Douglas is Cancelled (ITV)

Patience and endurance are required to get beyond the first episode of this program, which seems to be yet another defence of the poor, downtrodden, middle-aged, middle class white male, who just can’t say anything anymore. All of the characters are horrible – the least obnoxious the titular TV presenter who falls foul of cancel culture. But although heavy handed, this twisty critique of the media and entertainment industry has some valid points to make about how the good guys, the not-all men, need to stop turning a blind eye to the monsters and step up as allies to the real victims. Karen Gillan plays the ambitious and manipulative Madeleine and Hugh Bonneville the nice-guy Douglas, who switch our sympathies and keep us guessing about the truth. Alex Kingston is amusing as a terrible tabloid editor and not-so supportive wife. It’s frustrating that there are few consequences for the worst behaved character, who is enabled by the system he works in, but this is probably the most true-to-life element of the story.

The Decameron (Netflix)

In plague-ridden mediaeval Italy a group of nobles and their downtrodden servants assemble in a country villa to try to stay safe from the illness. Scheming and seduction, murder and mayhem ensue as a power struggle unfolds and alliances form and shift. External threats from violent marauders put everyone’s lives at risk, along with the ever-present, lurking plague. Can they work together to keep themselves safe? Probably not. Based on a contemporary set of short stories, this 8-part series is colourful and wickedly funny - The Canterbury Tales meets Agatha Christie, but perhaps drags on a bit long. The soft pedal ending sits oddly against the earlier action and violence but pays a nice tribute to the original text.

Upright 2 (Foxtel)

It is four years on from the events of the first series, when musician Lucky transported a piano from Sydney to Perth, assisted and hampered in equal measure by teen runaway Meg. They haven’t kept in touch so it’s a shock when Meg turns up at Lucky’s door, insisting on his help in finding her errant mother. Their subsequent tropical Queensland odyssey is as ludicrously entertaining as the earlier desert adventure, with both Lucky and Meg as slappable as they are endearing. The coincidences of people and place are a stretch to swallow – North Queensland is not a small place! But Tim Minchin and Milly Alcock are a formidable screen partnership and the classy supporting cast, including Hayley McElhinney, features some joyously funny cameos. It’s not as good as the first, but that was a hard bar to beat.

The Great season 2, Hulu

Empress Catherine is heavily pregnant for most of the second season of this sort-of true story of the German Princess who modernised her adopted country in the 18th century. This has an effect on her emotions and decisions, particularly with regard to her husband and father of her child. She has deposed him as Emperor in a palace coup, but can’t bring herself to kill him and eliminate the threat he poses. A visit from her manipulative mother complicates everything, as does war with the Ottoman Empire. Catherine has made progress in her bid to bring enlightenment to Russia, but she still faces strong opposition among the nobles, who don’t want to lose any of their enormous privilege. This interesting take on history is enormously entertaining and visually sumptuous, with a sharp and funny script. The cast is top notch, with Dakota Fanning a delight as Catherine and Nicholas Hoult imbuing the monstrous Peter with humanity.

Hacks, Season 2

Everyone’s story arcs go full circle via a road trip in this second outing of the odd couple of modern comedy, Boomer Deborah and Millennial Ava. It’s not as funny as the first but there is some gold, such as the lesbian cruise gig. The trope of the incompetent nepo baby receptionist and the long suffering manager is annoying, but at least serves a purpose in the story of Ava and Deborah’s law suit and their careers. Whereas the tale of Business Manager Marcus’s commitment issues and subsequent cockups is just irritating. Jean Smart is sublime as ageing comedy legend Deborah Vance, desperate for a second coming. It’s worth watching just for her performance. The show maintains a nice balance between comedy and drama, which allows for growth but never lapses into sentimentality. Season 3 has been delayed by Smart’s heart surgery and the Hollywood writers’ strike.

Hacks (HBO Max)

A veteran comedian is about to lose her Las Vegas residency and so her agent hooks her up with a 25-year-old comedy writer, who has been cancelled, in a bid to revive both their careers. Deborah Vance lives in a palatial mansion and has an extensive staff; Ava has to take this job to avoid losing her recently purchased, overpriced LA condo. The two have little in common and clash at every turn, until they don’t. Each is intensely unlikeable in their own special ways – initially fulfilling the stereotypes of out-of-touch Boomer and entitled Millennial. As the series develops their rough edges rub off as we find out more about them, their back stories and their redeeming qualities. Slowly a relationship of trust builds as they learn from each other and make each other laugh. We also get a taste of the evolution of women in comedy and a glimpse of the challenges that have barely changed. It’s funny, smart, moving and so refreshing to see a show featuring two strong female leads as well as a diverse cast whose diversity is incidental to the plot. Jean Smart is simply wonderful as the irascible Deborah and Hannah Einbinder provides a great foil as Ava. A second season is out now; it will be interesting to see if it can sustain the excellence.

