Doc Martin, Vera, Above Suspicion: Exclusive Premieres on Acorn TV

Acorn TV, the “best of British TV” subscription video-on-demand service, has announced that it will exclusively premiere the most recent series of Doc Martin, Vera, and Above Suspicion in the U.S. this October.

Specifically, on Monday, 7 October 2013. That’s the day the sixth series of comedy-drama Doc Martin, the third series of crime drama Vera, and the fourth series of detective drama Above Suspicion make their U.S. debuts via Acorn TV.

This is awesome for many stateside Doc Martin fans, because it means that we don’t have to wait until the series completes its run in the UK before it is available in the U.S. (Series 6 debuted across the pond on 2 September, and the third episode just aired this past Monday. By the time 7 October rolls around, the program will still have three episodes to go in the UK.)

Said Miguel Penella, Chief Executive Officer of RLJ Entertainment, Inc., parent company of Acorn TV:

“Doc Martin is a perfect example of the kind of hugely popular British content that we are excited to exclusively offer Acorn TV’s subscribers. There are millions of British drama, comedy, and mystery fans in the U.S., so we’re thrilled to offer more exclusive content and shorter timeframes between when programs air in their home country and the U.S.”

(For those who prefer or have no choice but to watch Doc Martin over the airwaves, some not-so-terrific news: It’s a four-month wait for the U.S. broadcast premiere, which will have staggered start dates on local PBS member stations beginning February 2014. The wait for the DVD of Doc Martin: Series 6 is even longer; it won’t be released until 25 March 2014.)

Acorn TV will premiere each of the eight new Doc Martin episodes — which include the highly-anticipated wedding of blood-phobic Dr. Martin Ellingham (Martin Clunes, Men Behaving Badly, Demob) and school headmistress Louisa Glasson (Caroline Catz, Murder in Suburbia, DCI Banks) — on successive Mondays from 7 October through 25 November 2013.

All episodes from previous seasons, as well as the Doc Martin movies, are all available for streaming now on Acorn TV.

For more about the new series of Doc Martin, check out “Preview: Doc Martin: Series 6.”

Fans of the hit ITV crime drama, Vera, can also look forward to this program’s third series premiere on 7 October, when two-time Oscar® nominee Brenda Blethyn (Little Voice, Secrets & Lies) and David Leon (RocknRolla) return to telly (via Acorn TV with Roku) in the U.S.

Based on the best-selling novels by acclaimed crime writer Ann Cleeves, and hailed as “one of the best mysteries…in the last decade” by The Baltimore Sun, Vera stars Blethyn as the disheveled and brusque DCI Vera Stanhope, and Leon as her trusty sidekick and surrogate son DS Joe Ashworth.

Vera‘s third series includes four new feature-length episodes: “Castles in the Air,” “Poster Child,” “Young Gods,” and “Prodigal Son.”

For catch-up viewing, the first two series of Vera are available for streaming on Acorn TV.

Acorn TV also premieres Above Suspicion: Silent Scream — the fourth and final story of ITV’s Above Suspicion productions — on 7 October. (The first three stories — Above Suspicion, Above Suspicion: The Red Dahlia, and Above Suspicion: Deadly Intent — also debuted in the U.S. on Acorn TV.)

Based on the bestselling crime novels by Lynda La Plante (Prime Suspect), and called “the most talked about cop show on British TV since Prime Suspect” by BestBritishTV, Above Suspicion: Silent Scream stars Kelly Reilly (Flight, Sherlock Holmes) as DI Anna Travis, a young detective trying to prove herself, and Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones, John Carter) as DCS James Langton, her tough, flawed, and charismatic boss.

Lastly, the debut of the documentary Joanna Lumley’s Greek Odyssey, and the detective dramas The Broker’s Man starring Kevin Whately (Inspector Lewis) and The Last Detective starring Peter Davison (Doctor Who), will also stream on Acorn TV beginning 7 October.

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