Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Small Prophets
Wednesday, streaming on Apple TV Plus & ABC iView
Mackenzie Crook first found fame playing insufferable Gareth in the UK version of The Office.
In the years since, he’s carved a name for himself as a spectacularly original storyteller, through his quietly lovely Detectorists and with this blindingly original six-episode series.
It follows a lonely suburban man, Michael Sleep (Pearce Quigley), whose wife mysteriously disappeared seven years earlier.
Michael lives a quiet life, working his dead-end job at a hardware store, until a chance conversation with his elderly dad (played by Sir Michael Palin) sees him embarking on a strange quest to get answers to his partner’s disappearance.
He does this by growing strange humanoid creatures in jars in his garden shed. These little spirits are “homunculi” — supposed fortune tellers, incapable of lying. In the series, they’re brought to life as stop-motion puppets.
You’re probably picking up by now that this is not your average, run-of-the-mill series. Yet, somehow, it hooks you in and before you know it, you’re thoroughly absorbed in this strange tale of wistful, surrealist wonder.
This was an instant hit with critics when it debuted in the UK earlier this year. The Times said it was ”a gentle piece of surreal genius”, while The Guardian gave it five stars, calling it “a show full of gorgeous surprises”.
Audiences here have been charmed by its gentle warmth, and this week it lands on Apple TV Plus, which is where I discovered it.
I’m late to the party, but this gem of a show is terrific, and best discovered in one sitting.
Pure magic.
The Jury: Skeleton In The Garden
Monday, 7.30pm, SBS
“Could you convict a man when there is no clear cause of death, no weapon and no direct forensic evidence?” That’s the question this latest season of the SBS series is asking as it assembles a new jury to take a look at a real Australian manslaughter trial. As with the original trial, the fate of the defendant rests with the 12 people assembled in the jury — will they reach the same verdict as the original jurors? A fascinating premise — one for true-crime fans.
Cop This
Monday, 9.40pm, Ten
Ed Kavalee must be one heck of a nice guy. How else do you explain how he managed to persuade some of Australia’s best-known and most-loved comedians and performers to star in the telemovie he wrote? Forty well-known Aussies, including Rob Sitch, Tony Martin, Gary Sweet, Celia Pacquola, Grant Denyer and Tommy Little, appear in this silly flick, which will air after Have You Been Paying Attention? Not entirely sure of the point, but kudos for getting it made.
Carrie
Wednesday, streaming on Prime Video
Stephen King fans rejoice: a TV remake of his 1974 debut novel is headed to screens, with the big man himself serving as executive producer. Set in the present day, this remake sees sheltered student Carrie White (Summer H. Howell) starting high school, only to be embroiled in a viral bullying scandal. Samantha Sloyan stars as her overbearing mother, and early reviews have praised them both. Can’t wait for you to see this.
70 Up
Wednesday, 8.30pm, SBS
This groundbreaking series has followed 14 British schoolchildren every seven years since 1964 — a remarkable undertaking. It’s finishing up for good with this beautiful, heartfelt film. Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia has taken over (the show’s original director, Michael Apted, passed away in 2021), and the resulting program is a fitting farewell to both the series and these people’s stories. A bittersweet goodbye.
