What to watch in February, from Pam & Tommy to Hotel Portofino
A big month of television is ahead, from period dramas to true stories to twisted thrillers – this is what we’ll be watching.
Anyone waiting for a month when the quality of television on offer takes a dip is going to be waiting for a long time. Maybe you thought the end of Succession would bring about a period of relief, but then the twisted Yellowjackets and the brilliant Station Eleven began, carrying us through the holiday season and right into the new year, which gave us Jamie Dornan in The Tourist, a long-awaited farewell to Ozark, and the anxiety-inducing new season of Euphoria.
There’s so much television around at the moment, much of it pretty good. And some of it is even sensational, which is exactly what Station Eleven is.
If you’ve been put off by the miniseries, streaming now on Stan, because it’s about a fictional flu pandemic that wipes out 99 per cent of the world’s population, we get it.
But trust us, it’s worth the terror of a first episode soundtracked by people coughing. Because Station Eleven is some of the best television of the year – and it’s only February.
A surprisingly goofy, endearingly strange and totally uplifting series that is actually not about how the world ends but how it carries on – the kind of pandemic story we really need right now.
But enough of that. What of the new television series everyone will be talking about in February?
From blockbuster period dramas to star-studded true stories to twisted, gripping whodunnit thrillers, every week of the month is bringing an exciting new show to the small screen. What will you be watching?
Hotel Portofino
There’s another costume drama to fall in love and it’s called Hotel Portofino, a breezy Italian sojourn starring Natasha McElhone as a wealthy woman overseeing a quaint hotel on the Italian riviera. Australian actor Claude Scott Mitchell, of The Dry fame, will play one of the hotel’s many visitors checking in.
Set against the historical backdrop of the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, the series delves into themes of social and sexual liberation, revealing a rich sequence of plots.
“The hotel is there to try and bring people joy and I think that’s what’s really nice about the show,” Scott Mitchell said.
“But I also think it’s great that you have the underlying reality of fascism rising. And I mean, a lot of the guests wouldn’t have any idea really, but I think there’s an interesting dichotomy at play between finding joy and yet not being aware of what’s to come.”
Streaming on Foxtel from February 8.
The Gilded Age
Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes’s latest period extravaganza actually dropped last week on Paramount+ – yes, between this and Yellowjackets you really do need to sign up for this Channel 10 adjacent streaming service – but we’re sneaking it in here because it’s too good to pass up.
Lavishly produced and stuffed with stars including Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon and Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age is set in 1850s New York and Rhode Island, just as the worlds of old and new money collide.
Fellowes is a master of upstairs-downstairs scheming and withering looks, all of which are deployed with utmost precision here.
Streaming weekly on Paramount+ now.
Pam & Tommy
Everyone is going to be talking about Pammy & Tommy.
This eight-episode miniseries, directed by Australia’s own I, Tonya and Cruella filmmaker Craig Gillespie, is the story of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee – played by Lily James and Sebastian Stan in internet-breaking transformations for both of them, involving lashings of fake tan and tattoos, wigs, nails and, in Stan’s case, a prosthetic appendage – and the theft of their sex tape in 1995.
The thesis of the show is that the reception of this video was fuelled by misogyny, which has trickled down into both celebrity culture and the internet, then still in its infancy.
There are certainly moments when that rings true, particularly late in the season when James’s Anderson is forced to endure a humiliating deposition about the tape at the hands of feckless suits. (It brings to mind the excruciating deposition scene in American Crime Story: Impeachment.)
But these moments are sadly rare; the series places a bizarre amount of weight on the story of Rand Gauthier (Seth Rogen), the tradesman who steals the video and attempts to make a profit from it. Still, Pam & Tommy is nothing if not watchable.
The first three episodes of Pam & Tommy are streaming on Disney+ from February 2, with weekly
episodes from then.
