TV picks of the month: August

TV picks of the month: August

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Monday, 5th August 2019
Mindhunter, Euphoria and Fosse/Verdon
Mindhunter (Credit: Netflix/Patrick Harbron), Euphoria (Credit: Sky) and Fosse/Verdon (Credit: BBC)

There are now so many platforms to watch TV, it can be hard to know where to start.

With so many shows available, viewers are spoilt for choice.

To help you decide what to watch this month, we've compiled our top TV picks for August.

Celebs Go Dating, series seven

From Monday 5th August, E4, 9pm

Credit: Channel 4
Celebs Go Dating (Credit: Channel 4)

Now that Love Island has come to an end, it's time for another dating reality TV show.

Now it’s time for celebrities to try and find love with the help of relationship experts.

The experts come in the form of American romance guru – and Oprah Winfrey’s dating expert – Paul C Brunson and trained counsellor and relationship expert Anna Williamson.

Brunson and Williamson try to find love for the celebrity singles, putting them through dating mixers and blind dates.

The celebrities looking for love include Love Island’s Jack Fincham, Geordie Shore party boy Nathan Henry, Blue popstar Lee Ryan, Love Island’s Megan Barton Hanson, reality TV star Lauren Goodger and socialite and author Lady Colin Campbell.

An added twist this year is the addition of celebrity couples such as Charlotte Crosby and Jermiane Pennant, receiving one-on-one couples counselling with the experts to try and save their ailing relationships. 

As always, receptionist Tom Read Wilson will be available to offer a helping hand and Rob Beckett will give his usual scathing and hilarious commentary on all the dating shenanigans as the celebrities search for their perfect match. 

Euphoria, series one

From Tuesday 6th August, Sky Atlantic, 10pm

Zendaya in Euphoria (Credit: Sky)
Zendaya (Credit: Sky)

The American adaptation of Israeli show Euphoria is already a big hit in the US.

However, the eight-part drama is proving to be controversial due to the graphic scenes that depict with raw honesty the nature of addiction, mental health, toxic masculinity, sex, trauma and social media.

Actress Zendaya, who plays 17-year-old drug addict Rue, posted a warning to her fans on social media, explaining that Euphoria is for “mature audiences” with some scenes that are “hard to watch”.

Although Rue is the focal point, the series goes between several different social groups as teenagers try to navigate growing up with the various vices that plague them.

The series stars Hunter Schafer as transgender girl Jules trying to find her place; Jacob Elordi as Nate, a jock who uses his anger to mask sexual insecurities; Barbie Ferreira as Kat, who is dealing with body insecurities while exploring her sexuality; Algee Smith as Christopher, a football star struggling to adapt to college life, and Sydney Sweeney as Cassie, a teen whose sexual history still haunts her.

Euphoria is produced by rapper Drake and has already been confirmed for a second series.

This Way Up, series one

From Thursday 8th August, ITV, 10pm

Aisling Bea in This Way Up (Credit: Channel 4)
Aisling Bea (Credit: Channel 4)

Written by and starring Irish comedian Aisling Bea, the six-part series follows Bea's character, foreign language teacher Aine, as she attempts to recover from a “teeny little nervous breakdown”.

Following a stint in rehab, Aine is trying to return to normal life, using comedy and a chirpy persona to try and hide the pain she feels.

Her sister Shona (Sharon Horgan) is a finance whizz who is constantly worried about Aine, to the point of following her whereabouts using a tracker app on her phone.

Aine is not the only one looking for happiness. Her school is full of characters who also feel lost and are struggling to know what to do with their lives.

The cast also includes Aasif Mandvi who plays Shona’s boyfriend Vish, Tobias Menzies who plays Richard, the father to one of Aine’s students, and Indira Varma who plays Shona’s new confidante Charlotte.

Brassic, series one

From Thursday 22nd August, Sky One, 10pm

Brassic (Credit: Sky)
Brassic (Credit: Sky)

The word 'brassic' comes from cockney rhyming slang and means broke or penniless, something which the characters in this new six-part comedy series know only too well.

Brassic follows a group of working-class friends as they try to navigate life in a Northern suburbia as their teenage years of scamming and bribing finally start to catch up with them.

Vinnie (Joe Gilgun) is a Lancashire lad who suffers with bipolar disorder and is best friends with razor smart Dylan (Damien Molony).

The pair have hardly had a day apart since birth and have spent their whole lives living in the same place.

However, Dylan’s girlfriend Erin (Michelle Keegan) is a young mum with a plan to leave the town and find a good life for herself and her son Tyler.

