This week's must-see telly includes a new BBC One drama about the events which took place in Salisbury in 2018 and a nostalgic look back at Big Brother as the original and best reality TV show celebrates its 20th anniverary.
Here are 7 shows you can’t miss this week...
1. The Salisbury Poisonings
Sunday 14th, Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th June at 9pm on BBC One
Originally planned for BBC Two, this new three-part BBC One drama tells the story of what happened in March 2018 when Salisbury became the site of an unprecedented national emergency and focuses on the extraordinary heroism shown by the local community.
The Salisbury Poisonings begins as emergency services descend on Salisbury’s city centre where they find Sergei, a former Russian military officer and his daughter Yulia Skripal unconscious on a park bench. They are taken to hospital, where doctors struggle to diagnose the source of their illness. DS Nick Bailey, played by Rafe Spall, decides to investigate the Skripals' home, but soon after returning to work he begins to feel ill.
Tracy Daszkiewicz, the Director of Public Health for Wiltshire Council played by Anne-Marie Duff is called into an emergency meeting, where it’s revealed that it was an attempted assassination with an unidentified poison. She realises the potential danger and locks down the main sites but when CCTV footage shows the Skripals have been all over town, she fears the entire city centre could have been infected with an unidentified toxin.
Meanwhile Dawn Sturgess, played by MyAnna Buring, is furious at herself for missing a planned trip to the playground with her daughter. As her boyfriend, Charlie Rowley, played by Johnny Harris, comforts her, she vows to turn things around. As Tracy struggles to deal with the responsibility of having the safety of thousands in her hands, Nick’s condition worsens.
1-3/3
2. Big Brother: Best Shows Ever
Sunday 14th - Thursday 18th June at 9pm on E4
Big Brother is back... sort of. It's been almost two years since we the last proper series of the original and best reality TV show and now to celebrate the show's 20th Anniversary, Davina McCal and Rylan Clark-Neal will revisit some of the juiciest and most memorable episodes of all time in a new series for E4.
Due to rights, these moments will be from just the Channel 4 series of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother but with 11 civilian series and 7 celebrity series to choose from, something tells me they won't be short of best episodes.
In the first week of episodes we'll revisit the time eventual first winner Craig Phillips confronted Nasty Nick over his plot to influence nominations, the time Nikki Grahame asked "Who is she?!" and Jackie Stallone's iconic CBB entrance in 2005.
Also joining Davina and Rylan across the series, to take a trip down memory lane and reminisce will be Dermot O'Leary and Emma Willis.
1-5/10
3. 8 Minutes And 46 Seconds: The Killing of George Floyd
Monday 15th June at 9pm on Sky Documentaries, Sky One, Sky Atlantic, Sky Witness and YouTube
On 25th May 2020, George Floyd was tragically killed after an officer pinned him down to the ground and knelt on his neck.
This new one-off documentary takes its title from the length of time the officer knelt on George Floyd's neck and explores how his death sparked outrage and became a turning point for the anti-racism movement, Black Lives Matter.
It will be streamed across multiple Sky channels as well as Sky's YouTube channel for non-subscribers.
1/1
4. Betty
Tuesday 16th June at 9.35pm on Sky Comedy
Betty actually launched last week on Sky Comedy but I knew nothing about it until Tuesday evening and three hours later I'd watched the whole lot, so I had to recommend it this week. You can either watch weekly or devour the boxset like I did. It's beautifully shot, character-driven has a brilliant soundtrack and even better cast.
The six-part comedy drama is based on Crystal Moselle’s critically acclaimed 2018 feature Skate Kitchen which follows a diverse group of young New York women navigating their lives through the predominantly male-oriented world of skateboarding.
In the opening episode which aired last week, Janay and Kirt attempted to throw an all-girls skate sesh, but chaos ensued when an unexpected visitor cut the festivities short. This week, Donald's unauthorised shadiness finds Janay reeling while Kirt, Indigo and Honeybear deal with the territorial skater boys. Camille and Bambi hangout under awkward circumstances.
2/6 All episodes available
5. I May Destroy You
Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th June at 10.45pm on BBC One
After making a welcome return to our screens last week in I May Destroy You, a twelve-part series about sexual assault, Michaela Coel returns this week with two more episodes. Remember, this is a series she wanted people to watch weekly, in doses of two, rather than in one go.
Coel plays Arabella Essiuedu, who after being sexually assaulted in a nightclub, her life changes irreversibly and she is forced to reassess everything: her career, her friends, even her family. And as she struggles to come to terms with what has happened, she begins a journey of self-discovery.
In the first of this week's episodes, we go back three months as Terry, played by Weruche Opia, visits Arabella in Italy where she's living large on her agents’ dime and together with Biagio, played by Marouane Zotti, each have a wild night of their own.
Episode four finds us back in London, two months after the incident as Arabella meets with a therapist who encourages her to find relaxing and creative ways to cope with her trauma. Still anticipating the first draft of Arabella’s book, her agents assign another client to help her with the writing process.
3-4/12
6. Make Me Famous
Wednesday 17th June from 6am on BBC Three
If you've ever watched Love Island or read any of the stories around the show, then the subject of BBC Three's lates single drama Make Me Famous, written by Reggie Yates, will be all too familiar to you.
It explores the impact and consequences of fast fame on reality TV contestants through the lens of Billy Fearon, played by Tom Brittney, who succeeds in impressing the producers of a fictional constructed-reality show called Love or Lust which he believes his life is set to change forever.
A year after the show has aired, while some of Billy’s co-stars’ careers are thriving whilst he struggles to balance the afterglow of fame, social media, tabloid kiss & tells and the resulting assumptions people have made about his character, forcing deep vulnerabilities to the surface. Can Billy escape the reputation that now precedes him?
Make Me Famous also stars Amanda Abbington, Aiysha Hart, Nina Sosanya, Emma Rigby, Trieve Blackwood-Cambridge and Tilly Keeper.
1/1
7. Staged
Wednesday 17th June at 10.45pm and 11pm on BBC One
Staged, a comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen playing versions of themselves who have to pander to their director Simon Evans who is trying to desperately keep his postponed production going, is arguably the best scripted show to come out of and filmed during lockdown.
All six 15-minute episodes are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer, or you can choose to watch two episodes a week. This week, an actor who was initially involved in the play, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts, comes back to haunt the production and you will NOT believe who it is!!!
And with David and Michael finding it hard to regain each other’s trust, the show’s producer Simon Evans steps in to try and repair the damage. Meanwhile, David is nervous about Georgia going off to help a friend who's in labour.
3-4/6 All episodes available