Suspicion
Uma Thurman headlines this mystery box thriller on AppleTV+, starring as an American businesswoman whose son is kidnapped from a posh New York hotel, with four apparently unrelated (or are they?) guests visiting the city from England for just one night serving as the primary suspects. Suspicion has Vigil and The Capture energy, which is the highest possible praise as far as we’re concerned, and really benefits from a staggered, week-to-week release to keep that mystery churning.
Streaming weekly on AppleTV+ from February 4.
The Girl Before
A cracker of a plot and a great cast of English actors help transform this miniseries into the perfect weekend binge watch.
Based on a JP Delaney novel best consumed in one greedy go, The Girl Before centres on Jane (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, of Loki and Belle fame), who secures her dream apartment without realising the previous tenant – who is eerily similar to her in looks and demeanour – died in the house. Spooky, right? Totally.
The genius of The Girl Before is the compulsive nature of the mystery, which is drip fed to you slowly and then all at once, after you’re well and truly hooked.
Thank god all four episodes are dropping simultaneously so you can watch them all in one go.
Streaming on Binge from February 10.
Inventing Anna
If people aren’t talking about Pam & Tommy this month, they’re going to be talking about Inventing Anna.
Netflix’s pride and glory in February is this Shonda Rhimes-created miniseries about Anna Sorokin – alias Anna Delvey – who swindled the uppermost echelons of New York society a few years ago with various cons and schemes. Ozark’s Julia Garner stars as the fake heiress, and she’s going big with her performance. (There’s an accent. There’s wigs.)
But the focus of this show is actually on Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky), the reporter at fictional Manhattan magazine – standing in for New York magazine – chasing down the kind of story that only comes once in your life.
Streaming on Netflix from February 11.
I Want You Back
A murderer’s row of comedy talent stars in this unconventional rom-com, about a pair of total strangers who meet after they have just been dumped by their respective partners. They hatch a plan to get the supposed loves of their lives back – and we think you can guess where this one might end up. Jenny Slate and Manny Jacinto star in this charming Valentine’s Day binge.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video from February 11
Starstruck season two
Created and starring New Zealand comedian Rose Matafeo, Starstruck’s wonderful first season was a 2021 smash hit, and might be single-handedly responsible for saving the romantic comedy.
The six-episode miniseries followed the year-long courtship of Jessie (Matafeo) and Tom (Nikesh Patel), a couple who have a gin-soaked meet cute on New Year’s Eve and a subsequent one-night stand. So far, so rom-com-y, right? The only problem is that Tom is a very famous movie star and Jessie – as her flatmate so lovingly tells her – “is a little ratface nobody”.
Can this crazy couple make it work? The perfect blend of delightful rom-com nonsense and sharp insight into modern dating ensues, with even more of it coming in season two.
Streaming on ABC iView from
February 16.
Severance
Created by Ben Stiller and starring Big Little Lies and Parks & Recreation’s Adam Scott, Severance could be the series of the moment.
What if you could undergo a procedure that would completely separate your personal life from your work self? Would it actually protect you from burnout? Or would it do the opposite entirely?
There are a lot of big questions being asked by this series, and we’re excited to find out the answers.
Streaming weekly on AppleTV+ from February 18.
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel season four
The jewel in Amazon Prime Video’s crown, the award-winning The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is back for a fourth season. It’s a new decade – the swinging ’60s – and Midge (Rachel Brosnahan) is continuing on her journey to stand-up comedy glory in this beloved show created by Gilmore Girls team Amy and Dan Sherman Palladino.
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video from February 18.
Troppo
We’re definitely overdue for a television adaptation of a Candice Fox thriller novel, so popular and so filmable are her books.
The Australian writer is finally getting her small-screen due with Troppo, a gritty ABC series set in Far North Queensland, in which a man goes missing and a former policeman attempts to clear his ledger paired with a hard-living private investigator – when are they ever anything but? – when put on the case.
Streaming on ABC iView from
February 27.