Pick of the week
1899
From the creators of the dazzling but baffling mystery series Dark, this new saga promises more immersive bewilderment. It’s 1899 and a ship, the Kerberos, is crossing the Atlantic, heading for the “New World”. But the Prometheus disappeared on this route a few months earlier. When a signal is picked up, potentially from the doomed ship, the crew prepare to investigate. Meanwhile, those on board – a pair of bickering brothers, a geisha, a female doctor travelling alone – have their own mysteries. The multilingual drama plays out across multiple timelines and at multiple social levels, adding to a thrillingly unstable sense of shifting perspectives. Phil Harrison
Netflix, from Thursday
***
Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?
In the early 90s, a classic Pepsi advert offered a jump jet in exchange for 7m Pepsi Points (you’d need to drink 190 Pepsis a day for 100 years). An obvious joke? Maybe, but 20-year-old John Leonard noted the ad’s lack of small print and had an idea. Cue the unfolding of a wonderfully eccentric tale involving investor Todd Hoffman, many setbacks and, eventually, a court case. Really, it’s the American dream made flesh – inspiration meets litigation as ideals crumble upon contact with reality. Told through this four-part documentary series by director Andrew Renzi, it’s a glorious story. PH
Netflix, from Thursday
***
Teletubbies
It was inescapable in the late-90s and now this primary-coloured, pre-verbal kids’ show is back for the viewing pleasure of another generation. If anything, the new version looks even more trippily inorganic than before, with a CGI backdrop replacing the real-life set that was used in the original show. In a further new development, this version is narrated by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess. Otherwise, expect business as usual as Tinky Winky and the gang resume their usual wonder-filled scrapes. PH
Netflix, from Monday
***
Tulsa King
Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) has kept his mouth shut for the entirety of a 25-year prison sentence. He leaves expecting his New York wiseguy buddies to welcome him with open arms but instead his reception is frosty. When he’s sent to Oklahoma and expected to set up shop in the back of beyond, he forms a motley crew and becomes a one-man crime wave. This new drama glories in old-school mafia tropes rather than interrogating them but it’s funny and entertaining, mainly thanks to Stallone’s impossibly crusty lead performance. PH
Paramount+, from Monday
***
Run for the Money
To get you in the mood for the upcoming real-life version of Squid Game, this maniacal Japanese competition adopts many of the characteristics of Channel 4’s Hunted with a few extra twists. The hunters are deliberately terrifying – identical, blank-faced functionaries in business suits and face masks. The competitors are offered a decision: as the prize multiplies as targets are caught, is it worth turning yourself in? Also, the fugitive group contains moles, feeding information to the hunters. It’s feverish, brutal and guiltily compelling. PH
Netflix, from Tuesday
***
Limitless With Chris Hemsworth
“I may be in pretty good shape,” says Chris Hemsworth, modestly, “but I know the clock is ticking.” Most of us struggle with the mounting suspicion that one day, we’re probably going to die. But Hollywood’s Hemsworth is trying to do something about it in this mildly enjoyable, deeply daft six-part series. He teams up with various “longevity experts” to search for ways of holding back the ageing process, from navigating the Australian outback without a map to fasting for four days to “reboot”. Hokum, really, but not without entertainment value. PH
Disney+, from Wednesday
***
Three Mothers, Two Babies and a Scandal
This three-part documentary series explores a bleak and peculiar story from the wild west days of the internet. Back in 2001, it was reported that a Welsh couple, Judith and Alan Kilshaw, paid $12,000 to adopt twin baby girls from the US. Outrage at the suggestion of a global baby trade ensued – but then the story became stranger still. Another American couple, the Allens, claimed that the twins were theirs and had been kidnapped. How was this bizarre tale unpicked? We hear first-hand from the three women at the heart of the story. PH
Prime Video, from Friday
