There’s not much to look forward in 2018. We’re going to get older and poorer, sicker and angrier. And redundant, because robots are going to take our jobs. There’s going to be more polarisation and division, hatred and lies. Nuclear war maybe? I raise you Armageddon. You might as well just watch telly and wait to die then. On the plus side there is actually some television worth watching …
Black Mirror (Netflix)
This isn’t exactly television to cheer you up, or feel less worried about the near future. But a couple of episodes of series four – USS Callister and Metalhead – are brilliant. Metalhead, especially – a robot dog chasing Maxine Peake, in black and white, very little dialogue – will work its way into your nightmares. The fourth series was released in December 2017, but its affects will be felt well into 2018.
Inside Number 9 (BBC Two)
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton’s dark comedy anthology has been a total treat to the schedules since it started in 2014. Unique, always captivating, it has gained in momentum and confidence, picking up ever bigger acting names in the process. A fourth series began on 2 January, and will feature appearances from Monica Dolan and Nicola Walker. The first one, Zanzibar, was a brilliant farce set in a London hotel, starring Rory Kinnear, and was entirely in iambic verse, of course.
Doctor Who (BBC One)
A Doctor – The Doctor – and a lady, all at the same time; who’d have thought it? Or about bloody time, more like. After Peter Capaldi’s momentous send-off, Jodie Whitaker takes over the sonic screwdriver and controls of the Tardis. While Broadchurch creator Chris Chibnal takes over from Steven Moffat as head writer and executive producer. So far we know little about the 13th Doctor except that she wears blue trousers and braces. Hurry Doctor, humanity needs you right now. Expect the Tardis to land in the autumn.
McMafia (BBC One/AMC)
Not as in Scottish Mafia, but global organised crime, everywhere, like a burger chain. Inspired by a non-fiction book by Misha Glenny, this eight-parter stars James Norton as Alex Goldman, who can’t escape his family’s connection to organised crime. Filmed in exotic locations and another AMC and BBC collaboration like the similarly globe-hopping The Night Manager. Night Managerski? The first two episodes have drawn an interested crowd, but the big question is whether Norton’s auditioning for another role. If at any point he says “the name’s Goldman, Alex Goldman,” then we could be on to something here.
A Very English Scandal (BBC One)
Three-part drama about the Jeremy Thorpe affair in the 1970s, which makes today’s politicians and their misdemeanors look like naughty schoolchildren. The leader of the Liberal party stood trial for conspiracy and incitement to murder, and though cleared it was the end of his career. Hugh Grant stars as Thorpe, and Ben Whishaw plays his former lover Norman Scott. Written by Russell T Davies and direct by Stephen Frears. Those aren’t bad credits, are they?
The Handmaid’s Tale, season two (Channel 4/Hulu)
The best drama series of 2017 returns in 2018. Yeah, I know they’ve used up all the Atwood, and carrying on could be a big mistake. But look out there, this shit has never been more real, The Handmaid’s Tale never more relevant. Very little is known about season two so far; a trailer shows a handmaid in a tunnel, with a torch. Well, that could definitely be Brexit-related, see what I mean? Blessed be the fruit.
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix)
A western, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers, for television, their first. That’s all you need to know, isn’t it? That’s pretty much all we do know actually, except that it’s a six-part anthology, tales from the American West set during the frontier era and starring Tim Blake Nelson. Sold. And further evidence, if any was needed, that the small screen is the new big screen.
The World Cup (BBC One, ITV)
So you could argue this one is more of a sporting event than a television one, but I’m not going, are you? It’s a television event, then. All on terrestrial, games kick off mainly between 1pm and 7pm, so it’s going to call for some strategic skiving. First game: Russia v Saudi Arabia, 14 June, ITV. First England game, versus Tunisia, 18 June, BBC1. Go on then, add that extra syllable: Engerland, Engerland, Engerland …
