Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.I know, I know. Summer holidays are a time to get away from screens, to get stuck into a book. But rain-sodden country cottages or retreating from the heat to shady hotel rooms mean you might well want a show to get stuck into. Here are some of my favourite shows of the past year.Ghosts, BBC iPlayer/Amazon PrimeWhen it comes to family viewing, Ghosts is perfect. This is a gather-on-the-sofa gem. I shed a tear when it came to an end in this fifth series. The comedy tells the story of a married couple who unexpectedly inherit dilapidated manor Button House. Wife Alison discovers it is haunted by friendly ghosts of those who died in the house across the centuries, though her husband is unable to see them. Everyone has a favourite ghost — mine is Kitty, the silly, joyful Georgian, though Robin, the wise caveman who has seen it all before and takes the long view, is a close second. The humour is well-written and the storytelling gently thought-provoking. Speaking of final series, the twisty, darkly comedic anthology Inside No 9 finished on BBC this year. To have come up with so many ingenious and different storylines over nine series is a creative feat.bbc.co.uk/iplayerTore, NetflixThis is at times unsettlingly bleak but also funny and delightful. It is a dark (when are they not?) Swedish comedy about Tore, a 27-year-old undertaker who goes into extreme denial when his father dies after being hit by a bin lorry. He becomes estranged from his best friend and pursues hedonism, exploring his sexuality for the first time. It’s constantly surprising. Maybe one to savour alone inside rather than on the sun lounger.netflix.comJerrod Carmichael Reality Show, Now TVThe documentary series is made with some of the team that created Couples Therapy. It follows Jerrod Carmichael, the 37-year-old comedian from North Carolina, as he hooks up and hangs out, including one spectacularly awkward scene with Tyler the Creator, who Carmichael previously declared he had feelings for. Voyeurism is the point, and Carmichael finds it easier to be open when the cameras are on him. It is also about the difficulties of acceptance (Carmichael’s Christian mother profoundly struggles with his sexuality). If you’re spending time away with family or friends, it may make you reflect on your relationships, as well as the dance of performance versus authenticity when posing for the camera.nowtv.comBecoming Karl Lagerfeld, Disney+There has been a glut of dramas about fashion designers over the past year. But this is the only one I really took to, mainly because of Lagerfeld’s extreme oddness, and also because of compelling performances by the lead actors, Daniel Brühl, who moves between German and French playing the doughy, pouty designer, and Théodore Pellerin as Jacques de Bascher, his caddish, beautiful companion. While there is a dark flintiness to Lagerfeld, the decadent parties and nightclubs are pure escapism.disneyplus.comThe Bear, Disney+I’ve been conflicted about The Bear: yes, it dramatically depicts the intensity of the restaurant kitchen and the peculiar single-mindedness of the people who work in it. But I find it hard to get over my extreme irritation with Carmy, the head chef and restaurateur played by Jeremy Allen White. Trauma fills the void where his personality should be, and his self-absorption knows no limits. Critics have said that the latest series is not up to scratch, but its legions of diehard fans love it nonetheless.disneyplus.comFor All Mankind, Apple TVThe latest series of this lavish science fiction drama is set on Mars and should garner more plaudits. The story takes as its starting point the question: what might have happened if a Russian cosmonaut had landed on the Moon before the Americans? It has everything — rockets! love! espionage! If you’ve ever contemplated tourism on another planet, For All Mankind has you covered.tv.apple.comMr and Mrs Smith, Amazon Prime TVIn this television spin-off of the film (starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), Donald Glover and Maya Erskine have an intelligently sexy chemistry. The pair find themselves in a marriage of convenience having given up their identities to become spies, adopting new personas and wealthy lifestyles to venture forth on missions while trying to navigate married life. It is worth watching for Glover’s outfits alone. Also the sumptuous locations of Lake Como and the Veneto — aspirational holidaying if you disregard the risk of death.amazon.co.ukExpats (episode five), Amazon Prime This series has been for the most part a serviceable drama focused on dysfunctional expats whose lives unravel after a child goes missing. Its chief attraction is boggling at the lifestyles of the international affluent classes in a steamy Hong Kong. But the fifth episode — of feature-film length — lifts it to another level: it’s a brilliant exploration of the hopes and sacrifices of the maids who clean the homes of expats and look after their children. amazon.co.ukSlow Horses, Apple TVThe television adaptation of Mick Herron’s novels about a dysfunctional crew of MI5 dropouts operating out of Slough House is eminently bingeable — if you can stomach Gary Oldman’s burping, farting Jackson Lamb, which you must. There is something glorious about watching a series that speeds around so many London neighbourhoods, showing the glamour and grime. It’s the television equivalent of a beach read — and that is not an insult.tv.apple.comRipley, NetflixThe film version of Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Talented Mr Ripley was gloriously sunny. This black and white television version starring Andrew Scott is sombre in contrast, unlikely to have sent tourists flocking to the Amalfi Coast and Venice in quite the numbers that Anthony Minghella’s 1999 movie did. Some have criticised it for being slow but I enjoyed that quality — each shot is meticulously beautiful. Surely, the leisurely pace of holiday will be the perfect moment to linger.netflix.com
