Pick of the week
Special Ops: Lioness
This new thriller from Yellowstone co-creator Taylor Sheridan is apparently based on the work of a real all-female US military programme. But the stories the show tells are surely at the more melodramatic end of the unit’s activities. Zoe Saldaña is Joe, a woman trying to combine the normal preoccupations of twentysomething life with being squarely on the front line of attempts to thwart the next 9/11. It’s a lot to juggle, particularly when you’ve got ultra-aggressive Marine Raider Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) working alongside you. Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman also star as Joe’s table-thumping bosses. It’s watchable hokum, even if it feels as if it belongs in 2005.
Paramount+, from Sunday 23 July
***
Good Omens
Neil Gaiman’s playful metaphysical comedy returns for a second season which, the writer revealed, will act as a bridge between season one and a possible third season plotline he had been mapping out with the late Terry Pratchett. We begin with a naked Jon Hamm walking down a street carrying an empty cardboard box. When he lands, apparently memory-wiped, at Aziraphale’s bookshop, it can only be bad news. Hamm is Gabriel, an angel whom Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and Crowley (David Tennant) have every reason to fear. Soon, the angel and demon partnership have no choice but to go back into business.
Prime Video, from Friday 28 July
***
Drag Me to Dinner
“A show about drag queens cooking and drinking? What could possibly go wrong?” Cult classic incoming! This is one of those TV concepts that seems inevitable once someone else has thought of it: drag queens compete to throw the most fabulous dinner parties they can muster. The results are wild – the decorations are eye-watering, the drinks are very strong and the food is probably most kindly described as an afterthought. But it’s very entertaining. Neil Patrick Harris and Murray Hill are the hosts. Or should that be guinea pigs?
Disney+, from Wednesday 26 July
***
How I Met Your Father
This patchy coming-of-age spin-off sitcom continues to feel slightly attenuated but if you’re invested in the arcs of the characters, it doesn’t seem to be winding up any time soon. As we rejoin Sophie and the gang, they’re in a reflective mood. Sophie is exploring her paternity (and has discovered three likely candidates) while Sid is considering missed opportunities and resolving to be more decisive. A crisis point for the group also looms as Hannah considers a move away from New York. As ever, Hilary Duff carries the whole affair with sprightly energy.
Disney+, from Wednesday 26 July
***
The Witcher
Henry Cavill’s lap of honour begins in earnest as the second and final part of season three of this hit fantasy series drops. Cavill’s last stand as monster hunter Geralt of Rivia looks set to be explosive – he’s made it clear that he’ll take any steps necessary to get to Ciri (Freya Allan). Since her father has seemingly come back from the dead, sparks will fly. Elsewhere, the alliance between Nilfgaard and the elves is becoming strained, and with sides being taken, this simmering conflict looks set to draw in the likes of Vilgefortz and Tissiaia.
Netflix, from Thursday 27 July
***
Ghosts of Beirut
Making a thriller out of such complex real events as the Lebanese civil war of the early 80s requires real lightness of touch. This four-parter struggles to have that, largely turning the conflict – which drew in Israel, the US and most of the Arab world – into an antihero narrative about one man. Imad Mughniyeh (Hisham Suliman) was a Lebanese terrorist/fighter who outwitted the CIA and Mossad, but the geopolitical nuances surrounding him aren’t sufficiently explored, even by the documentary elements interspersed through the series.
Paramount+, from Thursday 27 July
***
A Perfect Story
A tale of friends with potential benefits from Greece, this glossy and idyllic eight-part romantic drama stars Anna Castillo as Margot, a woman whose decision to flee her own wedding leads to a dark night of the soul. However, a solution is closer than she realises as she finds comfort in her relationship with her mildly eccentric friend David (Álvaro Mel). It’s an idealised and fairly generic relationship story, albeit one enhanced by the undeniably picturesque setting that will send you hurrying to the nearest Greek tourism website.
Netflix, from Friday 28 July
