Source : the age
Somehow – somehow! – we are at the halfway point of the TV year, and while there hasn’t been one show that has gripped the collective imagination, such as The White Lotus, for example, there has been a slow march of great shows. And while big hitters such as The Pitt delivered, there were also a few genuinely delightful surprises, such as Dog Park, Widow’s Bay and Margo’s Got Money Troubles. If you haven’t watched everything, don’t worry, our critics have got you covered. Consider this either as your guide for the next six months, or as a cheat sheet for whenever anyone asks, “What have you been watching?” Louise Rugendyke
- Scroll to the bottom to vote for your favourite show.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO Max)
It’s been 10 years since there’s been a genuinely great season from a show in the extended Game of Thrones fantasy realm – we’re talking season six of the original blockbuster series. That’s a long enough wait for audiences to lose hope. But it also meant that when the franchise did deliver, with this knotty, everyday depiction of life in the Kingdom of Westeros, it was a genuine surprise and an absolute pleasure. Downscaling considerably, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was essentially a bloody long weekend at a peacetime tournament for knights and aristocrats, where a pair of outcasts joined forces to be heard: the impoverished squire Dunk (Peter Claffey) and a chippy kid, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Told with impeccably concise pacing and a feel for the characters, this self-contained season married an earthy sense of place with the lead’s desires to be heard on their own terms. Craig Mathieson
Deadloch (Amazon Prime Video)
The second season of this dramedy/police-procedural starts off as scrappy, loud and messy as its detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) but ends up as meticulously crafted as any of Dulcie Collins’ (Kate Box) police work. The pair are in Darwin, Eddie’s home ground, and it only makes her more chaotic, tightly wound and impulsive. Ostensibly, they’re looking into the circumstances of her former cop partner’s death, but as soon as body parts begin washing up in the river, they’re on the job. Croc-rustling, illegal hunting and family secrets all fester. But really, this is a brilliantly constructed – and very funny – poke at a much bigger subject: the dark heart of colonisation, displacement and policing in the Top End (and by a not terribly great extension, Australia as a whole). I bet they loved it over at Sky News. Karl Quinn
Dear Life (Stan*)
Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope have delighted us for decades with an eclectic array of shows (Upper Middle Bogan, Little Lunch, Summer Love). Here they venture into fresh territory with a bittersweet drama about love, death and organ donation. Grieving after her life is shattered by a shocking crime, Lillian (Brooke Satchwell) resolves to track down the recipients of body parts harvested from her fiance (Khisraw Jones-Shukoor). Over six episodes, she makes destructive and constructive decisions and deals clumsily with concerned family and friends as she endeavours to find a path back to some sort of meaningful life. Ballarat provides a picturesque setting for a story that shifts fluidly between laughter and tears, and Satchwell is magnetic in a role that requires her to draw on a broad range of emotions. The series deftly blends sharply observed character comedy with heartfelt drama, but never gets mushy, as Butler and Hope bring their customarily astringent wit to a nuanced tale of the ties that bind. Debi Enker
Dog Park (ABC iview)
Celia Pacquola may have been the familiar face used to lure viewers into this wonderfully bittersweet local comedy, but it was creator and star Leon Ford who I stayed for. His performance as Roland – a man whose life is disintegrating – was beautiful, with Ford refusing to shave off Roland’s sharper edges. Even as the series progressed, and tentatively dipped its toe into rom-com territory, Ford never let Roland slip, holding on to his melancholy while allowing small cracks of light in. As the upbeat ying to Roland’s downbeat yang, Pacquola was delightful as Samantha, a woman whose cheeriness was hiding her own doubts. Each of Dog Park’s six episodes carefully revealed a little but more about not just Roland and Samantha, but their dog park crew, who all proved the value of found family and community. Never veering into soppiness, and with a great supporting cast – particularly Brooke Satchwell as Roland’s wife Emma and Nicholas Boshier as Samantha’s hapless partner Steve – I inhaled this with glee. Oh, and bonus points for the opening titles, with dogs galavanting around the park to – who else? – Ratcat! Louise Rugendyke
