BBC3
With thousands of refugees dying each year while fleeing humanitarian crises across the globe, those who manage the treacherous journey to Europe are, in many ways, the lucky ones. That is, of course, a glib assessment – the challenges facing asylum seekers only continue once they’ve arrived. This timely new three-parter follows Thaer (pictured, above) from Syria: episode one sees him attempt to survive on just £35 a week in the UK, while subsequent instalments see him trying to gain refugee status and revise for the university entrance exams that could help him restart his education – all the while receiving news of the chaos back home.
Available from Monday
Lifting its premise almost entirely from About A Boy didn’t prevent this fine sitcom from becoming a success in its own right. Nick Helm plays Andy, a layabout, stoner, bachelor and failed musician who forms an (initially reluctant) bond with his gawky swot of a nephew, Errol. The two learn a lot from each other, yadda yadda, you know how it goes, but that isn’t too important. What is, is that it’s hilarious – walking the fine and tricky line between sweet and fist-chewingly crude, with Helm’s musical interludes providing frequent, welcome whips of surrealism. Good to have it back.
Available from Sunday
Netflix
One Day At A Time
A reboot of a 70s US series, this new Netflix offering charts the lives of a Cuban-American family helmed by war veteran Penelope and old-school abuela Lydia. Soapy and sentimental – complete with a recurring gag about Toni Braxton’s Un-Break My Heart – it’s not going to win any awards for sitcom originality. However, it’s both lighthearted and a reminder of the importance of US Latino culture in the age of Trump.
Available from Friday
Podcast
Refinery29’s latest podcast does something you might not expect a New York-based “lifestyle” publisher to do: offering honest advice and anecdotes on personal style, rather than merely focusing on current trends. The site’s co-founder Christene Barberich sits down to speak with the likes of Danielle Brooks, AKA Taystee from Orange Is The New Black (pictured, left), and Leandra Medine, founder of pithy fashion site Man Repeller. Brooks’s episode is particularly illuminating, with plenty of insight into her life as an African American actor as well as how she’s learned to embrace her natural body shape.
Available now, with new episodes added weekly
The second season of this underrated Canadian cold-case podcast tells the murky tale of the 1998 disappearance of Sheryl Sheppard. Reminiscent of the first run of Serial, film-maker and journalist David Ridgen delves into the mystery, hoping to join dots missed or discounted in the original investigation. As he speaks to long-lost friends and acquaintances, he builds a picture of a young woman mixing with a variety of unsavoury characters. Grisly and gripping.
Available now, with new episodes added weekly
