What to watch: Rivals is back with unfinished business

Rivals is back for the second half of season two on Disney+. Over on Stan, Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy play sisters whose painful history resurfaces in a new Karin Slaughter adaptation.

There is plenty to watch without paying for another subscription, too. ABC iview revisits history through eyewitness accounts, while SBS On Demand offers a Kevin Bacon crime drama with enough corruption to keep everyone busy.

The Good Daughter
Stan | Paid

In this six-part adaptation of her bestselling novel, Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy play estranged sisters Samantha and Charlotte Quinn. A violent crime in their hometown of Pikeville, Georgia, forces them to confront the devastating night that fractured their family years earlier.

Both women are lawyers, but understanding what happened to them is a much harder task than examining somebody else’s case. As the new investigation unfolds, the past becomes increasingly difficult to keep at a distance.

Slaughter has adapted her own book for the screen, which should interest readers hoping the story retains its bite. Expect confronting material and a mystery tangled up in the sisters’ damaged relationship.

Rivals: Season 2, Part 2
Disney+ | Paid

If you have spent five months waiting to find out what happens after that midseason cliffhanger, it is time to head back to Rutshire.

The second half of Rivals’ latest season brings six more episodes, taking us back to the cutthroat world of British television in the 1980s. Adapted from Jilly Cooper’s novel, it is a place where professional ambition is rarely kept separate from what happens behind bedroom doors.

David Tennant and Alex Hassell are among the cast bringing Cooper’s warring television figures to life. The appeal lies as much in watching these people behave appallingly as it does in wondering who will come out on top.

I Was Actually There
ABC iview | Free

Most of us remember where we were when a major news story broke. This documentary asks what it was like for the people who were part of the story itself.

From the makers of You Can’t Ask That, I Was Actually There gives eyewitnesses the space to explain what they saw and how they experienced events that became part of our shared history.

The new season includes Julia Gillard’s misogyny speech and the Thredbo landslide. It also revisits the Rabbitohs’ fight against exclusion from the competition, alongside the Lismore floods. Other episodes examine the Cangai siege and Harold Holt’s disappearance.

City on a Hill
SBS On Demand | Free

Set in early 1990s Boston, City on a Hill follows an uneasy alliance between Rohr and assistant district attorney Decourcy Ward, played by Aldis Hodge. Ward wants to challenge a corrupt justice system. Rohr has become comfortable operating within it.

A case involving armoured truck robbers brings the pair together, although agreeing on an objective does not mean they agree on how to achieve it.

The friction between its leads gives this crime drama its pull. Anyone who enjoys watching an investigation expose problems well beyond the original offence should find plenty here, with all three seasons listed on SBS On Demand.

All Creatures Great & Small: Season 7
BritBox | Paid

A return to the Yorkshire Dales might be the most inviting prospect on this week’s list, even if life at the veterinary practice is rarely straightforward.

Nicholas Ralph returns as James Herriot, who is enthusiastic about developments in veterinary medicine. The arrival of another vet in the district, however, unsettles the established order and creates fresh challenges for the practice.

Based on Herriot’s much-loved books, the series continues to find its stories in the working lives of country vets and their relationships with the community around them.

The Marlow Murder Club
7plus | Free

A wealthy baronet dies alone in his study the day before his wedding. It is an unfortunate turn for the wedding guests, but an irresistible puzzle for Marlow’s amateur sleuths.

Judith and her fellow investigators Becks and Suzie are soon drawn into another complicated case, with the circumstances of the death demanding a closer look.

If your preferred crime viewing involves joining the investigation from the sofa and deciding which detail everyone else has overlooked, put this one on your list.