Back by popular demand, our TV experts are on hand with their weekly roundup of the best films and shows to watch right now. If you're in the mood for a new comedy show from a British icon or a thrilling spy series from the creator of Peaky Blinders, then this is exactly the list for you. For those in search of a more relaxed watch, perhaps a nostalgic reality series featuring one of music's most loved families, or a look back at the Lionesses' Euros win, will be of interest... The Assassin (2025 series) Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore star in a thriller series about a retired hitwoman Certificate: 15 Settled into a sedate life on a quiet Greek island, Julie (Keeley Hawes) hopes she's put her past as a professional assassin behind her. She feels she has enough to deal with when her estranged son Edward (Freddie Highmore) turns up looking for answers about his paternity from his distant and secretive mother. But then ghosts from her former life reappear, forcing the pair to go on the run together as they try to avoid being crushed in the cogs of a wide-reaching conspiracy. Dark, exciting and full of twists, this six-part thriller from Harry and Jack Williams (The Missing, The Tourist) give Hawes freedom to tap back into the lethal skills of her Spooks days, while also crafting a believable dysfunctional relationship with the always-excellent Highmore, who is playing a very, very British character. Watch out too for appearances from Jack Davenport, Richard Dormer, Gina Gershon and Alan Dale. If you enjoyed seeing Keira Knightley on lethal form in Netflix's Black Doves, The Assassin is a less bloody opportunity to see Hawes do something similar. (Six episodes) Mr Bigstuff Danny Dyer is on Bafta-winning form as an outlandish returning brother in Ryan Sampson's comedy Certificate: 15 Danny Dyer has always had a flair for comedy and he's certainly made funny films, but this show is, incredibly, his first, actual proper TV comedy series. Dyer is Bafta-winning as Lee, the returning estranged older brother of Glen, a meek carpet salesmen played by series creator Ryan Sampson (Brassic). In series one, Lee re-enters Glen's life like a drunken bowling ball, turning up at his place of work and instantly making a nuisance of himself. So, will Lee's return ruin Glen's life, or will it be the making of him? And what is Lee hiding from his brother? Those are the questions that the six-part first series asks, and the process of having them answered provides a steady stream of laughs, not least of which is Glen and Lee's dance routine to M People's Moving On Up in the opening episode. The language is pretty strong at times but then, this is Dyer, so you'd expect that. Series two doesn't miss a beat as it jumps back into the shambolic lives of the brothers and, if anything, it's a good deal funnier and stronger than the first run. Lee is a mess following the news about their dad and spends his days drinking in the street, shouting at neighbours for putting rubbish in the wrong bins. What will rouse him from his stupor? As we figure that out across the series, some terrific guest stars further enliven the show's already strong comedy rhythms, including Rula Lenska in a role we won't spoil and Shaun Williamson in an all-too-brief appearance as a very angry clown. (Two series) Under The Bridge Murder mystery drama starring Riley Keough based on real-life events Certificate: 15 In 1997, a quiet island in British Columbia, Canada, is rocked when 14-year-old Reena Virk fails to return after attending a party with her friends. When the search for the girl becomes a murder investigation, a novelist who grew up in the town named Rebecca Godfrey (played by Riley Keough - of Daisy Jones And The Six fame, who also happens to be Elvis's granddaughter) returns to the area to look into the case. Discovering a tangled mess of jealousy and menace among the area's teenaged girls, Rebecca begins to wonder if some of them could have been behind Reena's death. A fictionalised account of a genuine crime (the real-life Rebecca Godfrey wrote the investigative book that inspired the series), this is a dark and unsettling eight-part mystery. Keough again proves that she's a talent on the rise, but watch out too for a fine turn from British actress Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife) as Reena's mother. (Eight episodes) Elisabeth Moss stars as an MI6 agent in a race against time Certificate: 18 'I can change into anything. Become a hundred strangers.' Elisabeth Moss dons a crisp English accent to play MI6 agent Imogen Salter in this glossy and gritty international spy thriller. Salter is a brilliant but unstable asset, a woman who has adopted so many identities that she's not entirely sure who she is any more. Salter is deployed - presumably without a particularly rigorous psych assessment - to track down the mysterious and dangerous Adilah El Idrissi (Little Birds' Yumna Marwan), who could be preparing an attack on the