What I watched on TV

Here are six programmes our TV critic Stephen Miller has enjoyed taking for a test drive recently.

Prehistoric Planet (Apple TV+)

Travel back 66 million years to when dinosaurs and other extraordinary creatures roamed the lands, seas and skies. Prehistoric Planet combines award-winning wildlife filmmaking, the latest paleontology learnings and state-of-the-art technology. Add to that classic Sir David Attenborough commentary and you have a hyperrealistic, highly absorbing wildlife programme about life on ancient Earth. ★★★★

If this were a car, it would be:

Jaguar E Type - timeless, beautiful, digitised history. .

Conversations With Friends

(Amazon Prime)

This slow moving, sexy drama progresses at such a slow pace you could rightly describe that as glacial. But I’m a fan of the slow burn and Alison Oliver is the standout for me playing the socially awkward Frances. Based on Sally Rooney’s acclaimed novel of the same name, it touches many emotions and as with Normal People before it (on the small screen but after it in book chronology), you will either be enthralled or bored - I loved it. ★★★★★

If this was a car, it would be:

VW Beetle - sluggish, solid, reliable and fun. The Staircase (Binge)

In 2001, author and aspiring local politician, Michael Peterson, was charged with murder after the suspicious death of his wife Kathleen. The Staircase doesn’t hold many surprises if you’re already familiar with the original documentary, but this dramatisation does bring a different perspective to the mystery. Colin Firth does a good job at playing the unlikeable, narcissistic Michael Peterson, instead of normally making audiences swoon. ★★★★

If this were a car, it would be:

Citroën 2CV - Familiar, slow and drives like a waterbed.

Hacks Series 2 (Stan)

Hacks returns for its second season, which sees the dysfunctional couple Ava and Deborah, hit the road. This smart comedy really understands human behaviour and how that can be affected by the world of show business. I thought season one was great, but I loved this second season even more. What a thrilling, funny and excellent ride! ★★★★★

If this were a car, it would be:

Porsche 911 - famous, smooth, quality, unchanged design. Family Court Murders (ABC iView)

Walkley award-winning investigative journalist and author, Debi Marshall, seeks to find a resolution for the families of a series of shootings and bombings that killed four people and critically injured dozens in the 1980s. Known as the ‘Family Court Murders’, these brutal attacks were fueled by the bitter custody dispute that ensued between Leonard Warwick and his wife Andrea. This fourpart doco has merit but would have been much improved further being spliced down to just two episodes. ★★★

If this were a car, it would be:

A stretched limousine - long, captivating and driven by a proficient chauffeur. Essex Serpent (Apple TV+)

Recently widowed, Cora has relocated to a small village in Essex, where she becomes intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature (known as the Essex Serpent) has returned to the area. The Essex Serpent is an accomplished Gothic romance with captivating performances. This is not a period drama where everything is rosy and colourful - in fact quite the reverse. It is though very endearing, has real depth and wonderful characters. I really enjoyed this show. ★★★★

If this were a car, it would be:

1955 Citroën DS 19 - romantic, creative and very mysterious.

Story

Excerpt from Chapter 1 of ‘The Fur and Feathers Party’ – a modern-day fable for grownups by Maggie Lawrence

PUP LAY PANTING in a heap of bedraggled and sweaty fur at the edge of a busy highway. She looked more like a grubby tan-and-silver rug than anything remotely like an Australian silky-haired terrier. Her usual abundance of allure had disappeared faster than a delicious treat after a well-mannered walk. Her long silky mane, normally tumbling down her body like a gossamer waterfall, was now a dry and tangled mess.

The temperature on this late January day had climbed to a sizzling forty-six degrees Centigrade, making this the hottest day in the Hornsby Shire of New South Wales since records began.

Rugged national park covered more than two thirds of the area. Unrelenting green and grey eucalypts lined the road, their roots gasping for the rain that had not paid them a visit in months.

The weather bureau had labelled the fire risk ‘Catastrophic’. Anyone caught lighting a fire would have a massive fine or end up behind bars.

A hot north wind had whipped up pieces of gravel from the edge of the road, turning them into small gritty tornados. They irritated the little terrier’s eyes and skin.

The searing temperature had transformed the highway into a massive grey hotplate, suitable for a giant to fry eggs.

Pup could not have picked a worse day or time to be out in the open with no shelter, food or water. Even if she survived the trucks, cars and motorcycles that were belting along the highway, she would not last long in these conditions.

She was just two years old and had always tried to put her best paw forward. Pup was proud of the fact that she never left steaming putrid piles in the middle of a public pavement. She didn’t have Stick Finding Obsession, Compulsive Yapping Disorder or Ball Throwing Syndrome. She never left her toys around for people to fall over. She tried to keep her barking and growling in check. The only time she’d ever woken David at night was to warn him that a possum was devouring the mangoes he’d left on the kitchen table.

As she lay panting on the boiling hot roadside, Pup wondered why David would have chosen her from all the other dogs at the shelter if he didn’t want her? She had only been with David for a year. That was a long time in a dog’s life. He had managed to convince her that she was the most important creature in his life. He’d even allowed her to sleep on his bed, and often gave her little treats and toys. It was cruel of him to pretend that she had a happy and safe future if he intended to leave her with his neighbour, Mrs Beanie. The only time Pup had ever been near the old lady was when she had kicked her for smelling the wild roses that grew along the brick fence bordering Mrs Beanie’s front garden.

For a little terrier with a strong sense of smell, it wasn’t pleasant inhaling the stale musty smell coming from the old lady’s clothes. Her garden was overgrown with weeds, and Pup wondered why a person, who clearly never cared for her flowers and shrubs, would be annoyed if she left a deposit there.

The heat was melting parts of the roadway. Burning hot bitumen stuck to the pads of Pup’s silky-haired feet, but she was too sad to notice. Her joyful, adventurous, and playful nature had vanished.

If Pup had known the important role she was destined to play in improving the lives of the birds and animals, she would not want to give up her life so easily. She’d be so excited she would somersault down the road like tumbleweed in the desert. Every animal, bird and fish would know who she was, and be grateful to her. But how could this little terrier have known what was just around the corner? Dogs don’t go to fortune-tellers.

In this moment the little silky-haired terrier no longer cared that dogs went weak at the paws when they saw her voluptuous tan-and-silver fur, her soft and pointy inquisitive ears, and warm brown expressive eyes.

Pup could only think of one thing: how could David just abandon her?

She drifted into a daydream, her mind re-living the events of just a few hours earlier that had changed her life forever.

The Fur and Feathers Party is available to purchase at Burns Bay Bookery and online at www.maggielawrence.com