DTF St Louis (HBO Max)
From its brilliant opening credit sequence to its shock ending, this seven-parter about a bizarre menage a trois in the suburbs is strikingly unusual. But it’s the enormous compassion that writer-director Steven Conrad has for his characters that really sets it apart. Clark Forrest (Jason Bateman) is the local TV weatherman, a big fish in a small pond who seems to have it all. He’s also a person of interest to police when the guy who does the sign language interpretations of his forecast, Floyd Smernitch (David Harbour), is found dead, not least because Clark has been having an affair with Floyd’s wife, Carol Love-Smernitch (Linda Cardellini). The three leads are superlative, and there’s great support from the likes of Peter Sarsgaard as a man from the titular dating app, and Richard Jenkins and Joy Sunday as the detectives. But it’s the beating heart of it all that makes this the show of the year so far for me. KQ
Hacks (Stan)
As devastating as it is that this is the final season of the most acerbic comedy-drama in years, Hacks’ fifth season maintains the best TV portrayal of co-dependent, flawed (and intergenerational) friendship to the very final scenes. Picking up shortly after the fallout of season four, which saw Deborah (Jean Smart) sensationally quit her dream job as late-night TV host, this season sees Deborah and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) plotting ways to get around Deborah’s “non-compete” clause that bans her from performing for 18 months, and resurrect her career. In one sense it’s treading old ground, but along the way there are big-name cameos, potential romances for both women, digs at gender inequality, ageism, Hollywood’s embrace of AI and the usual brutal skewering of the entertainment industry. The best pairing since The Odd Couple will be seriously missed. Kylie Northover
How to Get to Heaven From Belfast (Netflix)
This comedy-crime caper from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee is as much a murder mystery as a celebration of middle-aged female friendship, as three old schoolfriends – Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher), Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne), and Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) – are forced to revisit a secret from their past when a former friend, Greta (Natasha O’Keeffe), dies. Despite a trauma that bound them all together, Dara, Saoirse and Robyn long ago lost touch with Greta, and it’s more curiosity than anything that brings them to her funeral – and the fact that Saoirse, a TV crime writer, insisted. She suspects foul play linked to the four women’s shared secret, which gradually reveals itself over the course of the unique series, bouncing between a genuine thriller and sharp, black comedy. Like the best of the genre, you definitely won’t pick where this one is headed. KN
Jo Nesbo’s Detective Hole (Netflix)
You might think there are few plot lines left unexplored in the Nordic noir genre, but I guarantee you’ve never seen or read anything like the clue that ultimately solves the mystery of who has been carrying out ritualistic serial killings in Oslo in this slick thriller. Author Jo Nesbo was heavily involved in this adaptation of his popular novel series, and it’s as gory as it is stylish. Hole (Tobias Santelmann) might be something of a tortured-cop cliché – even one of his witnesses points this out – and of course, he doesn’t play by the rules. But let’s face it, it would make for a very dull procedural if he did. In this nine-part series, Hole must deal with a gruesomely creative serial killer, a dodgy colleague and his own PTSD – all set to a rock-heavy soundtrack. I’m crossing my fingers for a second season. KN
Kylie (Netflix)
Kylie Minogue has lived so much of her life in the public eye, you’d think we know everything about her. And yet, this three-part documentary from the team that made the equally compelling Beckham manages to lift the lid just enough that we catch a glimpse of the woman behind the pop star, and it’s a delight. This is no Robbie Williams-style pour-it-all-out scenario, though; Kylie is at her core intensely private, and you sense the pain it causes her – as well as the catharsis – to open up. The archival footage is terrific (as you’d expect for someone who grew up in the era of the home video camera and dreamt from childhood of being a star), the detail of the early recording sessions with Stock Aitken Waterman are fascinating, and the big moments – about Michael Hutchence, the media criticism she endured, and above all the cancer she has twice battled – are well worth hanging around for. KQ
Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)
