Joe vs Carole review – it’s Tiger King the drama … and it’s surprisingly sensitive

This wildly entertaining series starring John Cameron Mitchell and Kate McKinnon as Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin explores the tragedies told so bombastically in Tiger King ... and never tips into parody

Of all the true-life dramas that have made their way to our screens lately, Joe vs Carole (Peacock/Now TV) is the most perplexing. It is hard to see why it needed to be made, given that the sheer outrageousness of the Joe Exotic/Carole Baskin big cat feud already seen in Netflix's bombastic documentary Tiger King (though this new show is based on a podcast, rather than that series). It is also hard to see how the makers would ever be able to shape a story so far-fetched that if it were not true, it would be beyond the realms of possibility to seem in any way believable.

Yet here we are, with an eight-part drama that seems to have pulled it off. I say this cautiously, based on the first three episodes which were made available for review in advance. It is hugely entertaining, striking just the right tone, half absurd, half empathic, aware of its own limitations (those CGI wild animals would make the live-action Lion King blush) and playing up the flawed characters at the heart of it. But for all its extravagance and wildness, it may turn out to be more sensitive than the Netflix series.