Best 10 TV shows to watch this week

Outlander, Black Mirror, DWTS, The Great Australian Bake Off and The Crowded Room are some of the 10 must-watch shows of the week.

Saturday, Foxtel on Demand

Saturday, Foxtel on Demand

Outlander returns for a seventh and penultimate season of the timeless romance.

Gird your loins – time-travelling couple Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) Fraser are back. Seven seasons into a TV series – even the best ones – you run the risk of things getting stale. Fortunately for viewers, there’s still a lot to love in this seventh and penultimate season of the timeless romance. It’s double the number of episodes from last season, which was shortened due to Balfe’s pregnancy and pandemic-related scheduling issues. The opener starts right where last season left off. The mission is on to rescue Claire before she’s wrongfully convicted of murder. Slight problem, of course, the American Revolution has arrived, and their family is caught in the crossfire. As the conflict draws them out of North Carolina and into the heart of this fight for independence, Jamie, Claire, Brianna (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) are faced with impossible decisions that have the potential to tear their family apart. Balfe has teased in interviews: “There’s a lot of peril this season and a lot of things happen. There’s a lot of loss and things are unsettled. It’s just very epic, this season.”

THE FULL MONTY

Wednesday, Disney+

Robert Carlyle reprises his character Gaz in the TV iteration of The Full Monty. Picture: Supplied

It’s 25 years since six ordinary Yorkshiremen bared all in the heartwarming film of the same name and this eight-episode TV series sees the same characters, played by the same actors, living the same lives. There’s only one slight change – this time the clothes stay on. “I recognise you from somewhere – you’re the strippers. Are you still doing it?” a fellow asks. “What do you think?” quips Dave (Mark Addy). Gaz (Robert Carlyle) is now a grandad but he’s still as full of mad schemes and his teenage daughter’s following in his footsteps, while Dave’s wife, Jean, is now head of a prestigious school. It has all the charm of the film along with undertones of melancholy.

THE FIRST INVENTORS

Thursday, 8.40pm, NITV

Rob Collins narrates the First Inventors. Picture: Supplied

It’s a powerful and eye-opening first episode of this four-part documentary, where Rob Collins and a team of investigators reveal the unique inventions that let First Nations people survive – and thrive – for a staggering 65,000 years. As Collins says in the opening, “this doco has been 10,000 years in the making”. It’s mind-blowing to watch as laser technology uncovers an ancient engineering triumph that reshaped volcanic landscapes into what might be the world’s earliest fish farms. And a computer simulation shows how Indigenous ancestors embarked on the world’s first great ocean crossing.

THE CROWDED ROOM

Streaming, AppleTV+

You’ll marvel at Tom Holland in The Crowded Room. Picture: Supplied

It’s a slight change of pace for Spider-Man’s Tom Holland in this gripping thriller. Holland is Danny Sullivan, a man arrested over his involvement in a shooting in 1979 New York City. Amanda Seyfried stars as Rya Goodwin, the unlikely interrogator tasked with questioning him. Each of the 10 episodes unfold a new chapter from Danny’s past through flashbacks and partial recollections to reveal a pertinent truth.

BLACK MIRROR

Thursday, Netflix

Annie Murphy stars in the first episode of Black Mirror Season 6. Picture: Netflix

After resting his dystopian anthology during the world’s own somewhat dystopic event, Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has decided now the time is right for the sixth season of his dark show. The first episode, Joan is Awful, sees Schitt’s Creek’s Annie Murphy as Joan in a twist on The Truman Show. Joan discovers that the streaming service Streamberry

(a Netflix lookalike) has released a TV drama adaptation of her life, where she is portrayed by Salma Hayek. Again, there’s a roll-call of talent including Michael Cera and Aaron Paul.

WOULD I LIE TO YOU?

Thursday, ABC iview

David Mitchell, Rob Brydon and Lee Mack are bringing the hilarity back in the 16th season of Would I Lie To You. Picture: Supplied

It’s the 16th season of the award-winning comedy panel show and Rob Brydon is back in the host’s chair, with Lee Mack and David Mitchell returning as team captains. Happy Mondays’ Bez and Strictly Dancing’s Motsi Mabuse are team Mitchell in the first episode, while comedian Shazia Mirza and actor Steve Pemberton join team Mack. The stories are hilarious, and Mack’s physical comedy is side-splittingly funny as he recreates his time as a caravan business model.

The COVENANT

Friday, Prime Video

Guy Ritchie’s highly anticipated war movie The Covenant follows US Army sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley discovers Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he heads back to the war zone to save them before the Taliban hunts them down first. Quite apart from the leads, the movie boasts an impressive cast including Alexander Ludwig, Jason Wong, Bobby Schofield and Emily Beecham.

DANCING WITH THE STARS

Sunday, 7pm, Seven

Paulini – with her professional partner Igor – joins a sparkling list of celebrities for the 20th season of Dancing With the Stars.

Now in its 20th season, the glitz, glam and clever routines are back – possibly better than ever. The latest celebs to take a spin include Paulini, Laura Byrne, Charlie Albone, Emily Weir, Christie Whelan Browne, Gavin Wanganeen, James Magnussen, Mary Coustas, Matt Preston, Pia Miranda, Sally Pearson and Virginia Gay. They get to strut their stuff in front of a refreshed judging panel, with Sharna Burgess and Craig Revel Horwood joining Todd McKenney and Mark Wilson. And, as host Sonia Kruger jokes, Revel Horwood makes McKenney look like Bambi.

THE RIGHTEOUS GEMSTONES

Monday, 7.30pm, Foxtel

Kelvin (Adam Devine), Judy (Edi Patterson) and Jesse (Danny McBride) are as entitled as ever in the third instalment of The Righteous Gemstones. Picture: Supplied

It’s the third instalment of this much-loved show about ultra-rich adult children fighting for their family business. They’re not quite as toxic as Succession’s Roys, but they are as entitled. And, when the spoiled kids finally realise their wish to take control of the mega church, they discover leadership is harder than they imagined. This time around the Gemstones – Dr Eli (John Goodman), Jesse (Danny McBride), Judy (Edi Patterson) and Kelvin (Adam Devine) – continue to deal with obnoxious relative Baby Billy (Walter Goggins), get involved in the NASCAR circuit, and cope with an increasingly powerful and vocal religious movement populated by far right-wing gun enthusiasts.

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BAKE OFF

Tuesday, 8.30pm, Foxtel

Rachel Khoo and Darren Purchese on The Great Australian Bake Off. Picture: Supplied

Rest assured that what is possibly the sweetest show on TV is still in safe hands with culinary icon Rachel Khoo and king of the pastry world Darren Purchese taking over as judges from Matt Moran and Maggie Beer. And new hosts Natalie Tran and Cal Wilson are also worthy successors as they encourage the bakers with their perfect recipe of quips, and a healthy side serving of puns. It’s biscuit week and the 11 remaining bakers are tasked first up with serving some sweet treats that represent their passions and heritage. The biscuit bento box which looks like sushi will blow your mind.

Originally published as Best 10 TV shows to watch this week