Save Me
In a year of TV dramas characterised by boilerplate earnestness, Save Me has been a breath of fresh air. Lennie James’s creation has carried real emotional weight thanks to its flaky but likable hero, Nelly. In this finale, Nelly looks for answers in the pub – surely yet another reason to like the man. A second season is in the works so don’t expect closure.
Wednesday, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
Kiss Me First
It is created by Bryan Elsley of Skins fame, and Kiss Me First has a comparable, attention-grabbing vigour. A shy teenage gamer bonds online with an extrovert party girl. But what are the consequences of their online friendship spilling into real life?
Monday, 10pm, Channel 4
Limmy’s Homemade Show
The funniest man in Scotland returns with a brilliantly lo-fi and inventive new series along the lines of his numerous Vines; just Limmy, a camera and his various neuroses. It screens on BBC2 Scotland on Thursday and will hit the iPlayer shortly afterwards.
From Friday, BBC iPlayer
The City & the City
David Morrissey stars as a police chief in this adaptation of China Miéville’s speculative novel about crime and punishment in a divided city. With themes including the consequences of othering and the ability of humans to ignore obvious but uncomfortable truths, it feels like a story with a host of modern resonances.
Friday, 9pm, BBC Two
Silicon Valley
With the doings of the real-life Silicon Valley under scrutiny at the moment, this feels like a good time for a new series of Mike Judge’s comedy-drama. Watching the five jokers at the heart of this show, it is easy to imagine how oversight might be disregarded, although it would probably be more cock-up than conspiracy. As we return, PiperNet is approaching its launch. Expect hitches.
Thursday, 10.10pm, Sky Atlantic
Sketchtopia
This sketch comedy fronted by Hardeep Singh Kohli aims to give a platform to up-and-coming BAME writers. It’s hit and miss – as sketch comedies tend to be – but the better moments suggest it has the potential to unearth plenty of new talent.
Wednesday, 6.30pm, Radio 4
Deep State
Another bleak, conspiratorial drama begins, this time starring the excellent Mark Strong as a mildly traumatised MI6 operative, bullied back into the fold for one last job and packed off to Beirut. As is the way with such things, it seems likely that what he discovers there will make him question everything he thought he knew.
Thursday, 9pm, Fox
Revolution
Locating the mid-point between shiny-floor showbiz and the reckless derring-do of prime Jackass (whose principal punishment-bro Steve-O presents), this new show brings extreme sports into primetime. Inline skaters, BMXers and skateboarders take on lavishly assembled obstacle courses – expect bumps, bruises and breathless hyperbole.
Sunday, 6.30pm, Sky1
Thérèse Desqueyroux
There’s a touch of Madame Bovary about this adaptation of François Mauriac’s novel. Audrey Tautou is Thérèse, locked into a marriage of convenience with wealthy dullard Bernaud in rural Bordeaux; her sister-in-law’s passionate affair adds to her ennui. Claude Miller’s last film is a restrained drama of stifled, twisted emotions.
Saturday, 1.15am, BBC Two
Cunk on Britain
A new series, offering a new parade of experts for Diane Morgan’s performatively baffled pundit Philomena Cunk to gaze gormlessly at. Cunk’s latest deconstruction of documentary-making tropes comes via her most ambitious project to date – she’s attempting nothing less than a comprehensive history of Britain – but Simon Schama she ain’t …
Tuesday, 10pm, BBC Two
