Inside the American Embassy
Monday, C4, 10pm
With a new UK Ambassador, Robert 'Woody' Johnson IV, in place, a major relocation from Grosvenor Square in Mayfair to a new purpose-built #800m site in Vauxhall, south London, and an effort to strengthen the "special relationship" in the time of Brexit, it is a pivotal time for the US embassy. As well as preparing for a possible (and extremely controversial) Donald Trump visit to London, this three-part observational documentary series follows the more mundane tasks of embassy diplomats, whose job it is to protect the "welfare of US citizens abroad" and support the US's "business interests and culture". In the first edition, the ambassador and his press team have to deal with the fallout from some of Donald Trump's more controversial policies and also enter a massive Twitterstorm as the President attacks Theresa May over his retweet of a British far-right group.
Preacher
Monday, Amazon Prime
The most irreverent reverend since Father Jack is back for a third series, and if he doesn't find God pretty soon, there's gonna be hell to pay. Dominic Cooper reprises his role as hard-drinking padre Jesse Custer, in this dark, supernatural DC Comics adventure developed for telly by Seth Rogen, Sam Catlin and Evan Goldberg. Irish actor Ruth Negga returns as Custer's super-sassy ex-girlfriend Tulip, and Joseph Gilgun is Irish vampire Cassidy. All three are on a quest to hunt down the Almighty Himself, but finding your way to heaven is not so easy when you've got hellhounds and every other kind of underworld creature on your tail. In this series, Custer tries the Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz approach, clicking his heels and heading back home to Angelville, the Louisiana plantation where he grew up. What's the bet he'll find some serious cotton-pickin' demons waiting for him there?
The Affair
Tuesday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm
The infidelity drama starring Dominic West returns for a fourth season, and at this stage the titular illicit liaison seems so long ago, you wonder where the showrunners are going to go next with the extramarital action. Our four protagonists, Noah, Helen, Alison and Cole, have long since parted ways, and they're getting on with new lives and new relationships. But each one is now faced with a decision - whether to leave the past behind or go back into those emotional danger zones. Come on, you know which way this one's going to go.
Stath Lets Flats
Wednesday, Channel 4, 10pm
This sounds like some crazy reality show in which movie hardman Jason Statham tries his hand at being a letting agent. (Wot, you want a bigger room? Right, I'll just knock this wall in wif my bare fist). The reality is much less intriguing. It's actually a comedy series about a young Greek-Cypriot named named Stath, who works at his dad's dodgy lettings agency. Stath hasn't exactly inherited a great talent for letting out flats – in fact, he's probably worse than Jason Statham on that front. He hardly needs an ambitious colleague named Carole (Katy Wix) to make him look a fool – he's quite capable of doing that himself. But Stath has an even bigger problem – the slick, well-run agency next door that's keen to put the family out of business. Still, Channel 4 should really think about making Jason Statham: Estate Agent.
Japan's Secret Shame
Thursday, BBC2, 9pm
The #MeToo movement has seen women across the world opening up about their experiences of sexual assault and harassment, but in Japan, speaking about such incidents remains strictly taboo. So when 29-year-old journalist Shiori Ito went public with her claims that she'd been raped by a well-known TV personality, who strenuously denies the allegations, it shocked the country and led to her receiving hate mail. This documentary looks at how she has dealt with the reactions to her decision to speak out, but also explores the wider issues of gender and traditional attitudes in Japan as Shiori visits the institutions that she feels failed her and meets some of the women who are too frightened to report their own assaults.
GLOW
Friday, Netflix
Get out your spandex bodysuits and your favourite 80s mixtape - Zoya the Destroyer, Liberty Belle, Junkchain and the other Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling are back in the ring for another bout of the popular Netflix series set in the world of women's TV wrestling in the 1980s. As series two opens, the ladies' fame (and hair) is getting bigger than ever, and they're under pressure to produce more episodes of their show to feed the growing public appetite for heavily choreographed lady-on-lady violence. But there's always a downside to fame, as Ruth (Alison Brie) and Debbie (Betty Gilpin) soon learn.
Duran Duran: There's Something You Should Know
Friday, BBC4, 9pm
In 1978, one of Britain's most enduring pop bands formed in Birmingham. Now, 40 years on, Duran Duran members Simon Le Bon, John Taylor, Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor (Andy Taylor features in archive footage) look back on their extraordinary career. The documentary focuses on seven of their 14 albums, each of which represents a particular chapter in the band's story, from their rise to fame and fortune, to the excess and creative differences that would cause them to implode, and their resurgence and continuing success. It's followed by Duran Duran: A Night In and Duran Duran: Unstaged.
The Big Narstie Show
Friday, Channel 4, 11pm
Call it "Grime Norton on Acid". UK grime sensation Big Narstie is getting his own show, having already MC-bombed such shows as Gogglebox and the Big Fat Quiz of the Year. Narstie will be joined by stand-up comic Mo Gilligan for this madcap show that will feature chat, news, comedy and of course some serious grime throwdowns. "Big Narstie – musician, titan of the internet and master-twister of the English language – let loose in his own anarchic late-night Channel 4 show, is the best thing to happen this year," says producer Ben Wicks. Channel 4 are putting it on at an "experimental" late Friday night slot, which means they're aiming it squarely at the mullered back-from-the-pub crowd.
