Pick of the week
Heartstopper
The irresistible coming-of-age drama by Alice Oseman returns for a third series, with Nick and Charlie’s relationship still advancing, albeit in baby steps. Charlie’s struggle to be emotionally available is the focus; miscommunication and anxiety are the result. Elsewhere, Tara and Darcy are going through a rough patch and there’s an examination of asexuality via the buttoned-up Isaac. As ever, Heartstopper’s strength can also be a slight weakness – rightly, it point-blank refuses to colour LGBTQ+ life in shades of drama and trauma. Does this mean it edges towards the saccharine on occasion? Undeniably, yes. Does that really matter? Mostly not.
Netflix, from Thursday 3 October
***
Where’s Wanda
This German series is an odd, dark comedy about the disappearance of the titular teenage girl. After a TV appeal goes wrong, Wanda’s parents decide the police have dropped the ball and do some detecting themselves. This desperate course of action soon spirals out of control, and before long they’re bugging the whole neighbourhood. The series feels like a meta-commentary on telly tropes, ranging from the gruesome fates that often meet female leads to the current, slightly prurient enthusiasm for true crime. Intriguing without ever being laugh-out-loud funny.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 2 October
***
Last Days of the Space Age
This Australian drama is set in a suburban beach community in 1979. It’s a time of breezy hopefulness, but problems are just below the surface, such as racial intolerance, economic difficulties and the effect of technological change on ordinary lives. When the area is the focus of a series of extraordinary events – a global beauty pageant, a power strike that threatens to plunge the place into darkness, and the nearby crash-landing of a space station – the challenges of a new era seem urgent. The fine cast includes Iain Glen and Linh-Dan Pham.
Disney+, from Wednesday 2 October
***
Chef’s Table: Noodles
This Emmy-nominated series returns, offering a deep dive into a worldwide culinary staple that seems both universal and almost infinitely adaptable. Via Cambodia, Italy, China and the US, we meet four masters of their craft, explore the roots of their passion, compare recipes, methods of preparation and cooking techniques and ponder the ways in which food communicates and sustains social histories. “By eating the noodles,” says Chinese noodle queen Guirong Wei of her home town’s street food staple, “you can understand the culture of Xi’an.”
Netflix, from Wednesday 2 October
***
Aussie Shore
Another posse of shaggers, caners and pathological attention-seekers assembles, this time in Cairns in scorching north Queensland. You know the drill by now: house boss (and veteran of the original geordie iteration of the show) Charlotte Crosby has described this band of Aussie mayhem artists as much wilder than their British counterparts – and she should know. As ever, this collective hot mess is never particularly edifying, but these shows are essentially beyond criticism at this point, existing in an unapologetic and invincible world of their own.
Paramount+, from Thursday 3 October
***
Charlie Cooper’s Myth Country
Charlie Cooper’s role in the brilliant comedy This Country means that, in a way, he is already part of rural British folklore. This Country illuminated the quirks of a small, isolated community in a manner that was both regionally precise and universal; this enjoyable factual series sees him exploring his interest in the mythology of Britain’s deep history. As he climbs into his campervan and investigates everything from roaming ghost dogs in East Anglia to crop circles in Wiltshire, it’s impossible not to be swept along by his earnest curiosity.
BBC iPlayer, from Friday 4 October
***
The Runaway
This bleak French drama from the Walter Presents strand tells the story of a 16-year-old girl who, despite her loving, attentive, middle-class family, is sucked into the orbit of a dangerous and manipulative older man. Léa (Romane Jolly) dreams of becoming a dancer and after she meets charismatic rapper Nico (Willy Cartier) at a party, she’s drawn into his world when he offers her a role in a music video. But soon, his promises have dissolved and been replaced by drugs, crime and sex work. Can her family intervene before it’s too late?
Channel 4, from Friday 4 October
