee (ABC iview)

My initial reaction to the prospect of a spelling quiz reminded me of the dismissive response I had five years ago to the idea of a Lego-building competition. I was wrong both times. Here, I hadn’t allowed for the inventiveness and wit of the Kiwi creator, host, writer and comedian Guy Montgomery, who came up with the concept as an activity for family and friends during pandemic lockdowns.

Guy Montgomery and Aaron Chen in Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee.Credit: ABC TV

It grew into a successful series in NZ before crossing the ditch, casting an array of local bright sparks as contestants and employing Aaron Chen as a sidekick. They’re a dynamic, if wholly unlikely duo. Typically mild-mannered and ridiculously funny, Chen has chosen a boldly daggy outfit for this gig, a lime-coloured suit and ruffled shirt. The host, meanwhile, goes for wide lapel beige suits and the retro appearance of a ’70s-era fashion victim trying hard to look hip.

The off-beat humour is equally disarming, managing to be delightfully silly and surprisingly smart as players including Tom Gleeson, Steph Tisdell, Tim Minchin, Wil Anderson and Zoe Coombs Marr test their spelling skill.

They must choose from receptacles containing words of different levels of difficulty: Coward’s Cup, Person’s Purse or Bucket of Bravery. Or perhaps they’ll be asked to spell the names of selected audience members or medical ailments. Whatever the challenge, the studio is alive with laughter that’s infectious.

Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction (ABC iview)

Maybe there’s nothing new under the sun when it comes to talk shows. But this spin on the staple manages to go its own way and offer a fresh take on the familiar. Guests, two per half-hour episode, arrive with a couple of their treasured possessions, precious items they’d rescue if their homes were facing destruction.

Shaun Micallef’s Eve of Destruction.Credit: ABC

It’s a variation on a theme which might feature favourite songs, or books or photographs. As in all of those options, the objects function as springboards for conversation which can fluidly turn to the interviewee’s upbringing and family life as many of the items have a significance dating back to childhood.

The show is shaped by Micallef’s blithely off-beat, self-effacing sensibility: he’s not your average talk-show host and that’s an asset as he’ll sometimes seize upon an unexpected aside to open out discussion.

The result is entertaining, revealing and often very funny. Guests in the nine-part debut season include Robyn Butler, Rebecca Gibney, Usman Khawaja, Pia Miranda, Nazeem Hussain and Poh Ling Yeow. Don’t miss the Christmas special with Sam Pang and Courtney Act: it’s a gem of a festive-season finale.

Frasier (Paramount+)
OK, it hasn’t hit the heights of the original, which, after all, is one of TV’s great comedies. But this reboot, 20 years on and now through its second season, is improving and does have its charms.

Kelsey Grammer has slipped back into the pompous shrink’s silk dressing-gown with ease: he could play this role in his sleep. And the ensemble building around him is finding its rhythm while the influences of the original are everywhere evident: in the character dynamics, the coffee shop meetings and class gags.

Not brilliant, but also not the lamentable vanity project it’s sometimes made out to be.

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