What to watch on TV this week

I know I’m not alone in thinking season 17 of Grey’s was utter tripe. And this is coming from a hardcore fan. I have lived and breathed this show since the beginning. Falling in love with Dr Shepherd. Crying through George’s traumatic death...and Derek’s!

But my God I wish Shondaland had shortened or even not made the most recent series – mostly monologues about the state of the healthcare system delivered from random benches in the Grey Sloane grounds or hallways. Or lingering beach scenes with Dr Grey in her comatose limbo land. Bor-ring.

Thankfully it seems the show is back with a mission this time around, and some much-needed lifeblood and new showcomers have been introduced to shake it up a bit.

Maggie’s back from honeymoon all loved up with new beau Winston – a great addition.

Is there still hope for Dr Grey and Dr Hayes? (Image: © 2021 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Abigail Spencer has returned as Megan, Dr Hunt’s trauma surgeon sister.

And Kate Walsh is back from California (where she’s been in spin off show Private Practice) as Addison.

So, what’s been going on so far?

Well, Bailey and Webber are desperately scraping the barrel trying to fill the holes left by an exodus of medical staff, and seem to be hanging on by a thread.

Amelia and Link’s cute coupledom looks set to end, as she refuses to settle down.

Owen and Teddy’s disastrous relationship has been cemented by a disastrous wedding- with lots of blood.

And Meredith’s been lured away by Dr Alan Hamilton (Peter Gallagher) to work on a ground-breaking Parkinson’s treatment. While being wined and dined she happens upon dishy surgeon Dr Nick Marsh, who’s life she saved. He’s turned her head. Could he be the new Derek? Or will Irish charmer Dr Hayes be able to lure her back?

I can’t wait to find out!
Charlotte Smith-Jarvis

Life hasn't turned out as expected for teen Oly (Image: WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture Service (BBC Pictures) a...)

Bump, BBC iplayer

Oly has her future all planned out. She’s going to change the world. Enter one unexpected baby and suddenly it looks like the only thing clever, funny, motivated, militant, caring Oly is going to change is nappies.

We meet Oly (short for Olympia) on the day her schoolgirl worries about grades and presentations (and how to help women around the world get an education from her planned high-powered job with the United Nations) quickly morph through stomach ache and an ambulance ride to hospital into labour, birth and how to reconcile her own future with that of her new daughter.

It’s a serious subject – but explored with such a lightness of touch that this Australian drama is cute, quirky, comic and compelling.

The collision of Oly’s high-flying research for womenkind and the messy realities of birth and breastfeeding one child are both infuriating and funny.

We meet Oly’s mum and dad whose slightly alternative middle-class security was falling apart before the baby arrived. We meet Oly’s boyfriend who knows he can’t be the dad, and Santi who knows he can be (and his family who is determined he will.)

They are originally from Chile, which is all the excuse Bump needs for introducing some great South American music and dance and dash of religious and cultural tension.

This is not the Australia of Neighbours, or Ja’mie: Private School Girl (excellent as both of my previous Aussie tv cultural references are.) It is probably not especially Australian at all as it would resonate with anyone with a dream or a daughter, or a family, or who has wondered how an unexpected baby might impact their life. There are awkward sex scenes, awkward drug scenes, awkward conversations, awkward revelations - and lots of closely plotted, beautifully acted, diverse and intriguing storylines.

The warm, if demanding, heart of this show is family, with baby J (Jacinda – named for the New Zealand prime minister) the catalyst for lots of drama, but also the super-cute, super-disruptive focus of a whole lot of love.

Rowan Mantell

Danielle's been binge-watching old series of Peep Show (Image: Archant)

Peep Show, streaming on Netflix and All4

One of the things us Brits do best is comedy, there’s no doubt about that. And if you’re looking to binge-watch a classic, I highly recommend Peep Show. Originally hitting our screens in 2003, this award-winning show ran for nine seasons, and is arguably one of Channel 4’s best series.

Starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, this is the masterpiece that put the comedy duo on the map, and essentially follows their day-to-day lives as they share a flat together and go about their daily lives in Croydon during their 20s and 30s.

Socially-inept Mark (David Mitchell) and layabout Jez (Robert Webb) - who couldn’t be more polar opposites – are joined by a whole host of bizarre recurring characters, including their shifty pal Super Hans (Matt King); Mark’s coworker-then-wife-then-ex-wife Sophie (Olivia Colman); and Dobby (Isy Suttie), Mark’s coworker and eventual girlfriend.

I’m a big fan of cringe comedy and I think besides The Office, this has to be one of the most awkward out there. There are just so many moments that really make your face contort.

I won’t get into too many spoilers in case you’re yet to see it, but prepare to die inside when you watch the episode where Mark and Jez meet Sophie’s family, the stag do on the canal boat, the Christmas dinner with Mark’s family, and perhaps the most cringe of them all – the wedding at the end of season four.

The fact the show is filmed from the character’s perspectives a lot of the time and features their inner monologues - hence the name ‘Peep Show’ - really helps you step in their shoes and feel the cringe and secondhand embarrassment.

Peep Show is definitely one of my go-to series – it's so easy to binge-watch, it’s incredibly funny, quotable and it’s no surprise it’s ended up becoming a cult classic. And if I’m ever feeling bad about my own life, at least I can take comfort in the fact I’m not Mark or Jez.

Danielle Lett