Sherwood is your next must-watch British drama
Plus: a new episode of Takeout Kids, the return of an Auckland music festival, and how to watch a movie star talk about a movie.
Last weekend I spent a cold and rainy Sunday afternoon on the couch, binge watching Netflix’s latest true crime documentary series Who Killed Lacey Peterson? True crime is something Netflix does well, and this was one of its tragic yet gripping documentaries that delved into the murder of a young American woman and explored the ways the case fascinated the public for years. If you’re a true crime fan, it’s worth a watch – if not, we’ve got plenty of other recommendations to keep you busy this weekend.
Season two of Sherwood raises issues that will resonate in Aotearoa
When it comes to British drama, there’s no shortage of high quality, award-winning shows to choose from. Whether it’s Happy Valley, Broadchurch, Line of Duty, Peaky Blinders or Sherlock, these shows set the bar high by pulling in viewers around the world with their rich, complex characters, gripping storylines and intriguing twists. It’s TV you know won’t let you down, and two years ago, we added a new classic to the list: BBC drama Sherwood.
Created and written by James Graham (The Crown, Quiz, Brexit: The Uncommon War), the BAFTA-award winning first season of Sherwood was hailed by critics as the cleverest, most compelling show in years, and “just about perfect”. The show was inspired by two real murders in an ex-mining village in Nottinghamshire, England, where old resentments from the 1980s miners strikes simmered under the surface. Season one pulsed with a strong sense of time and place, as the search for a killer uncovered a working-class community still suffering from the decisions of its government decades earlier.
Now there’s another murder to solve in Sherwood, with season two premiering on TVNZ+ and TVNZ1 this Sunday. This time, the story was inspired by an era of fierce gun crime and gang violence that caused Nottingham to be nicknamed “Shottingham”. Some familiar characters return, including Detective Ian St Clair (David Morrisey), Daphne Sparrow (Lorraine Ashbourne) and Julie Jackson (the always brilliant Lesley Manville). There are also several new characters, played by experienced actors like Monica Dolan (Mr Bates and The Post Office), David Harewood (Homeland), and Robert Lindsay (My Family).
While season one of Sherwood felt gritty and steeped in political history, season two feels harsher and more contemporary. Detective St Clair has retired from policing, but when a murder threatens to reignite local gang tensions, he becomes involved in the case. The possibility of reopening the coal mines has the progressive new sheriff of Nottingham (The Power’s Ria Zmitrowicz) butting heads with a millionaire businessman (Lindsay). Then, of course, there’s the murder: a brutal, sudden affair that unites two well-known crime families in their quest for revenge.
Episode one sets out the many tangled strands of the story. Talk of a new mine hits a nerve with those who endured the strikes and closures under Thatcher, and who now live with the consequences of those decisions: unemployment, crime, societal breakdown. There’s more family secrets and complicated relationships to unravel. Although Sherwood is set on the other side of the world, it raises timely issues that will resonate here, like a government turning away from sustainable energy to mine fossil fuels, and families destroyed by crime and poverty.
Nottingham is famous for the story of Robin Hood, but Sherwood reminds us that outlaws still rule the city, many of them hiding in plain sight. Season one was a tough act to follow, but episode one of the new season reveals a richly layered piece of television that is a must-watch for British drama fans. Sherwood is a social and political drama as much as it is a murder mystery, one that takes the fractured mess of everyday society and holds a mirror up to it to ask: if this is what we have done to ourselves, where do we go from here?
Sherwood screens on TVNZ1 on Sunday September 1 at 8.30pm and streams on TVNZ+.
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Why you should watch: Takeout Kids
This week’s Takeout Kids episode introduces 13-year-old Dom, who when he’s not playing sports at school with friends enjoys shooting hoops outside his mother’s Thai restaurant in Taupō. Dom helps his mum out by waiting tables and letting her critique his golfing stance, even when he doesn’t want to hear it. We watch Dom at school as he discovers what it means to have grit and learn about his strained relationship with his father, all while balancing a busy life of work, basketball and golf. Catch up on episode one of Takeout Kids (featuring five year old Priyan, who helps out at his parents’ superette in Auckland) and learn more about the series here. Made with the support of NZ On Air.
Why you should head to: Auckland’s best block party The Others Way
Can you hear the festival klaxon ringing? It's the sound of Auckland’s most reliable block-party The Others Way returning in November to signal the start of the summer music festival season after far too long. The festival has released its first line-up reveal, with a mix of local and overseas set to take over Karangahape Road in November. As well as the international acts – Parquet Courts’ A. Savage and Canadian singer-songwriter Andy Shauf, as well as Dean and Britta performing the songs of Galaxie 500 – you’ll also want to catch the large crop of local talent.
There’s the slick and stylish Mokomokai for the hip-hop lovers, DJ sets from Half Queen and Pollyhill & Samara Alofa for the ravers, a Princess Chelsea performance with her Dream Warriors for lovers of the weird and wonderful, and SKILAA for those who want to hear everything in between. For the suckers for nostalgia, Ladyhawke will also be playing her self-titled debut album. / Lyric Waiwiri-Smith
More pop culture from The Spinoff:
Duncan Garner, Suzanne Paul and Carmel Sepuloni walk onto an island? Find out who could win $100,000 for charity in the upcoming season of Celebrity Treasure Island.
In one of our most exciting My Life In TVs to date, we talked to Sir Sam Neill about his secret reality TV guilty pleasure.
Alex Casey spoke to South Auckland-raised drag queen Kween Kong, who’s proving to be a fierce contender in RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars.
Joanna McLeod has been campaigning for years for Shortland Street to include a fat character. This week, it delivered.
“With each listen I hear something different”: musician Semisi Ma’ia’i reveals his perfect weekend playlist.
Alex Casey chatted with Tarryn Ryan (Kāi Tahu, Ngāpuhi), the organiser of a new Māori film festival in Ōtautahi called Mātaki Mai.
Looking for something new to stream this weekend? We’ve got you covered.
Why you should watch: Letterboxd 'Four Favourites' videos on Instagram
Why watch a whole movie when you can simply watch a movie star talk about a movie? One of my favourite Instagram accounts to lose an hour or two on is the New Zealand start-up-turned-global-cinema-nerd-behemoth Letterboxd, who send tributes to every red carpet and notable junket to ask famous people what their four favourite movies are. There was a great local edition recently which featured the likes of Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie choosing their four favourite family films, but I'm just as into Halsey revealing she has a huge tattoo from Portrait of a Lady on Fire on her forearm and Colin Farrell sheepishly asking if he can say Back to the Future. Anne Hathaway loves Dancer in the Dark! Chris Hemsworth loves The Neverending Story! Nicholas Galatzine loooooves Shrek 2! Why get recs from us when you get recs from KIRSTEN DUNST, for crying out loud?! / Alex Casey
Before we pop off…
“Politics drives us all mad, but when it comes to voting in Bird of the Year, everyone gets to put their positivity hat on.” Nobody tell John Oliver, but the Bird of the Year campaign has begun.
Why did Oasis agree to reunite? This might have something to do with it, while I enjoyed finding out that the band originally split up after Liam threw a piece of fruit at Noel.
As a new season of Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power returns to Prime Video, Dominic Corry asked the show’s stars what they miss the most about Aotearoa.
With Warner Bros proposing a restructure, there’s uncertainty around the future of shows like Celebrity Treasure Island, Great Kiwi Bake Off and David Lomas Investigates.
Early reviews of the Beetlejuice sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice reckon it’s so good, it’s better than the original.
That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.
