This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
I normally don’t write about the best TV to watch at this time of year as I imagine everyone is in their gardens, having al fresco suppers and watching the sunset. But since that is not happening and, if like me, you are on your sofa surfing the TV channels to find something to watch then, I thought I would share some of my best TV at the moment.
BBC 1 (all on iPlayer)
WOLF
Wolf is based on the Caffery novels by Mo Hayder and has a terrific cast. It stars Ukweli Roach, Juliet Stevenson, Iwan Rheon and Sacha Dhawan as it follows a detective drawn into a terrifying crime. I think it is too scary for me, so I cannot recommend it as so far I have not been brave enough to watch it! But if you like his sort of TV, then you are braver than me.
THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT
This is a very sinister, sad and true story, with a brilliant cast of Timothy Spall, Anne Reid and the Irish actor Eanna Hardwicke. It is directed very sympathetically, and the ending giving remembrance was very beautifully portrayed.
WORLD ON FIRE season 2
I really enjoyed season 1 four years ago, so I am so pleased this series has returned. It is not getting good reviews from the mainstream media, but I enjoyed it, so maybe I am easy to please.
World on Fire season 2 picks up where the first season left off, with Harry now having managed to help his wife Kasia escape Poland and get her to safety back in England.
Meanwhile, Lois is now working alongside her friend Connie in the Manchester ambulance service, while getting over the deaths of her fiancé and father and struggling to form a bond with her daughter, and Stan is stationed out in North Africa working with the sappers of the Indian army and fighting the Italians.
BEST INTERESTS
Marnie has a life-threatening condition, and when doctors state they believe it is in her best interests to die, Nicci and Andrew’s life is turned upside down, and the family finds themselves embroiled in a harrowing legal process.
Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen are joining forces for this new series which is sure to be a heartbreaking yet powerful watch. Sharon and the Good Omens actor play the role of husband and wife Nicci and Andrew, who have two daughters, Katie, played by Conversations With Friends star Alison Oliver, and Marnie, who A Christmas Carol’s Niamh Moriarty plays.
STEELTOWN MURDERS
Set in both 1973 and the early 2000s, Steeltown Murders centres on the hunt to catch the killer of three young women in the Port Talbot area and the remarkable story of how — in the first case of its kind — the mystery was solved almost thirty years later using pioneering DNA evidence.
SHERWOOD
Sherwood explores the controversial deployment of “spycops” in Britain, a form of undercover policing to seek information that has caused a big scandal across the country.
The BBC says: “Inspired in part by real events, and set in the Nottinghamshire mining village where Graham grew up, Sherwood is a contemporary drama at the heart of which lie two shocking and unexpected killings that shatter an already fractured community and spark a massive manhunt.
CHANNEL 4
BECOMING ELIZABETH
I love a series based on the Tudors and this one is well directed. The locations are fabulous and you do get a realistic feel okf how cold and grim conditions were in those times.
Becoming Elizabeth centres on young Elizabeth Tudor (Alicia von Rittberg), an orphaned teenager who becomes embroiled in the political and sexual politics of the English court on her journey to secure the crown. The death of King Henry VIII sets into motion a dangerous scramble for power. His surviving children find themselves pawns in a game between the great families of England and the powers of Europe who vie for control of the country.
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO
FIFTEEN LOVE
This intense drama is set in the high-stakes world of elite tennis and follows rising star and sports prodigy Justine Pearce (Ella Lily Hyland), whose career is cut short after a devastating injury. Aidan Turner is a tennis coach accused of sexual assault.
Years later, Justice makes a serious allegation against her former tennis coach, Glenn Lapthorn, with whom she reached the semifinals of the French Open. After Justine’s claims, everyone is forced to reconsider what they knew about the pair’s success.
NETFLIX
THE LINCOLN LAWYER SERIES 2
Did you watch Season 1, if not, then you should as there is a lot of background stuff you need to know that might not be clear if you go straight into Season 2.
The Lincoln Lawyer, Mickey Haller (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), a nonconformist idealist, runs his law practice out of the back seat of his Lincoln as he takes on cases big and small across the expansive city of Los Angeles. Based on the series of bestselling novels by renowned author Michael Connelly, the second season is based on the fourth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Fifth Witness. Part 1 launches July 6 & Part 2 launches August 3 only on Netflix.
MEDICI: THE MAGNIFICENT
This is the final season of this series. I have loved every minute of it, even though I know it is not 100% historically accurate. The Medicis are the Italian equivalent of our Tudors. The costumes, the sets, the actors and the soundtrack are all brilliant. It makes you want to go to Florence and see all the buildings and the art.
THE EXCEPTION (film)
This is an old film which I must have missed. Lily James, Eddie Marsan and a bewhiskered Christopher Plummer star in the tale of Kaiser Wilhelm in Holland, 1940 – when the Nazis come to dinner. It’s actually adapted from the 2003 novel The Kaiser’s Last Kiss by Alan Judd. The film is considered to be controversial because it doesn’t allude to the Kaiser’s famous remark from 1919 that Jews were a “nuisance that humanity must get rid of … I believe the best thing would be gas!” The film portrays The Kaiser to be a man with reactionary views on Jews, communists, Freemasons etc, but basically adorable and loads better than Hitler. It is still worth watching.
THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF JERUSALEM season 2
I loved season one, so I was looking forward to season 2. It picks up where Season 1 left off. The soap operatic journey of the Armoza family continues, adding more complexity. It begins strongly when Luna asks her boyfriend to propose to her and make an engagement ring out of wire. Set to be executed by the British, she thinks his life will be spared because an important British officer has been captured.
WHAM (documentary)
Through archival interviews and footage, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley relive the arc of their Wham! career, from ’70s best buds to ’80s pop icons. This is a really fascinating documentary that took me back to my disco dancing days! George was such a brilliant songwriter and is much missed. Meanwhile, Andrew Ridgeley was so supportive of George when he wanted to go solo.
QUARTERBACK (sports docuseries)
See what it takes to have the toughest job in sports both on and off the field. Players balance the mental, physical, and personal pressures to perform every week. Get inside the huddles and on the sidelines for the biggest moments of victory and heartbreak. Players mic’ed up for every game.
PARAMOUNT PLUS
LIONESS
From the co-creator of Yellowstone comes this series. A spy drama based on a real-life CIA programme. Lioness follows a young Marine recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist to bring the organisation down from within.
FILM
I know this is a Best TV post, but I just had to say how much I enjoyed…..
OPPENHEIMER
And if you want to get out, then go and watch this film, Oppenheimer. Cillian Murphy gives one of the most outstanding performance.