A spotlight on teens in care, an action thriller set against the backdrop of the looming Australian bushfire season and more!
This week's best telly includes Danny Dyer's return to acting in Channel 5 drama Heat, the second season of Apple TV+'s The Afterparty, a special episode of A League of Their Own ahead of the Women's World Cup, Michelle Buteau's highly anticipated Netflix comedy Survival of the Thickest and a new documentary from Joe Swash.
Here are 5 TV shows you can't miss this week...
1. Joe Swash: Teens in Care
Tuesday 11th July at 9pm on BBC One
Joe Swash: Teens in Care follows Joe Swash as he explores the untold stories of teens in care over the age of 16, who are the largest growing cohort in both child protection and care. The number of children aged 16 and over in care has increased by 37% in the last decade alone*, and Joe wants to know more.
His motivation to make this documentary is deeply personal as it’s an issue that is close to his and his family’s heart. His Mum Kiffy has been a foster carer for over 15 years. Joe has always been passionate about his mum’s role and with his wife, Stacey, is considering fostering in the future, but his interest in the care system has really peaked in recent years.
One of the young people Kiffy has fostered, and who Joe is very close to, has just turned 18. Over the last couple of years, Joe has seen first-hand the unique challenges this young person has faced as a teen in care. Now Joe wants to highlight these issues and spend time with teens across the UK who live in foster care and in residential children’s homes, to show what growing up as a teenager in care is really like.
His journey of discovery follows the long-awaited publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which promises a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the children’s social care system and provide children with loving, safe and stable families". But can it really get to the root of the problems facing teens in care?
This poignant, emotive documentary sees Joe spend time with teens who are at different stages of their lives in care, some in foster care, others in residential care and some who have left at 18 and trying to make it alone.
In addition to spending time with teens, Joe meets experts and policymakers to ask what they are doing to fix a system that he feels appears to be failing the young people it’s supposed to be caring for, establish the root causes and explore where signs of optimism are.
And through this experience, he also sees first-hand the work of foster carers and the army of front-line workers who are dedicated to helping teens in care, as he seeks to find out how some of the issues teens encounter in the care system can be tackled better.
1/1
2. Heat
Tuesday 11th to Friday 14th July at 9pm on Channel 5
Danny Dyer returns to our screens this week in Channel 5's new four-part action thriller Heat, which unfolds against the backdrop of the looming Australian bushfire season when two families, who are long-time friends, venture to a secluded home for a summer vacation.
As secrets and lies unravel it becomes a tinderbox and not everyone will make it out alive.
Danny Dyer stars alongside Darren McMullen, Jane Allsop, Pia Miranda, Olympia Valance, Richie Morris and newcomers Matia Marks, Matteo Annetta and Hunter Hayden.
1-4/4 Continues nightly
3. The Afterparty
Wednesday 12th July on Apple TV+
As The Afterparty returns to Apple TV+ for its second season, once again each episode explores a different character’s account of one fateful evening, all told through the lens of popular film genres and unique visuals to match the storyteller’s perspective
In season two, a wedding is ruined when the groom is murdered and every guest is a suspect. Detective Danner, played by Tiffany Haddish, returns to help Aniq, played by Sam Richardson and Zoë, played by Zoë Chao, solve whodunnit by questioning family members, star-crossed lovers and business partners, and hearing each suspect’s retelling of the weekend, each with their own unique perspective and visual style.
Season two will introduce new film genres and an expanded cast of characters played by Elizabeth Perkins, Zach Woods, Paul Walter Hauser, Poppy Liu, Anna Konkle, Jack Whitehall, Vivian Wu, John Cho and Ken Jeong.
1-2/10 Continues weekly
4. The Lionesses: A League of Their Own Special
Wednesday 12th July at 9pm on Sky Max
With the Women's World Cup just around the corner, Jill Scott guides comedians Maisie Adam and Katherine Ryan through what it takes to be a world-beating Lioness in a special episode of A League of Their Own.
1/1
5. Survival of the Thickest
Thursday 13th July on Netflix
Inspired by Michelle Buteau's memoir, Survival of the Thickest is an eight-part comedy focussing on Mavis Beaumont, played by Buteau, who's proudly thick, newly single and ready to take over the world as an aspiring stylist one fitting at a time.
When Mavis unexpectedly finds herself having to rebuild her life as a struggling stylist, she's determined to not only survive but thrive with the support of her chosen family, a body-positive attitude and a cute v-neck with some lip gloss.
1-8/8 All episodes available at launch
Comments