What I’ve Been Watching: Julia Zemiro

TV darling Julia Zemiro is a fan of UK procedural dramas, Fleabag and Scandi-noir.

Here’s what else is on her viewing recommendations:

What shows are on your must-see TV list lately?
JZ: I am re-watching as much Louis Theroux as I can including the recent documentaries on ABC iview A different brain, Drinking to Oblivion and Extreme Love: Dementia. I am touring nationally In Conversation with Louis next year as his interviewer. They are ‘must see’ as they are my homework. But his work has been a staple for me for 20 years. I just think what he does is unmatched: looking at the world with intellect, curiosity and compassion.

What’s your preferred genre to watch and which shows have been highlights?
JZ: I love UK Police procedurals especially people stuck in an interrogation room like Jed Mercurio’s Line of Duty. LOVE IT! Criminal on Netflix is fab: 4 series in English, German, French and Spanish. While you’re on Netflix, you’ll find River a brilliant police noir with Stellan Skarsgaard and Nicola Walker created by Abi Morgan. Beautiful concept, dark, and funny. And Happy Valley written by Sally Wainwright starring Sarah Lancashire who I would LOVE to do a Home Delivery with. She went to the same school as Brian Cox. When we filmed his home delivery there were photos of famous alumni in the foyer of their high school and there she was. I love her.

Which guilty pleasure show are you reluctant to admit to watching?
JZ: Reality TV is not something I ‘get’. To me it’s ‘dressed up’ bullying and bad behaviour. I don’t ‘get’ how we can abhor bullying in real life and then condone it on TV. So Guilty for me is when I re-watch something again and again because I just miss the worlds or the characters. I think I SHOULD watch something new but return to the Scottish Archipelago of Shetland and DI Perez or and my Swedish/Danish heroines Saga in The Bridge, Brigitte Nyborg in Borgen and Sarah Lund in The Killing. French TV show Call My Agent is silly and fun in a way the French don’t often portray themselves.

When you settle down for a night on the couch what are your ‘must-haves?’
JZ: Low lighting. Wine. Warmth. Friends.

What show you would secretly love to appear on?
JZ: Fleabag. Of course. Phoebe Waller Bridge has re-defined the female lead in so many ways but at the heart of it all is lean devastatingly funny and tragic writing. Along with perfect casting and her brilliant use of direct address to camera and how she resolves it, pierced my heart and funny bone. Respect.

What can we look forward to on this season on Home Delivery and what are your personal highlights?
JZ: 10 guests from different walks of life with incredible insight into their own lives. I shall never tire of their generosity of spirit in sharing that with me and you at home. There’s gardening, Humans rights, comedy, books, bird watching, playwrights, Academia, cricket, swimming, tennis, playwriting, theatre, and cooking. And cars!

Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery premieres 8pm tonight on ABC.