it’s not the weather we were hoping for this summer but at least rainy evenings can be occupied with some great tv. the gloss team share what shows they’re watching now …
For thrill-seekers… “It’s very simple, the deepest dive wins.” Everyone’s talking about The Deepest Breath. Have you ever heard of freediving? A new thrilling documentary dives into the world of one of the most dangerous extreme sports in the world, using everything from raw underwater dive footage to childhood home movies to share the story of an unlikely couple drawn together. The Deepest Breath is directed by Irish filmmaker Laura McGann and follows the story of Italian champion freediver Alessia Zecchini and Irish adventurer turned expert safety diver Stephen Keenan and their journey together as Zecchini embarks on a quest to beat a world record and is faced with the extreme consequences that come with this thrill-seeking sport. Watch it on Netflix.
Feelgood watch… If you’re looking for something to lift your mood from the grey weather outside, we can’t recommend the Wham! documentary more – particularly if you were a teenager in the ‘80s! “Rather than melancholic or maudlin I found it really upbeat and a celebration of teenage friendship and dreams. What’s not to love about rewatching all of those cheesy pop videos – especially Club Tropicana and Last Christmas – it definitely had me rocking round the living room,” says deputy editor Penny McCormick. Watch it on Netflix.
Fashion fix… And Just Like That… has returned to our screens for season two. While it doesn’t get rave reviews, we’re watching for the fashion alone. Our style editor Aislinn Coffey’s top tip? Listen to the Still Watching podcast by Vanity Fair alongside it where the actors are interviewed and the outfits are dissected as each episode drops. Watch it on NOW.
Edge of your seat… Who doesn’t love an Idris Elba series? In Hijack, Elba plays Sam Nelson, an accomplished corporate negotiator, who when his flight from Dubai to London is hijacked by terrorists, steps in to attempt to use his professional skills to save the passengers on board. Hijack was designed as a limited series that takes place “in real time” over the course of seven episodes, each show representing an hour of a plane journey as Sam navigates the traumatic event. Hijack will leave you on the edge of your seat, wanting more as each episode ends – which only makes it more maddening that episodes land weekly on Apple TV!
Nordic noir… BBC 4 has finally given us another Nordic noir series Beck (meaning it’s back to reading subtitles and trying to learn a few Swedish words). Beck sees hypochondriac detective Martin Beck and his handpicked team take on macabre crime in the seedy Stockholm underworld. The cast is excellent and the crimes twisty – we would recommended Beck for fans of The Bridge or Wallander. Watch the new run of four episodes on BBC 4.
Los Angeles looker… The Lincoln Lawyer is back for a second season as the suave Mickey Haller (played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo) gets some unexpected career news. Based on the series of bestselling novels by renowned author Michael Connelly, the second season is based on the fourth book in The Lincoln Lawyer series, The Fifth Witness. Getting his Lincoln out of storage (essential, that’s where he runs his law practice after all), suiting up and fielding calls from his multiple ex-wives, the defense lawyer finds his feet again following a personal and professional spiral. Soothing beachscapes and Malibu sun-drenched shots are mixed in with this easy-watching and entertaining courtroom drama series. Watch it on Netflix.
Living in an AI world… The first episode of the new season of Black Mirror, ‘Joan is Awful’ is an AI satire which is very in tune with the Writers Guild of America protests now. We know that one of the reasons the screenwriters of the Writers Guild are on strike is the fear that AI will eventually steal their jobs, so it is a bit on the nose that in the sixth season of Charlie Booker’s Black Mirror, it’s not just industry insiders whose lives (and livelihoods) are affected by AI but the viewers’ too. In ‘Joan is Awful’ an average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming service has launched a drama series that is an eerily accurate direct adaptation of her life (exposing her secrets throughout…) in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek. Watch it on Netflix now.
Worth waiting for… Lessons in Chemistry, the first novel by author Bonnie Garmus, was one of the biggest bestsellers of 2022 (and one of THE GLOSS team’s favourites). Set in the early 1960s, the book observes chemist Elizabeth Zott with her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute, who take a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans; the lonely, brilliant, Nobel-prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with – of all things – her mind. True chemistry. But like science, life doesn’t always follow a straight line. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show “Supper at Six”. Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. That’s because Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo. If you haven’t already read Lessons in Chemistry, do it now! You’ll be ready and waiting for the TV adaptation when it lands on Apple TV+ on October 13, with an episode released each Friday until November 24.
