Amazon Prime
Transparent
Amazon’s transgender-themed dramedy recently returned for its third run, once again tackling identity, upheaval, family and Jewishness. While season two focused in on the Pfeffermans’ history, complete with flashbacks, this third series zooms back in on the dysfunctional brood in the present; indeed, it begins with Maura coming out of her comfort zone while volunteering for an LGBT charity and ending up hospitalised in the process. A must-stream.
Available now
Eat The World
This six-part series sees chef Emeril Lagasse – best known across the pond for being a sort of Ainsley Harriott-ish telly cook who shouts the word “Bam!” a lot – gorge on a variety of global delicacies. These range from New Nordic Cuisine made in “caveman fire” and calf brain ravioli cooked by fellow New Yorker Mario Batali to authentic Shanghai soup. Although ETW lacks the artful, meditative quality of Netflix’s Chef’s Table, this is still cordon bleu food smut.
Available now
BBC3
Searching For Purple Aki
The urban legend of Purple Aki has gone from menacing to meme-worthy in recent times. However – as this film shows – the story of a Liverpool man who asks to touch and measure strangers’ muscles is more insalubrious than parody songs and fake Twitter accounts seem to indicate. Could Akinwale Arobieke be responsible for decades of intimidation or is he merely misunderstood? Liverpudlian reporter Ben Zand discovers some disturbing truths in this concise but intriguing doc.
Available now
UKTV Play
Zapped
Best known as perpetual bragger Jay of Inbetweeners fame, Jay Buckley plays perhaps an even more hapless character in this new fantasy comedy exec-produced by Steve Coogan. Online marketing assistant Brian is transported to a parallel universe by a mysterious amulet, his only hopes for return in the hands of a perpetually drunk and dozy wizard (Game Of Thrones’ Paul Kaye). Think The Mighty Boosh meets Westeros and you might be halfway there. Catch it online a week ahead of its televisual airing.
Available from Friday
Podcast
Veteran pop critic Paul Morley took a bit of stick earlier this year for his characteristically impressionistic biography The Age Of Bowie. So it’s refreshing to hear him talk lucidly and candidly about his relationship with what he calls “the illusion of Bowie” in this live chat with the Guide’s David Hepworth. Also worth your time are recent episodes featuring Hunter Davies, John Savage and the incomparable Sylvia Patterson.
Available now
Netflix
Designated Survivor
This new political thriller stars Kiefer Sutherland as Tom Kirkman, a minor government minister who finds himself heading up the White House after an explosion wipes out the rest of the cabinet. The standard post-9/11 anxieties aside, what could really make this series interesting is the fact that its premise – a politician housed away from Capitol Hill in case of emergency – is rooted in fact rather than fiction.
Available now
