There’s a lot happening in television on both sides of the pond!
Beyond Paradise (UK)
The BBC has announced the guest cast for the upcoming Beyond Paradise Christmas Special, and provided some tidbits about the storyline.
Joining Kris Marshall (who plays DI Humphrey Goodman), Sally Bretton (Martha Lloyd), Zahra Ahmadi (DS Esther Williams), Dylan Llewellyn (PC Kelby Hartford), Barbara Flynn (Anne Lloyd), Felicity Montagu (Margo Martins), and Jade Harrison (CS Charlie Woods), are guest stars James Fleet (The Vicar of Dibley), Isaac Vincent-Norgate (Sanditon), Amalia Vitale (Endeavour), Kulvinder Ghir (Still Open All Hours), Sheila Reid (Benidorm), and folk band Bellowhead. Chris Jenks reprises his role as Josh Woods, as does Eva Feiler as Lucy.
As the residents of Shipton Abbott gear up for Christmas, Humphrey and the team are baffled by a series of bizarre burglaries, which aren’t quite what they seem. When the team make a breakthrough with an unexpected connection, it’s a bittersweet discovery that makes them reconsider the true meaning of Christmas. At the station, Kelby is forced to babysit a cheeky young shoplifter, and Humphrey feels the pressure when CS Charlie Woods continues to question why their beloved local police station should remain open. Meanwhile, Esther’s teenage daughter, Zoe (Melina Sinadinou), is less than impressed when she is made to work in Santa’s Grotto. And a chance encounter gives Martha food for thought about the future…
The Beyond Paradise Christmas Special airs in the UK on Christmas Eve, Sunday, December 24, at 9 PM GMT, on BBC One, with streaming available shortly after broadcast on BBC iPlayer. It will air in North America on BritBox (date tba).
Season 1 of Beyond Paradise is currently available for streaming in North America, the Nordics, and South Africa on BritBox and in the UK on BBC iPlayer.
Family Law: Season 3 (Canada)
In the third season of Canadian legal drama Family Law, Abby (Jewel Staite, Stargate: Atlantis, Firefly), now clear of her probation and divorce, is riding high at her father’s law firm, but the hard work of reckoning with her past is just beginning. She moves on to AA’s Step Four — writing her moral inventory — and begins her nesting arrangement with Frank (Luke Camilleri, Billy the Kids, Hemlock Grove). On her off weeks, she still lives with her mother, Joanne (Lauren Holly, Picket Fences, Designated Survivor), whose rekindled relationship with her father, Harry (Victor Garber, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Alias), is churning up all of Abby’s childhood trauma.
Meanwhile, Harry revels in the cutthroat competition between Abby and her half-brother, Daniel (Zach Smadu, Cardinal, The Expanse), for top earner at the firm — until his reckless past comes back to haunt him. Daniel’s romance with Martina (Miranda Edwards, Snowpiercer, The Magicians) is cut short when her boyfriend, Quinn (Thomas Cadrot, So Help Me Todd), returns; it also takes on a new layer of complexity when Quinn befriends Daniel. And Abby’s half-sister Lucy (Genelle Williams, Bitten, Warehouse 13), in trying to find her feet after being betrayed, throws herself into a new relationship — one that she intends to make work no matter what.
Family Law: Season 3 premieres in the US on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 9 PM ET/PT, on The CW.
Foundation (Ireland-US)
Apple TV+ has renewed for a third season its epic saga Foundation, which chronicles the stories of four crucial individuals transcending space and time as they overcome deadly crises, shifting loyalties, and complicated relationships that will ultimately determine the fate of humanity. Starring Lee Pace (Halt and Catch Fire, Pushing Daisies) and Jared Harris (Mad Men, Chernobyl), Season 3 will expand the acclaimed television adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s award-winning stories in his “Foundation” series of sci-fi novels — with the stakes for Foundation and Empire even higher as the Mule takes center stage.
The first two seasons of Foundation are currently available for streaming globally on Apple TV+. Stay tuned for updates about Season 3.
Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley on The Case of Conan Doyle (UK)
While Agatha Christie: Lucy Worsley on the Mystery Queen premiered in the US last Sunday, the historian’s latest docuseries, Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley on The Case of Conan Doyle, premiered last night on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in the UK. Over the course of three episodes, lifelong Sherlock Holmes fan Lucy Worsley investigates the extraordinary love-hate relationship between Holmes, the world’s most famous fictional detective, and Arthur Conan Doyle, the author who created him and came to hate him.
Lucy unearths Sherlock’s origins in Conan Doyle’s early life as a medical student, unpicking his early stories and revealing the dark underbelly of late Victorian Britain — from drug use to true crime. She explores Doyle’s growing disenchantment with his detective creation and desire to distance himself from Sherlock, taking on the role of detective himself, in one of the most important legal cases of the 20th century. Worsley also investigates the darkness of his later stories, mirroring the reality of Conan Doyle’s life after the loss of his eldest son, and his turn to spiritualism, declining public appeal, and spat with a very famous magician. By contrast, Sherlock Holmes had a life beyond his author, on stage and screen.
Killing Sherlock: Lucy Worsley on The Case of Conan Doyle will air in the US on PBS (date tba). Stay tuned for updates.
King and Conqueror (UK)
The new historical drama King and Conqueror stars James Norton (Happy Valley, McMafia, Grantchester) as Harold, Earl of Wessex, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones, Mama, Oblivion) as William, Duke of Normandy, in a story about a clash that defined the future of a country and a continent for a thousand years. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 — two allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown.
King and Conqueror will premiere in the UK on BBC One and BBC iPlayer (date tba). There’s been no announcement (yet) about a US linear or streaming channel picking up King and Conqueror, but with the eight-episode series being produced by CBS Studios and distribution outside the UK being handled by Paramount Global Content Distribution, Paramount+ could be the show’s stateside home, if it gets one. Stay tuned for updates.
Miss Austen (UK)
Based on the best-selling novel Miss Austen by Gill Hornby, the new Masterpiece period drama Miss Austen takes a literary mystery — Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters — and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty, and heartbreaking story of sisterly love, while creating in Cassandra a character as captivating as any Austen heroine.
The four-part drama features a top-notch cast that includes Keeley Hawes (It’s A Sin, Bodyguard, Line of Duty), Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Vigil), Patsy Ferran (Living, Hot Milk), Jessica Hynes (Life After Life, Years and Years), Mirren Mack (The Witcher: Blood Origin, The Nest), Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey, Shetland), Kevin McNally (The Crown, Ten Percent), Max Irons (Condor, The Wife), Alfred Enoch (How to Get Away with Murder, Foundation), Calam Lynch (Bridgerton, Archie), and Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen, Elizabeth Is Missing).
The story opens in 1830, sometime after Jane has died. Cassandra (Keeley Hawes) races to see her friend, Isabella (Rose Leslie), who’s about to lose her home following her father’s death. Cassandra is ostensibly there to support her friend, but her real motive is to find a stash of private letters which, in the wrong hands, could destroy Jane’s reputation. On finding them, Cassandra is overwhelmed as she is transported back to her youth. In flashback, we meet young Cassy and Jane (Patsy Ferran) as they navigate the infatuations, family feuds, and dashed hopes that shaped their lives and laid the foundations for Jane’s unforgettable stories. Cassandra’s re-evaluation of her past eventually leads her to realize how blind she’s been to the real cause of Isabella’s heartache and distress. Finding a way to guide Isabella towards true happiness, Cassandra is finally able to understand and celebrate the sacrifices she chose to make for her brilliant sister, Jane.
Filming on Miss Austen began last month in the UK, and the show has been acquired for the UK by the BBC. Dates have not been announced yet for the drama’s US and UK premieres on PBS Masterpiece and BBC; stay tuned for updates.
