True Detective
The second season was as disappointing as the first was revelatory, so the reputation of this macabre crime drama is up for grabs at the start of its third run. This time, the stars include Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, Stephen Dorff and Carmen Ejogo, and the detectives are exploring a child murder that brings back hideous memories for one of them.
Monday 14 January, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
Cold Feet
The midlife crises continue as this reconstituted comedy-drama starring Fay Ripley and James Nesbitt returns. This week, love appears to be in the air for several of the gang. Which can surely only mean that betrayal and disappointment are just round the corner.
Monday 14 January, 9pm, ITV
Monster: The Zodiac Killer
It has been a pop-culture preoccupation for decades. Now, the unsolved Californian serial killings of the 60s and 70s receive the true-crime treatment from the creators of the hugely popular (if controversial) pod Atlanta Monster. Can they solve this coldest of cold cases?
Podcast
Grace and Frankie
As we left our titular odd couple (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, both excellent), they had escaped from their retirement community, only to find that their pesky kids had sold their house. As the fifth season begins, this leads to an experiment in squatting, which leads in turn to the arrival of guest stars RuPaul and Nicole Richie.
From Friday 18 January, Netflix
Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened
A schadenfreude overload awaits in this documentary exploring the doomed 2017 festival organised by Billy McFarland and Ja Rule. The luxury event was due to take place on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma but eventually disintegrated in a morass of security problems, transport traumas and disappointing catering. Which was, of course, very sad.
From Friday 18 January, Netflix
The River
More bleak drama from Scandinavia. This time we are on the border between Norway and Russia, where cold war beef still simmers. An unidentified body and a missing girl lights the touchpaper. Can detective Thomas Lonnhoiden sort everything out?
Tuesday 15 January, 10.35pm, Channel 4
Trigger Warning
Killer Mike is one half of hip-hop duo Run the Jewels. But he also has deep roots as a social activist and, as his 2018 defence of gun ownership proved, isn’t afraid to challenge the assumptions of his core following. This series sees him tackling social taboos in forthright style. Expect revelation and provocation in equal measure.
From Friday 18 January, Netflix
Revolution in Ruins: The Hugo Chávez Story
How did Hugo Chávez go from socialist saviour to economy wrecker? This film explores Chávez’s 13 years as president of oil-rich Venezuela and wonders where it all went wrong. Have impressive short-term achievements now been overshadowed by a bleak long-term legacy?
Wednesday 16 January, 9pm, BBC Two
Only Lovers Left Alive
Jim Jarmusch’s addition to the vampire genre is a languid exercise in sex, blood and rock’n’roll. Tom Hiddleston is reclusive rocker Adam and Tilda Swinton his lover Eve, the pair actually being centuries-old bloodsuckers. Their elegantly weary world starts to crumble with the arrival of Eve’s wild-child sister Ava (Mia Wasikowska).
Saturday 12 January, 9pm, AMC from BT
The Grand Tour
In which Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond see how much more of Amazon’s largesse they can get away with squandering on travelling to exotic locations and blowing up cars. Expect the usual banter-heavy high-jinks as the nation’s favourite overgrown schoolboys enjoy another series of epic road trips.
From Friday 18 January, Amazon Prime Video
