Perlina Lau

There are household names (Duncan Garner, Carmel Sepuloni), faces you will recognise (Bubbah, Suzanne Paul) and top class athletes current (Mea Motu) and retired (Christian Cullen) amongst the rollcall of castaways announced on Sunday for the upcoming season of popular reality TV show, Celebrity Treasure Island (CTI) . This year's diverse group of New Zealanders has been split into two teams of nine - Team Aihe and Team Wētā.

Sifting through the first six months of TV for the year, there are a few series that stand out to Culture 101 host Perlina Lau. She has picked the five shows that got her thinking, weeping, laughing and talking. This show has likely graced every TV list but it's a compelling, disturbing and pretty unpredictable story. It says it's based on a true story (that's being debated now) but it's a well-acted, slick and stylised production.

Occasionally there are films, TV shows or memes that capture the collective public consciousness and take on a life of their own. During lockdown, it was zoo underworld documentary Tiger King. This year, it's Baby Reindeer. Since its release a month ago, nearly 60 million people are thought to have watched the show and it remains in Netflix's top five. While the storyline was the topic of conversation initially, the aftermath has become another beast. And it's still unfolding.