This smart and sweet series about a young mum (Elle Fanning) who starts creating content on OnlyFans after the birth of her son completely hooked me last month, and I ended up watching the whole thing in a single day. An artful mix of comedy and drama, the first few episodes in particular are outstanding: a blistering portrayal of new motherhood, the everyday realities of sex work and a family who are just trying to muddle through. Adapted from Rufi Thorpe’s 2024 novel of the same name, this eight-part series comes from David E. Kelly (Big Little Lies, Ally McBeal) and it balances silly and serious matters with ease. Expect alien erotica, Nick Offerman as a former pro wrestler with drug issues, custody battles, Michelle Pfeiffer as a Hooters waitress-turned-conflicted mother and Nicole Kidman as a lycra-clad lawyer. It’s a real treat. Meg Watson
The Pitt (HBO Max)
It’s been six weeks since the season-two finale of this award-winning show and I still find myself thinking about Dr Robby (Noah Wyle) like I would a troubled friend. I really should check in on him. I hope he’s doing OK (spoiler: he literally never is). The second season of this much-hyped medical drama delivered more of what it’s best at: surprisingly realistic cases, chronic anxiety, radical empathy and a ragtag bunch of everyday heroes to root for. Wyle will almost definitely pick up another Emmy this year for his unrelenting performance as the depressed and increasingly suicidal ER doc, and Katherine La Nasa (as charge nurse Dana) has made a case for herself, too – if for nothing else than coining the now-iconic phrase “Baby Jane Doe”. It may be too earnest or upsetting for some, but this show is appointment viewing, and I’ll be firmly sat in the waiting room until we can check in for season three. MW
Rooster (HBO Max)
Another gem from comedy maestro Bill Lawrence, who’s ably demonstrated his gift for building beautifully balanced ensembles with Scrubs, Shrinking and Ted Lasso. Here the setting is an American college campus where novelist Greg Russo (Steve Carell), who writes popular pulp featuring a ripped action hero named Rooster, arrives to support his lecturer daughter (Charly Clive). The setting is a goldmine for gags about political correctness, generational and gender differences, literary snobbery and the jockeying for position within academia. Carell, as always, is an expertly modulated joy playing a divorced, mild-mannered depressive rediscovering his joie de vivre amid a community of messed-up teachers and partying teenage boys. He’s ably supported by a lively ensemble that includes Lawrence regulars John C. McGinley and Phil Dunster. The 10-part premiere season is a funny, warm-hearted treat, akin to the apparent appeal of a hot chocolate with a peppermint-stick straw that Greg learns to love. DE
Saturday Night Live (Binge)
I’m well aware this is a completely random pick, and yes, I have heard all the arguments about how Saturday Night Live isn’t funny any more. However, I am here to salute what has been a truly great 51st season of the US late-night stalwart, especially in a year that has seen the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (it was about the ratings and the money, OK! Nothing to do with a sensitive US President and a network kowtowing to his ego) and the ongoing calls to cancel Jimmy Kimmel whenever he cracks a joke about Trump. The SNL writers have refused to back down, skewering Trump and his team each week. James Austin Johnson mimics Trump’s cluelessness perfectly, while Colin Jost’s alpha-bro Pete Hegseth has been a treat (shoutout, too, to Aziz Ansari for tapping in with an excellent bug-eyed Kash Patel). And while a lot of the hype around SNL comes from that week’s celebrity hosts (top marks for Harry Styles, Ryan Gosling, Sabrina Carpenter and Colman Domingo), the cast this season have been sensational. Sure, not every sketch is a winner, but they haven’t been afraid to lean into the quirkier stuff (the Cousin Planet digital short by Jane Wickline and Veronika Slowikowska sent me) and I have loved seeing some of the newer cast – MVP Ashley Padilla! – develop over the season. LR
The Testaments (Disney+)
When The Handmaid’s Tale finished after six seasons a year ago, it felt like a relief in many ways, as the last couple of seasons, in particular, had really dragged. Thankfully, this sequel has picked up the pace again, with a young cast and new spin on Margaret Atwood’s timeless dystopian tale. Set about four years after the end of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments is a sharp coming-of-age story that focuses on the young women who have grown up in Gilead and are preparing for life as a Commander’s wife. This includes Agnes (played by an astounding Chase Infiniti), who is June’s lost daughter, who has been given the job of looking after new recruit Daisy (Lucy Halliday), a teenage agent who is undercover at Aunt Lydia’s school. Giving Gilead a teenage twist is masterful. Of course these girls will naturally rebel – they know there must be more to life than tea parties and being the playthings of the commanders. Special shoutout to Australian actor Mabel Li, who plays Aunt Lydia’s hateful right-hand woman Aunt Vidala, for managing to make a tea party threatening. The Testaments has given a welcome burst of new life to a story that is still worth telling – that of women having agency over their lives. LR
