From South Park (or South America) to Last Seen: this week’s TV series, featuring raspberries and lakeside tales

By Matt Stone and Trey Parker (series 28 on Paramount+)

In the spare time he has left over from golf, Natalie Harp and his escapades in the kitchen trolley, Donald Trump dabbles in geography. Like an explorer of yesteryear, he names whatever he sees in his own image and likeness. The ‘Terrible Twos’ – now well into their fifties, with ‘South Park’ boasting nearly 30 years of success – are taking the mickey by changing the series’ name. No more “South Park”; from now on, it will be patriotically called “South America”. Just like New Mexico, which Trump has renamed. And after all, what is a state doing in the Union that might lead Mexicans to consider it their own? The Democrats accuse him of diverting public attention. Loyal “South Park” viewers are looking forward to the new season’s jibes.

By Ian Ridley, based on the novel “The Dispatcher” by Ryan David Jahn, starring Patrick Brammall (Apple TV+)

How long does it take to recover from the pain of losing a daughter? A former policeman, who became an emergency services operator following the loss of his daughter, receives a phone call. The caller is a young woman – it could well be his missing daughter. A new investigation begins, uncovering a host of surprises about his own family: not even the things that seem most obvious remain so. The opening is electrifying. So too is the score on Rotten Tomatoes: 100 per cent of viewers find the series gripping. The tension is high, but there are inevitable lulls – those moments when we think: wouldn’t a film have been better, two hours or even less, without the superfluous episodes? The real tension doesn’t hold up for long.

Directed by Marco Pontecorvo, based on the novel by Andrea Vitali, starring Antonio Folletto and Giulia D’Aloia (Rai Uno)

It was about time someone decided to draw on the vast wealth of lakeside stories preserved in the many books by Andrea Vitali, a writer from Bellano who sets his stories in the past. We are in the 1930s, right here in Bellano. This is by no means a fictional town, as Artificial Intelligence might suggest, but is in fact an hour’s train ride from Milan, on Lake Lecco. It is here that Carabinieri Marshal Ernesto Maccadò is sent from the depths of Calabria. He arrives with his wife Maristella, and after a while realises that in the North, the locals aren’t particularly welcoming towards ‘outsiders’. The village is small, but full of stories and characters: loan sharks, actresses, thieves of religious paintings. And infidelity – inevitable.

By Valerio Vestoso, written and performed by Emanuela Fanelli, starring Alessandro Borghi and Valerio Mastandrea (coming this autumn on HBO Max).

The exact release date is still unknown. However, the available details are sufficient to generate anticipation. The project is a mockumentary about Emanuela Fanelli, written and starring the actress herself, with high-profile guests. It has been honoured with inclusion in the Venice Film Festival programme. The plot finds Emanuela Fanelli retired to a remote village in the Aosta Valley. How did she end up there, having turned her back on the world of show business? The action is set in 2049, the year of the second Blade Runner film. Far enough away, yet close enough, for the inevitable gags to come. The list of special guests ranges from Anna Bonaiuto to Paolo Virzi, including Gigi Marzullo and Tullio Solenghi.