west. The show is very much about the veil between truth and lies that unfolds between them as they travel between Istanbul, Paris and London, while The Good Wife's Josh Charles knocks back the whisky as a CIA agent who thinks he can control Salter. The fool! Written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, This Town), the resulting adventure plays a little like a B-movie take on Homeland or Killing Eve, with Moss giving it some great acting punch as the bewitchingly confused Salter. It's not quite as good as watching Claire Danes dig into the tighter script she had on Homeland but then, that's a very high bar to set. (Six episodes) Unforgivable Jimmy McGovern's drama explores the devastating impact on a family of an uncle's abuse of a nephew Certificate: 18 Jimmy McGovern is known for writing gripping social dramas about ordinary people dealing with extraordinary moments, often seeing them dragged down by a society and institutions that fail them. In Time and Accused, it was a failing prison and justice system. Here, he tackles his most controversial subject yet - arguably TV's last taboo - and doesn't hold back. Take that as a warning that this won't be for everyone. That subject is child abuse, but not just that. Joe (Bobby Schofield, This City Is Ours) is a 30-something man convicted of sexually assaulting his young nephew. And while scenes do focus on him and what he did, exploring his guilt, shame and self-loathing, this is also the story of his family, and the impact his appalling crime had on them, too. Joe is no straightforward villain and his story is far more complex and moving than you might imagine. It's no easier a watch because of how sensitively it's handled, but it is worth watching. (104 minutes) Katherine Parkinson and Alison Steadman star in this chaotic family comedy, now back for a new series Year: 2020- Certificate: 15 Just after Christmas 2020, the comedy pilot Pandemonium introduced us to the Jessops, who were trying to enjoy their summer holiday - in Margate, in October - after the pandemic put paid to their plans to go to America. The show reflected how so many of us were feeling then: cash-strapped, fed up and unable to go abroad, but set on making the most of time with our families. When it returned as a series in 2022 it had a new name but the core cast - Alison Steadman as matriarch Sue, Horrible Histories' Jim Howick as her son Paul, and Katherine Parkinson as Paul's wife Rachel - remained as we followed a year in the lives of the chaotic clan. It was warm, funny and perfectly captured the chaos of modern family life. In the opener to the second series, mum Rachel grapples with being a 'mature' student, and hosts a seriously uncool party that ends with her head in the toilet. Meanwhile, Paul swans about in a nightie, as embarrassing as ever, and a very stroppy Amy (Freya Parks) is disgruntled at home after returning from her trip to Norway. The gang also get together to head out on the water in Paul's old boat. Well, 'blow-up dinghy' might be a more apt term. The latest, third series begins with plans to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Rachel and Paul; then, Rachel becomes somewhat overkeen to befriend the new neighbours... (Three series) Diane Morgan's comedy creation goes on hapless adventures in a show that's now back for a new series Year: 2019- Certificate: 12 You may know her as Philomena Cunk, the moronic presenter of entirely inaccurate history and culture documentaries, or as chaotic single mum Liz in Motherland, but Diane Morgan's oddest creation is all her own. Constantly chewing her lip to grotesque degrees, Mandy is the backcombed heroine of these bitesize episodes who spends her time trying and failing to get gainful employment. Over three series, she has not learnt a single lesson about how to get on in the world. She's tried working in a banana-processing warehouse, biscuit factory, in a supermarket and a stately home and there are always surreal and outrageous catastrophes, and the odd fatality. Series three appears to have had a bit more budget to play with, enabling some fun special effects when Mandy has leg-lengthening surgery to become an airline hostess. Whether she's flying high or low, Mandy always picks herself up and starts again. The latest, fourth series features a raft of guest stars and a brisk delivery of gags that skew to the sillier or edgier side. (Four series) Happy Gilmore 2 Adam Sandler returns as the rebellious golfer in a sequel to the 1996 comedy Certificate: 12 In the 1996 original, loudmouthed hockey player Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler) turns to professional golf when he realises that his running slapshot can be turned into a mighty golf swing, thumping the ball 400 yards down the fairway. The result was a riotous, silly, slapstick-filled comedy sports movie. This sequel picks up three decades later as Happy drags himself out of retirement in order to win enough money to pay for his daughter's