Matt Denby from WHO’s TV podcast, Binge List, previews this week’s best new TV drama.
After a recent drought of great TV drama, we’ve got two must watches this week – and they both touch on similar themes of post-war trauma and personal alienation.
The best by far is Netflix’s new BBC co-production, Bodyguard, which created a genuine sensation when first aired in the UK, and is now available in Australia.
It deals with a former soldier (Richard Madden) who finds himself suddenly ensconced in the highest levels of British politics when he’s given a bodyguard gig with Britain’s Home Secretary (Keeley Hawes), following a life-changing incident on a London train.
I haven’t been gripped so instantly by a show since the wonderful Killing Eve.
Things kick off with a tension-filled ride that doesn’t let up for quite some time until we have a dramatic change of gear when the title character shows he’s not a two-dimensional robo-cop, but someone who is deeply flawed and profoundly vulnerable.
I’m very impressed by this show and hope that the quality sustains.
The other must watch this week is Foxtel’s new drama series Fighting Season, which is available from October 28.
It revolves around a group of Aussie soldiers returning from the Afghanistan war, and the impact that conflict had upon them and their families.
There’s also an unfolding mystery about something deeply disturbing that happened over there before the soldiers’ return.
This is quality drama – good acting from Ewen Leslie, Jay Ryan, Lucy Bell, Kate Mulvany, Rhys Muldoon and Jay Laga’aia, the story has great currency, and it’s well structured around a compelling mystery.
I strongly suggest checking it out – although a warning that there is one brief scene in the first episode that’s played strictly for shocks – and it’s absolutely heinous.
To hear our full discussion of the show, listen to this week’s episode of WHO’s TV podcast, Binge List – out now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
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