Pick of the week
Alien: Earth
It’s remarkable that it has taken so long for the xenomorph created by Ridley Scott in Alien to arrive on the small screen. But here it is courtesy of Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley. The sci-fi thriller is set two years before the first film and centres on the crash-landing of a research vessel on Earth – in the middle of a battle between two corporations: pushy upstarts Prodigy and the villainous Weyland-Yutani. Prodigy’s gift to the world is transhumanism, in which human consciousness is implanted into seemingly indestructible bodies. Expect that proposition to be tested by the arrival of extraterrestrial specimens from the doomed spacecraft. The result is a tense, nasty and inventive series.
Disney+, from Wednesday 13 August
***
Outlander: Blood of My Blood
This prequel to Outlander boasts a similar tone: the kind of shortbread box kitsch that makes Mel Gibson’s Braveheart look subtle and understated. It tells the origin tales of Outlander’s lead characters Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp via the romantic backstories of their parents. Jamie’s family history is a bloody affair, born out of forbidden love in the midst of a rivalry between two Highland clans. Claire’s involves time travel and takes place during the first world war. The show is as beguilingly silly as ever and good fun, as long as you don’t expect it to make any logical sense.
MGM+ via Prime Video, out now
***
Necaxa
Today Wrexham, tomorrow the world? Eva Longoria has decided to try to revive the fortunes of Mexican football club Necaxa. But guess who’s along for the ride? Taking a break from north Wales, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney soon arrive with advice, and become investors. The formula for this documentary genre feels familiar by now: screamingly passionate fans; the drawing of a parallel between the fate of club and town; and a carefully curated, slightly oversold rags-to-riches narrative. Does this trend feel like cultural colonialism yet? It’s getting close.
Disney+, out now
***
Butterfly
In the wake of Assassin, here is another collision between international espionage and family life in a South Korea-set thriller adapted from a graphic novel by Arash Amel and Marguerite Bennett. David Jung (Daniel Dae Kim, from Lost and The Good Doctor) is living in quiet semi-retirement when his past comes roaring back to life. First, he learns that there’s a price on his head. Then, he discovers that the assassin who has been sent to kill him is someone he knows. It is anything but mould-breaking but Kim is a smoothly enigmatic lead.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 13 August
***
Sausage Party: Foodtopia
Tragic scenes as this inventive, enjoyably crude animation returns for a second season; a food fight is in progress. All is not well in the newly established republic of Foodtopia: the rule of Frank Frankfurter (Seth Rogen) is challenged and he and his friends are forced into exile. Soon, Frank and pals wind up in New Foodland, surrounded by all sorts of weird snacks. But can these unfamiliar foods be trusted? While Sausage Party is underpinned by a degree of satirical intent about human behaviour, gross-out fun is always prioritised.
Prime Video, from Wednesday 13 August
***
Limitless: Live Better Now
Actor Chris Hemsworth fronts this earnest and self-indulgent celebrity self-improvement challenge series in which he attempts to rewire his brain, body and soul by taking on three assignments. Apparently, there’s a scientific basis behind each of the missions though, sadly, emulating Hemsworth will be beyond all but the richest and most well-connected of viewers. Can he climb a frozen 600ft wall? Complete South Korean special forces pain training? And, perhaps most urgently, learn to drum in time to perform on stage with Ed Sheeran?
Disney+, from Friday 15 August
***
Fit for TV: The Reality of the Biggest Loser
This documentary series takes us behind the scenes of NBC/USA Network’s high-stakes weight loss competition The Biggest Loser. It’s halfway between a celebration and an interrogation of the format, with plenty of former participants claiming the show transformed their lives for the better while other interviewees wonder whether the show is exploitative or disrespectful of its contestants. Even more damagingly, there’s the suggestion of real health risks being taken. As one contributor says, “You can’t have a show based on weight loss that is safe.”
Netflix, from Friday 15 August
