Observer TV reviews
The week in TV: Get Millie Black; With Love, Meghan; A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story; Towards Zero – review
Tamara Lawrance excels in Marlon James’s classy Caribbean crime drama; the Duchess of Sussex tilts at lifestyle greatness; and a moving drama puts the case for Ruth Ellis. Plus, murder most racy in the BBC’s new Agatha Christie
The week in TV: Toxic Town; Small Town, Big Story; Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October; Dope Girls – review
Airborne toxins lead to tragedy in a devastating drama fuelled by female rage; Chris O’Dowd’s new comedy is part sci-fi spoof, part Irish Local Hero; and post-first world war London is rife with lawlessness. Plus, a detailed guide to the divided Middle East
The week in TV: The White Lotus; A Thousand Blows; Escaping Utopia – review
Mike White’s delicious whodunnit returns to put the rich through the grinder in Thailand; Stephen Graham goes the extra round in Steven Knight’s bare-knuckle period drama. Plus, a chilling account of life inside a New Zealand cult
The week in TV: Unforgotten; Virdee; Live Super Bowl LIX; Surviving Black Hawk Down – review
Sanjeev Bhaskar’s DI Khan remains stoical in the face of perfunctory dialogue; existential struggles hold up a new BBC crime drama; and occasional sporting action accompanies Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl victory
The week in TV: Brian and Maggie; Idris Elba: Our Knife Crime Crisis; Paradise; Mo – review
Harriet Walter and Steve Coogan star as Margaret Thatcher and her friend turned foe; Idris Elba fronts a harrowing study of street crime; there are riddles aplenty in a new US thriller; and art echoes life in the bittersweet Mo
The week in TV: President Trump’s Inauguration; Out There; What Happened at Auschwitz; Prime Target – review
Second time around was definitely not funny as the Trump show rolled back into DC. Plus, Martin Clunes in overalls in a dark Welsh drama; a maths thriller that doesn’t quite add up; and a Holocaust documentary with quiet power
The week in TV: Severance; Marilyn Manson: Unmasked; Bump; Lucy Worsley Investigates… 1066 – review
Four-way love is in the air in the long-awaited return of Severance; the case against US shock rock star Marilyn Manson; Australia’s latest gem reaches full term; and Lucy Worsley looks King Harold in the eye
The week in TV: Patience; 7/7: The London Bombings; Playing Nice; American Primeval – review
Ella Maisy Purvis excels as a chic and uncompromising criminologist; the 2005 bomb attacks still feel raw in a powerful docuseries; someone’s accent is all at sea in a stylish Cornish thriller; and the wild west has never looked so wild
The week in TV: Squid Game 2; Doctor Who: Joy to the World; Outnumbered; A Ghost Story for Christmas: Woman of Stone – review
The Korean mega hit piles on the gore; Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor parties on; the Outnumbered crew have lost none of their old chemistry. Plus, another ghostly treat from Mark Gatiss
The week in TV: Strike: The Ink Black Heart; Asia; One Hundred Years of Solitude; Dalgliesh – review
A modern-day Bogie and Bacall return for a politics-packed online mystery; what David Attenborough really teaches us; a magic realism epic that’s not for the faint-hearted; and the detective drama that beats Morse
The week in TV: Dune: Prophecy; I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here; Say Nothing; The Listeners – review
Women rule the planet in an inventive Dune prequel; starvation has yet to trigger tension in the jungle; striking performances anchor a skewed Troubles drama; and ever impressive Rebecca Hall can’t hear herself think
The week in TV: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light; Bad Sisters; Immigration: How British Politics Failed; The Penguin – review
Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis return with added candlelight; Bad Sisters cranks up the chaos; and a valiant look at UK immigration is marred by Farage. Plus, a jaw-dropping late twist for The Penguin
The week in TV: Until I Kill You; The Day of the Jackal; Junior Taskmaster; Asia – review
Anna Maxwell Martin and Shaun Evans grip in an edgy true crime drama; Eddie Redmayne’s suave lone assassin meets his match; Junior Taskmaster is a chip off the old block. Plus, sea bunnies with David Attenborough
The week in TV: Generation Z; Storyville: Eternal You; Helmand: Tour of Duty; Doctor Odyssey – review
Sue Johnston and Anita Dobson devour the young in Ben Wheatley’s gripping zombie drama; a peek at the ‘digital afterlife’ chills; 10 Welsh Guards relive the hell of Helmand; and all aboard Ryan Murphy’s uber-camp cruise ship
The week in TV: The Franchise; Trump: The Criminal Conspiracy Case; Before; Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band – review
Armando Iannucci and Sam Mendes join forces for a bitter superhero spoof; Billy Crystal stars in a maddening yet watchable horror; plus, the Boss at his fist-pumping best, and a timely reminder of the dangers of a Trump victory