The Guide #233: From Wonder Man to Girl Taken, here’s one thing to watch on every streamer
Streaming services: there’s a lot of them (with yet another, HBO Max, on the way later this month) and everyone seems to be signed up to different ones, making recommendations a challenge,Step forward the Guide’s fourth edition of A Show for Every Streamer (previous versions can be seen here, here and here), which does exactly as it describes,As is tradition, we’ve tried to avoid series that everyone has been nattering about (unlucky, Heated Rivalry), and instead spotlight less heralded, more surprising picks, starting with …Apple TV | Drops of God … a Japanese-American-French drama about warring wine experts, of course,A curious one, though it does fit in with Apple’s penchant for high-end subject matter,After a first series that saw the daughter of a deceased French wine expert face off against his Japanese mentee for ownership of his multimillion-dollar wine collection, season two – which arrived in January – sees the two team up to investigate the mysterious origins of a bottle of red from dad’s collection.
BBC iPlayer | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy/Smiley’s People Listen, we could point you to the excellent Small Prophets or the barnstorming fourth season of Industry, but really most new BBC series of any cop tend to get heartily praised,Better, maybe, to flag the old series that have snuck their way back on to iPlayer: both of the Beeb’s peerless late 70s-early 80s Le Carré adaptations, featuring Alec Guinness as the definitive George Smiley, are streaming in full,Channel 4 | Faking It The channel’s online archive is a trove for classic documentaries, from early Nick Broomfield efforts to standalones from their Dispatches and Cutting Edge strands (though, annoyingly, no one’s thought to bundle them all together under those titles),And of course their lighter reality-doc fare including this still-charming career-swap series, which was solidly revived (and then swiftly cancelled) by Channel 5 last year,Channel 5 | The X Files Given that, according to its chief content officer, Channel 5’s involvement in the ill-advised reboot almost doomed the channel, you’d think they might run a mile from The X Files.
But no, the entire thing, shonky reboot and all, is available on its streaming service.Warning: avoid certain episodes, like the horrific Home (banned by Fox from being rerun for years), before bedtime.Disney+ | Wonder Man A Marvel series that doesn’t require knowledge of the deep lore of 30 films, keeps the city-smashing CGI set pieces to a minimum AND features Ben Kingsley having lots of fun with a scouse accent? Sign us up.Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is actor and secret supe Simon Williams, having to keep his powers hidden in order to win the part of fictional superhero Wonder Man; Kingsley is long-term Marvel character Trevor Slattery, mentoring Williams while also secretly spying on him.Great fun that doesn’t outstay its welcome.
ITVX | Shoresy As streamers scramble around for acquisitions to build up their libraries, shows start turning up in very strange places.Shoresy, a Canadian comedy about a violent, foul-mouthed hockey player, seems an odd fit for ITVX, nestled as it is alongside gentle Martin Clunes dramas and episodes of TOWIE.Still, it’s definitely worth a go: even if the references to high-sticking and the like sail over your head, you’ll be drawn in by its very funny portrayal of cracked masculinity.Netflix | Vladimir This one’s hot off the editing suite: Netflix’s sprightly adaptation of Julia May Jonas’s novel of campus-based romping and marital intrigue only landed on the platform yesterday.The cast is preposterously well put together: Rachel Weisz as our tenured professor/unreliable narrator lead; John Slattery as the serially unfaithful poetry tutor husband who has pushed things too far this time; and sad-eyed hunk of the moment Leo Woodall as the titular assistant professor who catches her eye.
Now | Togetherness HBO Max’s imminent arrival may spell long-term trouble for Sky’s streaming service, though for now a deal has been done to give Now subscribers access to all that network’s goodies, including the usual big beasts – most recently A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – and some of its less heralded gems.This relationship comedy-drama from mumblecore kings the Duplass brothers only lasted two series, but it’s worth watching for its portrayal of late-30s family anarchy.Paramount+ | Girl Taken To complicate the streaming situation even further, Paramount have just beaten Netflix to the acquisition of Warner Bros, parent of the aforementioned HBO Max.Which means that soon you might have to subscribe to Paramount+ to watch those HBO shows.While you’re there you can check in on some of Paramount’s originals, including the wildly successful Taylor Sheridan series Yellowstone and Landman, and this nasty little British abduction drama (pictured top), which features a remarkable villainous performance from Alfie Allen.
PlutoTV | Cagney and Lacey The real draw of this entirely free streamer is its surprisingly varied selection of movies, including a genuinely impressive collection of films from Curzon’s library.TV-wise, pickings are vanishingly thin, though it does offer some nostalgic crime-drama thrills, including Prisoner: Cell Block H and the quietly pioneering, still much-loved Cagney and Lacey.Prime Video | Steal Amazon seems to have become the home of trashy but engaging drama – erotic thrillers, teen series, hyperviolent superhero sagas and so forth.This British thriller, starring Sophie Turner as a trading floor manager drawn into a violent heist at a pension management company, was one of their best shows of recent times, opening with a bone-crunchingly kinetic first episode, before settling into a fun twisty mystery.U | OutsidersUKTV’s nigh-on un-Googleable streaming service has all manner of curios hidden in its streamy depths: half-forgotten home renovation shows; more cosy crime dramas than can be viewed in a lifetime; and all manner of short-lived high-concept comedy gameshows commissioned by Dave.
