This week's best telly includes the highly anticipated return of three of telly's biggest shows; Gentlemen Jack, Derry Girls and Taskmaster plus Catherine Tate returns with a brand new show, Sarah Lancashire takes on the role of Julia Child and Channel 4, Apple TV+ all launch brand new programmes.
Here are 8 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Gentleman Jack
Sunday 10th April at 9pm on BBC One
As Gentleman Jack returns for its highly anticipated second series, it's 1834 in Yorkshire and all eyes are on Anne Lister and Ann Walker as they set up home together at Shibden Hall as wife and wife, determined to combine their estates and become a power couple.
Anne Lister’s entrepreneurial spirit frightens the locals as much as her unconventional love life and, with Halifax on the brink of revolution, her refusal to keep a low profile becomes provocative and dangerous.
Suranne Jones returns as the remarkable Anne Lister alongside Sophie Rundle as Anne Lister’s now-wife, Ann Walker, Gemma Whelan as Marian Lister, Lydia Leonard as Mariana Lawton and joining the series as Anne Lister’s outrageous former lover Isabella ‘Tib’ Norcliffe is Joanna Scanlan.
1/8 Continues weekly
2. Hard Cell
Tuesday 12th April on Netflix
Hard Cell is a documentary-style comedy from Catherine Tate, set in the fictional female prison, HMP Woldsley where she plays multiple characters from Laura Willis, the Governor who believes creativity leads to rehabilitation, to Big Viv, the psychopath lifer.
Set over a 6 week period during which the inmates rehearse a musical directed by ex-EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison. Rehearsals draw together an oddball collection of women as they find their voices, grow in confidence and strengthen their friendships.
Meet the characters here.
1-6/6 All episodes available at launch
3. Julia
Tuesday 12th April at 9pm on Sky Atlantic
Sarah Lancashire and David Hyde Pierce star in this new drama inspired by Julia Child's extraordinary life and her long-running television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the now popular genre of cooking shows.
Through Julia and her singular can-do spirit, the 8-part series explores an evolving time in American history. the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women's movement, the nature of celebrity and America's cultural growth.
At its heart, Julia is a portrait of a loving marriage with an evolving and complicated power dynamic.
1-3/8 Continues weekly
4. Derry Girls
Tuesday 12th April at 9.15pm on Channel 4
As Derry Girls returns for its third and final series, while Northern Ireland is growing up this gang of eejits certainly aren't anytime soon. And while there’s hope in the air that The Troubles may finally be over their troubles are only just getting started as they get ever closer to “adulthood”.
In the first episode, the gang are back and tomorrow is GCSE results day. While passions run high, confidence is at rock bottom. If things go badly, how will they face their mammies again? They definitely need a plan. Back home, a new member of the Quinn household is causing chaos in the neighbourhood.
Derry Girls will once again follow Erin played by Saoirse-Monica Jackson, her cousin Orla played by Louisa Harland and friends Clare and Michelle played by Nicola Coughlan and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell as well as Michelle’s tag along English cousin, aka The Wee English Fella, James, played by Dylan Llewellyn.
1/6 Continues weekly
5. Hullraisers
Tuesday 12th April at 9.45pm on Channel 4
Lucy Beaumont's new comedy Hullraisers, co-written with Anne-Marie O'Connor and Caroline Moran, follows the dishevelled and joy-filled lives of native Hullians Toni, Rana and Paula played by Leah Brotherhead, Taj Atwal and Sinéad Matthews, as they juggle kids, family, work, demanding friends and frustrating playground-parents - all while trying to squeeze in a bit of mucking about.
Toni's an impulsive but big-hearted tornado of chaos. A self-described actress, who has no acting jobs, she adores her four-year-old daughter Grace and soulmate Craig, but still dreams of escaping Hull and craves her pre-parenthood life.
Toni's bestie is Rana, a powerhouse policewoman whose daily life is ruled by her libido. She'd rather 'investigate' the full spectrum of Hull's hottest bachelors than settle down. And then there's Paula, Toni's down-to-earth, matriarchal big sister, who married her childhood sweetheart Dane, Rana's big brother, and had two kids, 17-year-old Ashley and seven-year-old Jake.
Paula is Toni's polar opposite: for her, there's 'no place like Hull', and she just can't understand Toni's constant need for more. Between them, they're making the best of life on the shores of the Humber - even if, to the untrained eye, it looks like one never-ending balls-up.
In the opening episode, Toni hasn't had a night out since Grace was born, and things are getting desperate. So she secretly skips Grace's drama club rehearsal for a sneaky pub visit, where Grace learns some colourful new words. Paula's tearing her hair out over Ashley's terrible new boyfriend - though revelations about his dad's job might help to change her mind.
Meanwhile, Rana meets up with the Hull City player she met last night - realising too late that he isn't quite what she remembered. Dragged into helping with his grandad's wake, the arrival of a really fit family member gives Rana an incentive to stick around.
Read my interview with Leah Brotherhead here.
1/6 Continues weekly. All episodes available at launch
6. Taskmaster
Thursday 14th April at 9pm on Channel 4
Taskmaster is back for its thirteenth series as Ardal O’Hanlon, Bridget Christie, Chris Ramsey, Judi Love and Sophie Duker compete to take home Greg Davies’ revered golden noggin.
Once again, Greg’s miniature sidekick Alex Horne will be gripping onto his tablet for dear life and looking very proud of himself for being so ruthlessly efficient in administering each and every task.
Survival for this courageous quintet will depend on their abilities to paint perfectly with their lips, effectively wrangle a cement mixer and chase Alex around a tree while he’s pedalling a tricycle. Should they impress the Taskmaster, he will reward them with points and the occasional admiring word.
But should they stumble or show any kind of weakness… he’ll scent blood and pounce on them like a puma. Metaphorically.
1/10 Continues weekly
7. Anatomy of a Scandal
Friday 15th April on Netflix
Sienna Miller, Rupert Friend and Michelle Dockery star in Netflix's new psychological thriller, Anatomy of a Scandal, which is an insightful and suspenseful series about privilege and sexual consent and has been adapted from Sarah Vaughan's bestselling novel by Big Little Lies creator David E. Kelley.
This gripping courtroom drama infiltrates Britain's elite through personal and political scandal, where the truth lies between justice and privilege. James and Sophie Whitehouse live in a blissful and rarified world.
A Minister in Parliament, a loving family at home, James' trajectory appears without limits. Until a scandalous secret suddenly comes to light. Barrister Kate Woodcroft has a trajectory of her own, and her prosecution threatens to tear into Westminster, the Whitehouse marriage, and her own personal esteem.
1-6/6 All episodes available at launch
8. Roar
Friday 15th April on Apple TV+
Apple TV+'s latest original drama is a collection of genre-bending stories told through eight women’s eyes, starring Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Merritt Wever, Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, Meera Syal, Fivel Stewart and Kara Hayward.
Roar offers an insightful, poignant, and sometimes hilarious portrait of what it means to be a woman today. Featuring a unique blend of magical realism, familiar domestic and professional scenarios, and futuristic worlds, these eight stories mirror the dilemmas of ordinary women in accessible yet surprising ways.
How they emerge from their respective journeys speaks to the resiliency that exists within themselves, and with all women.
1-8/8 All episodes available at launch