Disturbing Disappearances, More4 review - headstrong 'tec tackles Pied Piper mystery

★★★ DISTURBING DISAPPEARANCES, MORE 4 Headstrong 'tec tackles Pied Piper mystery

Abducted children case unlocks a tortuous family history

This five-part policier is the finale of the current Walter Presents French season, and takes us to the town of Montclair on France’s eastern border. The opening self-contained episode, occupying a chunky two-hour slot, took for its theme the legend of the Pied Piper. In this, you may recall, the children of Hamelin were lured away by the titular itinerant musician and drowned.

Hijack, Apple TV+ review - trapped at 40,000 feet with a bunch of armed thugs

★★★ HIJACK, APPLE TV+ How is Idris Elba going to rescue his fellow-passengers from this?

How is Idris Elba going to rescue his fellow-passengers from this?

Probably because it’s a secret fear shared by many a flyer, aircraft hijacking has become its own screen mini-genre. We’ve already had not only Hijack but also Hijacked, not to mention the Wesley Snipes vehicle Passenger 57, Jodie Foster in Flightplan and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 7500. In Air Force One, the President himself (played by Harrison Ford) was hijacked. And then there’s Liam Neeson in Non-Stop.

Turn of the Tide, Netflix review - cocaine madness comes to the Azores

★★★★ TURN OF THE TIDE, NETFLIX Cocaine madness comes to the Azores

Could this be Portugal's answer to 'Breaking Bad'?

When we consider the storied history of Portuguese television, we naturally think of… er… well, perhaps we'll get back to you on that. But in the meantime there’s Turn of the Tide (or Rabo de Peixe to give it its original title), Augusto Fraga’s surprising and captivating story of a tiny community in the Azores which suddenly finds itself awash with cocaine.

Best Interests, BBC One review - a family feels the unbearable strain of terminal illness

Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen star in Jack Thorne's hard-hitting drama

This is possibly not ideal viewing for a spell of sunny weather in June, but Jack Thorne’s drama about a family trying to cope with a terminally ill child is as compelling as it’s painful. Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen star as parents Andrew and Nicci, and Best Interests probes their private agony in piercingly intimate detail, but the focus also pulls out to encompass prickly issues of ethics, morality and the labyrinthine innards of the NHS.

Succession Season Four finale, Sky Atlantic review - a glorious bonfire of the vanities

★★★★★ SUCCESSION FINALE, SKY ATLANTIC A glorious bonfire of the vanities

The Roy family saga comes to a satisfyingly bruising end

Hey-hey! Alright! The standard greeting of Kendall Roy will be much missed, along with all the other regular joys of Succession. It wasn’t always 100% perfect, thank goodness, it was all too human: changeable, moody, ultimately self-serving, just like its characters, especially as it powered to a climax.

Ten Pound Poms, BBC One review - a new life in the Great Southern Land

★★★ TEN POUND POMS, BBC ONE A new life in the Great Southern Land

Sun, soap and clashing cultures in Danny Brocklehurst's emigrant drama

The Ten Pound Pom programme (or to use its official title, the Assisted Passage Migration Scheme) was devised to encourage British emigrants to Australia after World War Two. The idea was that the volunteers could escape from drab, rationing-battered Britain to the sun, sea and wide-open spaces of the Great Southern Land, while also helping to boost the Australian economy. Adults paid 10 quid and children travelled free.

A different angle on the Anne Frank story in 'A Small Light'

A SMALL LIGHT A different angle on the Anne Frank story in a Disney drama

Bel Powley, Liev Schreiber and Joe Cole star in Disney's new eight-part drama

The Diary of Anne Frank became a Broadway play and has formed the basis of a lengthy catalogue of films and TV series, but the name of Miep Gies is rather less well-known. Yet without Gies the Anne Frank story might never have reached the wider world, since it was she who helped the Frank family, along with four other Dutch Jews, to remain in hiding and evade capture by the Germans from July 1942 until their luck ran out in August 1944.

Fatal Attraction, Paramount+ review - Adrian Lyne's bunny-boiler blockbuster expanded onwards and outwards

★★★★ FATAL ATTRACTION, PARAMOUNT+  A fascinating series trips over its own ambitions

A fascinating series which sometimes trips over its own ambitions

Directed by Adrian Lyne, Fatal Attraction was the biggest-grossing film of 1987, and gave the world the term “bunny boiler”. Lyne isn’t aboard for Paramount’s new eight-part series, but the film’s screenwriter James Dearden is a major script contributor alongside the show’s creators Kevin J Hynes and Alexandra Cunningham.

The Diplomat, Netflix review - can London's new American ambassador prevent World War Three?

★★★★ THE DIPLOMAT, NETFLIX Can London's new American ambassador prevent World War Three?

Sorkin-esque drama takes a satirical look at the 'special relationship'

Does the “special relationship” really exist? Judging by Netflix’s sparky new political drama, yes it does, with London-based CIA agent Eidra Graham (Ali Ahn) going out of her way to spell out the unique intelligence-sharing arrangements between the US and the UK. Just as long as everyone remembers that the Americans are well and truly in charge, nothing can possibly go wrong.

Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, ITV1 review - Agatha Christie gets a tense and twisty reworking by Hugh Laurie

★★★★ WHY DIDN'T THEY ASK EVANS? Christie gets a tense, twisty reworking by Hugh Laurie

Lucy Boynton and Will Poulter shine as a pair of intrepid amateur sleuths

With Magpie Murders currently airing on BBC One, Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? is another gem from the BritBox stable, where it made its debut last year. Its secret weapon is Hugh Laurie, who’s all over it as screenwriter, director and actor.