Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
I know, I know. Summer holidays are a time to get away from screens, to get stuck into a book. But rain-sodden country cottages or retreating from the heat to shady hotel rooms mean you might well want a show to get stuck into. Here are some of my favourite shows of the past year.
Ghosts, BBC iPlayer/Amazon Prime
When it comes to family viewing, Ghosts is perfect. This is a gather-on-the-sofa gem. I shed a tear when it came to an end in this fifth series. The comedy tells the story of a married couple who unexpectedly inherit dilapidated manor Button House. Wife Alison discovers it is haunted by friendly ghosts of those who died in the house across the centuries, though her husband is unable to see them. Everyone has a favourite ghost — mine is Kitty, the silly, joyful Georgian, though Robin, the wise caveman who has seen it all before and takes the long view, is a close second. The humour is well-written and the storytelling gently thought-provoking.
Speaking of final series, the twisty, darkly comedic anthology Inside No 9 finished on BBC this year. To have come up with so many ingenious and different storylines over nine series is a creative feat.
Tore, Netflix
This is at times unsettlingly bleak but also funny and delightful. It is a dark (when are they not?) Swedish comedy about Tore, a 27-year-old undertaker who goes into extreme denial when his father dies after being hit by a bin lorry. He becomes estranged from his best friend and pursues hedonism, exploring his sexuality for the first time. It’s constantly surprising. Maybe one to savour alone inside rather than on the sun lounger.
Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show, Now TV
The documentary series is made with some of the team that created Couples Therapy. It follows Jerrod Carmichael, the 37-year-old comedian from North Carolina, as he hooks up and hangs out, including one spectacularly awkward scene with Tyler the Creator, who Carmichael previously declared he had feelings for. Voyeurism is the point, and Carmichael finds it easier to be open when the cameras are on him. It is also about the difficulties of acceptance (Carmichael’s Christian mother profoundly struggles with his sexuality). If you’re spending time away with family or friends, it may make you reflect on your relationships, as well as the dance of performance versus authenticity when posing for the camera.
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, Disney+
There has been a glut of dramas about fashion designers over the past year. But this is the only one I really took to, mainly because of Lagerfeld’s extreme oddness, and also because of compelling performances by the lead actors, Daniel Brühl, who moves between German and French playing the doughy, pouty designer, and Théodore Pellerin as Jacques de Bascher, his caddish, beautiful companion. While there is a dark flintiness to Lagerfeld, the decadent parties and nightclubs are pure escapism.
The Bear, Disney+
I’ve been conflicted about The Bear: yes, it dramatically depicts the intensity of the restaurant kitchen and the peculiar single-mindedness of the people who work in it. But I find it hard to get over my extreme irritation with Carmy, the head chef and restaurateur played by Jeremy Allen White. Trauma fills the void where his personality should be, and his self-absorption knows no limits. Critics have said that the latest series is not up to scratch, but its legions of diehard fans love it nonetheless.
For All Mankind, Apple TV
The latest series of this lavish science fiction drama is set on Mars and should garner more plaudits. The story takes as its starting point the question: what might have happened if a Russian cosmonaut had landed on the Moon before the Americans? It has everything — rockets! love! espionage! If you’ve ever contemplated tourism on another planet, For All Mankind has you covered.
Mr and Mrs Smith, Amazon Prime TV
In this television spin-off of the film (starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), Donald Glover and Maya Erskine have an intelligently sexy chemistry. The pair find themselves in a marriage of convenience having given up their identities to become spies, adopting new personas and wealthy lifestyles to venture forth on missions while trying to navigate married life. It is worth watching for Glover’s outfits alone. Also the sumptuous locations of Lake Como and the Veneto — aspirational holidaying if you disregard the risk of death.
Expats (episode five), Amazon Prime
This series has been for the most part a serviceable drama focused on dysfunctional expats whose lives unravel after a child goes missing. Its chief attraction is boggling at the lifestyles of the international affluent classes in a steamy Hong Kong. But the fifth episode — of feature-film length — lifts it to another level: it’s a brilliant exploration of the hopes and sacrifices of the maids who clean the homes of expats and look after their children.
Slow Horses, Apple TV
The television adaptation of Mick Herron’s novels about a dysfunctional crew of MI5 dropouts operating out of Slough House is eminently bingeable — if you can stomach Gary Oldman’s burping, farting Jackson Lamb, which you must. There is something glorious about watching a series that speeds around so many London neighbourhoods, showing the glamour and grime. It’s the television equivalent of a beach read — and that is not an insult.
Ripley, Netflix
The film version of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley was gloriously sunny. This black and white television version starring Andrew Scott is sombre in contrast, unlikely to have sent tourists flocking to the Amalfi Coast and Venice in quite the numbers that Anthony Minghella’s 1999 movie did. Some have criticised it for being slow but I enjoyed that quality — each shot is meticulously beautiful. Surely, the leisurely pace of holiday will be the perfect moment to linger.
Content Disclaimer and Copyright Notice
Content Disclaimer
The content provided on this website is sourced from various RSS feeds and other publicly available sources. We strive to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information, and we always provide source links to the original content. However, we are not responsible for the content’s accuracy or any changes made to the original sources after the information is aggregated on our site.
Fair Use and Copyright Notice
This website may contain copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We believe this constitutes a “fair use” of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
