WHAT TO WATCH 10-16 June

This week's best telly includes a number of highly anticipated new shows, including new Black Mirror, new The Full Monty and new Jack Thorne drama Best Interests as well as the return of Soccer Aid for UNICEF, a third series of Staged, the lost pilot of Blackadder and new ITVX comedy Count Abdulla.

Here are 7 TV shows you can't miss this week...

1. Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2023

Sunday 11th June at 6.30pm on ITV1

Soccer Aid for UNICEF is back for 2023 and Dermot O’Leary and Alex Scott will be live from Old Trafford, hosting the pre-match build-up and all the action from the biggest celebrity football match of the year.

An England team of celebrities and footballing legends including Stormzy, Tom Hiddleston, Danny Dyer and Jill Scott will go head-to-head with the Soccer Aid World XIi featuring Usain Bolt, Lee Mack and Patrice Evra in aid of leading children’s charity UNICEF.

This year, there'll be a special halftime performance from Tom Grennan.

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2. Best Interests

Monday 12th and Tuesday 13th June at 9pm on BBC One

From Jack Thorne, comes new four-part drama Best Interests which stars Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen in what promises to be a compelling, thought-provoking fictional drama. A story of a family driven apart by having to make choices no parent would ever want to make.

Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen play married couple Nicci and Andrew who have two daughters, Katie played by Alison Oliver and Marnie played by Niamh Moriarty.

Marnie has a life-threatening condition and the doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die, but her loving family disagree. And so begins a fight that will take them through every stage of a legal process, as they struggle to contemplate this huge decision. Who decides? And in whose best interests will it be?

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3. The Full Monty

Wednesday 14th June on Disney+

Taking place 25 years after the original British film, Disney+'s highly anticipated 8-part sequel, The Full Monty follows the same band of brothers as they navigate the post-industrial city of Sheffield, and society’s crumbling healthcare, education, and employment sectors.

The comedy-drama promises to uncover what happened to the gang after they put their kit back on, exploring their brighter, sillier and more desperate moments. It will also highlight how the fiercely funny world of these working-class heroes, still residing in Sheffield, has changed in the intervening decades.

Original cast members returning, include Robert Carlyle as Gaz, Mark Addy as Dave, Lesley Sharp as Jean, Hugo Speer as Guy, Paul Barber as Horse, Steve Huison as Lomper, Wim Snape as Nathan and Tom Wilkinson as Gerald.

1-8/8 All episodes available at launch

4. Staged

Wednesday 14th June at 10.40pm and 11pm on BBC One

After two series on BBC One, hit lockdown comedy Staged, starring Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Anna Lundberg and Georgia Tennant moved to Britbox towards the end of 2022 for its third series, which this week is airing on BBC One for the first time.

As the comedy returns, it's the run-up to Christmas and David and Michael talk on a video call, initially over footage of Wales and David tells Michael he wants to do something new.

We discover that he is in Tokyo to film an advert for cream cheese. David’s stuck in an airport at a loose end, and his demands for attention are aggravating Michael.

1-2/7 Continues weekly. All episodes available at launch

5. Black Mirror

Thursday 15th June on Netflix

Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror, which reinvents itself with each new episode returns for a highly-anticipated sixth season made up of five episodes that promise to be most unpredictable, unclassifiable and unexpected yet.

In Joan Is Awful, an average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life, in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek. Also stars Annie Murphy, Ben Barnes, Himesh Patel, Michael Cera and Rob Delaney.

In Loch Henry, a young couple travel to a sleepy Scottish town to start work on a genteel nature documentary - but find themselves drawn to a juicy local story involving shocking events of the past. Stars Daniel Portman, John Hannah, Monica Dolan, Myha’la Herrold and Samuel Blenkin.

Beyond The Sea, starring Aaron Paul, Auden Thornton, Josh Hartnett, Kate Mara and Rory Culkin is set in an alternative 1969, two men on a perilous high-tech mission wrestle with the consequences of an unimaginable tragedy.

In Mazey Day, a troubled starlet is dogged by invasive paparazzi while dealing with the consequences of a hit-and-run incident. Stars Clara Rugaard, Danny Ramirez and Zazie Beetz.

And Anjana Vasan and Paapa Essieduin star in Demon 79, which is set in Northern England, 1979 and follows a meek sales assistant who is told she must commit terrible acts to prevent disaster.

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6. Count Abdulla

Thursday 15th June on ITVX

Another week, another new comedy on ITVX, this time it's Count Abdulla which follows a mid-twenties British Muslim doctor stuck in an identity crisis.

Abdulla Khan, played by Arian Nik, is caught between his religious mother Bushra, played by Nina Wadia, and his secular, hedonistic friends. But when Abdulla is bitten by a vampire, played by Jaime Winstone, he suddenly becomes the outsider’s outsider.

1-6/6 All episodes available at launch

7. Blackadder: The Lost Pilot

Thursday 15th June at 9pm on Gold

To celebrate 40 years of Blackadder, Sir Tony Robinson goes on a quest to discover the truth behind the hit sitcom's origin story with a journey that takes him back in time to find out where Blackadder really began and to uncover the story of the never-before-broadcast pilot episode.

For Tony, this is a personal story. Baldrick defined his career and playing the character transformed his life, but he didn't play the part in the pilot and there's so much about Blackadder's beginnings he doesn't know.

Along the way, Sir Tony will speak to comedy greats including series creator and writer Richard Curtis as well as co-writer Ben Elton. And the documentary will end with a special screening of the never-before-broadcast pilot episode.

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