The return of Alan Partridge and Big Little Lies—the best new television

 

This Time with Alan Partridge, BBC One

The last time we saw Alan Partridge host his own BBC show, the finale ended with a man getting shot on air while Alan (played by Steve Coogan, below) shouted: “It’s not my fault!” In his new show, This Time With Alan Partridge, we can hope for similar disasters. In six half-hour segments, Partridge ponderously tackles the current issues from #MeToo to Brexit. With any luck, we’ll encounter morsels of wisdom such as: “I don’t like big feet, reminds me of gammon.”

Big Little Lies, Sky Atlantic

The much-anticipated second season of Big Little Lies returns to Sky this spring. The slick psychological thriller about school gate mums drawn into a murder conspiracy was originally conceived as a one-off. But after much umming and ahhing by producers, it will return with its original cast (Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Zoë Kravitz) as well as Meryl Streep. Little is known about the storyline of the new season—unlike the first, it is not based on a novel—but it’s bound to be intriguing.

Dirty John, Netflix

Adapting popular podcasts into high-budget shows has become a new trend. Earlier this year we had Homecoming on Amazon; last year saw the NBC acquisition of The Teacher’s Pet, which was downloaded by 28m listeners. Hot on those heels—and just in time for Valentine’s Day—comes Netflix’s Dirty John, a drama about a twisted con artist (Eric Bana) and his abusive relationship with a successful businesswoman.