TV and film fans can breathe a sign of relief as we round up the best new picks to watch this week.
Whether you like to be scared in the comfort of your own home, or fancy educating yourself on the life of a NASA astronaut, we’ve got you covered.
Among The Stars DOCUSERIES Disney+
Few of us are likely to get the chance to do a space walk any time soon – leaving the UK is complicated enough, let alone the Earth’s atmosphere.
But anyone with a dream of pulling on a space suit and floating around, several miles above the globe, will love this glorious new six-part documentary, which takes viewers into orbit with the men and women working on the International Space Station.
The series focuses on NASA astronaut Captain Chris Cassidy, as he prepares for and carries out his final mission – to repair a vital part of the Space Station – and features candid interviews and mind-blowing footage of the Earth seen from space, often captured on the astronauts’ helmet cams.
It’s not just spectacular views, though. The work of the astronauts is incredibly perilous, and there’s no escaping the tension and creeping claustrophobia whenever anything technical goes wrong, placing the lives of these brave men and women in grave danger.
There’s also plenty of insight into what it takes to become a NASA astronaut – and what it means to be one.
“Any given mission can end in a catastrophic way,” says Chris, who turns out to be a humble and likeable guy.
“Pushing the boundaries of knowledge, pushing the boundaries of exploring is what humans do. And we get to do that. We get to do that in space.”
That trip into orbit might still be a pipe dream, but Among the Stars stakes a good claim for being the next best thing.
Jack Irish CRIME DRAMA Acorn TV
If you’ve never spent any quality time with Jack Irish before, you’ve missed out.
This addictive Australian crime drama stars former star Guy Pearce as troubled title character Jack, a private detective and debt collector with a painful history and an uncanny knack of landing himself in some dangerously sticky situations.
Still haunted by the murder of his wife Isabel several years earlier, Jack’s a bit of a mess, both personally and professionally.
But thanks to his acute intelligence – he used to be a criminal lawyer – grit and determination to unearth the truth whatever the cost, he makes a formidable investigator.
In this third and final season, when an off-duty cop is gunned down at a drive-through burger restaurant, Jack’s policeman pal Barry fears the victim has been silenced to stop him revealing some explosive information.
Sensing corruption and fearing for his own safety, Barry drags Jack into the case. But even Jack isn’t fully prepared for what he discovers.
Violent and dark but with a shot of black comedy running through its veins – combine that with Guy’s undeniable charisma and it’s a winner.
There’s Someone Inside Your House HORROR Netflix
A film called There’s Someone Inside Your House was only ever going be a horror movie, wasn’t it?
American high-school student Sydney (Makani Young) and her classmates are left terror-stricken when it appears that they’re being picked off, one by one, by a brutal killer in a mask.
And not just any mask, though, oh no – this is a mask of each victim’s own face.
That neat detail aside, this is a fairly standard slasher flick, filled with stereotypical characters, creepy figures suddenly appearing in reflections, knives abruptly stabbing through closed doors and vast, eerie cornfields.
Fortunately, a helping of knowing black humour throughout ensures this is enjoyable if throwaway fun.
The Outsiders? DOCUMENTARY YouTube
What is life really like for a person of colour in today’s society?
This insightful and powerful new series from director and photographer Simon Frederick aims to answer that question, by asking an impressive line-up of black artists, musicians, actors, authors and creatives to talk about their experiences, memories and ideas.
Featuring cultural big hitters including Celeste, Jamal Edwards, Candice Brathwaite and Mo Gilligan, and covering subjects that include whether all men are equal, how the murder of George Floyd has impacted them and what responsibilities come with success.
It’s a snapshot of the struggles they’ve all overcome and the battles still to be won. Intense and important.
The Manor HORROR Amazon Prime
Big-budget horror films tend to follow a well-worn formula, usually pitting terrified teens against an evil psycho (hello, There’s Someone Inside Your House), or stylish, initially-sceptical middle-agers against some furious supernatural force.
