Top TV picks this weekend: Dead Boy Detectives, Abba and a Richard Armitage thriller

Friday

Netflix

Based on a comic book by Neil Gaiman, this intriguing, eight-part horror comedy is full of tricksy twists and bumpy complications, but the central premise — teenage ghosts carving out a, erm, living as plucky detectives with supernatural clients — is a good one. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri lead the way.

Dead Boy Detectives Official Trailer

KNUCKLES

Paramount+

The live-action Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise gets its first spin-off series. Idris Elba, fair play to him, lends his voice to the eponymous, anthropomorphic echidna who teams up with a goofball deputy sheriff (Adam Pally) to help him win a bowling tournament. Or something. Ben Schwartz’s Sonic is in there — Christopher Lloyd and Stockard Channing also make an appearance. Could be fun.

THANK YOU, GOODNIGHT: THE BON JOVI STORY

Disney+

To mark the group’s 40th anniversary, the New Jersey rock icons revisit the archives for a four-part “all access docuseries” that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about life in one of America’s biggest bands. It’s an epic display, that’s for sure. Clocking in at a backside-numbing five hours, the Bon Jovi super fans will have their work cut out for them here.

THEM: THE SCARE

Prime Video

The controversial black horror anthology returns. The first season was set in the 1950s — this second run jumps ahead to 1991 and tells the story of a hardened LAPD Detective, Dawn Reeve (Deborah Ayorinde), who struggles to wrap her head around a particularly gruesome murder. Are malevolent forces at play? Maybe. Pam Grier co-stars.

FERN BRADY: AUTISTIC BIKINI QUEEN

Netflix

The awesome Scottish comic now has her very own Netflix stand-up special. Here, Brady talks babies, death, the problems with middle age and the awkwardness that occurs whenever cat owners receive feline-themed gifts from their mums. All the important stuff, basically.

Saturday

SONGS OF IRELAND

RTÉ One, 9.15pm

Comedian and musician Pat Shortt joins his old pal, Stockton’s Wing frontman Mike Hanrahan, for a musical trek around Ireland where the lads hope to learn everything they can about the history behind our favourite traditional songs. A simple concept, and it’ll probably work a treat.

NEIL DIAMOND NIGHT

BBC Two from 8.25pm

A whole evening dedicated to the man in blue jeans. First up, Neil Diamond at the BBC, which does exactly what it says in the title, followed by Solitary Man, a documentary about his life, and a trio of classic concert recordings, including Diamond’s 2010 London Roundhouse show for the Electric Proms series. That’ll do nicely.

BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT

Virgin Media One, 7.30pm

This is, would you believe, the 17th season of the never-ending British talent competition. You’d think by now they’d have run out of dancing dogs, daredevil magicians, icky comedians and shouty pub singers, but apparently not. Ant and Dec return as our hosts, with Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli occupying the judges’ table. Yippee.

ABBA: 50 YEARS OF POP

Channel 4, 8.50pm

On the 50th anniversary of ABBA’s game-changing Eurovision victory, this warmly anticipated Channel 4 special looks at how the group’s win kick-started a glorious tenure for super Swedish pop music. Europe, Roxette and Robyn all feature.

Sunday

THE BIG DOOR PRIZE

Apple TV+

The charming small-town sci-fi mystery returns for a second season. Chris O’Dowd leads the charge as a sceptical high-school teacher whose personal life begins to crumble after a mysterious fortune-telling machine pops up in his local grocery store. Gabrielle Dennis and Josh Segarra lend support.

THIS TOWN

BBC One, 9pm

Steven Knight’s wobbly period drama about an unlikely band formation in 1980s Birmingham comes to an end. Those mixed reviews are impossible to ignore, and the series has struggled to win over viewers. Will the finale clean things up? We’ll find out soon enough. Levi Brown and Michelle Dockery co-star.

RED EYE

ITV1, 9pm

No, it isn’t a television remake of the Cillian Murphy / Rachel McAdams thriller (although, that wouldn’t be the worst idea I’ve heard). But hey, it’s still set on an aeroplane. Richard Armitage stars as a British doctor who’s charged with a murder in Beijing. Did the doc do it? Probably not, but that doesn’t stop the authorities from arresting him in Heathrow and putting him on a flight back to China. Jing Lusi co-stars.

THE PIANO

Channel 4, 9pm

Claudia Winkleman and her pals, Mika and Lang Lang, embark on another quest to find the UK’s greatest amateur pianist. The process involves setting up street pianos in railway stations across the country and secretly observing unknowing participants, some of whom are then selected to perform at a prestigious end-of-series concert. A lovely idea, but we just have one question: was ‘The Piano’ the best title they could come up with?