Pick of the week
Beth
This is the first original drama produced for the new Channel 4 digital platform, which will be on YouTube, alongside a broadcast on Channel 4. It packs plenty of intrigue into 45 minutes. Written by Uzo Oleh, Beth stars Nicholas Pinnock and Abbey Lee as Joe and Molly, an interracial couple longing for a child as they struggle with IVF and ponder adoption (“I want our kid to look like both of us”). Eventually, an apparent miracle happens and Imogen is born. But soon, the circumstances around her conception – and Abbey’s relationship with her doctor – become mysterious. Pinnock and Lee do a sensitive job of rendering the retreating intimacies of their collapsing relationship.
Channel 4, from Monday 9 June
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Fubar
This espionage comedy drama has its cake and eats it, with daft genre tropes and knowing humour. The key to its success is Arnold Schwarzenegger as agent Luke Brunner, happily poking fun at his own legend. When we rejoin Luke’s team, they’re in witness protection – and a shocking early death makes the threats they face clear. But they’re going up the wall, and Luke’s agent daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro) is cohabiting with both an ex and her new squeeze. Fortunately, they soon have a new adversary to distract them in the shape of terrifying nihilist Dante. Plus, Carrie-Anne Moss later joins as Luke’s old flame.
Netflix, from Thursday 12 June
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The Orkney Assassin: Murder in the Isles
In June 1994, horror was visited upon the remote tranquility of Orkney when Bangladeshi waiter Shamsuddin Mahmood was shot dead by a masked man while serving a table in the island’s only curry house. This gloomy but gripping documentary explores what followed: a manhunt that would last for a remarkable 14 years (and the extraordinary events that unfolded at the trial of suspect Michael Ross); multiple issues surrounding the police’s handling of the murder; racism; and the lingering impact of trauma on an isolated community.
Prime Video, from Sunday 8 June
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Call Her Alex
Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy podcast has become massive, second only to Joe Rogan’s manosphere monster but attracting a very different audience. It’s a candid exploration of sex and relationships with a strong emphasis on female empowerment. This two-part documentary expands Cooper’s empire by offering a glimpse of the woman behind the mic. Like the podcast, it’s rarely subtle and can feel a little stage-managed. But Cooper is a shrewd operator and this is another smartly placed building block in a growing media brand.
Disney+, from Tuesday 10 June
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Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy
This documentary exploring the catastrophe that unfolded at Travis Scott’s 2021 concert in Houston is part of the same strand as Netflix’s Woodstock 99 series and covers similar ground in its depiction of systemic failure leading to tragedy. One key difference is that concertgoers now have mobile phones – and the frequently horrifying footage takes viewers right into the heart of the crush that claimed 10 lives. The story of the aftermath is bleak, too: as survivors tried to deal with the shock while coaxing some accountability from the people who failed them.
Netflix, from Tuesday 10 June
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Titan: The OceanGate Disaster
“There was no way of knowing when Titan was going to fail,” says one maritime expert in this documentary, “but it was a mathematical certainty that it would.” What drove OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush to gamble with the lives of four people (not to mention his own) in 2023? The implosion of the Titan submersible was briefly a worldwide obsession as the vessel plunged to explore the ruins of the Titanic. The story is an insight into a certain kind of entrepreneurial mindset – one that finds death easier to accept than the possibility of failure.
Netflix, from Wednesday 11 June
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Pale Mountains
Located on the cusp of Italy and Austria, the Alpine city of Bolzano is often considered a bridge between northern and southern Europe. Its political and cultural significance is explored in this gritty crime drama. A serial killer is on the loose but he seems to be exclusively targeting German speakers. Does discerning his political motive offer a route to stopping him? Inevitably, a mismatched pair of law enforcement officers (inspector Paolo Costa and prosecutor Eva Kofler) are on the case, but can they put their personal differences aside?
Channel 4, from Friday 13 June
