4 hours ago
5
Pick of the week
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
Lisa McGee follows Derry Girls with a comedy drama that is familiar in style but subtly different in form and content. This time, beautifully rendered notes of female friendship are blended with undertones of farce, horror and, in typical McGee style, enough emotional weight to keep the stakes high. It concerns three friends in their late 30s – Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) – who attend the wake of Greta, the fourth member of their tight but mildly traumatised teenage posse. The reasons for their sense of unresolved injury are eventually revealed as the fate of Greta becomes an itch the trio are forced to scratch. Sweet but sharp.
Netflix, from Thursday 12 February
Love Story: John F Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette
Another miniseries from Ryan Murphy, telling the story of the whirlwind romance between presidential offspring John F Kennedy Jr (Paul Kelly) and ambitious Calvin Klein “VIP whisperer” Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon). When they met, JFK Jr was struggling with the heaviness of his family name and the constant attention attracted by his perpetual singledom. The couple’s relationship played out, in classic 90s style, via the tabloids. It’s a glamorous and tragic story – essential viewing for people already invested in the story but mildly bewildering for everyone else.
Disney+, from Friday 13 February
The Artful Dodger
After a hiatus (the first season aired in 2023), this rompish Dickensian sequel returns with more light-fingered hijinks in Oz. Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), the one-time Artful Dodger, has escaped his criminal youth after being transported to Australia and become a surgeon. However, when Norbert Fagin (the excellent David Thewlis) turns up, his past catches up with him. Fagin is leveraging Jack’s connections to plan a heist. Will Jack’s relationship with the high-born Lady Belle Fox redeem him – or will Fagin sense another opportunity? Good fun.
Disney+, from Tuesday 10 February
Lead Children
A heroic spin on a bleak true story, this drama stars Joanna Kulig as Jolanta Wadowska-Król, a doctor in 1970s Poland who speaks out about the grim fate of hundreds of children living near a toxic industrial smelter. As disabilities and birth defects become endemic, it emerges that the youngsters are suffering from lead poisoning. But with the steelworks the only significant employer in the town and a bigger historical story about the decline of the Soviet Union playing out in the background, it becomes clear that Wadowska-Król is risking more than just her career.
Netflix, from Wednesday 11 February
Cross
This earnest, Washington DC-set police drama just about rises above the generic thanks to its twisty plotting and occasional attempts to examine what it means to be a Black police officer in modern America. Aldis Hodge stars as troubled but gifted homicide detective (is there any other kind?) Alex Cross who, this time, is charged with keeping philanthropic billionaire Lance Durand safe. However, the threats to Durand turn out to be the tip of a vast iceberg – it’s soon clear that a meticulous, ruthless and terrifyingly ambitious serial killer is on the loose.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 11 February
Lolita Lobosco
More dark deeds in delightful places as this Italian cop drama set in the charming seaside town of Bari returns for a third season. In common with many small-screen detectives, the titular deputy police commissioner Lobosco (Luisa Ranieri) has returned to her home town after years away. But even as she’s drawn back into the gentle rhythms of the place, she finds a range of crimes – from organ trafficking to suspicious skydiving accidents – that require her attention. It’s never remotely gritty but as sun-dappled escapist fun it ticks plenty of boxes.
Channel 4, from Friday 13 February
Jesy Nelson: Life After Little Mix
In the light of her various struggles with mental health, being in Little Mix obviously wasn’t easy for Jesy Nelson. But the act of leaving the band was clearly difficult too and she’s very keen to set the record straight about her motivations. However, as this six-part documentary series shows, things were about to get harder still for the singer. It’s uncomfortably intimate in places, exploring the difficulties Nelson experienced around her pregnancy and eventually, the birth of her twins, both of whom have subsequently been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy.
Prime Video, from Friday 13 February
