How Shifty brilliantly captures Britain’s 20th century ‘disorder’

Shifty
Available now, BBC iPlayer
The first people we see in Adam Curtis’s latest documentary series are Jimmy Savile and Margaret Thatcher. It’s hard to think of a more fitting pair to embody the disappointments of Britain in the late 20th century. Curtis’s signature style – a mix of archive deep dives and uncanny juxtapositions – still startles. Loss is the theme of Shifty: it’s a story of Britain losing industry, community and empire, and struggling to come to terms with the individualistic complexity that replaced these certainties. It takes a while for the narrative to sharpen, but Curtis’s films are often best understood as impressionistic art installations so maybe abstraction is their natural final destination. Phil Harrison

Trainwreck: Mayor of Mayhem
From Tuesday, Netflix
Looking back on the story of the late Toronto mayor Rob Ford, it is tempting to posit his success as an early warning of Trumpite populism; a politician whose lack of polish (to say the least) only served to make him more relatable to certain sections of the electorate. However, as this documentary shows, Ford, who became mayor in 2010, pushed this trend to extremes. It explores his unlikely appeal to voters as well as his chaotic lifestyle, which included allegations of sexual harassment and culminated in revelations about crack cocaine use in 2013. PH

Pushers
From Thursday 9pm, Channel 4
“Play off your cerebral wotsit. We can make shitloads of money.” Drug dealer Ewen (Ryan McParland) has spotted an opportunity. Can he persuade Rosie Jones’s skint charity worker Emily to go into partnership with him? After all, he points out, as a disabled woman she’s effectively invisible. It’s a neat premise to underpin this sitcom (co-created by Jones and Peter Fellows) and entirely consistent with Jones’s screen persona, which balances rage, charm and gleeful transgression. It’s also a smart dig at a broken system that routinely writes off disabled people’s capacity to be autonomous economic actors but still forces them to beg for state support. Funny and pointed. PH

The Waterfront
From Thursday, Netflix
A wealthy businessman with a recent health scare reasserting himself as his adult children jostle for inheritance? This drama from Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson has echoes of Succession, albeit without that show’s razor-sharp wit or psychological acuity. It centres on the Buckley family, whose fishing dynasty is threatened by environmental regulations and corner-cutting competitors. When a ship runs aground and reveals its illicit cargo, it triggers conflict between ailing patriarch Harlan (Holt McCallany) and his son and apparent heir Cane (Jake Weary). PH

Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure
From Friday 9pm, ITV1
Noel Edmonds is an unusual man. On the face of it, this reality series simply documents his attempts to open a bar-restaurant in New Zealand with his wife, Liz. But the fun is in the journey not the arrival. Noel is obsessed with new age woo, spending time on his “crystal bed” and practising a workout regime he calls “tranquil power”. He regards Liz as “an earth angel” and believes she was “a gift from the cosmos”. An eccentric cult classic in the making. PH

For local listings and availability, visit justwatch.com.