This one, a sort of standup scouts weekend hosted by David Mitchell, serves as a decent Taskmaster stand-in when Greg and Little Alex are away from our screens.To read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive The Guide in your inbox every Friday
Cheltenham festival day one: The New Lion can roar in Champion Hurdle
Lossiemouth’s presence means the selection is an attractive bet to follow up last year’s novice win at this meetingThe sporting decision to send Lossiemouth, the Mares’ Hurdle winner for the last two seasons, in against all-comers in Tuesday’s Champion Hurdle adds considerably to the depth of the competition, but it has also prompted a minor drift in the price of The New Lion and he is an attractive bet to follow up last year’s novice win at this meeting.Unlike the other three runners at single-figure odds for Tuesday’s feature event, The New Lion does not benefit from a 7lb mares’ allowance. While Brighterdaysahead, Golden Ace and Lossiemouth have 12, 12 and 17 runs behind them respectively, however, The New Lion has just half a dozen, with five wins and just one defeat when he made an uncharacteristic jumping error at Newcastle in December.The three mares also have some questions to answer. Lossiemouth was below her best behind Brighterdaysahead at Leopardstown last time and has first-time cheekpieces on Tuesday, while Brighterdaysahead ran no sort of race in last year’s Champion
Verdict on the start of F1’s new era: five talking points from the Australian GP
The pre-season favourites had done their level best to play down their expected advantage in the buildup to the Australian Grand Prix, but it was impossible to hide. A dominant one-two by the best part of a second for George Russell and Kimi Antonelli in qualifying was followed by a similarly assured one-two finish in the race.Russell had to fight in the opening phases against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, but once he had been extricated from that battle and could return to what engineers consider the “optimal” lap according to the new diktats of power deployment and recharging he had as much as 0.3sec to 0.4 on Ferrari
Zac Lomax exits limbo via defection as latest NRL star lured by Wallabies jersey | Angus Fontaine
After a tough two decades, Australian rugby’s luck is suddenly on the up. The defection of NRL flyer Zac Lomax gives the Wallabies a powerful new weapon in the moonshot quest to win a home World Cup in 2027. The 26-year-old NSW State of Origin and Kangaroos star on Monday signed a two-year deal with Rugby Australia (RA) to join the Perth-based Western Force and could debut in Super Rugby Pacific later in March.“Zac is a superb athlete with a proven record at representative level in rugby league and we believe he has the talent and drive to make a successful transition to rugby,” RA chief executive Phil Waugh said on Monday, as he welcomed the 133-game international winger back to rugby union. “He brings a unique set of experiences and skills to our environment and is motivated by the challenge of competing on the global stage
Russia flag raised and national anthem played after first gold at Winter Paralympics
The Russian national anthem has been played at the Paralympics for the first time since 2014 as the skier Varvara Voronchikhina claimed gold in the women’s super-G standing.A tearful Voronchikhina received her medal on Monday afternoon, and the Russian flag was raised, after a dominant performance on the slopes of the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre. A watching crowd of international fans responded only with polite applause, but Voronchikhina’s success has already been celebrated by Russia’s sports minister.Voronchikhina finished 1.96sec clear of the French racer Aurélie Richard in the giant slalom event
Sky Brown wins second skateboarding world title at rain-hit event in Brazil
Briton, 17, wins her second park crown in São PauloEvent was cut at halfway due to recurrent rainfallBritain’s Sky Brown celebrated International Women’s Day by becoming a skateboarding world champion for the second time at a rain-curtailed park competition in São Paulo.The two-time Olympic bronze medallist was leading in Brazil after two runs, the halfway point, at which World Skate deemed “adverse weather conditions and recurrent rainfall” to have called time on proceedings.World Skate had given a 7pm (11pm GMT) deadline for Sunday’s competition to recommence, stating that “if any weather-related interruption occurs, the activity will not resume”.Only one competitor, Cocona Hiraki of Japan, managed to start a third run, before more falling rain forced officials to end the competition.Brown’s score of 88
England handed tough Six Nations 2027 opener with Friday night trip to Dublin
England will begin their Six Nations campaign on a Friday for the first time in 12 years in 2027 after they were handed an opening night trip to Dublin to face Ireland by tournament organisers.Ireland will also host the final match of next year’s Super Saturday with organisers pitching Andy Farrell’s side against France in the 8.10pm kick-off. Ireland and France have won the last four editions of the Six Nations between them and both are in the hunt, along with Scotland, for the title this year with one round remaining.In 2015, England overcame Wales in Cardiff in a fraught Friday-night encounter that is memorable for a tunnel stand-off before kick-off when the captain Chris Robshaw refused to lead his team out on to the field until Wales were ready to avoid being left standing around
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