ballet school. Can he rediscover his old magic? It's fun finding out. Sandler is having a great time bringing Happy back here, gleefully reviving the character's inimitable mouthy, uncouth, big-hearted charm as he faces off against enemies old and new, including Ben Stiller and Christopher McDonald, who returns as former rival Shooter McGavin. (117 minutes) The Osbournes The original celebrity reality show, following Ozzy and co at home in Los Angeles Year: 2002-2005 Certificate: 18 Celebrity family reality shows are common these days, to the extent that they've become a little too packaged and predictable - so it's easy to forget there was a time when such series could genuinely knock your viewing socks off. When The Osbournes hit our screens in 2002, that's exactly what happened as rocker Ozzy and wife Sharon invited cameras into their LA home to put their domestic discord on full display. The show raised the profile of Sharon, as well as children Kelly and Jack, propelling them off into their own TV series and careers, but at the centre of it all was Ozzy, consciously or unconsciously stepping into the shoes of the classic sitcom dad, baffled by technology and the modern world, wandering around the house doing whatever seemed best to him at the time. The unfiltered rawness of the family's antics remains mesmerising and hilarious many years on, while the show has gained an added poignancy since Ozzy died. Taken as a whole, The Osbournes is a reminder that family looks different for everyone and that there's nothing so strange as what goes on behind other people's doors. Although not everyone's doors open into a mansion... (Four series) The BAFTA-nominated musical take on Robbie William's life, with the singer played by a digital chimp Certificate: 15 Have you ever imagined what a film of Robbie Williams's life might look like if he were played by a digital chimp, and it were staged as a jukebox musical? That's exactly the approach Michael Gracey's film takes to portraying the ascent of the Angels singer, tracing his rise from the streets of Stoke-on-Trent to the heights of entertaining more than 375,000 at Knebworth in 2003. It's a rags-to-riches story then, but one shot through with the importance of relationships - chiefly, Robbie's relationship with himself. The portrayal of the ex-Take Thatter as a chimp represents Robbie's insecurities and how he measures himself through the eyes of those around him, personally and professionally. Two other relationships are significant here, too - that with his showman father and with All Saints' Nicole Appleton, to whom Robbie was engaged. The story of their relationship and especially why she didn't move forward with her pregnancy, is arguably the emotional core of the film and unexpectedly moving in what it says about the cost of fame and why people are prepared to pay it. Gracey's film is filled with creatively staged musical numbers that veer in style from West End razzmatazz to edgy music video, deploying nifty visual effects throughout that earned it a BAFTA nomination. It's also, we shouldn't forget to say, a highly entertaining film to watch, particularly the stretch detailing Robbie's time with Take That. Although it may leave you wondering why on earth anyone would pursue a career in pop music in the first place. (135 minutes) The Good Liar Cat-and-mouse thriller starring Ian McKellen and Helen Mirren Certificate: 15 When a veteran conman (Ian McKellen) sets his sights on a wealthy widow (Helen Mirren) as his next victim, he thinks he's found himself an easy mark. As he charms his way into her life, though, it becomes apparent that there is much more going on than meets the eye. With a back story involving events during the dark days of the Second World War, this is a precisely engineered Swiss watch of a thriller. It's nowhere near as cut and dried as it first appears and will keep you guessing until the end - and the two leads are, of course, an absolute delight. The supporting cast includes Russell Tovey and Downton's Jim Carter and the director is Bill Condon, who also directed McKellen in Mr Holmes. (109 minutes) The Amateur Rami Malek stars as a CIA computer expert who uses his particular skills for a mission of revenge Certificate: 12 Movies in which men who don't seem like action heroes somehow become them are a genre by themselves. Liam Neeson made a second career out of such fare and Rami Malek, star of Mr Robot, Oscar-winning in Bohemian Rhapsody and surprisingly boring as the baddie in No Time To Die, gives it his own twist in The Amateur. Malek plays CIA cryptographer Charlie Heller, an unworldly man who dreams of more exciting things but is happy enough with his lot, particularly with his marriage to his wife Sarah, who is played by Rachel Brosnahan - casting that implies Charlie is punching well above his weight. One day, Sarah goes on a fateful trip to London and Charlie stumbles upon some dangerous data at work. Then, a chain reaction of events send