CHEAT (NETFLIX)

Are you getting tired of The Chase? This could be just the addictive new UK quiz show you’ve been looking for.

Hosted by former EastEnders star Danny Dyer and British comedian Ellie Taylor, Cheat will likely become this generation’s weakest link thanks to its emphasis on skull digging and subversive gameplay.

Described by Dyer himself as “the ultimate battle of brains, bragging and sheer lying,” this is a series where a good poker face is as important as a broad general knowledge.

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Aside from Dyer’s increasingly terrifying attempts at dad jokes and berating contestants — and Taylor’s quick wit — much of the joy of Cheat comes from the different approaches players take and how quickly you can find out how wrong they are .

EXTRAPOLATIONS (APPLE TV+)

The brainchild of the screenwriter who brought the world the terrifyingly prescient pandemic film Contagion – Scott Z Burns – is a new climate change anthology series that doesn’t just hark back to Russell T. Davies’ unnerving 2019 British dystopian masterpiece Years and Years will, but it is They will probably fear for the future of our planet.

If this eight-part series is designed to be both a fanfare call and pure engrossing entertainment, then it’s a resounding success – you’ll be alarmed and amazed at what’s to come unless we take action to understand the human contribution to the… mitigate global warning – Now.

Aside from striking imagery, haunting vision, and a sharp, vital, scientifically sound, and red-hot evolving narrative (every episode – but one – is set in a different year between 2037 and 2070), it also features what is certainly one of the most impressive ensembles in television history.

LUCKY HANK (TVNZ+)

Any concerns that Bob Odenkirk might have trouble leaving Saul Goodman behind will surely be dispelled as one catches the first episode of his new show.

The ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Better Call Saul’ star plays troubled English professor William Henry “Hank” Devereaux Jr. of Railton College in the eight-part dramedy. In this role, the 60-year-old actor is able to showcase his penchant for physical comedy, as well as innate timing, while his department head battles bureaucracy, warlike students and his own self-destructive tendencies.

Based on Richard Russo’s 1997 novel Straight Man, Lucky Hank finds the rare sweet spot between outrageous comedy and relatable human drama. It’s a combination and balance that few American shows – Six Feet Under, Parenthood or The Big C are some of the rare examples – can match.

Lucky Hank is sort of a mash-up of 2000’s Wonder Boys, 1994’s Paul Newman star Nobody’s Fool (based on an earlier Russo novel), and Netflix’s recent The Chair Again Emmy nominee.

PERRY MASON (NEON)

From a bravura opening cruise in a casino on a riverboat to the fabulously atmospheric cinematography, production design and gorgeous costumes, the second season of this 1930s version of Erle Stanley Gardner’s beloved character cements the series’ reputation as one of the most memorable in style Times dramas of recent times.

New showrunners Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (The Knick) have created intriguing and compelling new dilemmas for Matthew Rhys’ private investigator-turned-lawyer to tackle while they meet Fantastic Beasts’ Katherine Waterston, Succession’s Hope Davis and Paul from… Sound of Metal added Raci to an already terrific ensemble.

This is still very much Rhys’ show, however, and he continues to impress in a way that – if warranted – should at least see him earn his 2021 Emmy nomination again.

SHADOWS AND BONES (NETFLIX)

Based on Leigh Bardugo’s popular fantasy series, this series is set in a war-torn world where ordinary soldier and orphan Alina Starkov (Jesse Mei Li) unleashes an extraordinary power that could hold the key to her country’s liberation.

Now in Season 2, we’re back in the action with Alina on the run – and plagued by nightmares.

“This season is overblown: more characters, more sets, more storyline, more danger — and more fights,” wrote AV Club’s Sarah Shaffi, while The Daily Beast’s Laura Bradley opined that it “rewards those who take the time , find your way around a high-fantasy adventure for the ages”.

A TOWN CALLED MALICE (NEON)

A lurid, flavorful, slightly fruity cocktail of crime and family drama, this series isn’t exactly subtle.

With its rather garish 1980s setting on its sleeve, other sometimes creepy costumes (a powder blue Ellesse tracksuit, anyone?), and most importantly on its soundtrack (expect wall-to-wall bangers from the period — from Foreigner to Frankie Goes to Hollywood — many of them whose lyrics are more than a little flat on the subject), creator Nick Love’s eight-part tale (Bulletproof, 2012’s theatrical adaptation of The Sweeney) could make it seem like the next Animal Kingdom, Sexy Beast, or Gangs of London but it’s best enjoyed as a Guy Ritchie-style caper.

Less a pastel Thatcher-era Peaky Blinders than a neon-soaked, darker version of Only Fools and Horses, or the second season of Goodbye, Pet, Malice might be a little too frivolous for some crime fiction fans, but it offers fast-paced, if also fierce fun, especially for those of a certain vintage.

PRISONLESS (DISNEY+)

Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo headline this eight-part comedy about a therapist and single mother whose life is turned upside down when her father gets out of prison and moves in with her and their teenage son.

“Inspired by the life of TV writer and relationship writer Tracy McMillan, ‘UnPrisoned’ is a welcome showcase for Delroy Lindo and a touching family comedy about the generational costs of mass incarceration,” Entertainment Weekly’s Kristen Baldwin wrote, while Chicago Tribune’s Nina Metz opined, “The real revelation here is Washington looser than ever… It’s an achievement that’s only one side of the screwball – and I want to see what Washington could do with a fully comedic role.”

WELLMANIA (NETFLIX)

Best known for her Instagram celebrity parodies and stand-up shows, Celeste Barber will most likely win over a new army of fans with her highly entertaining debut in the Netflix series.

The Australian actor and writer, whose major early screenwriting experience was the role of Barbara in the short-lived comedy The Letdown, delivers an engrossing – no doubt polarizing – twist as the main protagonist of the eight-episode dramedy.

It’s a role that greatly benefits her physical comedy and succinct humor strengths as her Olivia Healy lurches from one disaster, crisis or moody observation to the next.

It helps tremendously that Wellmania has a crisp script filled with plenty of opportunities for Zinger, Pratfalls and Barber to pose rather awkwardly in various states of undress, expertly crafted by Benjamin Law of The Family Law and author Bridget Delaney ( whose 2017 novel subtitled Misadventures in the Search for Wellness was the show’s inspiration) — as well as a trio of other authors.