Katie's recommendations on what to keep an eye out for this week on your TV.
TV News
Netflix Releases Teaser For New Dramedy Series The Chair
Sandra Oh is leading a university's English department in a new sneak peek for Netflix's dramedy, The Chair, which premieres on August 20.
The Wheel of Time Show Will Release in 2021 on Amazon
Amazon's TV adaptation of epic fantasy novel series, The Wheel of Time, is set for a 2021 release. The series has already been renewed for season 2.
Amazon's The Wheel Of Time television adaptation is set for a 2021 release on Prime Video. The show is based on a fantasy novel series written by Robert Jordan. The book series totals twelve novels, the last of which was completed by Brandon Sanderson following Jordan's untimely passing. FXX previously took a shot at adapting the series for television in 2015 with Winter Dragon, a pilot that was stopped in its tracks due to issues with Jordan's estate.
The Weakest Link’s former “Queen of Mean” – Anne Robinson – becomes the first female presenter in the history of Channel 4’s longest-running series, after taking over from Nick Hewer.
When it was revealed she had secured the gig to join regulars (numbers whizz Rachel Riley and Dictionary Corner incumbent Susie Dent), Robinson said she wanted to rename the show Three Clever Girls Do Countdown. Although the host has changed, the format is staying exactly the same: contestants race against the clock to pit their wits against vowels, consonants and numbers. Comedian Rory Bremner is this week’s guest.
What did we watch this week?
Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con,
This explores the downfall of one of Instagram's first "super influencers" - told through those who followed, adored and tried to mirror her lifestyle.Wednesday, BBC1, 11.35pm
Many will be left scratching their heads when the name Belle Gibson is mentioned, but those who love social media will know her indeed. Whichever camp you fall into, after watching this shocking documentary, chances are you will never forget Gibson. The Australian was one of Instagram’s first super-influencers, and by the age of 23 had launched a hugely successful food-related app and accompanying book. Gibson claimed in interviews to have suffered from various forms of cancer, cured via unconventional treatments. Her bubble burst spectacularly when it was revealed that she had never had the disease. Here, followers and opponents discuss Gibson’s rise to fame while shining a light on the woman behind the public image.
Fresh, Fried & Crispy
In Fresh, Fried And Crispy, Daym travels the U.S., looking for the best fried dishes out there. What he tries to do in each city is not only try the traditional fried item that you would find in that city or region, plus some unexpected dishes from restaurants that are recommended to him.
Daym tries T-Ravs (toasted ravioli), one of the city’s signature disheshe then goes to a vegan restaurant and tries a friend buffalo “chick’n” sandwich. He’s truly surprised at how the vegan “chick’n” patty is, despite his protestations to the restaurant owner about his aversion to vegetables.
Daym then goes to the home of a local chef who makes country-fried venison and T-ravs with beaver meat in them. Finally, that chef shows him how he smokes his own bologna, and puts a thick, pan-friend slice of it on a sandwich with a fried egg and all sorts of drippy, gooey goodness. Daym is so enraptured with the sandwich that he sings its praises with pieces of it trapped in his beard.
Sophie – A murder in West Cork
This three-part documentary, directed by John Dower (My Scientology Movie) and coproduced by the Oscar-winner Simon Chinn (Searching for Sugarman, Man on Wire), is not to be confused with Jim Sheridan’s Murder in the Cottage, another film focusing on the story, which will be shown by Sky later this year.
Sophie: A Murder in West Cork explores the notorious case that became a “national obession” and examines the justice system in Ireland and France. The series has been given the full support of the du Plantier family; it features commentary by and interviews with them as well as Sophie’s son, Pierre-Louis Baudey-Vignaud, and those involved in the investigation.
Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell
While Maxwell is awaiting trial on charges that she allegedly procured teenage girls for the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, this exhaustive three-part documentary explores the socialite’s jet-setting past and troubled journey from media heiress to being the friend and confidante of a serial sex offender.
Sunday 27 June, 9pm, Sky Documentaries
What’s coming up?
Relative Strangers
Maureen is an Irishwoman, happily married and living in Germany. Or so she thinks. When her husband dies, she finds that not only had he debts, but was also a bigamist, having had a second wife and family in Ireland. Shocked and angry, she travels there to meet the other family. And she learns that they have troubles of their own, the worst of them being that the other woman's young son is suffering from leukemia and a suitable bone marrow donor is urgently needed.
HEIST
HEIST
Wednesday, July 14th
From the producers of 2021’s Oscar-winning short film Two Distant Strangers comes this documentary series exploring the biggest heists in American history. From the 2013 investigation of Pappygate – the theft of a huge amount of bourbon – to a young woman’s Las Vegas casino rampage, it’s an adrenaline-fuelled ride through the underworld. As with Operation Varsity Blues, Netflix’s college-admissions-scandal documentary, Heist has a filmic sensibility, with episodes featuring flashy reconstructions as well as straightforward interviews and news footage.
A true-life, bourbon-soaked, Kentucky-based crime nicknamed "Pappygate" will soon arrive on Netflix as part of a six-episode series titled "Heist." The series chronicles three of the biggest thefts in modern American history as told by the people who pulled them off.
"Heist" includes two episodes devoted to the infamous theft of hard-to-get and pricey bourbons such as Pappy Van Winkle worth tens of thousands of dollars. The case which made international headlines in 2018 became knowns as "Pappygate."