Dylan is faced with the impossible choice of following the love of his life and making a fresh start, or staying with his inseparable gang of mates.

The group are made up of Cardy (Tom Hanson), a champion kebab eater and a total liability; Ash (Aaron Hefernan), the son of a family of fighting travellers; Tommo (Ryan Sampson), who is sexually liberated and doesn’t care what people think, and JJ (Parth Thakerar), an entrepreneur who runs a garage plus a side business in stolen cars.

But if one of them leaves the gang, what will happen to the rest?       

Mindhunter, series two

From Friday 16th August, Netflix

Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff (Credit: Netflix/Patrick Harbron)
Holt McCallany and Jonathan Groff (Credit: Netflix/Patrick Harbron)

Netflix was so sure Mindhunter was going to be a hit, it commissioned series two six months before the first had even aired.

The show is based on the memoirs of FBI agent John Douglas – named Holden Ford in the show – who was one of the first criminal profilers.

In the series, Ford, played by Johnathan Groff, is joined by fellow FBI agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) and psychologist Wendy Carr (Anna Torv).

The trio interview imprisoned serial killers to try to understand how they think, using that knowledge to solve ongoing cases.

The new series of Mindhunter will see Charles Manson, ‘Son of Sam’ killer David Berkowitz and the Atlanta child murders tackled, addressing real-life events from 1971 to 1981.

Cameron Britton’s serial killer Ed Kemper will also return to help Ford and the team with their cases.

Carnival Row, series one

From Friday 30th August, Amazon Prime

Orlando Bloom (Credit: Amazon)
Orlando Bloom (Credit: Amazon)

This fantasy drama stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne and promises to be the perfect antidote to those having Game of Thrones withdrawal.

It is set in a Victorian fantasy world where mythical creatures find their homelands invaded by man, forcing them to flee and try to coexist with humans.

The creatures are forbidden to live, love or fly with freedom, creating a societal divide between them and the humans.

Bloom takes on the role of human detective Rycroft Philostrate and Delevingne plays refuge faerie Vignette Stonemoss.

The two begin a dangerous affair, with Stonemoss hiding a secret that could endanger Philostrate’s world.

A second series of the fantasy drama has already been given the green light by Amazon.

Deep Water, series one

From Wednesday 14th August, ITV 9pm

Anna Friel, Sinead Keenan and Rosalind Eleazar (Credit: ITV)
Anna Friel, Sinead Keenan and Rosalind Eleazar (Credit: ITV)

The new six-part drama from ITV is set to be an emotional one.

The series, adapted from the Windermere novels by Paula Daly and written by Mrs Wilson screenwriter Anna Symon, follows three complex and spirited women who are facing tough choices that lead to messy repercussions.

Anna Friel plays chaotic mum of three Lisa Kallisto, who is juggling a hectic family life with running a business and finding time for her workaholic taxi driver husband Joe.

Physiotherapist Roz (Sinead Keenan) once had a booming private practice but faces financial ruin due to debts accrued by her soulmate Winston. When she is offered helped from an unlikely source, the decision Roz makes could change the course of her life. 

Kate Riverty (Rosalind Eleazar) appears to have it all; she is wealthy, attractive and has a well-ordered family life with her husband Guy, but is her life too good to be true?

When Riverty invites Kallisto and her husband to dinner, Kallisto makes a spontaneous decision that causes the evening to go incredibly wrong.

Fosse/Verdon, series one

From Friday 2nd August, BBC 2, 9pm

Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams (Credit: BBC)
Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams (Credit: BBC)

The American biographical miniseries tells the story of director and choreographer Bob Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and his wife and overlooked collaborator Gwen Verdon (Michelle Williams).

The eight-part series is executive produced by Lin Manuel Miranda and chronicles the troubled personal and professional relationship between Verdon and Fosse.

Fosse was a filmmaker and one of theatre’s most respected and revered choreographers and directors.

His work included classics such as Chicago and Cabaret and he is considered to be one of the most influential people to have worked in theatre.

Verdon was the third wife of Fosse and was an acclaimed actress and dancer in her own right, receiving multiple Tony Awards for her work.

She was also an uncredited choreographer’s assistant, often assisting Fosse but not receiving the same level of recognition.

Rockwell and Williams are joined by Margaret Qualley, who plays Ann Reinking, an actress and dancer who had an affair with Fosse, leading to her replacing Verdon in the role of Roxie Hart in Chicago.

The drama looks back at the duo’s relationship, flashing back and forth over the years they were together and the massive impact they had on the entertainment industry.

 

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There are now so many platforms to watch TV, it can be hard to know where to start.