This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
In my Best TV for June I have selected some current, some old and some upcoming programmes for you to watch. Sometimes it is even fun to go back to the beginning i.e. Season 1 before you watch the current series. I have even been known to watch some of these in the middle of the night when it is too hot to sleep!
BBC
THE A WORD | BBC ONE
The A Word is back on BBC One (Catch Up) after a three-year absence from our screens and quite a lot has changed for the Hughes / Scott family, with more surprises to come.
Now divorced, Paul (Lee Ingleby) and Alison Hughes (Morven Christie) were living in different houses but with Paul’s new home having been damaged by a fire, their autistic young son Joe (Max Vento) was struggling to handle the changes, which resulted in him throwing his beloved headphones into a lake.
Things don’t go well for Alison either. This is a great series that really pulls at your heart strings. Incredible cast and a great script. The humour and the pathos are all so real – it is a series that is really worth watching.
A HOUSE THROUGH TIME
In series three of this popular programme, the focus is on an older house than usual. Number 10 Guinea Street in Redcliffe, Bristol – Olusoga’s home town since the 1990s – is a gracious three-storey (plus attic, plus basement), ornately plastered, beautifully panelled and flagstoned pile built, along with several others, by a Captain Edmund Saunders in 1718. And, like most gracious three-storey piles built by sea captains in Bristol in the 18th century, it was funded by fortunes made from slave trading.
Watch episode 1 HERE
THE FIRST TEAM
If your other half is missing football and needs a footie fix then let him know that this comedy series starts on BBC2 on 28th May. Written by Iain Morris and Damon Beesley, the award-winning creators of ‘The Inbetweeners’.
The comedy follows three young footballers Mattie, Jack and Benji, and their adventures with terrifying team hard-man Petey, mercurial Italian manager Cesare and eccentric chairman Mark Crane.
Ella Fitzgerald: Just One Of Those Things | BBC TWO
Documentary exploring the life and career of celebrated jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. Beginning with a 1934 talent competition in Harlem, the film traces Ella’s extraordinary ascent across five decades as she reflects on the highs and lows of life in the spotlight.
SKY
COBRA
I nearly missed this series. It is currently on Catch up but starts to be deleted on 14 June.
This is a new political thriller from The Tunnel and Strike writer Ben Richards, it stars Robert Carlyle, Victoria Hamilton and David Haig as, respectively, the PM, his chief of staff and the home secretary. It’s a six-parter promising “high stakes politics and high-octane action” about a team of experts and crisis responders attempting to bring society back from the brink of collapse.
A second series has already been promised so the first series has clearly been well received.
DAS BOOT | SKY ATLANTIC SEASON 2 9th June 9.00pm
A TV sequel to the classic war movie, one of the most acclaimed German films of all time.
Set in the autumn of 1942, the Allies have cracked the Enigma code, signalling the end of the U-boats’ dominance at sea, and increased levels of resistance in previous safe havens such as La Rochelle has made mainland Europe dangerous and unpredictable.
Yet a young U-boat crew continues the war effort, even as the tide increasingly turns against the German war machine.
If you missed season 1
NETFLIX
WHITE LINES
The drama was filmed in the Balearic Islands including Majorca and Ibiza, so expect lots of gorgeous back drops, pool parties and epic villas – though the story itself is anything but beautiful. The trailers, featuring sex parties and car chases, tell a tale of drugs, death and deceit.
The 10-part drama follows the investigation into the disappearance and death of a legendary Mancunian DJ, who went missing one summer on the Spanish island of Ibiza. 20 years later, his body is discovered on the island, and his sister travels to Ibiza to discover what really happened two decades earlier.
THE EDDY
Directed by Academy Award winner Damien Chazelle (La La Land), Netflix original series The Eddy is an eight-episode drama that takes place in the vibrant multicultural neighbourhoods of modern-day Paris. Once a celebrated jazz pianist in New York, Elliot Udo is now the co-owner of struggling club The Eddy, where he manages the house band fronted by lead singer and on-again-off-again girlfriend Maja. As Elliot learns that his business partner Farid may be involved in some questionable practices at the club, secrets begin to come to light that have also been concealed from Farid’s wife Amira. And when Elliot’s troubled teenage daughter Julie suddenly arrives in Paris to live with him, his personal and professional worlds quickly start to unravel as he confronts his past, fighting to save the club and protect those closest to him.
JEFFREY EPSTEIN: FILTHY RICH
The show “exposes a horrifying story of relentless manipulation and sex trafficking. Epstein’s survivors serve as the series’ pre-eminent voices, providing powerful testimonials about their experiences, and inspiration in their resilience.”
Leading up to his 2019 arrest, mysterious tycoon Jeffrey Epstein was accused of abusing women and underage girls for decades, assembling a network of enablers to help carry out and cover up his crimes.
Epstein came from humble beginnings yet managed to lie and manipulate his way to the top of the financial world.
AMAZON PRIME
LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE
This series is now on Amazon and we are really enjoying it. Reminds me a little of Big, Little Lies that also starred Reese Witherspoon.
Based on Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller, Little Fires Everywhere follows the intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. The story explores the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
THE BIG C
Laura Linney stars in her Golden Globe®-winning role as Cathy Jamison, a 42-year-old schoolteacher who has always played by the rules. That is, until she receives a life-changing diagnosis. But instead of giving up, Cathy decides to live it up! Nothing and no one is safe, including her self-absorbed family, her cantankerous neighbour, and her smart-ass students.
Series 1 is now available on Amazon Prime. There are two other series so if you enjoy this it will keep you occupied for quite a few evenings.
Grace has just finished binge-watching all three series despite worrying initially (and needlessly) that the subject matter sounded depressing. This trailer shows you why:
There is so much great TV around so it was hard to select the best TV for June.
For last month’s TV selection click HERE