The countdown begins – watched your favourite shows in 2018? Share your Top 10 with us
TV OT: The aliens are coming! The aliens are coming! Plus: ‘Curb’ and ‘Insecure’ return
1. Black Earth Rising
BBC One, Wednesdays, 9pm
The legal thriller takes us inside a special investigation into British black liberation hero Ken Bower, who was one of the key figures in the Tuskegee syphilis trials. As prosecutor Helen Wright works to bring Bower to justice, she picks up the threads from the man’s unravelling life – from post-traumatic stress disorder in the wars to his involvement in the war on drugs and efforts to support emancipated women. The cast is led by BAFTA-winner Cush Jumbo.
2. David Mitchell and Robert Webb: Channel 4
Pick of the week, Thursday, 10pm
The hilariously successful comedy duo return to their Comedy Store-led slot, co-headlining their show with Andy Zaltzman of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Part of the BBC’s National Comedy Awards comeback, the late-night slot has found a new lease of life, with brilliant examples of sketch comedy including Campbell’s Disgrace. It’s fun to watch how we got here, with David Mitchell giving a glimpse of England in 2019.
3. Doctor Who: Twice Upon a Time
BBC, Saturday, 9pm
Airing its final episode of season 11 and ending its 85-year run, Doctor Who looks back on the events of 2016’s Christmas special, The Return of Doctor Mysterio, and sets the groundwork for the upcoming 2019 Christmas special. This way, the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) will get to send Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman) back in time to 1988 to meet him. With star David Morrissey and past Doctor companions Amanda Abbington and Michelle Gomez, it will be a fitting send-off.
4. Black Mirror
Netflix, Friday, 11.15pm
In the penultimate episode of the second series, an ambitious young bot-beast called Ghost strikes up a friendship with an unstable space-librarian, which at first looks harmless, until it turns out to have nothing to do with the show’s take on cybernetics. The fast-paced nine-part run, packed with deeply compelling scenarios, continues to be an amazing digital feast.
5. Insecure
HBO, Sundays, 10pm
The hilariously dysfunctional HBO series comes back for a third run, in which Issa (Issa Rae) attempts to weather one of the toughest stretches of her career. One of the most brutally honest shows on television, the show often focuses on the culture and mindset of the millennials it is addressing – particularly in its portrayal of the struggling, divided city of LA.
6. Apocalypse Now
Cinemax, Sunday, 9pm
The anti-war adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s classic novel returns to cinemas for a new 35th anniversary edition and special effects-heavy re-release. With Martin Sheen as colonel Kurtz, Scorsese delivers an eight-and-a-half-hour assault on a combustible time in Vietnam.
