Screening Guide: Murder, manipulation and mysteries

Toni Collette and Colin Firth play victim and accused in The Staircase streaming from today on Neon.

The Staircase
(Neon)

2004's true-crime documentary series The Staircase remains one of the best examples of the now incredibly popular genre. The show was about the trial of Michael Peterson, a novelist and columnist convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen, by purposefully pushing her down the staircase in their house.
The show set the template for the genre with its unparalleled access to the accused, his defence lawyers and even inside the courtroom with the real-life events providing as many twists, turns and shock revelations as even the most meticulously crafted work of fiction.
Here Toni Collette and Colin Firth play victim and accused in this miniseries adaptation of the docuseries based on the real-life crime.
With such talent involved, it's not surprising that critics have been impressed, with one calling it an "intriguing and captivating miniseries that dives deeper than the documentary did".
Streaming from today.

The Big Conn
(Apple TV+)

What's in a name? Well, in the case of Eric C. Conn the answer is everything. New documentary series The Big Conn tells the story of how Conn, an American social security lawyer, conned the Government and taxpayers out of more than half a billion dollars.
It's the largest social security fraud case in United States history and the show can be considered a warning lesson for the horrifically greedy. One pundit claimed that if Conn had worked within the law he'd still have been a multimillionaire.

The Big Conn, streaming from tomorrow on Apple TV+, tells the story of swindler social security lawyer Eric C. Conn.

He first gained a reputation due to his overly flashy nature and his saturation of the media with his purposefully cheesy ads. He lived large and flaunted his obscene wealth. This gained him the attention of a local journalist who realised that there was something fishy about Conn and began investigating.
Reviews have been positive with one critic saying, "Overall, the story is as crazy and as wild as expected."
Streaming from tomorrow.

The Wilds
(Amazon Prime Video)

Amazon's intriguing and, yes, wild drama about a group of teenage girls stranded on a deserted island returns for its second season tomorrow. Having discovered the shocking twist that they're actually the unwilling participants in an elaborate social experiment they must now try to work out how to escape their less than idyllic prison. Things take a turn when more test subjects show up on a new island populated by teenage boys.

The second season of taut and twisty The Wilds streams from tomorrow on Amazon Prime Video. Photo / Prime Video

The first season was popular and with its many new twists the second is proving a hit with critics as well, with one saying, "The Wilds draws multiple narrative threads into a taut and twisty rope that pulls viewers along."
Streaming from tomorrow.

Signora Volpe
(Acorn TV)

A burned-out spy goes to Italy for her niece's wedding and then just sort of stays there. That's the basic gist of this new British mystery series on Acorn TV.

Emilia Fox as Sylvia in Signora Volpe streaming now on Acorn TV. Photo / Moris Puccio/AcornTV

Of course, being a spy she quickly stumbles into circumstances that require her particular skill set to solve. The first is the unexplainable disappearance of the fiance, whose shady behaviour in the lead-up may mean he's not Mr Right after all...
Acclaimed actress Emilia Fox stars as the frustrated MI6 spy Sylvia who keeps getting embroiled in new mysteries each week in her new life in the Italian countryside.
While the premise is similar to many other Brit mysteries, critics have labelled this one a little more serious and more true to actual spycraft. The Radio Times went so far as to call it "dazzling".
Streaming now, new episodes every Monday.