Under Salt Marsh (Binge)
Yellowstone fans know all about Kelly Reilly, having witnessed her demolish, by both word and deed, friends, family and foes on the Montana ranching saga. But those implacable qualities are only part of what the British actress has to offer. Working in a rural Welsh setting, this taut crime thriller is detonated by the disappearance of a local schoolboy, which can only serve to remind his teacher, Jackie Ellis (Reilly), of a similar traumatising event three years prior. Here, Reilly’s sharp demands and forceful enquiries have a wrenching quality – Jackie may destroy herself if she can’t get answers, but Jackie may also destroy herself once she gets them. With a barbed Rafe Spall as the investigating detective, the show is a reminder that the crime-drama can still be a revelation. The first series from young filmmaker Claire Oakley, Under Salt Marsh worked within the genre but was never constrained by it. CM
Unfamiliar (Netflix)
That Meret Schäfer (Susanne Wolff) isn’t a woman to be messed with becomes abundantly clear early in the first episode of this taut German espionage thriller. Former secret-service agents, Meret and her husband Simon (Felix Kramer), run a Berlin restaurant while also operating a covert safe house. When a threat to their clandestine activities emerges, Meret defuses it with a ruthless efficiency that recalls the assurance of Elizabeth (Keri Russell) in the standout US spy classic, The Americans. Creator and co-writer Paul Coates, who trained on English soaps (Emmerdale Farm, Hollyoaks), knows how to plot and pace a story. Here, he laces current events with a Cold War backstory in which murky truths about the past emerge and threaten to destroy a number of carefully constructed facades. The series has an absorbing tension, partly hinged on the shifting dynamics of the Schäfers’ marriage, and boosted by expertly staged chase scenes that wouldn’t be out of place in a big-budget American action movie. DE
Vladimir (Netflix)
As unreliable narrators go, few are more deceptive – and wildly entertaining – than the unfulfilled academic played by Rachel Weisz in this blackly comic drama about a woman done with the limits of her career, marriage and conscience. Explaining everything, often directly to the audience, but answering little, Weisz’s unnamed literature professor is avoiding the looming official reckoning for the failings of her husband, fellow academic John (John Slattery, perfectly cast), by lusting after her new young colleague, Vladimir (Leo Woodall). Author Julia May Jonas adapted her acclaimed novel, and it shows. There’s a deep, fundamental understanding of these characters, whether it’s their motivations, their unspoken failings, or their tenuous self-improvement. The eight half-hour episodes have a nimble, stinging impact that resonates. Whether as an academic satire or a study of female desire, the show refuses to give you an easy verdict. Everything, and everyone, is up for grabs. CM
Widow’s Bay (Apple TV)
Jump in, the water’s fine (and definitely not filled with sea hags)! This exquisitely ambitious comedy-horror is still rolling out weekly on Apple TV and gaining new fans with every episode. Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro is the latest to praise the series, this week saying it “may very well be the best streaming series in a long time … and hands down one of the most mesmerising acts of narrative prestidigitation in horror”. If you’re yet to catch the hype, this 10-part series – created by Katie Dippold (Parks and Recreation) – follows the beleaguered mayor (Matthew Rhys) of an island town that may or may not be cursed. Part Stephen King and part Schitt’s Creek, the show is an insanely original and masterfully created work that will have you laughing and screaming in equal measure. Rhys is rightfully the headline act here, but he’s supported by an incredible cast including Stephen Root (Barry), Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere) and Kate O’Flynn (Everyone Else Burns). MW
What has been your favourite show of the year so far? Please tell us in the comments below.
*Stan is owned by Nine, the owner of this masthead.
