You’re reading it here first, folks. KCET, the largest independent public television station in the US, is premiering some of the best in British TV to its viewers next month.
Appointment viewing is alive and well on public television, and KCET is the place to be on Monday nights for Brit TV fans in the station’s Los Angeles/Southern California viewing area starting March 5.
That’s when KCET kicks off its new three-hour lineup of back-to-back British TV series.
Starting with Death in Paradise: Season 7 at 8 PM PT.
The dramedy mystery series returns for more murder and mayhem in sunny Saint-Marie, where DI Jack Mooney (Ardal O’Hanlon, Father Ted, My Hero), the newest resident detective on the (fictional) Caribbean island, begins adjusting to life beyond Britain with his daughter Siobhan (Grace Stone, The Crown) and his first case: the supposed suicide of a hotel billionaire’s fiancée on the day before their lavish wedding.
More mysteries follow, and Mooney and the Saint-Marie police team have their hands full, what with murders among professional poker players, within the world of faith healing, and during Day of the Dead celebrations, to name just a few.
And playing the suspects, witnesses, and culprits are this season’s guest stars, including Simon Callow (Four Weddings and a Funeral) and Denis Lawson (New Tricks). To see who else is appearing, read this article.
Note that encore presentations of Season 7’s eight episodes will air on Thursdays at 9 PM PT, the former time slot for first-run telecasts of Death in Paradise.
Directly following at 9 PM PT is Cold Feet — the reboot of the multiple-award-winning romantic comedy-drama series that won over viewers on both sides of the pond in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Mancunians Adam (James Nesbitt, Stan Lee’s Lucky Man), Pete (John Thomson, The Moonstone), Jenny (Fay Ripley, Suspects), David (Robert Bathurst, Downton Abbey), and Karen (Hermione Norris, In the Club) are older now, but not necessarily wiser.
Adam has woman troubles, Pete is struggling, Jenny has man troubles, David gets in trouble at work, and Karen falls for a man who’s a bit too close to home. And their children, well, none of them are ecstatic about what their parents are getting up to.
Featuring in the reboot’s first season are Ceallach Spellman (Blue Murder), Karen David (Waterloo Road), Leanne Best (Home Fires), Nicholas Gleaves (Scott & Bailey), James Bolam (New Tricks), Robert Webb (Peep Show), Art Malik (Borgia), Ella Hunt (Endeavour), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Silent Witness), Callum Woodhouse (The Durrells in Corfu), and newcomer Madeleine Edmondson. And returning to the series is Jacey Sallés as Ramona, the former nanny to the Marsden children.
At 10 PM PT is the laugh-out-loud, BAFTA-nominated, BBC- and Hulu-produced action-comedy-thriller series The Wrong Mans.
Office worker Sam (Mathew Baynton, You, Me and the Apocalypse) unwittingly entangles himself and office mail boy Phil (James Corden, The Late Late Show) in a deadly criminal conspiracy after he answers a mobile phone at the site of the horrific car crash he witnessed while on his way to work.
From mistaken identities and kidnappings, to an MI5 agent and a Russian millionaire, Sam and Phil find themselves in one scrape after another with some of the most dangerous people they never thought they’d meet — all in their quest to become heroes.
Sarah Solemani (The Five) and Dawn French (The Vicar of Dibley) are among the regular cast members, Stephen Campbell Moore (The Last Post) and Rebecca Front (Inspector Lewis) have recurring roles, and Emilia Fox (Silent Witness) and Dougray Scott (Snatch) guest star in the first season.
Closing out KCET’s Monday night Brit TV marathon, at 10:30 PM PT, is the BAFTA Award-winning comedy Mum — one of my favorite new British TV shows of 2017.
Starring Lesley Manville (Harlots, River) as the titular mum, Cathy, this gem of a slice-of-life comedy series follows the recent widow as she moves on from the death of her husband over the course of a year — from the day of his funeral in January, to her first Valentine’s Day and New Year’s Eve without him.
Cathy’s story unfolds through the interactions she has in her home during quotidian events and rare occasions in her life, such as chatting with her son Jason (Sam Swainsbury, Fearless) and his ditzy girlfriend Kelly (Lisa McGrillis, George Gently), and getting ready to meet a new male friend while her longtime friend (and secret admirer) Michael (Peter Mullan, Gunpowder) is being a good sport in giving her a lift to her not-a-date lunch date.
The series features Dorothy Atkinson (Call the Midwife), Ross Boatman (London’s Burning), Karl Johnson (Lark Rise to Candleford), Marlene Sidaway (Midsomer Murders), Tanya Franks (Broadchurch), and Seline Hizli (Grantchester).
There’s even more international TV headed to KCET soon, so stay tuned for updates.
In the meantime, check out Grand Hotel, the hit period drama dubbed the Spanish Downton Abbey. It recently had its US broadcast debut on KCET.
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