Murder Is Easy (UK)
The BBC has dropped a teaser trailer for Murder Is Easy, a new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Murder Is Easy, part of the author’s “Superintendent Battle” series of mystery novels. It stars David Jonsson (Industry, Rye Lane) as Fitzwilliam, along with Morfydd Clark (Lord of the Rings, Saint Maud) as Bridget, Penelope Wilton (Downton Abbey, After Life) as Miss Pinkerton, Tom Riley (The Nevers, Ill Behaviour) as Lord Whitfield, Douglas Henshall (Shetland, In Plain Sight) as Major Horton, Mathew Baynton (Ghosts, Wonka) as Dr. Thomas, and Mark Bonnar (Guilt, Shetland) as Reverend Humbleby.
Costars include Sinead Matthews (Hullraisers, The Crown) as Miss Waynflete, Nimra Bucha (Polite Society, Ms. Marvel) as Mrs Humbleby, Tamzin Outhwaite (The Tower, Ridley Road) as Mrs. Pierce, Kathryn Howden (River City, Six Four) as Mrs Carter, Jon Pointing (Big Boys, Plebs) as Rivers, Demmy Ladipo (Dreaming Whilst Black, The Last Tree) as Jimmy Amaike, Gloria Obianyo (Good Omens, Mission Impossible) as Ngozi Ude, and Phoebe Licorish making her screen debut as Rose.
Set in 1954 England, the two-part thriller sees Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) meet Miss Pinkerton (Penelope Wilton) on a train to London. During the journey, she tells him that a killer is on the loose in the sleepy English village of Wychwood under Ashe. The villagers believe the deaths are mere accidents, but Miss Pinkerton knows otherwise, and when she’s later found dead on her way to Scotland Yard, Fitzwilliam feels he must find the killer before they can strike again. Because for a certain kind of person, murder is easy…
Murder Is Easy premieres in the UK on Wednesday, December 27, at 6 AM GMT, on BBC iPlayer, with its linear debut happening on BBC One at 9 PM that evening. BritBox will launch the thriller in the US, Canada, and South Africa in 2024. Stay tuned for updates.
Playing Nice (UK)
Another new series starring James Norton, along with Niamh Algar (Raised by Wolves, The Virtues), James McArdle (Sexy Beast, Mare of Easttown), and Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey, Harlots), is Playing Nice, a new four-part psychological thriller based on the best-selling novel Playing Nice by British thriller author JP Delaney, commissioned by ITV.
Set against a sweeping Cornish landscape, two couples discover that their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up, and now they face a horrifying dilemma: Do they keep the sons they have raised and loved, or reclaim their respective biological child? Living a waking nightmare, it seems Pete (James Norton) and Maddie (Niamh Algar), and Miles (James McArdle) and Lucy (Jessica Brown Findlay), are agreed on a solution at first, but it soon becomes clear that hidden motives are at play.
Playing Nice will be shown on ITV in the UK and distributed globally by StudioCanal. Stay tuned for updates about whether the limited series gets picked up for the US.
Squid Game: The Challenge (UK-US)
Netflix announced the second season renewal for Squid Game: The Challenge, the biggest reality competition series ever, on the same date as the first season’s finale. The winner — the last one standing out of the initial 456 real players, who competed through a series of games inspired by the original Squid Game show in pursuit of the life-changing prize — received the $4.56 million reward. If you’re game to give it a go yourself, recruitment for Season 2 is open now at SquidGameCasting.com.
Suspect (UK)
Suspect, the Channel 4-BritBox International remake of the Danish mystery-crime drama series Forhøret (aka Face to Face), is returning for a second season. Season 2 picks up where Season 1 left off, with Dr Susannah Newman (Anne-Marie Duff, Bad Sisters, The Salisbury Poisonings) on a desperate quest to track down a self-confessed serial killer before he kills again — in a matter of hours.
