Live shows are cancelled – thank goodness we’ve still got TV

Glastonbury isn’t happening. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe has been called off. The West End will remain closed. The Royal Opera House is empty. Live shows are scratched as we battle coronavirus – but thank god we’ve got TV.

During this last week of lockdown it’s been hard to decide which TV channel to switch on.

We’ve had ITV’s gripping drama Quiz broadcast over three consecutive days, based on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? coughing scandal. The Independent‘s Ed Cumming described it as “a brilliant, big-hearted romp through one of the great British scandals of the century” in his five-star review. It was brilliantly adapted for television by the playwright James Graham, who also wrote the hit stage play of the same name. It starred Succession’s Matthew McFayden as Charles Ingram, Fleabag’s Sian Clifford as his wife, Diana, and Michael Sheen doing an uncanny impression of host Chris Tarrant.

Then came Run, the brand new series on Sky Comedy on Wednesday at 9pm. Merritt Wever and Domhnall Gleeson star as a former couple reunited for a trip across America in this entertaining new romcom thriller produced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, who also makes a cameo appearance.

As if that wasn’t enough to fill your week, there was BBC2’s Devs starring Nick Offerman – a beautiful sci-fi drama thriller that also began on Wednesday at 9pm. It’s created by Alex Garland who wrote The Beach and directed Ex-Machina, and will leave you ruminating on the big existential questions. This last week also saw the finale of BBC1’s five-part surrogacy drama The Nest, a seriously gripping series that’s still available to watch on iPlayer. Surely a second season beckons?

As long as the TV channels have stockpiled quality programming like this, the next three weeks of lockdown could be a breeze. Just stay at home, wash your hands and watch TV.

When it becomes all about repeats, we know we’re in real trouble.

Yours,

Charlotte Cripps​

Culture writer