1st seasons of This Is Going To Hurt, The Responder, Mind Over Murder, The Gilded Age, The Baby & more
WESTWORLD S4 | Binge episodes 1-6 now, or the full season from 15 August 2022
A dark odyssey about the fate of sentient life on Earth, Westworld S4 is one of Rotten Tomatoes’ most anticipated series of 2022 and currently the eighth most popular series on IMDb.
The 18VSNL-rated fourth season brings back Thandiwe Newton in her Emmy-winning role as Maeve, as well as Jeffrey Wright and Ed Harris in their Emmy-nominated performances as Bernard and The Man In Black respectively. Three-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul, Emmy nominees Evan Rachel Wood and Tessa Thompson, and Screen Actors Guild nominees Luke Hemsworth and Angela Sarafyan are also returning, with Oscar winner Ariana DeBose (West Side Story) joining the cast this season as a recurring guest star.
Season 4 has an 80% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As Mashable puts it, “It’s hard to talk about Westworld‘s fourth season without fear of giving too much away, so I’ll just say this: It’s awesome… With its epic scope and some of the show’s most devastating storytelling so far, Season 4 of Westworld is not one you want to miss.”
Inspired by the film written by Michael Crichton, Westworld has won seven Emmys to date and has twice been named Best Science Fiction Series by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films.
A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW S3 | Binge now
A Black Lady Sketch Show is up for five awards at this year’s Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Sketch Series, Writing, Directing and Editing, which it won last year.
The HBO sketch comedy earned series creator Robin Thede an Outstanding Actress: Comedy nomination at the 2022 Black Reel Awards, where Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary) was also nominated as Guest Actress. Thede won the category in 2021, when A Black Lady Sketch Show’s Gabrielle Dennis won Supporting Actress over co-star Ashley Nicole Black. This season’s guest stars include Ava DuVernay, Wanda Sykes, Wayne Brady, Vanessa Williams, Lance Reddick and Phil LaMarr.
Already renewed for a fourth season, A Black Lady Sketch Show has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Root hailing this season as “the smartest, freshest, funniest comedy on TV.”
THIS IS GOING TO HURT S1 | Binge now
Currently the eighth best-reviewed series of 2022 according to Metacritic, This Is Going To Hurt stars Emmy winner Ben Whishaw (Mary Poppins Returns, Q in No Time To Die, voice of Paddington) as a junior doctor in the labour ward.
Based on the bestselling memoir of real-life doctor Adam Kay, This Is Going To Hurt has a 95% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with TIME hailing it as “the best medical drama in years”.
Radio Times calls the series “a hilarious but heartbreaking tribute to the NHS” – England’s National Health Service – praising the “stellar performances” from Whishaw and newcomer Ambika Mod and adding, “A fast-paced emotional rollercoaster, This Is Going to Hurt is hands-down one of the best dramas we’ll see in 2022… With the show hitting home just how much pressure the NHS is under right now, the adaptation couldn’t come at a better time.”
THE RESPONDER S1 | Binge now
Rotten Tomatoes’ 12th Best TV show of 2022 (So Far), The Responder follows Chris Carson (Emmy winner Martin Freeman from Sherlock, Black Panther and The Hobbit), a morally compromised urgent response officer tackling a series of crisis-stricken night shifts in Liverpool.
While trying to keep his head above water both personally and professionally, Chris is forced to take on a rookie partner, Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo – named “Britain’s most exciting rising star” by Harper’s Bazaar). Both soon discover that survival in this high pressure, relentless, night-time world will depend on them either helping or destroying each other.
Written by ex-police officer Tony Schumacher, The Responder has a rare 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Martin Freeman is magnificent,” writes The Guardian. “With rage in his heart and spit on his face, Freeman will surely win all the awards for this drama written by an ex-cop that’s as riveting as a thriller and as profound as a documentary… If you are looking for a state-of-the-nation piece, it is here.”