When a mysterious new client, Jon Fallow (Dominic Cooper, The Gold, Preacher), admits under hypnosis that he is a murderer and intends to kill another young female that evening, Susannah knows he must be stopped, but he escapes before the police arrive. Her former lover, Det. Supt. Richard Grove (Ben Miller, Professor T, Death in Paradise), refuses to take action, so Susannah embarks on her own mission to save Sapphire’s (Celine Buckens, Showtrial, The Ex-Wife) life, the way she couldn’t do with her own daughter.
In addition to Dominic Cooper, other actors joining the cast for Season 2 of Suspect include Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner, Belgravia), Vinette Robinson (Boiling Point, The Lazarus Project), Eddie Marsan (The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe, Ray Donovan), Nicholas Pinnock (Top Boy, For Life), and Gina McKee (Bodyguard, Our Friends in the North).
Season 2’s eight episodes will air in 2024 on Channel 4 in the UK and BritBox in the US and Canada. Season 1 is currently available for streaming on both channels.
Trigger Point
ITV has released a teaser for Season 2 of action-crime thriller Trigger Point, with star Vicky McClure (Line of Duty, Alex Rider, Mother’s Day) reprising her role as police bomb disposal officer Lana Washington. Also returning are Nabil Elouahabi (Unforgotten, The Tower) as Hass, Eric Shango (Suspicion) as Danny, Mark Stanley (Happy Valley, The Thief, His Wife and The Canoe) as DI Thom Youngblood, Kerry Godliman (After Life, Whitstable Pearl) as Sonya Reeves, Kris Hitchen (Four Lives) as John, and Kevin Eldon (Sanditon) as Jeff.
Joining the cast are Natalie Simpson (North Sea Connection, Outlander) as DS Helen Morgan, Julian Ovenden (Bridgerton) as Commander John Francis, and Tomiwa Edun (Young Wallander, Trying) as Alex.
In the second season opener, Lana is just back from secondment training bomb disposal teams, but has not returned to active duty. She is giving a routine talk to security officers from major financial institutions about the issues surrounding bomb-centered terrorism when there is a bomb attack in the heart of the city. Lana is closest to the incident, but is she ready to take it on?
Season 2 of Trigger Point will launch in the UK on ITV1 and ITVX in the new year (date tba). In the US, the first season of Trigger Point, a Peacock Original, is currently available for streaming on Peacock, which hasn’t announced the second season release date. Stay tuned for updates.
Vigil (UK)
Also reprising their roles are Suranne Jones (Gentleman Jack, Scott & Bailey) and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, The Good Fight) for Season 2 of mystery-crime drama series Vigil. The new story sees DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) looking to the skies as they enter the secret world of drone warfare to catch a killer. Following multiple unexplained fatalities at a Scottish military facility, Silva and Longacre are tasked with uncovering the cause. Entering the hostile and closed ranks of the air force, the pair must face the deadly warfare of tomorrow as they fight for their own future.
Costars in Season 2 include Gary Lewis (Rig 45), Dougray Scott (Crime), Romola Garai (Becoming Elizabeth), and Amir El-Masry (Rogue Heroes), amongst others.
Season 2 of Vigil premiered in the UK last night on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. US streamer Peacock, where Season 1 of Vigil, a Peacock Original, is currently available for streaming, will launch Season 2 sometime in 2024; stay tuned for updates.
Wild Cards (Canada)
Wild Cards is a crime-solving procedural with a comedic twist. It follows the unlikely duo of a sardonic, by-the-book cop and a clever, spirited con woman. Demoted detective Cole Ellis (Giacomo Gianniotti, Grey’s Anatomy, Murdoch Mysteries) has begrudgingly spent the last year on the maritime unit, while Max Mitchell (Vanessa Morgan, Riverdale, Finding Carter) has been living a transient life, elaborately scamming everyone she meets. While arrested and being held at the station, Max ends up helping Ellis solve a crime, and the two are offered the opportunity to redeem themselves — but there’s a catch: They have to work together.
Ellis needs to get back to his detective post and Max needs to stay out of jail, so they agree, each using their unique skills to solve crimes. For Ellis, this means hard-boiled shoe leather police work; for Max, it means accents, disguises, schemes, and generally befriending everyone in sight, while driving Ellis nuts. The two will have to learn what it means to trust another person and maybe actually become partners.
