It’s a big week in crime drama land with the premiere of the highly anticipated Cate Blanchette thriller Disclaimer, described as “a gripping seven-part psychological thriller.”

And if you haven’t already started Showtrial Series 2 – hurry! It’s the kind of tense, twisty legal drama mystery we all love – and much better than Series 1. A few more binge-worthy ones are out as well. Read on for my pics this week and the best recap links.

Disclaimer

Apple TV+ describes it as a “gripping psychological thriller in seven chapters, starring Academy Award winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline. Written and directed by five-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón, DISCLAIMER* is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Renée Knight. Acclaimed journalist Catherine Ravenscroft (Blanchett) built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others. When she receives a novel from an unknown author, she is horrified to realize she is now the main character in a story that exposes her darkest secrets.” It also stars Sacha Baron Cohen and Kodi Smit-McPhee plus Lesley Manville.

Out 11 October on Apple TV+

Showtrial

It’s called “the most electrifying TV of 2024” by one reviewer! BBC says: “When a climate activist is left for dead after a hit-and-run, he uses his dying words to name his killer – a serving police officer. With the country divided, will defence solicitor Sam Malik take on the trial of the decade? Tense legal thriller, starring Adeel Akhtar and Michael Socha.” Akhtar was brilliant in Sherwood Season 1 so anything with him in it is much-watch for me.

Out now on BBC One / BBC iPlayer

SPOILER ALERT: RECAP OF S2 Episode 1 and others

Sweetpea

The vengeful narrator genre is always a winner. Someone a little (or a lot) like us, only instead of just thinking bad things out loud — they act — and of course with deadly consequences. Sky Atlantic: “Rhiannon Lewis doesn’t make much of an impression – people walk past her in the street without a second glance. She’s continually overlooked for a promotion at work, the guy she likes won’t commit, her sister is off living her life abroad with her husband and her dad is really, really sick. So far, so s**t. But when everything in her life is turned upside down, Rhiannon is pushed over the edge. She snaps. Suddenly the wallflower is gone, and in its place is a young woman capable of anything…” It stars Ella Purnell (Fallout, Yellowjackets) as Rhiannon.

Coming 10 October on Sky Atlantic

Slow Horses

Hard to believe it’s the series finale this week — this is a show that grips you from start to credits as you find yourself breathlessly awaiting every brilliant line uttered by Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb. Was Season 4 the best yet?

“Viewers have declared Slow Horses ’the best thing on TV right now’ after watching its latest exhilarating episode,” says this review. “The critically acclaimed spy drama’s fans have declared the Apple TV Plus show’s latest instalment ‘crazy and incredible’ after being left on a nail-biting cliffhanger. The show follows MI5 rejects exiled to the bleak Slough House to undertake the intelligence service’s least glamourous tasks under the stewardship of the filthy Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman).

SPOILER ALERT: RECAP OF S4 Episode 1

Out now on Apple TV+