10 of the best TV shows to watch this June |
Cape Fear to House of the Dragon: 10 of the best TV shows to watch this June
From a starry new adaptation of the classic thriller to the return of the spectacular Game of Thrones prequel – and a sketch series about US history created by Larry David.
1. Not Suitable for Work
Mindy Kaling has been behind the scenes more than she has been on screen lately, as co-creator of the successful shows The Sex Lives of College Girls and Running Point. She is the sole creator of this new comedy – that sounds like Friends meets The Office (another show she worked on) – about five people in their 20s who live in the same Manhattan neighbourhood, with workaholic attitudes and professional dreams in common. They range from a financial analyst to a fashion stylist and a medical student who actually wants to be an actor, and of course their paths criss-cross in complicated ways. The actors playing the friends aren't well known, but they are surrounded by more familiar faces, including Jay Ellis, Constance Wu and Ego Nwodim as bosses, mentors or thorns in their sides. From The Mindy Project on, few creators have a better track record than Kaling.
Not Suitable for Work premieres 2 June on Hulu in the US and Disney in the UK
This fact-based drama looks back at the aftermath of a crime – the 1992 murder of Rachel Nickell, who was stabbed as she was walking in a London park with her two-year-old son, Alex. More than a murder mystery, it is a story about family and a botched police investigation. André Hanscombe (Jordan Bolger), Nickell's partner and Alex's father, is so determined to safeguard his son after the murder that they move away from the city. "If Alex was the only witness, he's in danger," André says in the trailer, convinced the police can't protect him. Sixteen years later the case is reopened, and the teenaged Alex (Max Fincham) has to grapple with the emotional fallout again. The real-life father and son cooperated with the project. And along with the dramatic series Netflix will premiere a companion documentary, The Murder of Rachel Nickell.
The Witness premieres 4 June on Netflix internationally
If Javier Bardem doesn't terrify you in this thriller nothing will. He stars as the sinister Max Cady, a killer released after years in prison. Determined to get revenge on the lawyer couple he holds responsible for convicting him, he goes after them and their family. The series is based on a John D MacDonald novel, The Executioners, that has been adapted before, in a 1962 film with Robert Mitchum as Cady and a 1991 Martin Scorsese remake with Robert De Niro. Gregory Peck and Nick Nolte played Cady's targets in the films. This version centres on a married couple, played by Amy Adams and Patrick Wilson, and instead of a young daughter gives them two teenaged children. But the story is still an intense psychological thriller in which Cady keeps ramping up his threats, and which start out creepy and become lethal. All three screen versions have smartly changed the title of the novel to reflect the perfectly-named setting, the Cape Fear region of North Carolina.
Cape Fear premieres 5 June on Apple TV internationally
4. The Vampire Lestat
This is actually the third season of the drama Interview with the Vampire, based on Anne Rice's celebrated book series, but it has been renamed to reflect its new focus, which shifts from the vampire Louis (Jacob Anderson, still in the show) to his on-and-off lover, Lestat (Sam Reid), who is now 265 years old and a rock star on tour. "I am the Vampire Lestat. I am a God!" he proclaims, like any mortal rock star, in a trailer that has him singing a cover........