Joining Gianniotti and Morgan is Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills, 90210, Private Eyes, Call Me Fitz), who plays George, Max’s father and a master con man. George taught his daughter everything she knows, and she got his enthusiasm for fun, his charisma, and a cool head. The fact that George is in prison doesn’t dampen his spirits or his influence. Everyone loves George; even inmates and guards show their respect with fist-bumps and favors. Above all else, George’s number one priority is Max, and he couldn’t be more proud of his little girl.
Wild Cards premieres in the US on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, at 8 PM ET/PT, on The CW.
Wolf Hall (UK)
A follow-up to the excellent historical drama Wolf Hall is coming to PBS and the BBC, with its stars, Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies, Bones and All) and Emmy® Award winner Damian Lewis (Billions, Homeland), reprising their roles as Thomas Cromwell and King Henry VIII, respectively, for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, which traces the final four years of Cromwell’s life. The new six-part series is based on The Mirror and the Light, the final novel in the late, great Hilary Mantel’s best-selling “Wolf Hall” trilogy.
Also returning for the new series are Oscar® nominee Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) as Cardinal Wolsey; Kate Phillips (Miss Scarlet & the Duke) as Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour; Lilit Lesser (Domina) as Princess Mary, the daughter of Henry and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon; Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Artful Dodger) as Rafe Sadler; Joss Porter (The Undeclared War) as Richard Cromwell; James Larkin (McMafia) as Master Treasurer Fitzwilliam; Richard Dillane (Pennyworth) as the Duke of Suffolk; Will Keen (Operation Mincemeat) as Archbishop Cranmer; and Hannah Steele (The Night Manager) as Mary Shelton.
Joining the cast are Harriet Walter (Succession) as Lady Margaret Pole, Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) as the Duke of Norfolk, and Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye) as Thomas Wriothesley.
Additional cast in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light include Alex Jennings (The Crown) as Stephen Gardiner, Maisie Richardson-Sellers (The Undeclared War) as Bess Oughtred, Lydia Leonard (Gentleman Jack) as Lady Jane Rochford, Charlie Rowe (Rocketman) as Gregory Cromwell, Corentin Fila (Notre-Dame) as Christophe, Tom Mothersdale (Culprits) as Richard Riche, Karim Kadjar (Leave to Remain) as Eustache Chapuys, Lucy Russell (A Spy Among Friends) as Lady Anne Shelton, Will Tudor (Industry) as Edward Seymour, Viola Prettejohn (The Nevers) as Mary Fitzroy, Thomas Arnold (A Spy Among Friends) as Hans Holbein, Jordan Kouamé (Malpractice) as Martin the Gaoler, Agnes O’Casey (Ridley Road) as Lady Margaret Douglas, Cecilia Appiah (The Chelsea Detective) as Nan Seymour, Ellie de Lange (The Serpent) as Jenneke, Hubert Burton (Living) as Thomas Howard the Lesser, Pip Carter (Spectre) as Sir Geoffrey Pole, Josef Altin (Top Boy) as Thomas Avery, Sarah Priddy (Degenerates) as Lady Margery Seymour, Hannah Khalique-Brown (Barbie) as Dorothea, Amir El-Masry (SAS Rogue Heroes) as Thomas Wyatt, German Segal (The Undeclared War) as Olisleger, Summer Richards (Wild Bill) as Catherine Howard, and Dana Herfurth (Love Addicts) as Anne of Cleves.
May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, is dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while Henry settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on and no great family to back him, is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe. Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad, and the threat of invasion testing Henry’s regime to breaking point, Cromwell’s robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future. All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortune’s wheel turns, Cromwell’s enemies are gathering in the shadows.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will air on PBS Masterpiece in the US and BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK. Stay tuned for updates.
In the meantime, Wolf Hall is available for streaming in these territories on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and BBC iPlayer.
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