Pick of the week
Reservation Dogs
As we left the Rez Dogs, they’d made it to California and were metaphorically laying Daniel to rest on a beach. The final season of Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi’s inspired comedy sees the Dogs now looking for sustainable futures. Some of them are ready to accept that Oklahoma is where they belong. Elora is talking about college. Willie Jack is considering a career in (traditional) medicine. In short, they’re facing up to adulthood. This is a melancholy moment for any teenage waster but Reservation Dogs handles these transitions elegantly, interweaving the show’s serious considerations of Native American displacement and cultural identity into the usual endearing comedy.
Disney+, from Wednesday 29 November
***
The Doll Factory
This adaptation of Elizabeth Macneal’s novel is a tale of obsession and transgression in Victorian London. Iris works with her sullen sister Rose in a doll factory, but dreams of being an artist. When she catches the eye of a glamorous member of the pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Louis, her dreams seem within reach. But their relationship spirals into unhealthy realms. Is Iris Louis’s muse? Or is she being manipulated? As themes of identity loss unfurl, the story’s milieu – the doll shop, art galleries – feels a little contrived. But it’s an enjoyable, if slightly self-conscious, slice of gothic period melodrama.
Paramount+, from Monday 27 November
***
Faraway Downs
The consensus on Baz Luhrmann’s 2008 film Australia: too long and too melodramatic. Luhrmann has returned to the story for this series and doubled down on its original issues – clocking in at more than four hours and reprising the film’s blend of cheese and earnestness. Once again, Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) is forced into a relationship of convenience with Hugh Jackman’s nameless drover as she tries to sell the titular cattle ranch. And once again, their story is told through the eyes of young Indigenous Australian Nullah (Brandon Walters).
Disney+, from Sunday 26 November
***
American Horror Stories
Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s inventive horror anthology returns with the first half of a new season – more episodes are expected later. Arguably this season’s most notable star is Kim Kardashian who appears as a fearsome PR mogul who begins to manifest her own horrorshow. Another episode, in which an online relationship goes wrong, focuses on the potential nightmare of AI. Elsewhere, there are more traditional shocks involving organ donations, torture with vice clamps and sinister but worryingly delicious mystery meat. Appetising.
Disney+, from Wednesday 29 November
***
Obliterated
An amusing premise for a comedy-drama in which the cliches of special ops thrillers are subverted by booze and drugs. When terrorists threaten to nuke Las Vegas, a team of soldiers and bomb disposal experts are assembled to stop them. They make light work of their task, and then the fun begins. In the middle of a days-long bender, the group receive a message: the bomb they deactivated was a decoy. They’re going to have to start again. It’s silly and funny, the Hangover with millions of lives at stake. Nick Zano and Shelley Hennig star.
Netflix, from Thursday 30 November
***
Slow Horses
First things first: Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb hasn’t cleaned up his act. If anything, as season three of this funny, smart spy drama arrives, he’s more raddled than ever. In other news, Kristin Scott-Thomas’s Diana Taverner is back (“I still have oversight of the Slow Horses,” she deadpans. “Lucky me”). Another big problem has found its way into the inbox of the wastrel agents as a romantic liaison threatens the future of MI5. But the real fun is to be had in the performances and dialogue: everyone involved clearly cherishes their involvement in this tone-perfect show.
Apple TV+, from Friday 1 December
***
Live at the Queer Comedy Club
The Queer Comedy Club in London’s Archway has gradually become an institution in the capital’s LGBTQ+ scene. This series filmed at the venue showcases a host of its most established acts and offers exposure to some promising up-and-coming performers. Co-founders of the club David Ian, Kate Dale and Jeremy Topp feature prominently, of course. But also look out for the musical comedy of Ben Pollard, transgender comic, actor and playwright Dian Cathal and TikTok and Edinburgh fringe sensation Christopher Hall.
Froot TV, from Friday 1 December
