The week on TV: Joan; Industry; Nobody wants that; Heartbreaker – review | Television and radio

Jane (ITV1) | ITVX
Industry BBC One | iPlayer
Nobody wants that (Netflix)
Favorite (Netflix)

You can usually tell if a 1980s drama has the right vibe: it remembers just the right amount of the 1970s, which persisted throughout the decade like a gas leak.

JaneITV1’s new drama, based on the 2002 memoir of notorious ’80s jewel thief Joan Hannington, does just that. So yes, there’s Wham!, ABC and the Human League’s lopsided hair. Joan (Sophie Turner) Game of Thrones) exudes fragile peroxide glamor in the opening scene in front of a dressing table (despite a network of scars on her back). But there is also a scent of the previous decade: in the streets, the pubs, the men. The boss of Joan’s jeweler is a breather with wandering hands and the hair of a 70s newspaper reader. It is in his shop that Joan impulsively swallows diamonds. The way she collects them involves a sieve, a glass bowl and… well, just be thankful the camera pans away.

Created by Anna Symon, co-written with Helen Black (who co-wrote the second series of Jimmy McGovern’s Time), the first two episodes out of six are busy and daring. Turner is magnificent as a loving single mother, beaten by her criminal ex, who tearfully entrusts her child to a foster family to protect her from gangsters.

Then there’s her mercurial side (“None of your damn chaos, I mean it, Joan”), a firestarter who tangles with temperamental antiques dealer Boisie (Frank Dillane, all street charisma and slicked back hair back). They have sexual chemistry for days, but it’s their mismatched energy that binds them. They fly to Spain with fake passports and sparklers for closure.

Although it covers similar ground to Gold (2023 BBC One drama about the 1983 Brink’s Mat heist), Joan is not quite that: On the one hand, some parts of the exposition can be cringe-inducing (“Are you sure you can afford to stay in a hostel until you get paid?”). However, so far it’s so glamorous, vivid and realistic.

I have long noted Konrad Kay and Mickey Down’s Industrythe nihilistic financial district saga set in Pierpoint, featuring young people rotting from the inside out on a diet of greed, duplicity and cortisol. Yet BBC One’s new and third series is truly breathtaking.

Marisa Arbela (fresh from Amy Winehouse biopic) Back to black) returns as Yasmin, the doomed heiress, beginning the series with her dissolute embezzler father missing and the paparazzi in hot pursuit. There’s also Robert (Harry Lawtey), the working-class pulse of the series, and Harper (Myha’la), humiliated (or perhaps not) after her sacking last series. As Pierpoint stumbles, macho Rishi (Sagar Radia) is given his own brutal episode. Eric (Ken Leung) is now partnered, divorced and horribly sleazy. A woman whistles, “Can I make you something out of crystal, honey, you’re an old man.”

Kit Harington, the second of this week Game of Thrones alumni, plays the mischievously named Henry Muck, a tech aristocrat whose company, Lumi, greatly promises ethical energy to the masses. Initially a little leaden, Harington’s performance evolves into a fine turn (equal parts entitled, needy and numb).

Elsewhere, across eight supercharged episodes, it’s a merciless whirlwind of disaster, disintegration, tragedy, jaded asides (“We’re all just chimps in a hierarchy”), vicious reprimands (“You look like to a TM Lewin wanker). “), sexual perversions (including urine: “Piss and think of England”) and unsubtle jabs at corporate ethical eco-hypocrisy (“Poster children for a new kind of capitalism “).

Regular Industry viewers probably won’t be surprised that there’s a fight between Yasmin and Harper, culminating in slapping. As I suspected – millennial Dynasty. But seriously, that’s not the case. The writing and performances here are on par Succession And The White Lotus. Industry has always been a good (sharp, daring) show. Now that’s great.

Nobody wants that is a new romantic sitcom that’s all the rage on Netflix. Created by Erin Foster, it stars Adam Brody as “sexy Rabbi” Noah and Kristen Bell as Joanne, a non-Jewish woman who hosts a sex podcast with her sister Morgan. They fall in love with each other, but not everyone is happy about it (“Now explain to me how this woman got her claws on my beautiful, beautiful son”). Noah can’t become chief rabbi unless Joanne converts, and his ex-girlfriend is hiding like an evil fairy.

Nobody wants that it looks very classic (with that When Harry Met Sally speaking quality), but it also pushes the limits (“Your blonde girlfriend who keeps talking about sex games on her podcast”). In 10 episodes, the initially difficult relationship (“You can’t put me in a friend zone because I already put you in a friend zone”) is tested in a temple, in a sex shop, in a batmitzvah and at a Judaism camp where Joanne is criticized by the teenagers (“You girls, by judging me harshly, you actually helped”).

It’s not perfect: the opening is awkward and the podcast element could be funnier. Still, it’s witty and naughty (“Are all guys medically stupid?”) and the huge cast, including VeepTimothy Simons of , are uniformly excellent (Lupe is a riot as the sarcastic Morgan). Colin Accounts just competed.

Also on Netflix, Alice Oseman’s Favorite returns for a third eight-part series. The hit drama about a relationship between teens Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) still uses cuteness as its superpower: mushy text exchanges; iconic cartoon graphics (butterflies; flowers); the now sixth middle-aged cohort that includes a lesbian couple, a transgender girl, an asexual character, and more.

Favorite it’s not just about idealized teenagers, but about an idealized Britain. This is the show where cynicism is crushed to death under an avalanche of Love Hearts candy. However, this time there’s also everything from prejudice to sexual awakening (bail out now, if you want the characters to stick to holding hands and exaggerating emojis). Charlie’s eating disorder also comes to the forefront, his turmoil (“Love Can’t Cure Mental Illness”) manifesting in dark, sharp graphics.

Olivia Colman (Nick’s mother) is absent, replaced by her aunt (Hayley Atwell); Eddie Marsan plays an insightful therapist. So it’s business as usual, but there’s so much more. Favorite seems determined to grow.

Star Ratings (out of five)
Jane ★★★★
Industry ★★★★★
Nobody wants that ★★★★
Favorite ★★★★

What else am I looking at?

Dismiss
(Channel 5)
Ancient This morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s ‘return’: surviving on a desert island, while hinting at betrayal, toxicity and being thrown under the bus. I’m not convinced it was the best idea.

Where is Wanda?
(Apple TV+)
Ultra-offbeat German comedy-drama about a couple who decide to investigate the disappearance of their 17-year-old daughter. Extremely quirky and original.

Live every second: Kris HHistory of Allenga
(BBC Two)
Documentary about the late breast cancer activist. First diagnosed in her early 20s, Hallenga died at the age of 38. She spent her life leading her Coppafeel initiative, teaching women to check their breasts, inspiring and poignant.