him on a mission of grief-filled revenge, using his next-level nerd skills to outsmart his more traditionally minded opponents. The Amateur didn't hit big at the box office but, watching at home, this makes for a solidly exciting way to pass the evening. Malek makes the most of the emotional side of his underdog role, and the set-piece with the collapsing glass swimming pool is extraordinary. That sequence is in the trailer, so don't watch that if you'd prefer to see it in the punchier context of the film. (122 minutes) Lionesses: How Football Came Home As England's women defend their title in the Euro 2025 tournament, revisit the team's great 2022 success Certificate: 12 Racking up victory after thrilling victory in the European Championships en route to a showpiece Wembley final and England's first major footballing title since the men won the 1966 World Cup, the Lionesses allowed football fans to dream again. With access to the players themselves, as well as official UEFA footage of the games and unseen behind-the-scenes video, this documentary sets out to tell the story of that frankly glorious summer. As you watch new interviews with the team, it's fascinating to reflect on how quickly so many of them - including captain Leah Williamson, top goalscorer Beth Mead and future Queen of the Jungle Jill Scott - have since become household names. (77 minutes) Critical: Between Life And Death Documentary series from the makers of 24 Hours In A&E, looking at the work of London's major trauma centres Certificate: 15 Fast-paced and enthralling, this four-part medical documentary series captures the work of London's four main trauma centres. Using body-cams and handheld units to follow everyone from paramedics and helicopter pilots to hospital staff and surgeons, it shows how they transport badly injured people quickly across the capital to the specialised centres and then how they battle to assess and then repair the damage that patients have suffered. Filmed over 21 days, it's a genuinely thrilling show that follows the entirety of each patient's treatment. Full of interviews not just with the staff involved in cases but with the victims and their friends and family too, it strives to explain just what the medics' efforts mean to them as they deal with injuries that are frequently life-changing in their severity. (Four episodes) Trainwreck: P.I. Moms Documentary looking at a disastrous reality show about soccer mom detectives Certificate: 15 Reality TV is all about the high-concept - the big idea that immediately grabs the attention of the audience. In 2010, the Lifetime channel thought it had the perfect one when they were pitched a show centred around a private detective agency staffed by working mothers. They envisioned something between Charlie's Angels and Desperate Housewives, but what they got was a mess of lies in which the only real criminals turned out to be members of the agency itself. This instalment in the always-entertaining string of one-off Trainwreck documentaries follows the unravelling of the TV show as members of the production crew spotted inconsistencies about staff and cases, investigations kept falling apart and allegations of sabotage abounded. And that's all before accusations were made that the agency's boss was actually running an illegal drug operation on the side, helped by a corrupt cop... (45 minutes) The Narrow Road To The Deep North Life, love and war, as seen through the eyes of an Australian doctor Certificate: 15 Based on the Booker prize-winning novel by Richard Flanagan, this epic, enigmatic Australian drama is the story of Dorrigo Evans (Saltburn's Jacob Elordi), a man shaped by nightmares not of his making. Part romance, part war drama, it's a study of a man, his memories and his trauma. If that sounds like a challenging watch, you're not wrong, but it's not arduous. At times, it's rather beautiful. It's set in three timelines - before, during and after the Second World War. We first meet Dorrigo as an eminent Sydney surgeon, a surly, impatient man and a very reluctant war hero. Prior to the war, we follow Dorrigo the medical student as he meets his future wife Ella (Olivia DeJonge) and falls in love with his uncle's wife, Amy (Odessa Young). If war is complex, so too is love. Dorrigo spends most of the war a prisoner in the jungles of Burma, desperately trying to keep his fellow inmates alive as they are forced to build the infamous railway for the Japanese. We spend long scenes with Dorrigo and his comrades in the hellish half-light of the jungle, and these scenes are harrowing and unforgettable. The cast is magnificent, Elordi proving he's the one you'll want to keep watching, and Ciaran Hinds typically distinguished yet haunted as the older Dorrigo. You'll also recognise (if barely) Simon Baker (The Mentalist) and Essie Davis (Miss Fisher), in supporting roles. If the prospect of such a sombre watch doesn't instantly appeal, don't be put off. This is the kind of drama that rewards