This week two dramas about sisters and the much anticipated movie from Succession creator Jesse Armstrong.

• Sirens (Netflix, 5 episodes)

Watch for the exploration of the relationship between working-class Buffalonian Devon DeWitt (Meghann Fahy) and her younger and somewhat more successful sister Simone (Milly Alcock). Stay for the husband and wife dynamics between socialite Michaela Kell (Julianne Moore) at the lavish beachside estate she shares with her billionaire husband, Peter (Kevin Bacon).

• The Better Sister (Prime Video, 8 episodes)

A thriller that centres around Chloe (Jessica Biel), a high-profile media executive (think Anna Wintour), who lives a picturesque life with her handsome lawyer husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Acee Donovan) by her side while her estranged sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) struggles to make ends meet and stay clean.

• Mountainhead (Max, movie)

A story about four very nasty tech tycoons, good friends on the surface but cutthroat underneath, who gather for a poker weekend at the luxurious home of the poorest of them, the one who is only worth half a billion dollars!

Jason Schwartzman is Hugo, the host and creator of a meditation app, angling to get one of his friends to invest a billion or so in his business.

Steve Carell is Randy, the oldest of the group, whose contacts in Washington, DC can influence the military and the country's power grid. Diagnosed with incurable cancer, he can't believe money can't fix that, but hopes to cheat death by getting his friends to create an artificial intelligence able to upload a human brain.

Ramy Youssef is Jeff, whose company has a super-efficient AI, and who appears to be the most humane of the four (which isn't saying much).

Cory Michael Smith is Ben, the owner of a social media app called Traan, and the world’s richest man.

Also this week – James visits Clarkson’s pub which features in the new season of Clarkson’s Farm (prime Video) and Andrew has watched new And Just Like That (Binge).

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Nicole Kidman is back running her unconventional wellness retreat, we get to learn a lot about the life and times of Pee-Wee Herman and there’s a messy child mix-up in Playing Nice.

• Nine Perfect Strangers (S2, Prime Video, 8 episodes)

The new season relocates the action to the Austrian Alps and features nine new characters who have been lured to attend another unconventional wellness retreat led by Masha Dmitrichenko, portrayed again by Nicole Kidman.

• Pee-Wee As Himself (Max, 2 episodes)

Justifiably labelled as the definitive portrait of the comedic performer, and a window into his never before discussed personal life. Woven together from over 40 hours of interview footage filmed before Paul Reubens’ premature death in 2023, 1,000 hours of archival footage, and tens of thousands of never-before-seen photographs from his personal collections.

• Playing Nice (SBS, 4 episodes)

Two families, one devastating secret involving their young families. James Norton, Niamh Algar and Jessica Brown Findlay star. Lives unravel and loyalties are tested in the gripping thriller.

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Something for all tastes this episode from science fiction comedy to British drama, a cross-European road trip and an all-star comedy tribute.

• Bergerac, (iview, 6 episodes)

A reboot of the classic British 1980s drama this time with Damien Moloney in the lead role of Jersey detective Jim Bergerac. He gets great support from Zoe Wanamaker as his mother-in-law which is one of the series highpoints.

• Murderbot (AppleTV+, 10 episodes)

Alexander Skarsgård stars in this sci-fi thriller/comedy about a self-hacking security construct (robot) who is horrified by human emotion yet drawn to its vulnerable clients. All it really wants is to be left alone to watch futuristic soap operas and figure out a place in the universe. A familiar dilemma many of us face.

• The Serial Killer’s Wife (Paramount+, 4 episodes)

Beth (Annabel Scholey) is shocked when her husband Tom (Jack Farthing), a village doctor, is arrested on suspicion of being a serial killer. His wife investigates with his best friend and more evidence emerges, forcing her to question if she really knows the man she married.

• Long Way Home (AppleTV+, 10 episodes)

The fourth instalment of a motorbike ride by best friends Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman sees them travel on refurbished vintage motorbikes from Ewan’s home in Scotland to Charley’s in England — but rather than take the shortest route, they go the long way around Scandinavia visiting a total of 17 countries.