MIND OVER MURDER | Binge now
The HBO true crime docuseries Mind Over Murder chronicles the bizarre story of six individuals who were convicted for the 1985 murder of beloved 68-year-old grandmother Helen Wilson. Despite five of the individuals originally confessing to the crime, the “Beatrice Six”, as they became known, were exonerated by DNA evidence in 2009, a turn of events that divided the rural town and incensed Helen’s family.
As the filmmakers track the case, from the murder through investigation, trial, exoneration and two civil suits, shifting perspectives cloud the truth, and a stranger-than-fiction tale emerges that raises questions about the reliability of confessions and memory in criminal cases.
Mind Over Murder is directed by Nanfu Wang, who won the SXSW Audience Award for In The Same Breath, the Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Born In China, and was nominated for an Emmy for One Child Nation. The six-part series has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with Mashable hailing it as “the must-see true crime series of 2022… Mind-blowing, heartbreaking and ultimately soul-soothing.”
THE GILDED AGE S1 | Binge now
One of Rotten Tomatoes’ most anticipated shows of 2022, The Gilded Age is a new period drama from Oscar winner Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey, Gosford Park).
Nominated for a 2022 Emmy for its production design, The Gilded Age kicks off in 1882, when young Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) moves from rural Pennsylvania to New York City after the death of her father. She moves in with her thoroughly old-money aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Emmy winner Christine Baranski from The Good Fight) and Ada Brook (two-time Emmy winner Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City).
Accompanied by Peggy Scott (Denée Benton), an aspiring writer seeking a fresh start, Marian inadvertently becomes enmeshed in a social war between one of her aunts and her stupendously rich neighbours, a ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell (Critics Choice nominee Morgan Spector from The Plot Against America and Homeland) and his ambitious wife, Bertha (Emmy nominee Carrie Coon from Fargo). Exposed to a world on the brink of the modern age, will Marian follow the established rules of society, or forge her own path?
HBO has already ordered a second season of The Gilded Age, which has an 8/10 rating on IMDb. As Glamour says, “The Gilded Age is like Downton Abbey – but better.”
LANDSCAPERS | Binge now
Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Father, The Crown) and Emmy nominee David Thewlis (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Fargo, Harry Potter’s Remus Lupin) star as real-life couple Susan and Christopher Edwards in Landscapers, a unique love story that sees a pair of ordinary Brits become the focus of an extraordinary investigation when two dead bodies are discovered in the back garden of a house in Nottingham, England.
Based on real events, Landscapers won three 2022 BAFTAs, with nominations for Best Miniseries, Director (Will Sharpe), and Leading Actor (Thewlis). The four-part miniseries has a 98% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with widespread acclaim for its script (by Ed Sinclair – aka Mr Olivia Colman – who wrote the role of Susan specifically for his wife).
In their five-star review The Guardian wrote, “Imagine two of the greatest actors of their generation being even better together than they are separately. That’s Landscapers… Heartbreaking and utterly convincing… A rich, generous, clever, multi-textured thing.”
THE EQUALIZER S2 | Binge from 16 August 2022
Oscar nominee Queen Latifah (Chicago) was nominated for a 2022 Critics Choice Super Award for Best Actress in an Action Series for The Equalizer, a reimagining of the classic 80s series and the 2014 blockbuster movie with Denzel Washington. She was also nominated for People’s Choice, Black Reel and Image awards for her performance as Robyn McCall, a single mother and former CIA operative who helps those with nowhere else to turn.
Already renewed for a third and fourth season, The Equalizer was named Best New Show by The African American Film Critics Association in 2021 and nominated as The Drama Show of 2021 by The People’s Choice Awards.
Critics Choice Award winner Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black), Screen Actors Guild nominee Adam Goldberg (Saving Private Ryan, A Beautiful Mind), and Image Award winner Laya DeLeon Hayes (the voice of Doc McStuffins) co-star.
THE THING ABOUT PAM | Binge from 16 August 2022
Two-time Oscar winner Renée Zellweger (Bridget Jones Diary, Judy) is almost unrecognisable as Pam Hupp in The Thing About Pam, a riveting true-crime drama based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria, which resulted in her husband Russ’s conviction, though he insisted he did not kill her.
