This week's must-see telly includes a new drama about the Windrush scandal, a new drama from Michaela Coel and a lockdown comedy starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.
Here are 7 shows you can’t miss this week...
1. The Masked Singer US
Saturday 7th June at 4.40pm on ITV
That's right, The Masked Singer is back... sort of. With a shortage of new programmes, and a second series a long way off, ITV have decided to play the second season of The Masked Singer US which originally aired towards the end of 2019 in America.
Hosted by Nick Cannon, the US version of the show sees Robin Thicke, Jenny McCarthy, Ken Jeong and Nicole Scherzinger try and guess the identities of those behind the mask. In the first episode, we're introduced to Butterfly, Egg, Thingamajig and Skeleton. But who will be the first to take off their mask?
What I will say is avoid any googling of the US series or you will find the series spoiled very quickly.
1/13
2. Behind the Filter
Monday 8th June from 6am on BBC Three
Behind The Filter may just be a pilot for now, but Phoebe Walsh and Harriet Gibsone's comedy about an unemployed influencer who still lives at home with her parents is bound to be picked up for a series.
Phoebe stars as Ruby, who at 25 is single, unemployed and the time has come for her to truly make her mark on the world, to do something quite significant with her life. So she decides to make a podcast. Joining Ruby on her first ever show are cool activist Charlotte, played by Patricia Allison and aloof heartthrob Barney, played by Edward Bluemel.
As she desperately tries to impress her guests, will her show Feminism In Your Ears convince them and her family that there’s there’s more to the millennial existence than just endlessly scrolling on Instagram?
1/1
3. Sitting in Limbo
Monday 8th June at 8.30pm on BBC One
After all the conversations that have been taking place this week around the Black Lives Matter movement, a BBC One drama about the Windrush scandal could not have been better timed. Inspired by a shocking true story, the one-off 90-minute drama set in 2016, follows painter and decorator Anthony Bryan, played by Patrick Robinson and has been written by Anthony's brother Stephen S. Thompson.
Having never been in trouble with the law, Anthony is wrongfully detained by the Home Office after discovering that there is no record of him as a British Citizen despite him living in the UK for 50 years, since the age of 8 in 1965, and threatened with deportation.
With the onus on Anthony to prove his British status to the Immigration Office, Anthony finds himself stuck in limbo, forced to leave his job and unable to claim benefits. In the early hours of a Sunday morning, Anthony is forcibly removed from his home and detained as an illegal immigrant. The devastation that ensues puts Anthony at the centre of what has now become known as the Windrush scandal.
Sitting in Limbo also stars Nadine Marshall as Anthony's wife Janet McKay-Williams, Pippa Bennett Warner as Patrick’s daughter Eileen, CJ Beckford as her brother Gary and Corinne Skinner Carter as Patrick’s mother, Lucille.
1/1
4. I May Destroy You
Monday 8th and Tuesday 9th June at 10.45pm on BBC One
Michaela Coel makes a welcome return to our screens this week in I May Destroy You, a twelve-part series about sexual assault which she not only stars in, but has created, written, executive produced and co-directed.
Coel plays Arabella Essiuedu who following triumph from a piece of writing that garnered internet acclaim, finds herself feted as the ‘voice of her generation,’ with an agent, a book commission and a helluva lot of pressure. She's easily distracted, non-committal and carefree.
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. As Arabella struggles to come to terms with what has happened, she begins a journey of self-discovery.
1-2/12
5. The A Word
Tuesday 9th June at 9pm on BBC One
It's been available as a boxset on iPlayer since episode one ended, but if you've had more self-restraint than me and have been saving the series to watch weekly, then you're in for a treat as series three comes to an end.
When Rebecca goes into labour, it falls to Joe to help his sister. And whilst Alison makes a decision about Ben, Paul makes Mark an offer and Maurice has a big question for Louise.
6/6
6. Staged
Wednesday 10th June at 10.45pm and 11pm on BBC One
I know, I know... another show filmed in lockdown, about lockdown? Well yes. But actually when it comes to scripted shows, I believe that Staged has succeeded where many have failed. As much as it's about lockdown, it's also about friendship and family and not all of it is filmed on/pretending to be, Zoom. It's easy to see why the BBC didn't turn down a show with David Tennant and Michael Sheen playing the two leads.
The series, made up of six 15-minute episodes feels at times like The Trip - Tennant and Sheen play themselves and are clearly good friends. And at other times it's a bit like W1A, as we see a director, Simon Evans playing himself, trying desperately to keep production for the upcoming West End production of Six Characters In Search Of An Author going with rehearsals over the internet.
All they need to do is read the first scene, but throughout the series they come up against a multitude of oppositional forces: distraction, boredom, home-schooling and their own egos.
1-2/6
7. When They See Us
Available now on Netflix
It's been very hard to avoid the Black Lives Matter movement this week, not that you should. This very important movement has started global conversations about race and with people wanting to educate themselves further by reading, listening or watching I decided to include last year's When They See Us in this week's list of must-see telly.
This very important drama, created by Ava DuVernay, is based on a true story surrounding five teenagers from Harlem, four African-American, one Hispanic, who in 1989 were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for raping a white woman in Central Park - a crime they didn’t commit.
This incredibly powerful, enraging and thought-provoking four-part series spans 25 years and focusses on the aftermath of their convictions, their eventual exoneration in 2002 and the settlement reached with the city of New York in 2014.
When They See Us might not be an easy watch, but I believe it to be a necessary one. Now more than ever. Even if you’ve seen it before, watch it again.
1-4/4
Comments