What to watch on TV this week Our pick of the best television shows Undercover: Inside the Chinese Digital Gulag, ITV — chilling insight A film-maker travels to so-called ‘re-education centres’ where reports of torture abound Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Sweetbitter, series 2 — too many cooks spoil the broth With a dizzying number of writers, ‘Sweetbitter’ feels uneven and feebly plotted Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Inside the Social Network: Facebook’s Difficult Year, BBC2 Cameras go behind the scenes of Facebook HQ in the year of the Cambridge Analytica scandal Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Stranger Things 3, Netflix — a plague of rodents, hormones and ’80s pop hits Hawkins Jobs and kissing replace bikes and board games as the goofy young kids turn teenagers Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Channel 4’s Generation Porn — the slippery world of online streaming From ‘Wank Wednesday’ to threesomes in the shower, the porn industry’s new recruits tell all Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Charles I: Downfall of a King is an austere but thrilling BBC series Presented by Lisa Hilton, this three-parter is a story of chicanery and filibuster Thursday, 18 July, 2019 More from this Series TV cameras go... Inside the Bank of England A documentary follows the tumultuous lead-up to deciding interest rates last year Thursday, 18 July, 2019 BBC2 presents Anna: The Woman who Went to Fight ISIS The story behind a young woman’s decision to join a Kurdish militia Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Beecham House, ITV — a moral muddle Gurinder Chadha’s series features too many questionable stereotypes Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files In a new BBC documentary, historian David Olusoga reveals the history of racial prejudice in the UK Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Lawyer — new Scandi sparkler from writer of The Bridge A defence lawyer and his sister are catapulted on to the fringes of the Danish-Swedish underworld Thursday, 18 July, 2019 George Clooney’s Catch-22 recaptures the humour and horror of the novel Glossy, visceral and with an exceptional cast, the satirical mini-series conjures a paradox-laden second world war Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Year of the Rabbit, Channel 4 — a pleasantly silly Victorian whodunnit A group of detectives go on the trail of a killer in this farcical London caper Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Handmaid’s Tale is back, praise be! — season 3 reviewed Elisabeth Moss’s Offred is all eerie composure as Gilead’s foundations begin to totter Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Killing Eve season 2 — cat-and-mouse thriller returns The second instalment of the hit series provides all the anticipated flamboyance and high-octane action Thursday, 18 July, 2019 War on Plastic with Hugh and Anita — 22 households, 4 months, 0 plastic Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Anita Rani explore hard-hitting realities about single-use plastic Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Big Little Lies and the death of the happy TV mum How the screen housewife has evolved in line with prevailing attitudes Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Black Mirror Season 5 — Andrew Scott as a creepy cabbie, Miley Cyrus as a doll in captivating new episodes Netflix’s tech anthology series continues with three cunningly plotted stories Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Tales of the City — Laura Linney stars in this Netflix revival Has Armistead Maupin’s classic series about a queer community in San Francisco dated badly? Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Gentleman Jack, BBC and HBO — a sparkling delight Was Anne Lister a lesbian superhero — or an unashamed forerunner of class-privileged white feminism? Thursday, 18 July, 2019 63 Up, ITV — is this the last of the Seven Up saga? The cast of Michael Apted’s 1963 TV social experiment reunite for a ninth time Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Planets — Brian Cox returns with the story of the solar system In this new five-part BBC series, the professor charts the improbable histories of Earth and its neighbours Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Good Omens, Amazon/BBC2 — a romp through history and myth Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 novel is adapted for screen with Michael Sheen and David Tennant leading an all-star cast Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Years and Years, BBC1 — a sharp, nightmarish vision of the future Russell T Davies’ drama presents an all-too-identifiable 21st century through the lens of one Mancunian family Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Virtues, Channel 4 — an emotionally bruising drama from Shane Meadows The British film-maker’s four-part study of repressed pain occasionally veers towards ‘misery porn’ Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Chernobyl, Sky Atlantic — shrouded in mystery and smoke This series starring Emily Watson and Jared Harris dramatises the events surrounding the 1986 nuclear accident to gripping effect Thursday, 18 July, 2019 D-Day: The King Who Fooled Hitler — and all those MI5 and monarchy machinations Channel 4’s documentary unearths new material on the famous landings Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The final series of Game of Thrones is more of the same — but just as addictive The last six episodes of the fantasy epic are set to be an enjoyable panoply of improbable sets, outlandish names and ‘sexposition’ Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Knock Down the House, Netflix — four female Democrats set out to ‘drain the swamp’ A documentary tracing the primary campaigns of four progressive Democrats: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Paula Jean Swearengin, Amy Vilela and Cori Bush Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Climate Change: The Facts — David Attenborough shows that the truth hurts The BBC documentary is a sobering, uncompromising portrait of the effects of global warming on our world Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Trial of Ratko Mladic, BBC Four A documentary follows the prosecution and defence cases for one of the darkest episodes in European history Thursday, 18 July, 2019 The Yorkshire Ripper Files — poignant new interviews and a wealth of archive footage Liza Williams’ BBC Four documentary highlights how preconceptions about the victims influenced the investigation Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Fleabag returns, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s creation remains irresistible After the success of Killing Eve, the writer-director is back with a second — and starrier — season of her brilliantly offhand comedy-drama Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Leaving Neverland — Michael Jackson protégés turn accusers in harrowing documentary Uncomfortable and graphic testimonies from two men, one of whom defended star during 2005 trial Thursday, 18 July, 2019 30 years on, the BBC revisits the controversial legacy of The Satanic Verses Mobeen Azhar speaks to the inhabitants of Bradford, the birthplace of worldwide demonstrations against Salman Rushdie’s novel Thursday, 18 July, 2019 True Detective: Season 3 — the start of a return to form? The triple-timeline story starring Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff gets off to a promising start Thursday, 18 July, 2019 Luther: Season Five on BBC iPlayer is a psycho-sexual jamboree Old favourites unexpectedly return as links between their pasts are revealed Thursday, 18 July, 2019
