TV

Thursday 19 March 2026

What to watch this week, from The Other Bennet Sister to Inside the Rage Machine

The Observer’s TV critic Barbara Ellen on the best new shows airing and streaming

The Other Bennet Sister

(BBC One)

Adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s 2020 novel taking a different view of Pride and Prejudice’s Mary Bennet – the daughter supposedly without the attributes of her sisters Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty or Lydia. Ella Bruccoleri brings a good-humoured dignity to bluestocking Mary, while Ruth Jones plays her ill-tempered mother Mrs Bennet.

Inside the Rage Machine

(BBC Two)

Marianna Spring, the BBC’s disinformation specialist, investigates the dark underbelly of the internet. Social media whistleblowers reveal the cynical algorithms and insufficient safeguarding that is stoking everyday intolerance.

Imperfect Women

(Apple TV+)

Glossy but somewhat generic whodunnit. A friendship group suffers a devastating loss and then implodes with  secrets and lies. Starring Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara.

The Plastic Detox

(Netflix)

Unsettling documentary exploring whether reducing daily contact with microplastics could help couples struggling with unexplained fertility.

Illustration by Charlotte Durance

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