you for finishing it as much as for watching it. It's a remarkable and unique approach to telling a story of war, one of deep, profound reflection. (Five episodes) Eric Bana and Sam Neill star in a gritty, visually stunning murder mystery set in Yosemite National Park Certificate: 15 'Grizzled older man solves crime with younger woman' feels like a TV genre all of its own, but it's rarely been more clearly presented than in Untamed, a six-part mystery starring Eric Bana as Kyle, a grizzled and reclusive investigator who works in the American National Parks Service and knows Yosemite like the back of his hand. When a young woman is found dead on his patch, Kyle begins an investigation - and is paired with a much more socially adept younger woman, rookie park ranger and mother-to-a-toddler Naya Vasquez (La Brea's Lily Santiago), to keep him from causing trouble. Kyle has problems in his past that probably explain his grumpy, hermetic existence, and which will surely come out over the course of this series from Mark L Smith (American Primeval, The Revenant) and his daughter, Elle Smith (The Marsh King's Daughter). The show is an engagingly gritty watch, with colourful and sarcastic characters doing their thing against the backdrop of truly stunning scenery. Sam Neill ups the grizzled older man quotient another notch as Kyle's friendly boss, while Rosemarie Dewitt is an intriguing question mark as his ex, and Santiago's Vasquez turns out to have troubles of her own. They don't make her grumpy, though. (Six episodes) Karen Pirie A fearless young cold-case detective gets to the truth in a drama that's now back for a new series Year: 2022- Certificate: 15 Created by queen of 'Tartan Noir' Val McDermid, Karen Pirie is a plucky young DS when we first meet her. Known for being 'blunt and unequivocal', in Pirie we have a lead who is youthful, forthright and refreshing. Played in these adaptations by Lauren Lyle (Outlander), Pirie is brought in to front a reopened cold case because of the optics - in other words, it'll look good to have a young woman on the case, instead of the old blokes who messed up the first time. This message is delivered as wry humour rather than preaching in a show that isn't afraid to be funny. There is a lot of crime on TV but it's mostly of the 'crime of the week' variety. What sets Karen Pirie apart is that she gets to really sink her teeth into cases. Burrowing down rabbit holes, being led up garden paths, over three feature-length episodes per series she eventually gets to the truth. Both series see her diving feet first into cold cases, in the first the unsolved murder of a barmaid, in the second the kidnapping of an heiress and her toddler son. Both also see her grow as a detective and a human. (Two series) Washington Black Tom Ellis and Sterling K Brown star in a 19th-century drama about an escaped slave Certificate: 15 Sprawling and exciting, this adaptation of Esi Edugyan's award-winning novel charts the early days on a Barbados plantation of George Washington 'Wash' Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr). When his artistic and scientific skills are discovered by one of the plantation owners (Lucifer's Tom Ellis), Wash is swept up into a life of adventure that takes him from the frozen north to the deserts of Africa. With fantastical scenes of epic adventure rubbing up against the brutal horror of life as a black man in the 19th century, this eight episode mini series is a moving, thrilling and dramatic watch. Kingsley Jr is engaging as Wash, but it's the supporting cast that really catches the eye with Ellis lining up alongside Sterling K Brown (who also had a hand in producing the show), Julian Rhind-Tutt, Billy Boyd, Rupert Graves and Charles Dance. (Eight episodes) The Extraordinary Miss Flower Love letters written in the 1960s and 70s inspire an extraordinary fusion of music, drama and documentary Certificate: 12 There's something inherently romantic about letters, not least because of how vanishingly rare is to receive one these days. In 2019, a suitcase full of love letters from men written in the 1960s and 70s to one Geraldine Flower was found in her London flat after she died. The letters moved the Icelandic singer-songwriter Emilíana Torrini to make an album and that album soundtracks this fusion of drama and documentary, in which familiar faces such as Nick Cave, Richard Ayoade and Alice Lowe read the letters and Doc Martin's Caroline Catz plays Miss Flower herself. If you're looking to learn about the nitty gritty of Flower's life, you won't get much of that here - beyond that this adventurous spirit grew up in Australia and moved to London, working as a secretary and journalist - but what is clear is that she was someone who inspired ardour, and it's that somewhat delirious state that the film portrays so acutely through the letters. So, if you're after a luxuriantly retro but also pleasingly experimental cinematic experience, this could well be the ticket. (73 minutes)