The Completely Made-up Adventures of Dick Turpin
From Friday, March 1st, Apple TV+
Bake Off presenter Noel Fielding goes back to his comedy roots in this period romp, playing a dandy highwayman who makes Adam Ant look positively threatening. It’s a return to the absurdism of The Mighty Boosh, as unlikely outlaw Dick Turpin bluffs his way in the criminal world using charm, showmanship and his deadliest weapon: a great head of hair. But corrupt thief-taker Jonathan Wilde (Hugh Bonneville) is determined to take Turpin down, and will stop at very little to get his hands on Dick. Expect a supporting cast of comedy greats, and lots of puerile puns revolving around Turpin’s first name.
Death and Other Details
From Tuesday, March 5th, Disney+
We all know Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, the three greatest sleuths in popular fiction; some of us even know Benoit Blanc, the brilliant detective from the Knives Out films. But now meet the greatest of them all, Rufus Cotesworth, in this new murder mystery series set on a luxury cruiser. Not a million miles from Death on the Nile, it stars Mandy Patinkin as the detective who knows the devil is in the detail. When a guest is murdered, Cotesworth must go through the list of privileged passengers to find the killer on board. He has an assistant – smart cookie Imogene Scott (Violett Beane). Only problem is, she is also the prime suspect.
Full Swing
Streaming from Wednesday, March 6th, Netflix
Golf might look pretty sedate from where you’re sitting, but this Netflix documentary series proves that when it comes to thrills, spills and dollar bills, few sports come close to it for sheer nerve-shredding excitement. And now the drama ramps up again for a second series as the controversy over the breakaway Saudi LIV tour reaches boiling point. When it is announced that PGA and LIV have cut a deal, all hell breaks loose, and Rory McIlroy, one of the fiercest opponents of LIV, tells the press “I feel like a sacrificial lamb”. McIlroy’s star power dominates this second series, but Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Rickie Fowler and many more stars of the game give it loads, and there’s plenty of action from the Ryder Cup and from the players’ individual home lives.
Extraordinary
Streaming from Wednesday, March 6th, Disney+
It’s series two of the superhero comedy, and Jen still hasn’t found her superpower. Not for want of trying, either – after all, when everyone else around you can fly, juggle buses or randomly change shape, it’s understandable that you might feel a bit left out of the power party. Despite enrolling at a special clinic, those elusive superpowers still baffle Jen, so she just has to get on with the everyday problems of modern adulthood. Meanwhile, her friends Kash and Carrie are going through a bit of a break-up, and things aren’t going smoothly between Jen and her boyfriend Jizzlord, who used to be a cat. Mairéad Tyers returns as Jen, with Siobhán McSweeney back in the role of Mary.
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The Gentlemen
Streaming from Thursday, March 7th, Netflix
Guy Ritchie revisits the world of his 2020 film The Gentlemen in this new series, bringing in new characters and new conflicts, but keeping many of his familiar Brit gangster tropes firmly in place. Theo James plays aristo Eddie Horniman, who has inherited his father’s estate and reckons he’s in clover. But then he discovers that his dad ran a huge illegal drugs business, and there are a lot of dodgy characters banging on the mansion door looking for a piece of the action. To survive in this criminal underworld, Horniman will have to become one of them. Ray Winstone stars as East End gang boss Bobby Glass, and the starry cast includes Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Max Beesley and Ritchie’s old mucker Vinnie Jones.
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (Taylor’s Version)
Streaming from Friday, March 15th, Disney+
It’s bigger than The Mandalorian, and will generate more memes than even Baby Yoda. Yes, you read it right: Taylor Swift is coming to Disney+, and her transformation into the world’s favourite fantasy princess is complete. This film captures the musical and cultural phenomenon as she performs on her Eras world tour, and has already become the highest-grossing concert film of all time, taking in nearly $300 million at the global box office. Most of us can only dream of bagging a ticket to see her live, but now we can watch from the comfort of our home cinema as Swift goes through her considerable hit list live on stage, and this version features bonus acoustic songs, including the fab Cardigan.
Manhunt
Streaming from Friday, March 15th, Apple TV+
On April 15th, 1865, US president Abraham Lincoln was shot in the head while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC, and died the next morning. The assassin was actor and confederate sympathiser John Wilkes Booth, and this true crime series, based on the best-selling book by James L Swanson, follows the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination, as hundreds of law enforcement officers embarked on a countrywide manhunt to find the killer, who becomes a bit of a hero among the confederacy. This could be a timely glimpse into a divided America 160 years ago.
Palm Royale
Streaming from Wednesday, March 20th, Apple TV+
Kristen Wiig stars as wannabe socialite Maxine Simmons in this drama series set in the rich playground of Palm Beach in the 1960s. Simmons is determined to gain entry to the exclusive Palm Royale club, but to do that she’s going to have to reinvent herself – and gain the trust of the wealthy women who rule Palm Beach high society. The series also stars Laura Dern, Allison Janney and Ricky Martin, with cameos from Hollywood’s Carol Burnett and Bruce Dern, and promises to rival Barbie for colourful costumes and sets, as Simmons stops at nothing to cross the line between the haves and the have-yachts.
3 Body Problem
Streaming from Thursday, March 21st, Netflix
You’re going to have to sit up and pay attention while watching this time-bending, mind-blowing, reality-twisting thriller which jumps from 1960s China during the Cultural Revolution to modern-day Oxford and New York and into a phantasmagorical virtual reality realm. The plot? A Chinese scientist in the 1960s makes a fateful decision that results in the biggest threat to humanity ever. When the world’s most brilliant boffins start turning up dead in mysterious circumstances, ex-intelligence officer Da Shi (Benedict Wong) teams up with a group of scientists to fight this unseen new enemy. Irish actor Liam Cunningham stars as elite intelligence boss Wade, with Jonathan Pryce as environmentalist turned oil tycoon Mike Evans.
Renegade Nell
Streaming from Friday, March 29th, Disney+
Louisa Harland from Derry Girls dons the 18th-century outlaw costume to star in this swashbuckling new fantasy adventure series created by Sally Wainwright. Harland plays smart young woman Nell Jackson, who is framed for murder, so she is left with no choice but to go on the run with her two younger sisters Roxy and George, and reinvent herself as the most notorious highwaywoman in England. Nick Mohammed plays a magical spirit named Billy Blind, who reveals Jackson’s true destiny, while Adrian Lester plays the scheming Earl of Poynton and Joely Richardson plays newspaper magnate Lady Eularia Moggerhanger.
