The Driver
SVT1, Fri 22:00
When a taxi driver accepts a job offer to drive for a criminal gang, he finds his life taking an unexpected turn down a one-way street.
In this three-part series we follow Manchester based taxi driver Vince (David Morrissey), a bored and frustrated family man fed up with his job, his distant wife and the mood swings of his teenage daughter. Looking for excitement in his life, he switches from picking up the scum off the city’s streets to joining them when he runs into his old pal (Ian Hart).
With his smart new car and higher salary, Vince is quite content with the new lifestyle he is leading. This is until he learns that his employers are not as he expected, discovering that he is slowly becoming more like them.
There is plenty to enjoy here, not least the chemistry between Morrissey and Hart, reunited after over 30 years ago starring in the seminal series One Summer.
High-speed car chases, murder and betrayal will leave you on the edge of your seat in this tense psychological crime drama. It is not one to miss. (RA)
Also new
It’s been quite a year for Jamie Dornan. Barely months are sending shivers down ladies’ spines as the serial killing protagonist in The Fall (DR2, Sun 24 May, 23:30), which is back for a second season, he was sending shivers up their spines at the titular Mr Grey in those silly bondage films.
Then again, some women get turned on by killers (although it turned out that woman was only marrying Charles Manson for his body – yeah, his corpse!) and will no doubt take a gander at Captive in Cleveland (TV2, Thu 21:00) the story of how creepy Ariel Castro kidnapped women for a hobby.
Now his beard reminds me of someone – oh yeah, Eurovision, which gets going this week with the semi-finals (DR1, Tue & Thu 21:00).
Elsewhere, there’s another chance to see the brilliant miniseries The Great Train Robbery (DR2, Wed 21:00) and equally good scientology doc Going Clear (SVT1, Mon 22:00); refresh yourself on recent history with the entire series of Vietnam – Before, During , After (DRK Fri 23:00) and OJ: Trial of the Century (DR3, Mon 20:40); catch season four of The Mentalist (TV3, Mon 21:00). (RA)
Coming Soon: Wayward Pines
Fox’s new series (M Night Shyamalan co-produces) is all about the suspense. Believe me, if you like being thrilled, you’ll jump off your seat!
A secret service agent is searching for two missing federal agents in a spooky town in Idaho, only to find that every step he makes drives him away from the truth. Will he manage to leave alive?
With 66 on Metacritic and a cast that includes Matt Dillon, Carla Gugino and Melissa Leo, you won’t be disappointed. (EN)
Sport of the week
Hull City are favourites to go down, but how bad are Spurs right now (K6, Sat 15:40)? Oldies Dawson, Huddlestone and Livermore will have a point to prove, so don’t write off Hull yet. Elsewhere, the Giro d’Italia (TV2, all week) continues, as does the AFL (Eurosport, Sat 11:45) with Essendon vs North Melbourne – the perfect way to get your sporting Saturday started. (BH)
Film of the week
Did somebody clone Adam Sandler, but just recycle his name a little to confuse people? How they must have laughed when they cast him with Andy Samberg in That’s my Boy (3+, Mon 21:00) – mirth that isn’t reciprocated. The same geniuses, perhaps, were behind Pain & Gain (Zulu, Fri 20:00), which has a plot so banal people have died trying to remember it. (BH)
CORRECTION: This article originally stated that ‘The Fall’ was starting this week, but it would appear that it has either been rescheduled or we have made a mistake. Apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused … and for including the above photo of Sandler and Samberg.
