Top Pick: Unforgotten
SVT1, Aug 12, 19 & 26, 21:30
A 39-year-old murder and four seemingly unconnected suspects come crashing together in the six-episode British crime series Unforgotten.
Two detectives, Nicola Walker (revitalised since River) and Sanjeev Bhaskar (The Kumars at No 42), dive into a victim’s past to connect the dots in the present.
The 2015 ITV series, which scored 7.9 on IMDB, has been commended by the Telegraph for the “strong, multi-stranded storytelling style” of writer Chris Lang (creator of acclaimed UK miniseries Torn), and for its support cast, which includes Bernard Hill, Cherie Lunghi, Trevor Eve, Tom Courtenay and Gemma Jones.
However, the Guardian felt the dialogue was “dodgy”, whilst the Independent found the story of the “promising whodunnit” tricky to follow.
With a strong cast and a host of complex characters to explore, Unforgotten seems ready to live up to its name. (Sohini Kumar)
Also new:
Rudy Giuliani will endorse anyone. “Totally criminal, totally immoral, totally horrible, but totally brilliant,” he purrs. No, not Donald Trump this time, the mafia and ingenuity of New York’s ‘five families’. Tune in next week when Ruds bigs up the KKK.
With Ray Liotta narrating, the 2015 docudrama series Making of the Mob: New York (DR2, Aug 14, 00:35) has an obvious Goodfellas charm, and for fans of Boardwalk Empire, this will help fill in a lot of the blanks.
If Game of Thrones is more your bag, you’ll prefer The Hollow Crown (SVT2, Aug 13 & 20, 20:00), yet another series based on 14th and 15th century England – the period George RR Martin cites as his main inspiration. With the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch on board in S2 as Richard III, it’s easily the best.
Elsewhere, US doc The Lost Aviator recounts a ripper of a tale based in 1930s America – if only Martin Scorsese had based his film on this; Killer Women with Piers Morgan might be catering to the femme fatale-obsessed CSI crowd, but is actually pretty powerful, as is the similarly themed Mothers, murderers and mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome (DRK, Wed Aug 17, 22:15); and there’s another chance to see the six-episode doc series Race for the White House (DR2, Sat Aug 27, 00:55), which starts with Kennedy vs Nixon. (BH)
Coming soon: The Night Of
With an insanely high score of 90 on Metacritic, the thrilling HBO eight-part miniseries The Night Of comes highly recommended.
A young Muslim wakes up after a night of New York-fuelled sex and drugs and discovers his lover in a bloodbath.
Everyone thinks he’s guilty – even his lawyer (John Turturro in a role originally intended for James Gandolfini) – and his incarceration is no cakewalk.
Based on the 2008 British series Criminal Justice, the first five episodes are available on HBO Nordic. (Maiken Rønneberg)
Top Sport:
Usain Bolt vs drugs cheat Justin Gatlin (will we get complaints from the US for stating the truth?) – 9.5 seconds of unmissable magic at the Olympics (TV2, Mon Aug 15, 03:25). Set your alarm clocks! Likewise, only night owls can enjoy the US Open tennis ( all week from Aug 29). Elsewhere, don’t miss the English Premier League (this season with Friday night action) and Champions League (3+, Aug 16, 17, 23 & 24) playoffs (pick is AS Roma vs FC Porto). (BH)
Top Film:
Dylan Thomas love affair film The Edge of Love (DRK, Sat Aug 27, 21:25) includes singers Suggs and Lisa Stansfield, but neither are as miscast as Keira Knightley – in this and Tolstoy epic Anna Karenina (SVT2, Fri Aug 12, 21:45). The pop royalty continues with Ben Drew (PlanB) in The Sweeney (SVT1, Sat Aug 27, 23:10) locking up villains with Ray Winstone. Still they can’t compare to No’s: General Pinochet (SVT2, Thu Aug 18, 22:25). (BH)
