Best shows to watch this week: ripping WWII drama Rogue Heroes; vintage De Niro in Zero Day
One of the best historical dramas in recent years returns with a wild new mission, and double Oscar-winner Robert De Niro impresses in his first major TV role.
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We’ve sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week.
SAS: ROGUE HEROES
WEDNESDAY, 9.30PM, SBS
The first season of this rollicking, rock and roll WWII historical drama from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight – based on the formation of the British Army Special Air Service but at pains to point out that “this is NOT a history lesson” – was an absolute blast and the second season picks up right where it left off. With SAS founder Lieutenant David Stirling (Connor Swindells) captured and now languishing in a POW camp, it falls to his volatile 2IC Paddy Mayne (Jack O’Connell) to continue to his legacy in the face of the top brass who want to close down the elite unit of misfits, bad-arses and borderline psychopaths. After Mayne finds himself in a Cairo clink for smashing up a fancy cafe when denied compassionate leave for the death of his father, he’s bailed out by Stirling’s younger brother Bill (Gwylim Lee) for a new suicide mission. This time it’s 1943 and the Special Raiding Squadron – new name, same bad attitude – are chosen to be “the sharp tip of the arrow of invasion” in the Allies’ bid to run the Nazis out of Europe, beginning with an attack on Sicily. While the feats of bravery and violence are astonishing, it also never stints on the physical and mental toll it takes on the soldiers.
PAMELA’S COOKING WITH LOVE
WEDNESDAY, BINGE
Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson is having a bit of a moment right now. With The Last Showgirl currently in cinemas (in what many thought was an awards-worthy performance), she’s also branched out into the culinary world with acclaimed chefs to up her own cooking game and share her passion for plant-based foods. Joining the Canadian model-turned-actor in her to-die-for kitchen in a barn at her home on Vancouver Island for the first episode is Gregory Gourdet, chef and owner of the upscale Kann Restaurant in Portland Oregon. With plenty of time for easy banter, the pair step by step create an elaborate vegan menu inspired by his Haitian heritage, including an delicious looking pineapple upside down cake and even miraculously make cauliflower look tasty.
THE DOG HOUSE AUSTRALIA
WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, CHANNEL 7
Dig out the tissues and prepare for cuteness overload with the return of the show that finds forever homes for rescue pooches – although it’s often the humans who really need the rescuing. First customer for the kindly souls at the Animal Welfare League is 21-year-old Liz, whose childhood was disrupted by cystic fibrosis but has been given a new lease of life thanks to a new drug and is looking for a four-legged friend to accompany her on a dream road trip around Australia. Then there’s couple Anna and Anthony who want to road test a pet before they start a family, but can’t decide between two very different German shepherd crosses. And finally, identical twins Kim and Jo, who are hoping to shake their image as kooky cat ladies and Hanzo the beagle cross might just fit the bill.
WIN OR LOSE
NEW EPISODES WEDNESDAY, DISNEY+
Pixar hits another home run with its first original long-form animated series, with plenty of the heart and humour that film and TV fans have come to expect from the trailblazing studio. Over eight episodes, it tells the same story – that of a school softball team in the week leading up to the big championship game – from a different perspective and with a unique visual style, including the coach, the umpire and several of the players. The delightful opening episodes introduced Laurie, the coach’s daughter who is crippled by self-doubt and literally sweating the small stuff until she can barely function, and umpire Frank, whose outwardly happy and confident exterior is masking a deep loneliness. This week, it’s the turn of promising but poor player Rochelle, whose morals are tested in the pursuit of her sporting dreams. Quality stuff.
SYDNEY GAY AND LESBIAN MARDI GRAS PARADE
SATURDAY, 7.30PM, ABC
There’s nothing quite like the colour, movement and pure joie de vivre of Sydney’s biggest party, whether you’re braving the spangly crowds of the up to 12,000 people expected to march and dance their way up Oxford Street and embracing the Free To Be theme or putting your feet up at home. Longstanding hosts, drag legend Courtney Act and Mon Schafter will call the shots and presenter ABC Jeremy Fernandez and comedian Mel Buttle will get the word from the street as roving reporters. Triple J will also come to the party with DJ and Mix-Up host Latifa Tee curating queer anthems and certified club bangers.