One of Rotten Tomatoes’ most anticipated shows of 2022, The Thing About Pam also stars Emmy winner Josh Duhamel (Transformers) and Screen Actors Guild nominees Judy Greer (Ant-Man, Jurassic World), Glenn Fleschler (Barry), and Sean Bridgers (Deadwood, Rectify).
Based on a Dateline podcast that’s been downloaded over 20 million times, The Thing About Pam was NBC’s top rated new series this year and their biggest digital launch ever, according to Deadline. AVClub hails The Thing About Pam as a “twisty true crime story” with “impressive performances”.
THE BABY S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
The Baby stars Michelle De Swarte (The Duchess) as 38-year-old Natasha, whose life implodes dramatically when she is unexpectedly landed with a baby. Controlling, manipulative but incredibly cute, the baby twists Natasha’s life into a surreal horror show. As she discovers the true extent of the baby’s deadly nature, Natasha makes increasingly desperate attempts to get rid of it. She doesn’t want the baby, but the baby definitely wants her.
The cast also includes Tanya Reynolds (Lily in Sex Education), multi-award-winner Sinéad Cusack (V for Vendetta) and Ghanaian-born actor Patrice Naiambana.
As TIME says, “It’s more than just fun – it’s also a whole lot smarter and more thought-provoking than most of the shows sucking up all the attention.”
LA BREA S1 | Binge now
Nominated as the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show of 2021 at the People’s Choice Awards, La Brea kicks off with a massive sinkhole mysteriously opening up in Los Angeles, separating part of a family in an unexplainable primeval world alongside a desperate group of strangers.
Already renewed for a second season, La Brea’s cast includes Natalie Zea (The Following, Justified) and Eoin Macken (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, Merlin).
THE TIME TRAVELER’S WIFE | Binge now
Romance meets science fiction in The Time Traveler’s Wife, which tells the intricate love story of Clare and Henry, and a marriage with a problem… time travel.
People’s Choice and Teen Choice winner Theo James (Tobias “Four” Eaton in The Divergent film series, and Sanditon’s Sidney Parker) and BAFTA Scotland winner Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones’ Ygritte, DS Kirstin Longacre in Vigil) lead the the six-part miniseries, which is based on the acclaimed 2003 bestselling novel by Audrey Niffenegger.
Emmy and BAFTA winner Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Sherlock) wrote the screenplay, with triple-Emmy winner David Nutter (Game of Thrones) directing. The Mary Sue says, “I openly laughed out loud… And who doesn’t want to see Theo James and Rose Leslie falling in love with each other out of order?”
SPREADSHEET S1 | Binge now, first on Showmax
BAFTA winner Katherine Parkinson (Jen in The IT Crowd, Pauline in Doc Martin) stars in the 18SN Aussie sex comedy Spreadsheet. She plays Lauren: a freshly divorced mother-of-two, looking for sex without strings attached.
Lauren’s already functioning at full capacity with a successful career as a lawyer, two wilfully disobedient but hilarious children and a slightly inept ex-husband. So how is she supposed to manage a slew of emotionally needy men as well? With a spreadsheet, that’s how.
In their four star review, Daily Mail hailed Parkinson as “one of the funniest actresses on TV,” saying Spreadsheet “combines traditional family comedy with raunchy scenes verging on all-out pornography… like channel hopping between Outnumbered, Sex and the City and an X-rated TV station.”
The Sydney Morning Herald similarly gave Spreadsheet four stars, calling the show “delightful to watch” and praising “Parkinson’s impeccable comic timing.”
EVERYTHING ON SHOWMAX IN AUGUST 2022
To see everything on Showmax in August 2022, including the tell-all interview Mohale: On The Record; The Comedy Central Roast of Khanyi Mbau, brought to you by Showmax; Anya Taylor-Joy in Edgar Wright’s award-winning film Last Night In Soho; the 2022 box office hit Scream; and the family favourite Sing 2, click here.
