Netflix’s Cheat, Neon’s Perry Mason among the great shows available to stream this week

CHEAT (NETFLIX)

Growing tired of The Chase? This might just be the addictive new UK quiz show you’ve been looking for.

Hosted by former EastEnders’ star Danny Dyer and British comedian Ellie Taylor, Cheat is likely to become this generation’s The Weakest Link, thanks to an emphasis on skullduggery and subversive gameplay.

Billed by Dyer himself as “the ultimate battle of brains, blagging and bare-faced lying”, this is a series where having a good poker face is just as important as boasting wide general knowledge.

Apart from Dyer’s increasingly awful attempts at Dad jokes and berating the participants – and Taylor’s quick wit – much of the joy of Cheat comes from the differing approaches the players have and how quickly you can work out just how much of a wrong’un they are.

THE FLATSHARE (TVNZ+)

Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay and The Great’s Anthony Welsh team up for this six-part rom-com based on the best-selling 2019 book by Beth O’Leary.

Cash-strapped 20-somethings Tiffany and Leon’s unique bed-sharing arrangement sees her have the space on weeknights and weekends, while he sleeps there weekdays. They’ve never met and – if their plans works – they never will. However, in leaving notes for one another, they find themselves drawn into each other’s messy life.

“Charming and tightly written — knowing, but never snarky,” wrote The Independent’s Isobel Lewis.

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FUNNY WOMAN (NEON)

Gemma Arterton headlines this six-part adaptation of Nick Hornby’s 1960s-set 2014 novel Funny Girl. She plays Barbara Parker, a Blackpool beauty queen who decides that her true passion lies in comedy. Inspired by her idol Lucille Ball, she’s determined to make it as a sitcom star.

Arterton is a charismatic and compelling presence here, able to segue seamlessly between the tale’s lighter and darker moments with ease. Like her character, she has an ability to channel a number of voices (Barbara’s talent is inspired by constant listening to radio plays with her father since a very young age) and boasts terrific comedic timing. But she also doesn’t shy away from the moments of doubt, harrowing setbacks and traumatic encounters that (mostly) men put in her way.

The impressive ensemble also includes David Threlfall, Morwenna Banks, Tom Bateman and Rupert Everett.

THE LAW ACCORDING TO LIDIA POET (NETFLIX)

Inspired by Italy’s first female lawyer, this gripping six-part period drama sees Lidia Poët (Matilda De Angelis) investigating murders while fighting to for her rightful place in the legal profession. Cases include the death of a ballerina, an anarchist accused of murder, a séance that goes awry at a wild party and a man who confesses to patricide in Poët’s own childhood home.

“It’s more or less a classic mystery, set in the late 19th century to satisfy fans of sexy costume dramas. But it’s buoyed by the radiant presence of De Angelis,” wrote Decider’s Joel Kelly.

KINDRED (DISNEY+)

Eight-part, sci-fi mini-series about aspiring writer Dana James (WeCrashed’s Mallori Johnson) who has just moved to Los Angeles to establish a life close to her only remaining family – an Aunt – when she finds herself transported back to a 19th Century plantation.

Based on the beloved 1979 novel by Octavia E. Butler.

“This gripping adaptation expands Butler’s groundbreaking exploration of America’s racist history into a profound puzzle-box thriller,” wrote Entertainment Weekly’s Kristen Baldwin.

MILA IN THE MULTIVERSE (DISNEY+)

No, it’s not the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but rather an eight-part Brazilian sci-fi series about 16-year-old Mila (Laura Luz), who, on her birthday, gains the power to travel back and forth between different parallel universes.

While she initially attempts to use it to locate her long-missing mother Elis (Malu Mader), Mila soon discovers there are plenty of dangers lying in wait.

“A fun show for preteens and teens that parents can watch, as well, especially if they want to relive some of the sci-fi shows from when they were kids,” wrote Decider’s Joel Keller.

PERRY MASON (NEON)

From a bravura opening tracking shot set on a riverboat casino to the fabulously atmospheric cinematography, production design and gorgeous costuming, the second season of this 1930s-set take on Erle Stanley Gardner’s beloved character cements the show’s reputation as one of the most memorably stylish period dramas of recent times.

New showrunners Jack Amiel and Michael Begler (The Knick) have crafted intriguing and gripping new dilemmas for Matthew Rhys’ private detective-turned-lawyer to tackle, while adding the likes of Fantastic Beasts’ Katherine Waterston, Succession’s Hope Davis and Sound of Metal’s Paul Raci to an already terrific ensemble.

However, this is still very much Rhys’ show and he continues to impress in a way that – if there’s any justice – should see him at least repeat his Emmy nomination from 2021.

PLANET SEX WITH CARA DELEVINGNE (THREE NOW)

Don’t know your asexuality from your pansexuality? Think a Spectrum is a British computer from the 1980s? Struggling to comprehend “the rainbow” when it’s already developed into “a cornucopia of colours”?

Then this might just be the entertainingly enlightening show for you. It sees the British model turned actor (Tulip Fever, Carnival Row) take a deep dive into the increasingly dizzying and diverse world of self-identity, sexual orientation and pleasure-seeking.

While fully admitting to being a “privileged western white woman”, the vivacious and delightfully self-deprecating Delevingne firmly believes that stardom has helped contribute to her own sex life, relationships and even gender identification being “all a bit of a hot mess”. However, while she also opens up about feeling abnormal and dark thoughts earlier in her life, Planet Sex is not dominated by self-confessional navel-gazing.

Instread, it’s a handy primer on the difference between gender and sexual orientation (the first is “how you feel inside”, the second “who you fancy”) and a journey of discovery that aims to ask questions like: Is monogamy dead? What makes us hot – or not? And how can we get our hands on more orgasms?