Pick of the week
Scrubs
However much you loved Scrubs, it’s hard to argue that the show ended well. Season nine saw characters departing, the remaining cast moving to a new hospital and a general sense of wheel-spinning anticlimax. So it’s heartwarming to see best buds John Dorian (Zach Braff) and Christopher Turk (Donald Faison) goofing off in a corridor together with their comic chemistry intact – even with middle-aged back problems. There’s a new crop of interns to mentor, this time approached via the perspective of men who are older but not necessarily wiser. It’s business as usual, complete with dream sequences and the trademark tone which sits somewhere between snark and sentimentality.
Disney+, from Thursday 26 February
***
Vanished
Tom (Sam Claflin) and Alice (Kaley Cuoco) are living the dream. He’s a globetrotting charity worker, she is a worldly archaeologist. They meet for passionate weekends in glamorous hotels before moving on. But when they hook up in Paris, Alice has a permanent placement and she wants Tom to join her. All is well until he disappears during a train journey. Flashbacks suggest Tom might be too good to be true and no one Alice meets while searching for her man is quite what they seem. What unfolds is implausible, powered by clunky dialogue and broad characterisations. But it is still weirdly irresistible.
Prime Video, from Friday 27 February
***
Paradise
After a striking opening season in which a community of rich alphas were confined to a vast bunker after a catastrophe on Earth, the second run of this mystery drama takes a risk. Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K Brown) is venturing outside after learning that his wife may still be alive. Much of the strength of season one derived from its claustrophobia and sense of limitation. This new instalment feels like a more conventional action thriller but it’s still gripping and pointed in its observations about the desire of billionaires to curate pristine, controllable worlds.
Disney+, from Monday 23 February
***
Bridgerton
After a short intermission, the regency raunch-fest returns to conclude its fourth season, and the show has benefited from a change of focus. The blossoming romance between rakish Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) and Sophie Baek (Yerin Ha) remains at the heart of the action but many questions remain. Given his famously adventuresome nature, can Benedict keep his eyes on the prize? And is Sophie exactly what she claims to be? While it becomes more absurdly self-parodic with each passing season, Bridgerton still offers fan service like few other shows.
Netflix, from Thursday 26 February
***
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
“This is not Kong. This is not Godzilla. This is something bigger!” What other way is there to begin the latest season of this monsterverse saga whose main (and in fairness, thoroughly entertaining) selling point is size and ferocity? The Monarch organisation is continuing to monitor MUTOs (Massive Unidentified Terrestrial Organisms) and they’ve discovered– or possibly even provoked – a beast so huge it could lay waste to whole cities. The team, led once again by Kurt Russell’s brilliantly jaded Lee Shaw face an existential battle. In every sense, enormous fun.
Apple TV, from Friday 27 February
***
Crusade
To the posh apartments and celebrity hangouts of Warsaw for this latest dark thriller series from Walter Presents. When a young woman is found murdered (and partially eaten), the cops realise they have a serious problem. But this crime is merely the tip of the iceberg: a trail of carnage unfolds across the city and the victims – who include a high-profile banker, an MP and a judge on a TV talent show – all seem to be people in the public eye. It’s up to homicide detective Jan Góra (Julian Świeżewski) to follow the increasingly gruesome leads.
Channel 4, from Friday 27 February
***
Formula 1: Drive to Survive
A vroom with a view: it’s now in its eighth season and this glossy but intimate documentary series has established itself as a reliable companion piece to the annual Formula One circus. It’s a very controlled peek behind the pit lane (this one covers the 2025 season) but the level of access remains striking. This time, the action centres on a surge of successful rookie drivers, the pantomime villain brilliance of Max Verstappen and, most notably, the mid-season firing by Red Bull of team principal Christian “Geri Halliwell’s Other Half” Horner.
Netflix, from Friday 27 February
