This week’s best telly includes a host of new comedy, some brand new, some returning as well as the return of Michelle Keegan in Our Girl.
Here are the 7 shows you have to watch this week...
1. Liar
Monday 9th October at 9pm on ITV
Whilst Doctor Foster varied in quality, ITV’s Liar whilst not always the easiest watch, has consistently delivered great drama. This is thanks to Harry and Jack Williams’ fantastic script as well as superb performances from Joanna Froggatt and Ioan Gruffudd.
In the penultimate episode of the series, Laura’s resolve to bring Andrew to justice deepens and she enlists Tom’s help in her plan. However, when a deception in Laura’s personal life comes to light, she is left with no one to turn to, and she resorts to dangerous methods to force Andrew’s confession. But she is not alone in her mission.
5/6
2. Timewasters
Monday 9th October at 10pm & 10:30pm on ITV2
ITV2’s newest sitcom Timewasters was originally announced over a year ago and now it’s finally coming to air. Having seen the first couple of episode, I’m pleased to say that it has been worth the wait. The six-part comedy is about a struggling four-piece South London jazz band who travel back in time to the 1920’s via a urine-sodden lift in a dilapidated block of flats.
The time travelling friends are Daniel Lawrence Taylor who plays Nick, Kadiff Kirwan who plays Jason, Adelayo Adedayo who plays Lauren and Samson Kayo who plays Horace.
Stuck in the past after their ‘time machine’ is destroyed, our gang decide to explore, before quickly discovering that being young and black in the Jazz Age is a lot less genteel and a lot more shady than Downton Abbey had led them to believe.
Aided and abetted by a pair of oddball twins and some 1920s luminaries (including John Logie Baird, played by Kevin Eldon), the band are forced to navigate the parties and pitfalls of the Roaring Twenties while searching for a way back home. All the while, not missing the opportunity to introduce the Bright Young Things to some of the twenty-first century’s finest tunes.
1&2/6
3. Our Girl
Tuesday 10th October at 9pm on BBC One
The third series of Our Girl is split into three different tours, each lasting four episode. This first tour of four episodes finds Georgie on a relief mission in Nepal following a devastating series of earthquakes.
In the opening episode, in addition to her duties as a medic, Georgie is tasked with mentoring the young and rebellious new 2-Section recruit Maisie (Shalom Brune-Franklin). Georgie and Maisie have history after previously meeting in Syria on a covert operation led by Elvis (Luke Pasqualino), and Maisie’s reckless nature irritates Georgie.
When Georgie meets Milan (Rudi Dharmalingam), an attractive Nepalese engineer, a bond starts to form between them whilst working together to rebuild the local area. Whilst on a tour of the village an aftershock causes a temple to collapse, trapping Georgie and Milan inside.
1/4
4. Red Dwarf XII
Wednesday 12th October at 9pm on Dave
The original cast of Red Dwarf, Chris Barrie (Rimmer), Craig Charles (Lister), Danny John-Jules (Cat) and Robert Llewellyn (Kryten) are back for a brand new series, Red Dwarf XII.
In the opening episode the Dwarfers search for some tech to fix Starbug’s faulty steering. They come across a Scientific Research Centre where several figures from history are recreated in the present and ‘cured’ of evil. Or are they? Ryan Gage (The Three Musketeers, The Hobbit) guest stars.
When all the machines on Red Dwarf go on strike Rimmer and Kryten hold a Presidential election, while The Cat faces an identity crisis like never before when he discovers he needs glasses. Lister discovers a simple update of the ship’s latest software could be a matter of life or death. Finally, Rimmer decides to leave Red Dwarf in search of a parallel universe where he isn’t such a massive loser.
In the opening episode the Dwarfers search for some tech to fix Starbug’s faulty steering. They come across a Scientific Research Centre where several figures from history are recreated in the present and ‘cured’ of evil. Or are they? Ryan Gage (The Three Musketeers, The Hobbit) guest stars.
1/6
5. Zapped
Wednesday 12th October at 9:40pm on Dave
After an initial three-part pilot series, fantasy comedy Zapped returns for a full six-part run on Dave, with main cast James Buckley, Paul Kaye, Sharon Rooney, Kenneth Collard and Louis Emerick all returning.
In the new series, Brian will clash with orcs, lizardmen, psychopathic Fairies, hipster blood-suckers and worst of all, actors. He'll also experience a terrifying trial by combat, come under attack from deadly stingbugs and celebrate the biggest day in the Munty calendar - the annual Pear Fair.
In the opening episode, Brian has been locked up and charged with triggering the Snail Wars. Steg opts to represent him in court, persuading Brian to face trial by combat with a terrifying warrior named Radnok. Barbara has abandoned soothsaying to become a blacksmith, Herman's cooking rotten fish and Howell has moved into the cat retrieval business, which involves first kidnapping the cats.
Can the gang free Brian before he faces certain death at the hands of Radnok?
1/6
6. Strictly Come Dancing
Saturday 14th October at 6:45pm and Sunday 15th October at 7:15pm on BBC One
With Chizzy Akudolu and now the Reverend Richard Coles out of the competition, just 13 couples remain as they compete to be crowned Strictly Come Dancing champion 2017.
The remaining couples will perform a selection of dazzling ballroom and tantalising Latin routines live and as always, must impress Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and new head judge Shirley Ballas, who will be watching their every move before passing their verdicts.
On Sunday night, one more couple will leave the competition after the dreaded dance-off, and there will also be a sensational group number from our professional dancers and a musical performance from American singer and songwriter Gregory Porter.
7. Louis Theroux: Dark States
Sunday 15th October at 9pm on BBC Two
Last night I was totally engrossed by Louis Theroux’s latest series on BBC Two, Dark States. The first episode focussed on the rise in the use of heroin in the US. In the second episode, Louis Theroux turns his attention to sex trafficking.
Houston, the fourth largest city in the US, is widely considered to be the number one hub for human trafficking in North America. The US Department of Justice estimates that at least one in five of all the country’s victims are trafficked through the city, and most of these people will be forced to work in the sex industry.
Louis spends time with American women working in the city’s illegal sex industry and explores the often complex dynamic between prostitute and pimp. He discovers a subculture that plays by rules that are morally challenging to most people, and seeks to understand what stops these women breaking free.
Louis also embeds with law enforcement on undercover operations and meets Vice Division officers tasked with persuading the working women to speak out against their pimps.
2/3