Pick of the week
Bodies
A far-right march through east London in 2023. Messy business involving racketeering cops in London during the blitz. Foul play in Whitechapel’s clandestine gay scene in 1890. And a murder 30 years from now. This ambitious drama traverses multiple timelines to present four versions of the same killing – the body of a naked man with a strange symbol on his arm is discovered by a baffled police officer who must explain the inexplicable. Based on a graphic novel by Si Spencer and starring Stephen Graham, Shira Haas and Amaka Okafor, Bodies takes a while to untangle itself but the central mystery is irresistible, even if some of the stories land better than others.
Netflix, from Thursday 19 October
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Coleen Rooney: The Real Wagatha Story
Wagatha Christie: the funniest, most high-octane but low-stakes celebrity story in living memory and one sold short by Channel 4’s oddly limp dramatisation last year. Never fear, because this three-part documentary tells the story through the eyes of Wagatha herself, Coleen Rooney, who will be discussing the Instagram-sleuthing, the phone-dropping and the courtroom shade-throwing for our delectation. Better still, it’s entirely one-sided so Rebekah Vardy is almost certain to demand a right of reply. Which means this delightfully ludicrous saga is set to run and run.
Disney+, from Wednesday 18 October
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The Devil on Trial
When Arne Cheyenne Johnson was charged with the murder of his landlord Alan Bono in Connecticut in 1981, he offered up an unusual defence, claiming that demonic possession made him commit the crime. The bizarre tale stretches back into Johnson’s childhood, involving a similarly “possessed” childhood friend, the exorcism that followed and a pair of self-styled “ghost hunters” named Ed and Lorraine Warren. In many ways, it’s classic Netflix fare, combining grisly true crime and supernatural strangeness to intriguing, slightly queasy effect.
Netflix, from Tuesday 17 October
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The Burning Girls
“In 1556, two young girls were burned at the stake here,” says Samantha Morton’s Rev Jack Brooks as she shows her daughter Flo (Ruby Stokes) around the village that is their new home. Still, that was a long time ago, and can’t possibly have anything to do with the suicide of the vicar Jack has replaced. Inevitably, as this drama adapted from CJ Tudor’s novel unfolds, it turns out that the village is a hotbed of horror; full of conspiracies, secrets and strange rituals. It’s all enjoyably ridiculous and, as ever, Morton is excellent as a woman just about holding herself together.
Paramount+, from Thursday 19 October
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Surviving Paradise
An amusingly mean reality show concept in which a group of gorgeous, gormless contestants are led to believe they’ll be spending summer in an oceanside villa before being dumped in some nearby woods and forced to scheme their way into the house. It’s worth it for their reactions to seeing their new accommodation, which resembles the dunnies in I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!. “Did I sign up for Fyre festival?” snorts one. Eventually, there’s a $100k cash prize (and a nice holiday) on offer. But there’s a lot of backstabbing to be done first.
Netflix, from Friday 20 October
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Vjeran Tomic: The Spider Man of Paris
Vjeran Tomic claims to have stolen paintings (including works by Picasso and Matisse) because he liked them. The involvement of two other men – one convicted of commissioning the thefts, the other of hiding the paintings – casts doubt on that. Even so, it’s hard not to feel a twinge of admiration for the audacity of Tomic whose 2010 incursion into Paris’s Musée d’Art Moderne saw him leave with art worth more than €100m. This documentary uses reconstructions and interviews (including one with Tomic himself) to tell the story.
Netflix, from Friday 20 October
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Upload
This inventive comedy returns to explore more ethical, practical and romantic conundrums around the afterlife as Nathan (Robbie Amell) continues to exist in a halfway house between “real life” and the virtual world. But there’s an issue with identity theft – it seems there’s another “Nathan” living in the afterlife community Lakeview. Meanwhile, the villainous Freeyond organisation are still using the technology to interfere with elections. It’s slightly head-spinning but in a good way: think Black Mirror reimagined as a romcom and you’re in the right ballpark.
Prime Video, from Friday 20 October
• This article was amended on 13 October 2023. The Netflix drama Bodies is available from Thursday 19 October, not Friday 20 October as an earlier version said.