• Conan O'Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor (Netflix special)

Through his work on the animated series The Simpsons, late-night shows (Saturday Night Live, Late Night, and The Tonight Show), podcasts, and more, Conan O’Brien has been making audiences laugh for 40 years. Now the Kennedy Center has recognised his contributions to comedy by presenting him with the 26th Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The special features appearances by Adam Sandler, Andy Richter, John Mulaney, Stephen Colbert, Nikki Glaser, Sarah Silverman, Bill Burr, Will Ferrell, Kumail Nanjiani, and David Letterman

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Just two major series, both UK dramas, are reviewed this episode and the Show of the Week vote is split! Plus Andrew catches up with Etoile.

The Teacher (8 episodes, 9Now)

The second season has little to do with the first series which starred Sheridan Smith. A new cast and a ramped up plot in S2 starts with promiscuous teachers on a school excursion. The first episode takes nasty turn when a student goes missing and the teachers are implicated in a murder investigation.

The Stolen Girl (5 episodes, Disney+)

Denise Gough is great playing a mother who realises her daughter won’t be coming back from a playdate one day after school. Strong performances too from Holliday Grainger as the abductor and Ambika Mod as a dogged journalist covering the abduction.

Andrew also hands in his homework – watching the series Etoile which was first reviewed a week ago by James. He was pleasantly surprised.

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Of the three new series this week, The Four Seasons is the only one Andrew and James have both seen.

Andrew also tuned into Duster and James was working his way through Étoile.

• The Four Seasons (Netflix, 8 episodes): New from Tina Fey who also stars alongside Steve Carrell and Will Forte. Three couples who spend a vacation together every year are tested when one of the couples splits.
• Duster (Max, 8 episodes) New from producer JJ Abrams it tells the story of the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate that goes from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful.
• Étoile (Prime Video, 8 episodes) New from the creators of The Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is this ambitious drama series about a partnership between the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in New York and Le Ballet National in Paris. Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg star.

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Four TV series reviewed this week, just one of them brand new, the others are extra seasons of existing programs.

• Scrublands Season 2 (Stan, 4 episodes)
• Government Cheese (AppleTV+, 10 episodes)
• Big Boys Season 3 (iview, 6 episodes)
• The Last Of Us Season 2 (Foxtel/Binge/Max, 7 episodes)

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A slightly different episode for Easter. We review one new Australian drama series and then list our Top 5 shows of the first quarter of 2025.

• Narrow Road to the Deep North (Prime Video, 5 episodes) has dropped with all five eps immediately available. The series tells the story of Australian prisoners of war in World War II who had to help build the Thai-Burma railway and the brutal conditions they lived under in a Japanese detention camp. Great performances from Jacob Elordi and Ciaran Hinds as the young and old Dorrigo Evans and Heather Mitchell and Olivia DeJonge as the young and old Ella Evans.

2025 Top 5 so far

From the 26 series reviewed so far in 2025 Andrew and James have listed their Top 5. There are nine series in all meaning they only agree on one show that featured on both lists.

Those nine series are:

Protection
Amandaland
Invisible Boys
Paradise
Smoggie Queens
Toxic Town
MobLand
Dying for Sex
Your Friends and Neighbours

Listen as the hosts debate their choices and mention several massive series that didn’t make the list.

TV Gold Homework

There was also some extra viewing required from the previous episode with debate around Your Friends and Neighbours, Dying for Sex and Good American Family. Were they all really worthy of Show of the Week status? After watching more episodes of all of them, do Andrew and James change their minds about any of them?

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Tough podcast episode to find just one series for TV Gold Show of the Week! Three very impressive American dramas to choose from. You are going to need access to Disney+ and AppleTV+ accounts to enjoy them all.
• Good American Family (Disney+, 8 episodes) A synopsis that starts "[a series] about the adoption of a child with dwarfism and the subsequent abandonment of the child" doesn't scream must-watch. But a cast led by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplas make this a compelling watch.
• Dying For Sex (Disney+, 8 episodes) A comedy with a difference features Michelle Williams literally dying for sex. Half hour episodes fly by thanks in part to great supporting cast including Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney and Sissy Spacek.
• Your Friends and Neighbours (AppleTV+, 10 episodes) Jon Hamm turns in an acting masterclass in arguably his best role since Mad Men. And with a character not totally dissimilar to that series' Don Draper. Hamm leads a good life in finance markets, but he finds himself failing to make ends meet and he resorts to drastic measures.

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