TV is pulling out the big guns this week with a host of A-list talent that includes Kerry Washinton, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Connelly and Janelle Monáe. Elsewhere there’s important programming on mental health awareness and the people we must never forget during lockdown. Here’s our pick of what to watch. 

Little Fires Everywhere

We’ve been waiting a long time for this one, and all eight episodes of the adaptation of Celeste Ng’s sublime 2017 book are finally in touching distance. Produced by and starring Reese Witherspoon alongside Kerry Washington, this drama explores how the arrival of artist Mia (Washington) and her daughter upends the privileged world Elena (Witherspoon) and her family live in. There’s arson, there’s custody battles, there’s huge family secrets. Expect sparks to fly.

Friday 22 May on Amazon Prime Video

Snowpiercer

If post-apocalyptic dramas are your thing then Snowpiercer will appeal. Based on the acclaimed 2003 film by director Bong Joon-ho (he is also an exec-producer on the show) the ten-part series is set seven years after the world has turned into a frozen wasteland. The last surviving members of humanity (including Jennifer Connelly) live on a gigantic train that constantly circles the globe where they must live in a strict class system.

Episodes one and two Monday 25 May 25 then weekly from 1 June, Netflix 

What’s the Matter with Tony Slattery?

In the 90s comic Tony Slattery was a famous face on TV shows like Whose Line is it Anyway but a few years later he’d faded from the public eye after an undiagnosed breakdown, and as he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. In this documentary, which comes as part of Mental Health Awareness Week, Slattery and his partner Mark are on a mission to get a new diagnosis for his mental health issues.

Thursday 21 May, 9pm, BBC Two

Homecoming

Series two of Homecoming has a new protagonist as Janelle Monáe replaces Julia Roberts. The thriller is based on the podcast about a counsellor who worked in a retreat that was ostensibly for war veterans and turned out to be erasing their memories. Series two begins with Monáe waking up on a rowing boat in the middle of a lake with no idea how she got there or even who she is. But now she must find her identity.

Friday May 22, Amazon Prime Video 

Old, Alone and Stuck at Home

This may not be easy viewing, but it’s important to remind ourselves that while lockdown is challenging for all us, for older people who are isolated and unable to leave home it’s even harder. This Channel 4 show follows the lives of a cast of over-70s to see how they’re adapting and coping, from Suzanne who has terminal cancer to Desmond who has had to move in with his daughter and has already lost four of his friends.

Wednesday 20 May, 9pm, Channel 4

Images: Amazon Prime,  Netflix, Channel 4, BBC