TELEVISION & FILM
YOSHII TORANAGA HIROYUKI SANADA
A feudal lord who is outnumbered, but not quite outmanoeuvred, by his younger enemies
JOHN BLACKTHORNE COSMO JARVIS
Destitute, alone, can’t speak Japanese… surely this bolshy English sailor can’t survive, let alone flourish?
TODA MARIKO ANNA SAWAI
Christian noblewoman who’ll become the link between John and Toranaga: a position that will test her faith
OCHIBA NO KATA FUMI NIKAIDO
Fiercely protective mother of the young heir to the kingdom — feared and respected for good reason
KASHIGI OMI HIROTO KANAI
A powerless underling at the start of the series, this bright young man’s acumen soon brings him opportunities
BUNTARO SHINNOSUKE ABE
Mariko’s husband is jealous and possessive, a weakness that undermines his skill for warmongering — and his master, Toranaga
HISTORICAL DRAMA
Shogun Episodes 1 and 2 available from Tuesday on Disney+ James Clavell’s 1975 novel, a 1,000-page doorstop that became a huge bestseller, receives a lavish dramatisation. In 1600, an Englishman, John Blackthorne, becomes the first man from his country to reach Japan, where he finds a feudal system in flux and a delicate religious culture he is happy to disrupt: Catholicism has a foothold, but Blackthorne is a Protestant. If you can keep up with who everyone is in the first episode, it wrings gripping drama from the clash of cultures, and from the power struggles in 17th-century Japan. Beautifully rendered via location shooting and clever CGI, it’s a place where death, by execution or suicide, is always only a moment away.
Your RT Travel: page 142
THE PICK OF TV & FILM ON DEMAND
Disney+
DRAMA
All 8 episodes available Wednesday
There’s a hint of This Is Us about this new French drama, which recognises that traumatic events ripple out to affect everyone connected to them. When a nine-year-old Parisian girl is diagnosed with leukaemia, her family members react in different ways: some carry on as normal, others are deeply affected and at least one enters a full-life crisis. The series takes time to explore each story, with a likeable cast striking a bittersweet balance between comedy and tragedy. You might recognise faces from The Bureau and House of Gucci.
AppleTV+
COMEDY
Eps 1 and 2 available Friday
The legend of the 18th-century English highwayman is fuel for a jolly period comedy that pitches itself somewhere between Horrible Histories and Our Flag Means Death. Noel Fielding is Dick, the son of a butcher who, in this telling, is a vegan who is reluctant to kill animals. Rejected by his father, he accidentally joins a gang of thieves before accidentally becoming their leader, which brings him
