Brian Cox and Joe Lycett fill out a small screen lineup that also features a groundbreaking whodunnit and top-class American drama. Here’s your TV and streaming guide for this week.
The Movies That Made Us, Season 3: Horror Special

From toys to movies, Netflix’s …That Made Us docuseries is a cult media fan‘s treasure trove – filled with talking heads, buried histories, and a fast-paced editing style that the YouTube generation can appreciate. In preparation for Halloween this week, a batch of new episodes on horror classics like the original Halloween, Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street movies have just dropped. With a new Halloween film currently in cinemas, these ageing slasher properties remain relevant to this day, and the stories behind their low-budget roots make for fascinating viewing for fans of the genre – or just cinema nerds, in general.
All episodes streaming now on Netflix.
Succession, Season 3

HBO’s dark political satire has been going from strength to strength since it started airing in 2018. Led by an ailing Brian Cox, TV series Succession follows media moguls the Roy family as they wrestle for control of their global media company. The acerbically witty script and strong performances from the ensemble cast have powered the show to even greater heights as the seasons have gone on, not to mention a number of BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe nods. Now entering its third season, which is already critically acclaimed, Succession is poised for world domination.
Mondays at 9pm, Sky and NOW TV.
Joe Lycett vs. The Oil Giant

Joe Lycett vs. The Oil Giant finds comedian and serial protestor Joe Lycett taking a humourous stand against another faceless corporate behemoth: Shell. And with the eyes of the world’s climate activists turned to Scotland for Cop26 this month, it’s precision perfect timing. During the 47 minute programme, Lycett makes mock ads targeting the oil company’s CEO, interviews the head of the International Energy Agency about the UK’s petrol supply problem, and takes big polluters to task for ‘greenwashing.’ It’s difficult to say whether Lycett’s actions are especially consequential in the real world, but if nothing else, it might help make consumers savvier of the ways corporations like Shell try to project a cleaner image of themselves than is necessarily true.
First aired Sun 24 Oct on Channel 4, available now for streaming on 4OD.
Universe

Brian Cox, Britain’s favourite rocker turned physicist (well, second-favourite after Brian May) returns to the Beeb with the follow-up to his 2011 series, Wonders of the Universe. Simply titled Universe, the four-part TV mini-series explores how stars brought “meaning to the cosmos,” the history of the Milky Way, where humans might colonise after Joe Lycett has failed to save the planet, supermassive black holes, and the small matter of the universe’s origin. With CG and deep space photography becoming better and better, expect these big ponderings to be illustrated by absolutely out-of-this-world imagery.
Wednesdays at 9pm from 27 Oct, BBC 2, and available for streaming on iPlayer thereafter.
Insecure, Season 5

Another banger from tastemakers HBO, Insecure is created by and stars the inimitable Issa Rae as a woman in her 20s trying to balance her work and personal life in Los Angeles. Taken in part from Rae’s Awkward Black Girl webseries, Insecure has been a slightly under the radar success since it began in 2016, though still earning a plethora of plaudits for its stereotype-beating realism cut with laugh out loud humour and warming friendships. Currying firm favour from a loyal audience has carried it through its fifth and sadly final season, though not the last we’ll see of the talented Rae.
Tuesdays at 9pm, starting from 26 Oct, Sky.
The Long Call

Based on the novel of the same name by Ann Cleeves, The Long Call is the latest TV whodunnit set in a sleepy, beachy British locale. The headline-grabbing logline is that it’s the first to put a gay male detective (with husband) in the lead role, a frankly absurd ‘first’ for 2021 but there you go. His name is DI Mattew Venn and he’s back in his home county of Devon (Bristol, IRL) to face his demons and solve the case of the body that’s just been found on – where else? – the beach. This may all sound like every other mystery crime drama you’ve read/seen, but The Long Call marks itself out with sleek production value and postcard visuals.
From Mon 25 – Thurs 28 October at 9pm, ITV and ITV Hub.
words HANNAH COLLINS