‘What’s the Buzz?’ Volume 17

The long, hot summer is over; the nights are drawing in and it’s time to grab a blanket and catch up with ‘What’s on’.

Here are ten thoughts for exceptional TV viewing, spanning the world… some with sub-titles. All come very highly recommended.

If you don’t subscribe, do what I did and ‘cheat’ with a 7-day free trial then un-subscribe as soon as you have watched it!

It is a superb series about three First Ladies, Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama played by the award-winning actresses: Gillian Anderson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Viola Davis.

A moving documentary about the devastating effect of The Taliban on the freedom of Afghanistan’s young female population, told through the world of music.

Multi-award laden, and worth the hype. Rupert Murdoch meets Lord and Lady MacBeth. Beautifully written and wonderfully acted.

And brilliant in every way – even better than the books or the plays that several of us saw together? Judge for yourself.

A friendly football match between a team from Tel Aviv and one from Munich will symbolise a new hopeful era of peace and reconciliation in Israeli-German relations.

Or so the organisers think. As misplaced as so many ideas for public events in 2022!

From the Team that brought you Fauda, so you can expect a white-knuckle-ride of a thriller.

A brave decision to re-make the runaway French hit of Lockdown, but it does work, mainly due to the super cast of Jack Davenport, Lydia Leonard, Maggie Steed and Tim McInnerney.

This extremely well reviewed series has just begun and is available on BBC iPlayer.

Set in a precarious 1920s Berlin, when social animosity and disparity were heightened, this is a gritty and beautifully crafted drama about the lives of four people associated with the Jewish-owned department store Kaufhaus des Westens.

The Scandi Noir genre travels to Luxembourg which turns out to be nothing like as dull a tax haven as some thought! An engaging lead character in Luc Capitani and an engrossing story.

A film that might have slipped through the net, but is now available on Netflix. Based on a novel by Daphne Du Maurier, and with a ‘phenomenal performance’ by Matthew Rhys (The Guardian) it tells the tale of a man who meets his double… very Daphne Du Maurier, a super period piece.

Again, if you haven’t subscribed, ‘cheat’ as above. Series 1 is available now, but season 2 is in the pipeline.

Based on Min Jin Lee’s bestselling 2017 novel, this is a vast, sumptuous, dynastic political TV series of the kind scarcely made any more. This sweeping saga chronicles the hopes and dreams of a Korean immigrant family across four generations in Japan as they leave their homeland in an indomitable quest to survive and thrive. Utterly brilliant viewing – don’t miss it!