Just two major series, both UK dramas, are reviewed this episode and the Show of the Week vote is split! Plus Andrew catches up with Etoile.

The Teacher (8 episodes, 9Now)

The second season has little to do with the first series which starred Sheridan Smith. A new cast and a ramped up plot in S2 starts with promiscuous teachers on a school excursion. The first episode takes nasty turn when a student goes missing and the teachers are implicated in a murder investigation.

The Stolen Girl (5 episodes, Disney+)

Denise Gough is great playing a mother who realises her daughter won’t be coming back from a playdate one day after school. Strong performances too from Holliday Grainger as the abductor and Ambika Mod as a dogged journalist covering the abduction.

Andrew also hands in his homework – watching the series Etoile which was first reviewed a week ago by James. He was pleasantly surprised.

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Of the three new series this week, The Four Seasons is the only one Andrew and James have both seen.

Andrew also tuned into Duster and James was working his way through Étoile.

• The Four Seasons (Netflix, 8 episodes): New from Tina Fey who also stars alongside Steve Carrell and Will Forte. Three couples who spend a vacation together every year are tested when one of the couples splits.
• Duster (Foxtel/Binge, 8 episodes) New from producer JJ Abrams it tells the story of the life of a gutsy getaway driver for a growing crime syndicate that goes from awful to wildly, stupidly, dangerously awful.
• Étoile (Prime Video, 8 episodes) New from the creators of The Gilmore Girls and The Marvelous Mrs Maisel is this ambitious drama series about a partnership between the Metropolitan Ballet Theatre in New York and Le Ballet National in Paris. Luke Kirby and Charlotte Gainsbourg star.

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Four TV series reviewed this week, just one of them brand new, the others are extra seasons of existing programs.

• Scrublands Season 2 (Stan, 4 episodes)
• Government Cheese (AppleTV+, 10 episodes)
• Big Boys Season 3 (iview, 6 episodes)
• The Last Of Us Season 2 (Foxtel/Binge/Max, 7 episodes)

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A slightly different episode for Easter. We review one new Australian drama series and then list our Top 5 shows of the first quarter of 2025.

• Narrow Road to the Deep North (Prime Video, 5 episodes) has dropped with all five eps immediately available. The series tells the story of Australian prisoners of war in World War II who had to help build the Thai-Burma railway and the brutal conditions they lived under in a Japanese detention camp. Great performances from Jacob Elordi and Ciaran Hinds as the young and old Dorrigo Evans and Heather Mitchell and Olivia DeJonge as the young and old Ella Evans.

2025 Top 5 so far

From the 26 series reviewed so far in 2025 Andrew and James have listed their Top 5. There are nine series in all meaning they only agree on one show that featured on both lists.

Those nine series are:

Protection
Amandaland
Invisible Boys
Paradise
Smoggie Queens
Toxic Town
MobLand
Dying for Sex
Your Friends and Neighbours

Listen as the hosts debate their choices and mention several massive series that didn’t make the list.

TV Gold Homework

There was also some extra viewing required from the previous episode with debate around Your Friends and Neighbours, Dying for Sex and Good American Family. Were they all really worthy of Show of the Week status? After watching more episodes of all of them, do Andrew and James change their minds about any of them?

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Tough podcast episode to find just one series for TV Gold Show of the Week! Three very impressive American dramas to choose from. You are going to need access to Disney+ and AppleTV+ accounts to enjoy them all.
• Good American Family (Disney+, 8 episodes) A synopsis that starts "[a series] about the adoption of a child with dwarfism and the subsequent abandonment of the child" doesn't scream must-watch. But a cast led by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplas make this a compelling watch.
• Dying For Sex (Disney+, 8 episodes) A comedy with a difference features Michelle Williams literally dying for sex. Half hour episodes fly by thanks in part to great supporting cast including Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney and Sissy Spacek.
• Your Friends and Neighbours (AppleTV+, 10 episodes) Jon Hamm turns in an acting masterclass in arguably his best role since Mad Men. And with a character not totally dissimilar to that series' Don Draper. Hamm leads a good life in finance markets, but he finds himself failing to make ends meet and he resorts to drastic measures.

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More Liane Moriarty and more Guy Ritchie this week, and the creators of Will and Grace are back with a new comedy.

• The Last Anniversary (Binge/Foxtel, 6 episodes)

The latest Liane Moriarty adaption for the small screen from the same team who also worked on Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. Filmed on the Hawksebury River north of Sydney with an impressive Australian cast plus Miranda Richardson.

• MobLand (Paramount+, 10 episodes)

Another British crime drama featuring two warring families. Created by Ronan Bennett who adapted the TV series The Day of the Jackal. Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren star with great support from Tom Hardy and Anton Boon among many others.

• Mid-Century Modern (Disney+) 10 episodes

Nathan Lane stars in this sitcom about three gay best-friends who move in together in Palm Springs. Created by Will and Grace’s David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, with veteran James Borrows directing. Lane’s co-stars are Linda Lavin in her final role before he death during production, Matt Bomer and Nathan Lee Graham.

We also have a look at new streaming platform Max and Andrew has returned to 80s classic Moonlighting.

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This week Andrew and James review a White House murder mystery, a dark drama about a drug haul and a satire about the movie business.
• The Residence (Netflix, 8 episodes) sees an eccentric detective sent to the White House to solve the mysterious murder of the chief usher. Loads of Aussie stars and references to the land down under.
• Boat Story (ABC iview, 6 episodes) An ultra-violent and ultra-dark tale about two dog walkers who stumble on a massive cocaine stash washed up on a British beach.
• The Studio (AppleTV+, 10 episodes) Bit controversial this one as our two critics are at loggerheads about this Seth Rogan satire about the movie business. Impressive list of guest appearances throughout, but we are divided on whether you will find many laughs!

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Plenty of debate on TV Gold this week as Andrew Mercado and James Manning discuss:

Adolescence (Netflix, 4 episodes) starring Stephen Graham as the father of a 13-year-old accused of murdering a fellow student.

Long Bright River (Stan, 8 episodes) starring Amanda Seyfried as a Philadelphia police woman searching for her sister who is missing at the same time as a serial killer is at work in a rough neighbourhood where her sister lived.

Running Point (Netflix, 10 episodes) is being called the US Ted Lasso. But one of our critics thinks the comedy about Kate Hudson taking over as the President of fictional basketball team LA Waves is better than that!

Andrew also has a few comments about a special new Netflix documentary and two supersoaps that have both been celebrating their 40th anniversaries.

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