5 things to watch this week
Who could blame Sally Wainwright for wanting to write something so fizzingly fun after all the trauma in her hit cop show? Plus, a slept-on Steven Soderbergh comedy.
Red Oaks
Prime Video
If you’re looking for a fuzzy, ambling comedy, consider Prime Video’s unsung Red Oaks, which ran for three seasons from 2014-2017. This Steven Soderbergh-produced series, created by novelist Joe Gangemi and Gregory Jacobs, is nostalgic in the most delicious ways. Set in 1985, Craig Roberts (best known for Richard Ayaode’s 2010 comedy, Submarine) stars as David, a student at New York University who is studying film, much to the dismay of his parents (Jennifer Grey and a hilarious Richard Kind) who would rather he pursue accounting. David spends his summer off working as a junior tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in New Jersey — where most of this show’s mischief takes place. He has his girlfriend Karen (Gage Golightly) who teaches terrifically spandexed aerobics; his shaggy-dog stoner best friend Wheeler (Oliver Cooper) who has a life-ruining crush on the club’s gorgeous lifeguard; and his tennis mentor (Ennis Esmer), who fancies himself a suave homewrecker, but is a doofus. The stakes of this show are low — there’s a lot of going to parties, chasing girls, and smoking weed on endless summer days — but it rolls happily along with killer gags and a beautifully thought-out soundtrack.
Renegade Nell
Disney+
Who could blame Sally Wainwright for wanting to write something so fizzingly fun after all the trauma in Happy Valley? In this head-spinning romp, Louisa Harland — the scene-stealing Orla from Derry Girls — stars as Nell Jackson, a young widow who becomes the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th-century England. Those who loved Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack will almost certainly be on board with this — it’s a similar flavour with the silliness turned right up. It’s the acclaimed writer’s first real family friendly outing, and if you’re looking for something sharp that doesn’t compromise on the jolliness, it doesn’t get much better than this. Harland is terrific, and the supporting cast — which includes Line of Duty’s Craig Parkinson, Adrian Lester, and Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed, shrunk down to sprite size — meet her beat for beat.
Big Mood
Stan
From March 29
The Derry Girls have been awfully busy. This time it’s Nicola Coughlan starring alongside Lydia West (It’s a Sin) in this wicked, spunky comedy about millennial angst. In this semi-autobiographical series, written and created by Camilla Whitehall, they play best mates Maggie and Eddie, whose co-dependent, decade-long friendship goes south as they approach 30. Coughlan’s Maggie is a playwright whose bipolar disorder makes a nasty return. Eddie is in the firing line and, in an attempt to cheer Maggie up, she throws her an ill-advised birthday party. Suffice to say, it’s catastrophic and leaves Eddie questioning whether she needs to break up the friendship — like The Banshees of Inisherin if it were set in East London and had more jokes about ketamine. For those of us who can no longer confidently say we are young but still feel too unhinged to “grow up,” this one cuts scarily close to the bone.
Dexter
Prime Video
Recommending one of the biggest television hits of the 2000s seems quite silly, but even those of us who watch television for a crust have our catching up to do. Michael C. Hall stars as Dexter Morgan, who is perhaps the most polite, likeable sociopath ever put to screen. Dexter spends his days working as a blood-splatter analyst for Miami police, and his nights brutally murdering people. The catch is that his foster father, who cottoned on to his bloodlust as a child, taught him to channel his wrath into only killing the deserving (pedophiles, unrepentant drunk drivers). He is a serial killer with a conscience … sort of. The show is precisely as ridiculous as it sounds, but the writing is so sensational, winking and playful, that it’s impossible to resist. It also looks amazing, the vivid colour grading and am-dram severed limbs are such a welcome reprieve from the serious grey sludge of modern prestige television.
Is It Cake?
Netflix
Season 3 from March 29
Every person I know who is addicted to this immensely stupid, compulsively watchable reality TV show got hooked in the same way: they walked in on someone else watching it, shared a bit of “what’s this then?” banter, and found themselves unable to move from the couch, as they hoovered down episode after episode. Who the first person was to take a chance on this glorious trash and spark this chain reaction of reluctant viewers is a mystery, but they have a lot to answer for. The premise, which will be familiar to anyone who spent more than five minutes on Facebook in 2020, is such: contestants, all of whom have their own successful cake-making businesses, will bake elaborate creations made to look like everyday objects (football boots, a futon) and compete to win tens of thousands of dollars. The judges — who know nowt about baking (think: celebrity real estate agent Chrishell Stause) — have 15 seconds to guess which of the five identical objects in front of them is, in fact, cake.