A deeply wholesome new take on Laura Ingalls Wilder’s classic Americana, plus the return of Rafe Spall and Esther Smith’s breezy family sitcom
Adapting Laura Ingalls Wilder’s rural Americana novels for the streaming era is risky. There’s a readymade audience but the books are so beloved that failing to do them justice won’t be easily forgiven. Alice Halsey plays Laura Ingalls, a sparky pre-teen whose family are setting out on an exciting but uncertain adventure to Kansas to start a new life. But can they simply claim some land, chop down some trees and build a house? It’s not as easy as that, as encounters with wolves, strange neighbours and Native Americans soon prove. This version largely plays it safe: in places, it’s a little grittier than you might expect but it is still a deeply wholesome confection.
Netflix, from Thursday 9 July