For several years starting in the early 2000s, Curtsinger smuggled out bottles of rare and highly-coveted Pappy Van Winkle and other premium bourbons and sold them for cash through a syndicate that included members of his recreational softball team. The scheme was exposed after the Franklin County sheriff's office received an anonymous tip that several missing bourbon barrels were stashed on Curtsinger's property.
Armed with a search warrant, the sheriff's department found the barrels containing bourbon on the property of the whiskey theft ring's mastermind. The barrels had been sanded and spray-painted black on the tops and bottoms in what authorities believed was an effort to remove the distiller's marks.
EXPLAINED SEASON 3
Friday, July 16th
This documentary series made in association with Vox offers bite-sized summations of an array of topics. The first two seasons featured shows on the allure of cults, the future of meat consumption and a prescient episode in 2019 that spoke to Bill Gates about the history of pandemics. This time around it is concentrating on subjects such as our obsession with plastic surgery, the crafting of public apologies and the survival of the monarchy. Each episode clocks in at a tidy 20 minutes.
MYTH & MOGUL : JOHN DELOREAN
Friday, July 30th
John DeLorean has proved a compelling subject for documentary-makers, with several charting the car-company founder’s dramatic rise and fall. This three-part series, which includes unseen footage shot by DA Pennebaker, focuses on the creation of his legendary car – the one with the gull-wing doors used in the Back to the Future films – which eventually became a symbol of the greed and excess of the 1980s.
Films this week
On TV - Midway
Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Luke Evans, Dennis Quaid, Mandy Moore, Aaron Eckhart Director: Roland Emmerich Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Woody Harrelson and Dennis Quaid star in this spectacular World War II drama.
On December 7 1941, Japanese forces launch a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, the US naval base in Hawaii. Six months later, the Battle of Midway commences on June 4 1942, as the Japanese navy plan a strike against American ships in the Pacific. For the next three days, the US Navy and a squad of brave fighter pilots engage the enemy in one of the most important and decisive battles of World War II.
From Friday 9 July
Streaming
Inside Out
Within the mind of a girl named Riley are the basic emotions that control her actions—Joy, Sadness, Fear, Disgust, and Anger. Her experiences become memories, stored as colored orbs, which are sent into long-term memory each night. Her five most important "core memories" power aspects of her personality which take the form of floating islands. Joy acts as the leader, and she and the rest of the emotions try to limit Sadness's influence.
At the age of 11, Riley moves from Minnesota to San Francisco for her father's new job. She at first has poor experiences; the new house is cramped and old, her father hardly has any time for her, a local pizza parlor only serves pizza topped with broccoli (Riley's dislike), and the moving van with their belongings ends up in Texas and will not arrive for weeks. On Riley's first day at her new school, Sadness retroactively turns joyous memories sad, which causes Riley to cry in front of her class and creates a sad core memory. Joy tries to dispose of it by using a vacuum tube but accidentally knocks the other core memories loose during a struggle with Sadness, disabling the personality islands. Joy, Sadness, and the core memories are sucked out of the Headquarters.
In Joy and Sadness's absence, Anger, Fear, and Disgust are left in control, with disastrous results, distancing Riley from her parents, friends, and hobbies. Because of this, her personality islands gradually crumble and fall into the "Memory Dump", where memories are forgotten. Finally, Anger inserts an idea into the console, prompting Riley to run away to Minnesota, believing it will restore her happiness.
While navigating the vast long-term memory area, Joy and Sadness encounter Bing Bong, Riley's childhood imaginary friend, who suggests riding the "train of thought" back to Headquarters. The three, after extreme inconvenience caused by the islands' dissolution, eventually catch the train but it halts when Riley falls asleep, then derails entirely with the collapse of another island. In desperation, Joy abandons Sadness and tries to ride a "recall tube" back to the Headquarters but the ground below the tube collapses, breaking and sending Joy and Bing Bong plunging into the Memory Dump. A crestfallen Joy discovers a sad memory that turned happy when Riley's parents and friends comforted her. Joy finally understands Sadness's purpose: alerting others when Riley is emotionally overwhelmed and needs help. Joy and Bing Bong try to use Bing Bong's old wagon rocket to escape the Memory Dump but are unable to fly high enough due to their combined weight. On their last attempt, Bing Bong jumps out to allow Joy to escape as he fades away.
Joy reunites with Sadness and they return to the Headquarters, but arrive too late as Anger's idea has disabled the console, rendering Riley apathetic. To the surprise of the others, Joy hands control of the console to Sadness, who is able to reactivate it and prompt Riley to return to her new home. As Sadness reinstalls the core memories, transforming them from happy to sad, Riley tearfully confesses to her parents that she misses her old life. Her parents comfort her and admit they also miss Minnesota. Joy and Sadness work the console together, creating a new core memory consisting of happiness and sadness; a new island forms, representing Riley's acceptance of her new life in San Francisco.
A year later, Riley has adapted to her new home, made new friends, and returned to her old hobbies while acquiring a few new ones. Inside the Headquarters, her emotions admire Riley's new personality islands, and all work together on a newly expanded console with room for them all.
In Cinemas - Fast & Furious 9
(12A) (Justin Lin) 143 mins
The unstoppable juggernaut that is the Fast & Furious series rolls on, with Vin Diesel’s Dom and his car-sharp “family” facing off against a hitherto-unmentioned brother, assassin Jakob (John Cena). This time, Helen Mirren finally gets behind the wheel – and Cardi B joins in too.
In cinemas
