Genre: Documentary comedy Creator: Gavin Whitehead Cast: Jeremy Clarkson, Kaleb Cooper, Gerald Cooper, Charlie Ireland Cert: 15 Series: 1 (2021)
In recent years Jeremy Clarkson has been spending his free time, who would have imagined, tending to roughly 1000 acres of farmland in Oxfordshire. This documentary is the result of those efforts, and tracks his wayward attempts to turn his farm, named “Diddly Squat”, into a productive enterprise – with the help of a host of farmhands and land management specialists. It’s all great fun, and an insight into everything that can go wrong in the food production chain.
Goliath
Genre: Drama Creator: David E. Kelley Cast: Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt, Olivia Thirlby Cert: 15 Series: 4 (2016-21)
In a nutshell: Titus Welliver’s character in Bosch may be rumpled, but Goliath’s bedraggled antihero Billy McBride makes him looked like a crisply laundered silk shirt. Ally McBeal writer David E Kelley teamed up with Jonathan Shapiro (Boston Legal) to create this legal thriller. It’s a by-the-numbers affair, but still worth a look for Thornton’s Golden Globe-winning performance as heavy-drinking, ambulance-chasing lawyer McBride, struggling to sober up and rebuild his career.
Good Girls Revolt
Genre: Drama Creator: Dana Calvo Cast: Genevieve Angelson, Anna Camp, Jim Belushi, Grace Gummer Cert: 15 Series: 1 (2016)
In a nutshell: More than 36,000 people signed a petition calling Amazon to bring back this fluffy but enjoyable Sixties drama, which was cruelly axed after just one series. Positioning itself as a feminist riposte to Mad Men, it follows a group of female researchers at a thinly-veiled version of Newsweek magazine, who file a landmark lawsuit against their sexist bosses.
It never delves very deeply into the issues, and the writing too often lands with a clunk, but fiery lead performances and a cracking soundtrack make this a groovy guilty pleasure. If you’re interested in the real court case it’s based on, pick up a copy of the fascinating memoir by Lynn Povich that inspired the series.
Hacks
Genre: Comedy drama Creator: Lucia Aniello, Paul W Downs, Jen Statsky Cast: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins Cert: 15 Series: 1 (2022)
In a nutshell: This superb comedy-drama follows veteran comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) as she attempts to stave off irrelevance by reluctantly working alongside young comedy writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder). The pair are reluctant companions with delightful love-hate chemistry, but need one another – each hungry for a kind of relevance that only the other can provide.
I Love Dick
Genre: Comedy drama Creator: Jill Soloway, Andrea Sperling, Sarah Gubbins Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Kevin Bacon, Griffin Dunne Cert: 15 Series: 1 (2017)
In a nutshell: Adapted from Chris Kraus’s cult feminist classic I Love Dick by co-creators Jil Soloway and Sarah Gubbins, this comedy takes the intensity of Kraus’s memoir and expands it beyond the realms of the author’s largely one-sided correspondence with Dick. Los Angeles is swapped for Marfa, a real life arts community in Texas that, on screen, is home to a number of unfeasibly good-looking creatives.
Transparent’s Kathryn Hahn plays Chris, a married writer who slowly becomes obsessed with a larger-than-life sociologist called Dick (Kevin Bacon).
