Veep
After a year’s hiatus following Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s breast cancer diagnosis (she has thankfully since been given the all-clear), the last season of the satirical comedy is finally here. It promises an electoral slugfest between Louis-Dreyfus’s breathtakingly insincere former vice-pres and her craven former aide Jonah (Timothy Simons). Expect a cringe-fest.
Wednesday 3 April, 10.05pm, Sky Atlantic
The Case Against Adnan Syed
Four years after Serial’s first season made podcast addicts of us all, here’s a follow-up of sorts from An Open Secret director Amy Berg, who digs deeper into the 1999 murder of Hae Min Lee and the subsequent conviction of Adnan Syed. Was justice truly done?
Monday 1 April, 9pm, Sky Atlantic
The Tick
Peter Serafinowicz’s big blue goon is back for a second season of delightfully daft superhero action, this time dealing with a new group of villains who have filled the vacuum left by last season’s big bad, the Terror. Hyperactive and very silly, it’s basically the opposite of those glowering ads for Avengers: Endgame.
From Friday 5 April, Amazon Prime Video
Line of Duty
Get set for red herrings and outrageous twists aplenty as the nation submits once more to the storytelling genius of Jed Mercurio. This time, AC-12 are facing an organised crime syndicate believed to have corrupt officers on the inside. All this, and the great Stephen Graham, too.
Sunday 31 March, 9pm, BBC One
Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back
A bizarre hybrid of comedy and consumer affairs as Lycett takes up the cause of wronged customers and puts dubious advertising slogans to the test in his trademark larger-than-life style. In this opening episode, that means going into NatWest Bank’s HQ and performing a Rihanna song. Not many could carry it off, but Lycett just about manages it.
Friday 5 April, 8.30pm, Channel 4
Famalam
The hugely entertaining sketch show gets a second series. It’s a very welcome return for characters including grime MC Scribbler P, Detective Moses Mountree and perpetually thwarted Nigerian philanthropist Prince Alyusi.
From Sunday 31 March, BBC iPlayer
Blackout
Rami Malek produces and stars in this eight-part thriller. He plays a radio DJ who happens to be in the hotseat when an attack on the national grid leaves the country in chaos. Can he keep his head while all around are losing theirs? It’s a wiry and engaging story involving an audacious amount of dead air and decent helpings of tension.
Podcast
Our Planet
Netflix enters the nature documentary field in a mega-budget series that boasts the narration of David Attenborough (don’t worry, it’s already confirmed that he will be back on the Beeb later this spring). Groundbreaking 4K camera technology promises to take you into previously unseen habitats, providing a glimpse at the globe’s most precious species.
From Friday 5 April, Netflix
Nebraska
Alexander Payne’s grainy black-and-white odyssey has a thirtysomething son (Will Forte) reluctantly agreeing to take his ailing dad (Bruce Dern) on a 750-mile fool’s errand from home in Montana to Nebraska, to collect a bogus $1m lottery prize. Dern is marvellous as Woody Grant: wild-eyed, irascible but endearing, with the tragic touch of a blue-collar King Lear.
Tuesday 2 April, 11.40pm, Film4
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
The one-time teenage witch returns to conclude series one of the Netflix reboot. The first part struggled for momentum, but perhaps now the script can abandon some of its expositionary awkwardness and really fly. In any case, Kiernan Shipka is decent in the lead and Michelle Gomez reliably spectacular as Sabrina’s favourite teacher, Mary Wardwell.
From Friday 5 April, Netflix
