Episode 299

Resident Alien is a dark, twisted and comedic fish-out-of-water story that follows a crash-landed alien named Harry who, after taking on the identity of a small-town Colorado doctor, slowly begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his secret mission on Earth — ultimately asking the question, "Are human beings worth saving?"

The Handmaid's Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States. Facing environmental disasters and a plunging birthrate, Gilead is ruled by a twisted fundamentalism in its militarized ‘return to traditional values'. As one of the few remaining fertile women, Offred is a Handmaid in the Commander's household, one of the caste of women forced into sexual servitude as a last desperate attempt to repopulate the world. In this terrifying society, Offred must navigate between Commanders, their cruel Wives, domestic Marthas, and her fellow Handmaids – where anyone could be a spy for Gilead – all with one goal: to survive and find the daughter that was taken from her.

Earth is visited by an alien species that threatens humanity's existence. Events unfold in real time through the eyes of five ordinary people across the globe as they struggle to make sense of the chaos unraveling around them.

Magnus and his crew aboard the Kinloch Bravo oil rig are stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea. When they are due to be collected and return to the mainland a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through. The rig is hit by massive tremors, and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world. As the crew endeavour to discover what's driving this unknown force, a major accident forces them to ask questions about who they can really trust. Bonds are broken, allegiances formed and generational fault lines exposed. The crew of the Bravo will be driven to the limits of both their loyalties and their endurance, into a confrontation with forces beyond their imagination.

Set around Newcastle and the stunning Northumberland countryside, Vera features complex and intriguing cases, atmospherically-shot landscapes and captivating performances, led by Brenda Blethyn who plays the unorthodox but brilliant DCI Vera Stanhope.