ZERO DAY
NETFLIX
Oscar-winning movie great Robert De Niro is in vintage form in his first major TV series role, playing popular and respected former US president George Mullen, who is put in charge of an emergency commission with unprecedented powers after a serious cyber-attack on the US. In a tight, smart, conspiracy thriller that feels like it could have been ripped straight from the headlines (one of the creators is a former head of NBC News and another was national security correspondent at the New York Times), it examines the terrifying real-world threats that loom large in the digital age, as well as how much power and authority should be afforded to those trying to find the culprits. Matters are complicated by the fact that Mullen’s memory and faculties seem to be failing him, leaving him questioning his own judgment and seeing things that aren’t really there. Or are they?
NRL VEGAS
SUNDAY, 8AM, KAYO, FOX LEAGUE
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas – unless you’re one of the footy tragics raring to go for the new NRL season. In that case, you can tune in for the code’s second foray into Sin City when the Raiders take on the Warriors, followed at 2.55pm by the defending champs Penrith squaring off against the team they sent packing in last year’s Preliminary Final, the Cronulla Sharks. And in the lead-up to the big games, the returning NRL 360 will broadcast live from Vegas with hosts Braith Anasta and Gorden Tallis giving the lowdown on what to expect from season 2025 and Matty Johns Live in Vegas will showcase the entertainment capital of the world with Nathan Hindmarsh and Bryan Fletcher. Shows start at 2pm Thursday, 10am Friday and 2pm Saturday.
THE OSCARS
MONDAY, 11AM, CHANNEL 7
This year’s Academy Awards are shaping up as one of the most open in years, with no one film set to completely dominate as Oppenheimer did last year. Emilia Perez leads the way with 13 nominations but after picking up late award season wins, drama Anora is firming as Best Picture favourite, and is also a good shot for picking up Best Actress for Mikey Madison and Best Director for Sean Baker. Adrien Brody looks like a Best Actor lock for The Brutalist but his Aussie co-star Guy Pearce is a longshot with his first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actor, with A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin an almost unbackable favourite in the category. Australian stop-motion gem Memoir of a Snail will also have to pull off an almighty upset to get up for Best Animated feature, but its director Adam Elliot already has a little golden man for his 2003 animation short Harvie Krumpet. Mercurial host Conan O’Brien will bring the LOLs and coverage of the red carpet frocks and shocks will begin from 10.30am.
SUITS LA
MONDAY, 9.10PM, CHANNEL 7, 7+
How much you like the second spin-off of the long-running, now defunct legal drama Suits will probably depend a lot on how much you liked the original. It’s been billed in some corners as Entourage meets Mad Men – it’s nowhere near as good as either – but the new setting in Los Angeles allows for some slick moves and celebrity clients that set it apart from its predecessors. Arrow star Stephen Amell plays fast-talking, hard-nosed Ted Black, who has left his job as a federal prosecutor in New York (for reasons gradually explained in flashbacks) to become one of the most powerful entertainment lawyers in Tinseltown. Not only is he juggling office politics, ambitious and potentially treacherous colleagues and client egos, he’s also dealing with the impending death of the father, who left him with some serious scars and issues.
ONSIDE: MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
APPLE TV+
America’s Major League Soccer might be having slight delusions of grandeur in its bid to become one of the best leagues in the world, but there’s no doubt that signing arguably the best player to ever kick the round ball, Lionel Messi, for Inter Miami FC was a masterstroke for a game that has struggled to gain traction there. This new documentary – with all eight episodes now available – from the team behind Formula 1: Drive To Survive goes behind the scenes of season 2024 in the growing league, with extraordinary access from the board room to the dressing room. It kicks off with the dramatic lead-up to the opening match with Messi’s Miami (co-owned by David Beckham), the rising powerhouse in the league, facing off with traditional powerhouse (and Beckham’s former club) the LA Galaxy and Spanish superstar in the making Riqui Puig.
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