Sky Go
Girls
Lena Dunham’s state-of-the-millennial-nation series will go from Girls to gone Girls this year, when its final season airs in February. For those yet to be acquainted with Dunham’s divisive creation Hannah Horvath, as well as her equally lost twentysomething pals Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna, Sky has uploaded the show’s entire run to date on to its box sets service. For all the criticisms levelled at the show, it remains groundbreaking, inspiring a host of similarly minded dramedies, from Louie to Atlanta. We’ll miss it when it’s no longer with us.
Available now
All4
Acquitted
Norway’s biggest TV drama arrives to nuzzle its way into a UK schedule hardly lacking in fjord-focused series. Nevertheless, the setup sets it apart from the flock: 20 years after being acquitted of the murder of his girlfriend, besuited – and, it has to be said, devilishly handsome – businessman Asken Borgen (no relation) returns to his home town to save it from economic ruin. There, his past inevitably catches up with him, as new and deadly events unfold. Intelligent and intriguing drama.
Available from Friday 13 Jan
Amazon
Sneaky Pete
Given that he created one of TV’s greatest baddies in Walter White, you might have thought that Bryan Cranston would have steered clear of villainy for the time being. Yet here he is rocking up as a monstrous mobster in this series, which he also co-created. Sneaky Pete stars the criminally underrated Giovanni Ribisi as Marius, a ex con forced to assume the identity of his cellmate Pete when Vince (Cranston) comes looking for the $100,000 Marius owes him. Cue a blackly funny crime saga that shares more than a little stylistically with – you guessed it – Breaking Bad.
Available from Friday
BBC3
Tourettes: They Still Can’t Help It
Documentary catching up with John Davidson, a man with Tourette syndrome who was first profiled in the groundbreaking 1989 film John’s Not Mad. In the years since, Davidson has sought to help younger people with the syndrome by running a Tourette Camp, where attendees, including 12-year-old Rory Brown (also featured here) are able to make noises without offending members of the public. Given that only 10% of those with Tourette syndrome have coprolalia, the specific term for swearing tics, TV’s outsized focus on this aspect of the condition is rather telling. Yet past documentaries featuring Davidson have been notable for their insight and sensitivity. Hopefully this should continue the trend.
Available from Thursday
Podcast
Terrible Thanks For Asking
Dubbed “podcasting’s first real-life weepie”, Nora McInerny’s new weekly pod is a stark look at loss, starting with her account of her partner’s death as a result of brain cancer. Later episodes profile others who have suffered moments of trauma, including a nurse who received a brain injury from a patient, to an expectant mother who suffered a miscarriage. It’s tough stuff, but the honesty of both McInerny and her interviewees is refreshing.
Available now
