Pick of the week
This thriller from Neil Forsyth aims for a similarly picaresque tone to his previous series, The Gold. It stars Steve Coogan as Don, a jaded detective who assembles a team of misfit customs employees either bored or bold enough to take a gamble with their careers, and possibly their lives. It’s inspired by real events in the 90s in which officers infiltrated heroin-smuggling rings at the behest of Margaret Thatcher, who needed “a crisis she could solve”. It’s more of a slow burn than The Gold but, as the officers (who include Tom Burke and Hayley Squires) embed themselves within criminal gangs, the stakes rise, identities collapse and events become increasingly nerve-jangling.
Netflix, from Thursday
Dr Seuss’s Horton!
The slightly garish CGI animation style loses a little of the tactile charm of the original Dr Seuss children’s books. But the central premise of this breezy cartoon about the cheerful young elephant remains strong enough to imprint itself upon a new generation of kids. Horton remains as relentlessly wholesome and helpful as ever and he returns for a second season of low-stakes adventures with his small menagerie of animal pals. This time, they’re hunting for treasure, navigating a mud pit and trying to find a lost family of butterflies.
Netflix, from Monday
Citadel
Three years have passed since the first season of this maximalist espionage epic but, finally, the gang are back together. As previously, it’s a hoot as long as you’re willing to overlook the silliness and forgive the plotholes. The concept is memory manipulation: Citadel is a spy agency whose members have had their minds wiped and aren’t fully aware of their roles. But they’re forced to shape up as, believe it or not, another world-threatening conspiracy rears its head. The fine, fun cast includes Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci.
Prime Video, from Wednesday
M.I.A.
To the sweltering, murky underbelly of Miami for this crime thriller from Ozark co-creator Bill Dubuque. Shannon Gisela stars as Etta Tiger Jonze, a young woman whose entire family has been slaughtered as a result of a drug feud. Miraculously, she alone escaped the assassins – and now, Kill Bill-style, she wants revenge. Can Etta take down an entire organised crime gang on her own? Logic suggests it’s unlikely, but logic doesn’t have much to do with this glossy, gratuitously explosive drama which leans into its own absurd reality.
Paramount+, from Thursday
The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek
In the first season of this moody Danish crime thriller, the perp’s sinister speciality was leaving a tiny figure made of chestnuts by the bodies of his victims. In this new case involving a murderous stalker (adapted from a novel by Søren Sveistrup), a creepy nursery rhyme is the calling card. After a five-year break, mismatched detective duo Naia Thulin and Mark Hess are back on the case together. However, time hasn’t healed all wounds and there’s unfinished personal business between them. A grisly case unfolds via plenty of twists and turns. Generic but gripping fare.
Netflix, from Thursday
Ammo
With its slightly self-conscious air of darkness, this Norwegian drama is a touch cliched. Even so, its premise might have been designed to tap into the paranoid preoccupations of 2026. The show is set within the glass-panelled offices of arms company AGR, which has won a contract to supply drone technology to the French army. When executive Bjørn Urdal is recruited to handle the deal, he soon realises he’s being set up – the deal involves turning a blind eye to illegal activities involving AI. But what might it cost him to speak out?
Channel 4, from Friday
Unconditional
Any drama that mines the machinations of the Israeli security services feels potentially controversial at the moment. This drama (from the producers of Homeland) will raise a few eyebrows. It tells the story of Israeli woman Gali, who is charged with drug trafficking in Moscow, and her mother Orna, who frantically tries to free her, unaware that a bigger geopolitical game is going on. Whether this is the right time for a thriller involving such real-life components remains to be seen but it’s played straight, as a tale of innocents in over their heads.
Apple TV, from Friday