The Flight Attendant (HBO)

International flight attendant Cassie hooks up with a first class passenger Alex and wakes next to his corpse in a Bangkok hotel room. Blacked out drunk, she remembers little of the night, panics, cleans up and flees the scene. What follows is a riot of murder, organised crime and corporate espionage, swirling around a woman with deep seated issues and falling apart. Pursued by the FBI and criminal consortia, Cassie lurches between disasters, trying to figure out what happened and get herself out of trouble. Kaley Cuoco walks a fine line between comedy and tragedy as a functioning alcoholic with childhood trauma, who is constantly letting down family and friends. Fantasy elements take her into her own head, talking with Alex to piece together their night and dipping back into her past to figure out how she became such a fuck up. The plot is often ludicrous, but moves fast enough to skip over the gaps; the sub plot is superfluous but paves the way for a possible second series. Cuoco is ably supported by a strong ensemble cast, including familiar TV faces Zosia Mamet, Rosie Perez, Michelle Gomez, TR Knight and Australian actor Deniz Akdeniz.

After Life (Netflix) season 3

Ricky Gervais broke his two season limit rule to create this third outing for grieving widower Tony. Season two was rather too neatly wrapped up, with seemingly a happy ending for everyone. Season three shows that real life is, of course, not like that. Tony has not progressed his relationship with Emma as he has not found a way to both keep loving his wife and move on from her death. As he moves glacially through the stages of grief, he becomes slightly less of a prick to those around him, so that’s progress of a kind. For all its thoughtful and poignant moments, there is a lack of balance in this series that tips it over the edge of worth extending. The female characters barely appear until the last few episodes; they are treated as peripheral and their concerns an afterthought. In contrast the crude misogyny of a middle-aged incel features far too heavily and is unfunny and at times, stomach-churning. Gervais has always included an element of naughty-boy transgression in his work, the horrendous psychiatrist embodies this in series one, but in his late middle age the trope is getting tedious and overdone. Roxy the sex worker doesn’t appear at all in series three, but we have to hear all about her boyfriend’s misery about her profession. So was it worth breaking the two-season rule? On balance, probably not.

Rita (Netflix) series 1-5

This Danish series is funny, sad and frequently moving, offering a refreshing alternative to the plethora of Scandi noir. Rita is a school teacher and self-confessed fuck up, a single mother of three in her 40s who always wears jeans and checked shirts. A rebel with a cause, she is fiercely protective of the kids she teaches – especially those from difficult backgrounds. But she gets so caught up with her causes she can be oblivious to problems closer to home. She adores her three kids, but sometimes neglects them or ignores their problems. In a casually convenient relationship with the head teacher, Rasmus, Rita is often her own worst enemy - making some really bad decisions. Milla Dineson is perfectly cast as Rita; her character always retains the viewer’s sympathy, even when behaving badly. Rita is relatably human, deeply flawed and eminently loveable. The story arc over five seasons is broad and deep, delving into Rita’s troubled childhood and showing how she became who she is. Made from 2012 to 2020, Rita provides a fascinating insight into a different culture. A short spin-off series, Hjordis, is also delightful.

Upright (Foxtel)

Tim Minchin stars in this eight-part series about a road trip across outback Australia with a piano. Millie Alcock is startlingly good as the troubled teen Meg, whose world literally collides with that of washed up musician Lucky. Short, sharp episodes are packed with interest and entertainment as the odd pair develops a kind of friendship. Through flashbacks we slowly discover their troubled pasts and where they might be heading. By the fourth episode the plot starts to stretch credulity as the two continually face disaster and find rescue from increasingly unlikely sources. Not to mention the seemingly indestructible piano. Nevertheless you just roll with it as it’s all so much fun. A very strong supporting cast includes Heather Mitchell, as Lucky’s sick mum, Ella Scott Lynch, Daniel Lapaine and a host of fabulous guest characters. The Nullabor and the outback of South and Western Australia are almost characters in their own right. Kate Mulvaney, (Chaser) Chris Taylor and Tim Minchin developed and wrote the show, which switches between dark sorrow and absurdity with ease. It features laugh-out-loud moments and a fabulous soundtrack, as you would expect from the multi-talented Minchin.

After Life (Netflix) Season 2

Grief-stricken Tony is slowly getting himself together in this second series of Ricky Gervais’s tragi-comedy.
He is not ready to move on from his lovely wife and will not even contemplate the first steps of doing so, much to the frustration of Emma - who could be more than his father’s carer.
But he is able to look beyond his sadness enough to actually help out other people and demonstrate what Lisa saw in him.
He shows support and kindness to friends and colleagues who have helped him, offering hope of better times.
Many of the supporting characters are fleshed out a little more, allowed to have agency beyond Tony, which adds greatly to both breadth and depth. And the cast is just great.
There are some self-indulgent aspects to the series, enabling an unnecessary gross-out factor that adds little to the story. The prime example is the disgusting psychiatrist, whose toxic masculinity serves no purpose.
This aside the series is once again sad, funny, moving and hopeful.