People Just Do Nothing
Grime to say goodbye. Brentford’s finest return for a final season of the acclaimed comedy with change in the air: Grindah and Beats are performing for their hated rivals Kold FM while their equipment is still in the custody of the cops; Steves is on community service; and Miche is facing the prospect of moving to (gasp) Essex. Can a car-boot sale turn things around?
Monday 12 November, 10pm, BBC Two
Standoff
Hitting a sweet spot, subject matter-wise, between true crime and cults is this Slate podcast about the 1992 Ruby Ridge siege. Often overlooked in favour of Waco, which happened the following year, it’s nevertheless a compelling tale of far-right doomsday believers and bungled FBI investigations.
Podcast
Narcos: Mexico
Escobar’s explosive rise and fall having been thoroughly documented, the cartel drama turns its attention to central America and the emergence in the 1980s of the Guadalajara Cartel. Diego Luna is its leader, with Michael Peña the DEA agent on his trail.
From Friday 16 November, Netflix
Dynasties
After the grand-scale Planet Earth II and Blue Planet II, this Attenborough-narrated doc from the Natural History Unit opts for something less sprawling, following five endangered species as they navigate a changing world. It’s no less breathtaking for its intimacy, with cameras capturing lions, tigers, penguins, coyotes and, first up, chimpanzees in dramatic closeup.
Sunday 11 November, 8.30pm, BBC One
Beat the Internet With John Robins
Vice’s studio arm is the extremely unlikely producer of this Dave gameshow, hosted by standup and former Mr Sara Pascoe, John Robins. It’s an offbeat affair on a pleasingly shonky set, with Robins quizzing contestants on subjects drawn from algorithms and search engines. Assisting him in the Richard Osman role of fact-master is the decidedly deadpan Sunil Patel.
Thursday 15 November, 8pm, Dave
Car Crash: Who’s Lying?
Resembling a real-life Rashomon, this BBC Three narrative documentary follows an investigation into a fatal accident caused by one of a group of friends in Hampshire. Bodycam footage and interviews help reveal the culprit, while grieving relatives attest to the damage done.
From Thursday 15 November, iPlayer
Children in Need
Another gigantic show of goodwill, hosted this year by Tess Daly, Graham Norton, Ade Adepitan and Mel Giedroyc. With performances of West End showtunes and special editions of The One Show, Mastermind and Strictly Come Dancing, it’s about as edgy as a satsuma, but who cares when we’re saving lives?
Friday 16 November, 7.30pm, BBC One
Clique
After gleefully skewering sorority life in its first series, Jess Brittain’s dark uni drama turns its attentions to the blokes for series two, with a storyline focused on toxic masculinity and gender politics. Still, Clique never lets the social commentary get in the way of having a bloody good time, and at its centre again is a good, old-fashioned thriller.
From Saturday 10 November, iPlayer
Love Is Strange
Ira Sachs’s warm and wise tale of Manhattan folk centres on the 39-year relationship of John Lithgow’s seventysomething artist Ben and Alfred Molina’s George – who, just after their wedding, is fired by the Catholic school where he was a music teacher, leaving them impoverished and homeless. It is full of heartache, tenderness and shafts of humour.
Sunday 11 November, 12.45am, Channel 4
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Initially devised as a TV series, this blackly comic western anthology from the Coen brothers has been refashioned into a film. It receives an extremely limited big-screen release this week, but for those not near an arthouse cinema, it is on Netflix from Friday. Liam Neeson, James Franco, Zoe Kazan and Brendan Gleeson are among its many stars.
From Friday 16 November, Netflix
