Star’s ‘best life’ on show in new series
Star’s ‘best life’ on show in new series
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Star’s ‘best life’ on show in new series

James Wigney 🕒︎ 2025-10-21

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Star’s ‘best life’ on show in new series

PRIME VIDEO Surely anyone who has been walking around with the name Joel “Laz” Lazarus for 40 odd years, surely couldn’t be too surprised at suddenly going all Sixth Sense and seeing visions of people who have apparently returned from the grave like the biblical figure of old. But that’s exactly what happens to Sam Claflin’s forensic psychiatrist in this sometimes overwrought, faintly ridiculous but nevertheless rollicking thriller that marks the fifth collaboration between author Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst (Brassic), and the darkest so far in tone and content. Even 25 years later Laz is still haunted by the memory of his sister’s murder and when his revered shrink father Jonathan (the ever reliable Bill Nighy) apparently dies by his own hand in his office, he begins to encounter other long-dead murder victims, leaving him questioning his own sanity. It doesn’t take a degree in psychiatry to deduce that Laz’s horrific buried trauma and ghostly visitations might be linked but there’s plenty of moody scares and satisfying twists along the way. There’s a good reason Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon (a seasoned bookworm who has brought page-turners such as Gone Girl and Big Little Lies to the screen) chose Harlan Coben as her co-writer on her debut novel Gone Before Goodbye. Coben, like Witherspoon, understands good storytelling. All of Coben’s work – whether that be his novels or his screenplays – feature a rich cast of characters, shocking plot twists and a juicy central mystery. Lazarus, which he co-wrote with Ten Pound Poms creator Danny Brocklehurst, very much follows this proven formula. Having already worked together on the Netflix smash hits Fool Me Once, Stay Close and The Stranger, this dynamic duo knows what they are doing with this supernatural, psychological thriller. It stars Sam Claflin (Daisy Jones & the Six) as Laz; a psychiatrist haunted (figuratively and literally) by ghosts from his past. Having already weathered the murder of his twin sister decades earlier, Laz’s world is turned upside down when his father (Bill Nighy) is found dead in his office. WEDNESDAY, 10.30AM, DISNEY+, FOXTEL, KAYO The Aussie invasion of the world’s toughest and best basketball league continues apace with 14 players limbering up for the new season that tips off today when the Houston Rockets take on the defending champs Oklahoma City Thunder, followed by the Golden State Warriors hosting California rivals the LA Lakers. Big things will be expected of Melbourne’s Josh Giddey, who this month signed a US$100 million deal with the Chicago Bulls, and fellow Victorian Dyson Daniels will be looking to capitalise on his Most Improved Player Award – not the mention the NBA records he set for steals and tipped passes that earned him the nickname The Great Barrier Thief – with the Atlanta Hawks. EVA LONGORIA: SEARCHING FOR SPAIN THURSDAY, 7.30PM, SBS Eva Longoria looks like she is living her absolute best life on this culinary journey around Spain’s 17 regions. The proud Mexican-American’s ancestors left the country for a new life 11 generations ago and the former Desperate Housewives star, producer and activist returns with a curiosity for a local customs and delicacies as well as the historical events that shaped them, from a yellow parasite that created the Spanish Cava industry to the hardships and horrors of the Franco dictatorship. She starts her journey in stunning Barcelona and the Catalonian surrounds, sampling mouth-watering tapas and a reinvention of a traditional fisherman’s stew and discovering the delights of “vermouth o’clock”. THE GREAT ENTERTAINER The astonishing array of talent assembled for this fascinating documentary – both famous faces and behind the scenes players – is testament enough to the impact that the late, great Brian Walsh had on the Australian TV industry. With a flair for publicity and generating headlines, Walsh was the man who took Neighbours from a struggling local soap to a global powerhouse, helped transform the image of rugby league for a broader audiences with his Simply the Best campaign, nurtured young talent such as Hugh Jackman and championed Australian dramas including Love My Way, Wentworth and The Twelve. Behind the glitz, was a driven, brilliant man who cared deeply for TV and talent and thought he had the best job in Australia because he got to spend his time making other people’s leisure time more enjoyable. THE CHANGE SUNDAY, 11.35PM, SBS VICELAND The first season (available on SBS On Demand) of this quirky, rave-reviewed UK comedy drama about a menopausal woman who flees her suburban family life to reinvent herself by living in a caravan in the forest was billed as Shirley Valentine meets Deliverance. Season two picks up right where the finale left off at the village’s annual festival, with Linda’s (played by writer-creator-star Bridget Christie) conventional past having been revealed. Before long, she’s put on trial for “wrongfully accepting the role of Eel Queen” by the assortment of oddballs and dropouts who make up her new-found, off-the-beaten-track community. It’s a pleasure to spend some more time in their company for a comedy that’s sometimes surreal, often moving and very funny. TALAMASCA: THE SECRET ORDER NEW EPISODES MONDAYS, STAN Fans of Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles books will already know that there is a far richer, wider supernatural world than just the titular blood suckers, and the two seasons (with a third to come for each) so far of Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches have done a top job in bringing those dark tales to the small screen. And now it’s the turn of the Talamasca, the shadowy organisation that’s been around for centuries keeping an eye on all manner of spooky creatures and intervening when necessary. Aussie Nicholas Denton plays Guy Anatole, a would-be lawyer with a mysterious past and a gift for hearing the thoughts of others, who is recruited into the secret society with the promise of fighting evil and discovering the truth about his parents. If he survives, that is. THE ART OF … TUESDAY, 9.20PM, ABC The arts and culture show that also dares to ask the big questions is back for a second season as host Namila Benson enlists a diverse range of guests from Ken Done to The Church’s Steve Kilbey to explore the wondrous and the sometimes plain weird. In this week’s season opener, Benson teams up with presenter Zoe Norton Lodge to delve into world of magic and whether it’s a mystery to be savoured or solved. Between them they meet seven-time Grammy-winner Jacob Collier, who transforms audiences with his stunning live shows, Tony-Award winning costume designer Marg Horwell, who made the seemingly impossible possible on stage in The Picture of Dorian Gray and experience the work of an experimental composer who is still making music years after his death. STILLER AND MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST Many will know Ben Stiller’s father Jerry best as the hilariously short-fused Frank Costanza in the timeless sitcom Seinfeld. But in truth, that was a late-career bonus for an actor who had been plying his trade for decades, a lot of it as a comedy double act with his wife Ann Meara. Stiller’s documentary on his late parents – his mother died in 2015 and father in 2020 – makes not just for a fascinating portrait of their long and varied career and the ups and downs of their relationship, but also as a document of his own unconventional childhood. Made with his sister Amy, wife Christine and their two children – and an incredible amount of audio and video records left behind by Jerry – it’s at its most affecting when Ben sees his parents reflected in some his own life choices and personality traits. BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: IN PERFORMANCE STREAMING, TUBI Bruce Springsteen has no notes about Jeremy Allen White’s performance as him in the new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere. The singer, 76, joked that Allen White had done a wonderful job, dubbing The Bear star “a much better-looking version of me.” There’s a lot of good material (and music) to work with when bringing Springsteen’s story to the screen as showcased in this 2017 documentary charting some of The Boss’s most famous live shows with his backing E Street Band.

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