Screen Babble: Weekend Watch: Extrapolations, Challenge Anneka, and Rise and Fall

Each week, NationalWorld’s Digital Trends Writer Steven Ross takes a look at all the new shows coming up this weekend and beyond, highlighting a few specially selected top picks that are worth your precious time. This week, however, Steven is on holiday, so you’re stuck with TV Critic Alex Moreland instead.

Our first suggestion this weekend is Extrapolations, a new science fiction anthology from Scott Z Burns arriving on Apple TV+ on Friday. Meryl Streep, Edward Norton, Matthew Rhys, Gemma Chan, David Schwimmer, Keri Russell, Marion Cotillard, Forest Whitaker, Murray Bartlett, and Indira Varma all star in this series about the impact climate change will have on the planet. New episodes air weekly.

Alternately, you might prefer Redemption, an ITV crime drama starring Paula Malcolmson as a detective asked to identify the body of her estranged daughter – and then take care of the grandchildren she didn’t know she had. One for Happy Valley fans, perhaps, when this starts at 9pm.

You might also want to check out Swarm, a dark new drama from Atlanta creator Donald Glover. What if a dedicated fan took things just that step too far? Swarm arrives on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, with every episode available at once.

Moving into Saturday, we’ve got the long-awaited return of Challenge Anneka. The former Blue Peter presenter undertakes a new series of elaborate challenges in this four-part revival, airing on Channel 5 at 9pm. 

On Sunday – in a brand-new timeslot – we’ve got Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer. Stars of the stage and silver screen like David Schwimmer, Rose Matafeo, and more compete to impress Prue Leith and Paul Hollywood. The new series starts at 7:45pm on Channel 4, with new episodes airing weekly.

Finally, Rise and Fall, a new series from the creators of The Traitors that’s been described as reality TV by way of Parasite. 16 members of the public are split into Rulers and Grafters, and moved into a penthouse and a basement – can the Grafters rise to the top? Rise and Fall stars at 9pm on Channel 4, with new episodes airing nightly for the rest of the week.

Listen to Screen Babble: Weekend Watch #17 here…

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