Pick of the week
The Gentlemen
Posh idiots getting out of their depth with dangerous criminals, stereotypical scousers and a tone of emotional detachment – all the signifiers of a Guy Ritchie production are present and correct in this spin-off from his 2019 film. Theo James is Eddie Halstead, a straight-shooting soldier whose father dies, leaving him a huge country pile and a whole heap of underworld trouble connected to a cannabis farm. Add an unhinged brother with cocaine and gambling issues and Ray Winstone’s drug overlord Bobby Glass – and Eddie has problems. But he soon finds himself getting a taste for the gangster life. It’s very 90s; a wild, violent and hyper-stylised caper.
Netflix, from Thursday 7 March
***
Extraordinary
This cheerful comedy is about a girl living in a world where everyone – apart from her – develops a superpower at the age of 18. As we rejoin Jen (Máiréad Tyers), she’s still seeking her speciality. Soon, a therapist is taking her inside her own mind to look for abnormalities – and it isn’t pretty in there. Elsewhere, Jen’s decidedly vanilla flatmate Carrie (Sofia Oxenham) takes on an “edgy” new image, with mixed results. The superpower element increasingly feels like a fun but marginal sideshow – Extraordinary is essentially a nicely written and performed coming-of-age sitcom and none the worse for it.
Disney+, from Wednesday 6 March
***
Hannah Gadsby: Gender Agenda
The comedian’s intense and personal 2018 special Nanette was a true gamechanger; a genuine expansion of what standup could be. This event filmed at London’s Alexandra Palace represents another opening of doors as Gadsby hosts a comedy special featuring upcoming genderqueer comics including Alok, Chloe Petts, DeAnne Smith and Jes Tom. It’s funny and pointed stuff, featuring some gentle but entirely appropriate biting of the hand that feeds (“The last time Netflix brought this many trans people together, it was for a protest”).
Netflix, from Tuesday 5 March
***
The Program: Cons, Cults, and Kidnapping
This grimly gripping documentary series explores the world of “behaviour modification programmes” in the United States. These deeply sinister “innovations” in education see parents paying to have their children abducted, often violently, and taken to brutal disciplinary schools for some ferocious straightening out. Director Katherine Kubler was sent to one of these institutions as a teenager and is still traumatised by the memory. The show is part investigation, part personal reckoning as it reveals regimes not far removed from torture.
Netflix, from Tuesday 5 March
***
Blippi Wonders
This brightly coloured and mildly surreal kids’ animation features bespectacled, bow tie-wearing Blippi who sets off on various adventures with his CatBot TABBS and DogBot D.BO (Blippi has a magical watch which can grant his every quixotic wish). It’s an oddball, slightly trippy affair although parents will be pleased to learn that the show also sneaks in an educational subtext – for example, the gang sometimes visit museums and simple, pop-science questions (from the colours of the rainbow to the workings of recycling trucks) are pondered.
ITVX, from Thursday 7 March
***
Pokémon Horizons: The Series
Once again, Netflix investigates whether the catchphrase “gotta catch them all!” also applies to TV spin-offs as they add another layer to the Pokémon universe. This children’s animation series is a pretty standard quest story as Liko and Roy set off on a journey across the world in the company of their Pokémon pals Sprigatito and Fuecoco. But things are about to get tricky as they find themselves being pursued by a mysterious group called the Explorers who are after Liko’s pendant. Fortunately, help is at hand from various Pokémon allies.
Netflix, from Thursday 7 March
***
The Reluctant Traveller
Eugene Levy reprises his role as a considerably more A-list Karl Pilkington in this odd travel show in which he visits amazing places that he’s not actually bothered about. This time, he’s grudgingly embarking upon a grand tour of Europe – and he’s particularly miffed to learn that one of his destinations boasts “47 different varieties of mosquito”. However, before long, Levy is herding sheep, reluctantly donning a kilt to dance a reel in Scotland and learning a little more about his European roots. Against all odds, he’s clearly quite enjoying himself.
Apple TV+, from Friday 8 March
