Best 5 new TV shows: quick view
Best 5 new TV shows
1) The Chelsea Detective – 16 Dec (AMC+ & Acorn TV)
Christmas special. Chloe Carmichael, former pop star and one-time darling of the tabloids, is found dead in her Chelsea mansion flat in the days leading up to Christmas. At first, it looks like a drug overdose, but forensics soon establishes that this would not be a plot worthy of a Christmas special and that in fact Chloe was drowned in the bath.
Max and the team must contend with a string of potential suspects, including Chloe’s hard-bitten manager, a conniving journalist and a Tory MP. Each of them has a secret connecting them to Chloe, but who was it that killed her?
Starring Adrian Scarborough, Lucy Phelps and Peter Bankolé.
2) The Forest – 16 Dec (ABC iview)
The story of a brilliant ecologist with a plan to save the world by restoring the planet’s forests. His original work was hijacked by corporations and politicians with disastrous effect, so now he’s using science to fight back. Do we hope he wins? Would we like him to save the world? Yes, we would. We really, really would …
3) The Night Manager – 18 Dec (SBS On Demand)
Series. A contemporary adaption of John Le Carre’s best-selling 1993 spy novel of the same name. In Cairo, at the height of the Arab Spring, hotel night manager Jonathan Pine receives a plea for help from Sophie, the mistress of the powerful but dangerous hotel owner.
Sophie has evidence of an arms deal that could help crush the popular uprising. The cast looks great, the visuals look great, the source material is strong enough – we’re in!
Starring Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Coleman, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Debicki and Tom Hollander.
4) Laid – Season 1 – 19 Dec (Binge)
Series. When her former lovers start dying in unusual circumstances, Ruby has to go back through her storied sex timeline, with the help of her best friend, and confront her past in order to move forward.
This rom-com with a twist is based on the 2011 Australian series of the same name and is sure to give some morbid laughs.
Starring Stephanie Hsu and Zosia Mamet.
5) Daddy Issues – 19 Dec (SBS On Demand)
Series. Billed as a coming-of-age story for all ages. This Britih series follows Gemma, who lives for the weekend, when she can get plastered and party hard in Stockport, Manchester.
But after joining the mile-high club with a random hook-up on her way back from a holiday to Portugal, she falls pregnant, and guess what? It couldn’t come at a worse time. She has no other option but to seek support from her crisis-stricken dad, Malcolm, and move in together.
Starring Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey.
