TV reviews: Fake, a Michael Mosley tribute, Dark Matter finale, Under The Bridge and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

Fake

Thursday, streaming on Paramount Plus

It is not a stretch to say that Asher Keddie and David Wenham are among Australia’s most beloved actors. Nina Proudman and Diver Dan? Iconic, in the most warm, charming way.

This is definitely not that.

Fake, in which Keddie plays Birdie, a journalist being wooed by Wenham’s successful grazier Joe, is a brilliantly-acted, deeply unsettling, thoroughly uncomfortable watch.

The gripping eight-part drama about a love scam, inspired by Stephanie Wood’s 2021 memoir of the same name, starts with Birdie matching with Joe on an online dating app.

On their first date, her gut says no. But despite her reservations, at the behest of friends and family — because God forbid a woman, especially of a certain age, be single — she continues to see him.

As Birdie falls for Joe’s charms and the relationship intensifies, so the log line goes, “Birdie is torn between Joe’s magnetic pull and the instinct that her boyfriend isn’t all he has led her to believe”.

Both the leads are brilliant — they’re almost too good, in that I had my heart in my mouth for every moment of the two episodes I watched.

Watching Keddie’s Birdie, an accomplished writer yet still so vulnerable, get so swept away that she overrides her every instinct and pushes aside every red flag is heartbreaking. The desperation transforming to relief on her face, as she almost calls Joe out numerous times but is always given just enough reassurance not to, is excruciating.

Wenham is also captivating as the hot-and-cold Joe; when he holds her hand and gazes into her eyes, you can see why a girl might be willing to overlook a few things. In other moments, the mask slips and you will her to turn and run.

Honestly, I don’t normally enjoy TV that makes me feel this anxious — that’s what my everyday life is for. But I have to know how this ends.

Michael Mosley: The Doctor Who Changed Britain

Wednesday, 7.35pm, SBS

When beloved TV figure Dr Michael Mosley died recently on the Greek island of Symi, the outpouring of tributes all had the same undertone — this was a smart, kind man, who changed people’s lives through his broadcasts. In series including Australia’s Sleep Revolution to Australia’s Health Revolution, Mosley used his warm, often funny approach to deliver important messages. He started behind the scenes as an award-winning science journalist and producer, before becoming a presenter and proponent of intermittent fasting and cold showers, among other things. Given his impact, it seems fitting that his work will continue to resonate after his death, with SBS airing this tribute, produced by the BBC, followed by a repeat of The Truth About Sleep at 8.10pm. The channel’s on-demand service also has a collection of his work if you would like to reminisce. Vale.

Under The Bridge

Streaming now on Disney Plus

Feeding the seemingly insatiable demand for true crime, this series has some heavy-hitters in Lily Gladstone and Riley Keough. It’s based on the shocking case of 14-year-old Reena Virk, murdered in 1997 by a group of teenagers in Canada.

Dark Matter finale

Streaming now on Apple TV Plus

In the finale of this mind-melting show, we might finally answer the age-old question: is there such a thing as too much Joel Edgerton? I don’t understand the physics theories at play (something about a cat?) but this series combines action and deep philosophical questions to great effect.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Wednesday, streaming on Netflix