Andrew Scott, Colin Farrell and more!
This week's best telly includes Paul O'Grady's final television project, the return of MasterChef and three highly-anticipated new dramas including the Andrew Scott led Ripley on Netflix and the Colin Farrell led Sugar on Apple TV+.
Here are 5 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Paul O'Grady's Great Elephant Adventure
Easter Sunday at 8pm on ITV1
BRAND NEW
A year after the sad passing of Paul O'Grady, comes his final television series, Paul O'Grady's Great Elephant Adventure, in which he travels through Thailand and Laos to celebrate the wonderful work done by elephant conservation centres to rescue, rehabilitate and protect these most majestic, but vulnerable, of animals.
Filmed in the months before his sudden and unexpected death, this was Paul’s final TV project and one that he was incredibly passionate about. Thailand has the largest number of elephant rescue centres in the world, while Laos is nicknamed the ‘land of a million elephants’, and in each episode, Paul travels across the region to roll up his sleeves and muck in to help out at a different rescue centre.
Along the way, Paul also heads out from the sanctuaries to grab a slice of local life by exploring nearby colourful markets, temples and apothecaries and trying local cuisine.
The two-part series highlights challenges faced by elephants in the region and as ever, Paul’s love for animals shines throughout as does his warm, playful and heartfelt tone, always characterised by his much-loved wit and humour.
1/2 Concludes next week
2. This Town
Easter Sunday and Monday 1st April at 9pm on BBC One
BRAND NEW
Steven Knight's new six-part drama for BBC One, This Town, tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into an explosive and iconic music scene and is led by an exciting cast of rising talent as its four young leads, Levi Brown, Jordan Bolger, Ben Rose and Eve Austin.
Set in a world of family ties, teenage kicks and the exhilarating music of a generation, This Town tells the story of a band’s formation against a backdrop of violence, capturing how creative genius can emerge from a time of madness.
Both a high-octane thriller and a family saga, This Town opens in 1981 at a moment of huge social tensions and unrest. Against this backdrop, it tells the story of a group of young people fighting to choose their own paths in life, and each in need of the second chance that music offers.
The songs performed by the band in the series have been written by acclaimed producer Dan Carey and BRIT and Mercury nominated musician, novelist and poet Kae Tempest.
1-2/6 Continues weekly. All episodes availale at launch
3. MasterChef
Monday 1st, Wednesday 3rd and Friday 5th April at various times on BBC One
RETURNING
As MasterChef returns for its 20th series, 58 amateurs from all over the UK enter the famous arena to impress judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace with their culinary skills, all in the hopes of becoming MasterChef champion 2024.
In the first of five heats, the first six hopefuls arrive with their sights set on one goal: to win one of the four exclusive MasterChef aprons that secure their place in the competition. Those that make it will head straight back into battle, as only the best reach the quarter-final.
This series, John and Gregg will kick things off with a brand-new challenge, Basic to Brilliant in which the contestants must take an everyday ingredient and turn it into something truly spectacular. In the invention test, the contestants are tasked with creating a dish celebrating one of Gregg’s favourite foods: potato gnocchi.
The crescendo of this heat sees the remaining contestants cook their own two-course menu for three invited guests including 2023 champion Chariya Khattiyot and finalists Anurag Aggarwal and Omar Foster.
1-3/24 Continues weekly
4. Ripley
Thursday 4th April on Netflix
BRAND NEW
Andrew Scott stars as Tom Ripley in Netflix's new eight-part drama Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s bestselling Tom Ripley novels.
Ripley follows what happens when Tom, a grifter scraping by in early 1960s New York, is hired by a wealthy man to travel to Italy to try to convince his vagabond son to return home. Tom's acceptance of the job is the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder.
Starring alongside Andrew Scott will be Dakota Fanning as Marge Sherwood and Johnny Flynn as Dickie Greenleaf.
1-8/8 All episodes available at launch
5. Sugar
Friday 5th April on Netflix
BRAND NEW
Colin Farrell leads Apple TV+'s new detective drama Sugar, as John Sugar, an American private investigator on the heels of the mysterious disappearance of Olivia Siegel, the beloved granddaughter of legendary Hollywood producer Jonathan Siegel.
As Sugar tries to determine what happened to Olivia, he will also unearth Siegel family secrets; some very recent, others long-buried.
1-2/8 Continues weekly