Stranger Things to Obi-Wan Kenobi: The seven best shows to stream this week | Television & radio

Choice of the week

stranger things

A macabre flashback to Dr. Brenner’s lab transitions to sunny pop guitar and a teenage diary entry. From the outset, we are back in the universe of Stranger Things, where the fantastic and the banal mingle. This banality has always been one of the show’s strengths – but, at times, it feels like you’re just watching a sympathetic and slightly aimless teen drama with the supernatural elements scattered throughout. Yet the characters remain well realized: the messiness of adolescence causes Jane/Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) to lose friends trying to find new ones. But, as always, Upside Down awaits a likely conduit.
Netflix, starting Friday, May 27

Obi Wan Kenobi

“The Jedi Code is like an itch. We can’t help it. This long-awaited series – a prequel to the original films but set after the final trilogy – fills another gap in the elastic period of the Star Wars universe, positing Jedi status as more of a curse than a blessing. . He finds Ewan McGregor’s Obi in a more vulnerable place, broken by his experience with Order 66 and living in hiding after the fall of the Republic. Plus, Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen) isn’t done with our hero – hunting down the Jedi because they represent both opposition to his rule and a hated part of himself.
Disney+, from Friday May 27

prehistoric planet

We are used to David Attenborough explaining natural history to us, but can the nonagenarian explain prehistory? This series harnesses a combination of the gravity imparted by Attenborough’s voice and stunning visuals to present a striking vision of the Cretaceous period. With one episode each day this week, this collaboration between the BBC’s Natural History Unit and The Lion King MPC’s photorealistic effects team is essentially a classic BBC-style nature epic, transferred into a new menagerie of creatures. biting, roaring and trotting.
Apple TV+, starting Monday, May 23

Ghost in the shell: SAC_2045

The first season proved divisive, mostly due to its animation design, which ditched the classic manga aesthetic of the original comics for a flashy but more generic CGI style. The same gripes remain – albeit with an added layer of irony in a series where the narrative now explores the implications of runaway AI leading to a homogenized posthuman condition. However, the story is developed in a complex and interesting way, dealing with the Orwellian concept of “enduring war” and the possible end point of evolution.
Netflix, starting Monday, May 23

Ricky Gervais: SuperNature

“It was ironic. There will be a few throughout the show. This is where I say something I don’t really mean, for comedic effect. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Stewart Lee will be delighted to have been such an inspiration for Gervais’ new hour-long special. Or maybe he won’t; in the hands of Gervais, irony often seems the default mode of a man who just wants to have his cake and eat it – railing against the notion of taboos while leaning on them for laughs. Still, he’s undeniably a gifted comedic mastermind, albeit often on autopilot.
Netflix, starting Tuesday, May 24

Somebody Feed Phil

A fifth season of vicarious travel and culinary adventures starring Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal. The show’s secret is Rosenthal’s obvious enjoyment, not only in the food he tastes, but also in the people he meets and the regional and national identities he explores. This will be Rosenthal’s first post-Covid series (“The world opens again and so does my mouth”) and he is obviously happy to be back on the road, tasting, among other things, the best sausages in Lisbon and a classic Mexican canteen .
Netflix, starting Wednesday, May 25

Afrobeats: the backstory

The propulsive, multi-dimensional Nigerian music phenomenon has long since gone global, with Grammy nominations for several of its frontmen. But this success has taken years to prepare – and filmmaker Ayo Shonaiya has been there since the beginning. Starting in 1999, this series follows the emergence of scene pioneers such as Burna Boy and D’Banj, and tells a larger story of Nigeria’s growth, development and self-realization. Shonaiya accurately describes this labor of love as “a history lesson with a musical soundtrack.”
Netflix, starting Friday, May 27