Not The Manor. This terrifying new movie goes to the far end of the age spectrum, making its central character an elderly woman, Judith (Barbara Hershey), who reluctantly moves into a nursing home after she suffers a mild stroke.
It’s here that a series of shocking events convinces Judith that someone – or something – unpleasant is bumping off the residents.
But is she right, or is it her illness playing tricks with her mind?
Admittedly, the film does occasionally fall back on one or two horror clichés to create its scares.
But the unconventional heroine and inspired setting make it a refreshingly different spooky treat to get you in the mood for the run up to Halloween.
Faking It DOCU-SERIES Discovery+ / Quest Red
Body language specialist Dr Cliff Lansley, linguistics professor Dawn Archer and forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes are back, bringing their expertise to six more notorious murder cases.
They start with so called Babes In The Wood killer Russell Bishop, while later episodes include the killing of schoolgirl Kayleigh Haywood, John Sharpe, who killed his wife and daughter with a speargun and John Cannan, the man police believe is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Suzy Lamplugh.
Were the signals and signs of their guilt there all along? The experts look closely at archive interviews and police interrogation footage to pinpoint the vital giveaways.
And while critics might argue that hindsight helps a great deal with these cases, expect plenty of impressive insight.
Help DRAMA All 4
Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham are astonishing in this harrowing drama about the effects of the Covid pandemic on Britain’s care homes – and the lack of protection given to them.
Jodie plays Sarah, a Liverpool carer on minimum wage who forms a close bond with Tony (Stephen), a middle-aged patient with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
When Covid takes hold and rips through the home, Sarah makes a brave decision to help her friend, one that puts her at odds with the authorities.
If you weren’t angry before watching, you will be by the end. Devastating.
Sex Education DRAMA Netflix
Anyone worried that the writers would run out of torrid teenage dramas or gloriously embarrassing growing pains to give Otis (Asa Butterfield), Maeve, Eric, Aimee and the gang can rest easy.
The third series is just as awkward, cringe-inducing and fantastically funny as ever.
It’s also just as open-minded and non-judgemental, painting a picture of a world where everyone’s welcome, whoever – or whatever – they are.
This time round there’s a new non-binary pupil at Moordale, not to mention a new headmistress preaching abstinence.
Taboo-breaking has never been so hilarious.
I May Destroy You DRAMA BBC iPlayer
Michaela Coel’s staggering 12-part drama won unanimous plaudits here at home when it exploded on to our screens last summer, and now it’s finally received the international acclaim it deserves, with a win at the Emmys.
Telling the story of successful young writer Arabella (played by Michaela), who pieces together the hazy, traumatic recollections of an evening during which she believes she was sexually assaulted, it’s a breathtaking, coruscating examination of consent and modern attitudes.
Daring and heart-breaking, but not without humour, it’s every bit as masterful as all those plaudits suggest.
Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father DOCU-SERIES Netflix
Pack your bags because it’s time to take one last trip with Whitehall junior and Whitehall senior.
Fittingly, for their last adventure, Jack and his dad Michael are journeying across the UK, gamely giving Morris dancing a go, herding sheep in Wales, hunting for the Loch Ness monster in Scotland and even being fed by Gordon Ramsay.
They also devote an entire episode to looking back on their previous travels and chatting about what it’s meant to them to spend all this time together.
An unexpectedly poignant end to what’s been a warmly entertaining five series.
Y: The Last Man THRILLER Disney+
While it’s tempting to think a world without men would be a vast improvement, this enthralling eight-part post-apocalyptic thriller suggests otherwise.
When a mysterious event bumps off every mammal with a Y chromosome – well, all except one – the planet is plunged into chaos and violent social unrest, as the surviving female population sets about restoring order.
In the middle of it all is that one surviving male, Yorick Brown (Ben Schnetzer), who must find his place in this new world.
Action-packed and tense, fans of The Walking Dead will love it.
