What to watch, listen to and play this week: David Morrissey returns with a brooding new drama

Reviews and previews by Emmanuel Kehoe, Nadine O’Regan and Jennifer Gannon

TV PICKS OF THE WEEK

Sherwood, Monday, 9pm, BBC One

David Morrissey and the highly versatile Lesley Manville star in the this six-part drama, an adaptation of shocking events in the village of Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire in 2004, when an ex-miner was killed, swiftly followed by a second murder. Were dark impulses from the miners’ strike of 20 years earlier behind the killings? Morrissey, as fictional Detective Chief Superintendent Ian St Clair, leads the hunt. EK

Charlie Bird: Loud and Clear, Monday, 9.35pm, RTÉ One

Charlie Bird is determined not to go gently into that good night, what with bounding up Croagh Patrick with his thousands of followers, raising more than a million for charity, and speaking candidly on the national airwaves about his diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Fairly regarded as a national treasure, here he and his wife Claire chart their journey from the time of his diagnosis in October last year. They also look at his career as an RTE reporter when, it was often said, nothing had happened until Charlie Bird had declared it so. EK

The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, Tuesday, 9.45pm, Virgin Media More

The trailer for this four-part drama appears to suggest a light touch has been applied to this telling of the true story of prison officer John Darwin (Eddie Marsan), who faked his own death to escape debt and to benefit from a life insurance policy. Monica Dolan plays his wife Anne, who was left to console their unwitting bereaved children. Bizarrely, Darwin hid out in a bedsit next door to the couple’s marital home and secretly moved back in with his wife. EK

Fíorscéal, Thursday, 10.30pm, TG4

What price are young Russians prepared to pay to live in a functioning democracy, and to what lengths is Vladimir Putin’s state prepared to go to ensure that they don’t? This episode of Fíorscéal looks at the dilemma of young Russians who face harsh treatment and imprisonment if they challenge Putin’s war in Ukraine. EK

STREAMING PICKS OF THE WEEK

Hustle, Netflix

If you’re in the mood for a low-wattage but likeable drama, then you could do worse than Hustle, the new Adam Sandler vehicle. He plays a down-on-his-luck basketball scout called Stanley who unexpectedly discovers a remarkable new player named Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) – an athlete so brilliant that Stanley decides to bring him from Europe to the US, against the directive of his bosses. While much of this drama has a by-the-numbers feel, the expertly-shot basketball footage is genuinely thrilling, and a number of real-life NBA players make an appearance. The supporting cast includes Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith and Anthony Edwards. NO’R

The Lancaster at War, Netflix

In 1970, Len Deighton wrote Bomber, a novel that illuminated the short, terrifying lives of RAF bomber crews and the equally fragile lives of the many who perished beneath their massive payloads of bombs. This documentary chronicles the wartime career of the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, which operated by night while its US equivalents bombed by day. In the Blitz the Germans had no heavy bombers that, en masse, could lay waste to entire cities. That singular honour would, as the war progressed, go to the RAF’s Bomber Command and the US Air Force. EK

Halftime, From Tuesday, Netflix

A new documentary on Jennifer Lopez examines the actor and singer as she enters the second half of her career, and continues to perform to huge audiences. Set against the backdrop of her Super Bowl performance, Lopez speaks about her role as a mother, her multi-faceted roles, and how she feels about having moved into her early 50s. NO’R

Cha Cha Real Smooth, From Friday, Apple TV+

In this winner of the 2022 Sundance Film Festival US Dramatic Audience Award, Andrew (Cooper Raiff) has just left college, but doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. Stuck at home in New Jersey with his family, he decides to make use of his gift for getting the party started – he lands the perfect job of motivational dancing at the bar and bar mitzvahs for his younger brother’s classmates. But when he befriends a local mother, Domino, and her daughter Lola, it’s not long before his mindset changes. Written and directed by Raiff, the drama stars Dakota Johnson, Brad Garrett and Leslie Mann. NO’R

PODCAST PICK OF THE WEEK

The Missing, Available on podcast networks

All true crime podcasts, no matter how sensitive, tend to have a voyeuristic, exploitative edge to them. It’s something to do with the problematic feeling that comes with treating cases like a fictional narrative, waiting for the bogey man to be revealed or, worse, waiting for a serial killer to be discussed in a jaunty, irreverent manner. Fortunately, journalist Pandora Sykes eschews this particularly unpleasant side of the genre with her podcast The Missing, a series which, with the assistance of charities Locate International and Missing People, shines a light on those who have disappeared. It’s an attempt to bring attention back to forgotten stories or focus attention on those individuals who never received significant press at the time. It’s also an opportunity for friends and family members to piece together memories of their loved ones or, in the tragic case of the Wembley Point Woman, to put a name to this still unidentified person. JG