The Beeb’s just unveiled its Autumn drama showreels, which includes snippets of Criminal Justic,Emma, Framed, Garrow’s Law, Material Girl, Paradox and Small Island, which I’ve embedded above (UK only – take that Hulu users!).
Oh yes, it also includes clips from Spooks with Richard Armitage and Doctor Who with David Tennant, who some of you quite like, I hear.
The Beeb’s also come up with a carousel of more clips that I can’t embed over here.
Full summaries of all the new shows – as well as Gavin & Stacey – after the jump.
Criminal Justice
Maxine Peake stars in the return to BBC One of Peter Moffat’s Bafta award-winning drama. This major new five-part thriller takes an uncompromising and insightful look at the criminal justice system through the experience of one woman. Peake leads an impressive cast that boasts some of Britain’s top acting talent, including Matthew Macfadyen, Denis Lawson, Steven Mackintosh, Eddie Marsan and Sophie Okonedo.
Peake plays Juliet Miller, a woman who suffers from depression. She is married to Joe Miller (Macfadyen), a barrister at the height of his professional powers. The couple have one 13-year-old daughter, Ella (Alice Sykes). When Joe is stabbed at home one night, the family’s life is changed forever. As fragile Juliet travels through the criminal justice system under the constant scrutiny of police, prison and social services, questions are raised about psychological and sexual abuse.
Passing through the family courts, her ordeal concludes in a heart-rending denouement in the High Court.
Doctor Who
David Tennant returns as The Doctor in The Waters Of Mars, the second of four Doctor Who specials being screened on BBC One this year. He is joined by his cleverest and most strong-minded companion yet, Adelaide, played by acclaimed British actress Lindsay Duncan.
Adelaide is head of the Mars Base and doesn’t take kindly to an uninvited appearance by The Doctor. Peter O’Brien, star of Neighbours, Flying Doctors and Casualty, also guest stars as Ed, Adelaide’s second in command.
The Waters Of Mars is written by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford and is directed by Graeme Harper.
Emma
Emma is a fresh and witty serial adaptation of Jane Austen’s comic masterpiece by award-winning writer Sandy Welch (Jane Eyre, North And South, Our Mutual Friend).
Romola Garai (Atonement, Vanity Fair), plays the "handsome, clever and rich" Emma Woodhouse, a young woman who dominates her small provincial world of Highbury. Misguidedly believing that she is a skilled matchmaker, Emma repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends and acquaintances, often with regrettable consequences.
The cast includes Jonny Lee Miller (Endgame, Melinda And Melinda), Michael Gambon (Harry Potter, Cranford), Tamsin Greig (The Diary Of Anne Frank, Green Wing), Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet) and Jodhi May (Einstein And Eddington, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard).
A Bafta-winning writer, Sandy Welch unfolds Austen’s compassionate and humorous story of self-deceit and self-discovery in four hour-long episodes, providing a rich insight into one of the author’s most complex characters.
Framed
Trevor Eve and Eve Myles star in Framed, a brand new family drama for BBC One.
When a secretive convoy of men and trucks start arriving in a remote Welsh village, the villagers discover that the National Gallery in London has been flooded and its priceless paintings are being sent to Wales for safe storage in the bowels of the old slate mine (just as they were during the Second World War).
In charge of this operation is Lester, an intelligent but reserved curator who prefers paintings to people. That is until a funny and pivotal misunderstanding leads him to invite the local children to view the paintings inside the mountain, setting off an extraordinary chain of events that transform the lives of the villagers and, eventually, Lester himself.
Framed is adapted by Frank Cottrell Boyce from his best-selling children’s novel.
Garrow’s Law
Set in the Old Bailey of Georgian London against a backdrop of corruption and social injustice, Garrow’s Law is a new four-part legal drama inspired by the life of pioneering barrister William Garrow.
The series, co-created by Tony Marchant, is based on real legal cases from the late 18th century. Andrew Buchan (Cranford, Party Animals) as Garrow leads a cast including Alun Armstrong (New Tricks) and Lyndsey Marshal (Rome).
From rape and murder to high treason and corruption, each episode begins with the investigation of a real crime sourced from the Old Bailey archives of the day. In an age where defence counsel was for the minority, the youthful Garrow and his associate Southouse (Armstrong) work to uncover the truth or fight for justice, championing the underdog and pioneering the rigorous cross-examination of prosecution witnesses that paved the way for the modern legal system.
A gifted maverick, at times arrogant and with a burning sense of destiny, Garrow’s drive to change the nature of the trial creates powerful enemies both in the corrupt underworld and among the political elite.
Material Girl
A young fashion designer battles her evil ex-boss, a sexy but devilish business partner and snobby fashionistas as she strives to get her big break in work and love in this new six-part romantic comedy.
Set in the bustling, creative hotbed of London’s Brick Lane, Leonora Crichlow (Being Human, Sugar Rush) plays Ali Redcliffe, who sets out to make a name for herself as a designer through sheer hard work and talent.
But scheming Davina Bailey, played by Dervla Kirwan (Doctor Who), is the designer of the moment – the woman that every hot star wants to be dressed by – and she isn’t about to give up her crown as queen of fashion.
Ali’s trump card might just be Marco, played by Michael Landes (Love Soup), a mercurial and brilliant business partner, who wants to make Ali a star.
Extraordinarily talented in her professional life, Ali is impetuous, feisty and neurotic. Her personal life is a mess, but this mid-twenties single girl is fiercely loyal to her tightly knit group of friends, Alex, Mimi and Lydia. The ups and downs of her friendships, the solidarity, extraordinary chemistry and their entwined destinies make up the fabric of Material Girl.
Paradox
If you could see the future, would you change it? That’s the dilemma facing Detective Inspector Rebecca Flint (Tamzin Outhwaite) and astrophysicist Dr Christian King (Emun Elliott) when a series of rogue images transmitted into his laboratory from space, throw them together.
The fragmented images appear to be of a major incident, but shockingly they suggest it has yet to happen; it’s in the future. Christian, Rebecca and her team, DS Ben Holt (Mark Bonnar) and DC Callum Gada (Chiké Okonkwo), have just 18 hours to work out the clues and prevent a tragedy.
A series of five episodes by Lizzie Mickery, Paradox is an intriguing, high-concept, high-octane, investigative drama, in which the team must not only prevent complex crimes and incidents, but wrestle with the moral and emotional implications of changing the future.
Small Island
Adapted from Andrea Levy’s award-winning and best-selling novel, Small Island is an epic love story about the determined pursuit of dreams in the face of seemingly insurmountable barriers.
Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, at a time when landlords put up signs declaring: "No Irish, no coloureds, no dogs", Small Island follows the interlocking lives of Londoner Queenie (Ruth Wilson) and her husband Bernard (Benedict Cumberbatch); Gilbert and Hortense (David Oyelowo and Naomie Harris), the young Jamaican couple who become their lodgers; and the handsome but mysterious Michael (Ashley Walters).
From the heat and hustle of life in Forties Jamaica to the devastation of London in The Blitz, Small Island is an ambitious yet personal tale that deftly touches on the weighty themes of empire, prejudice and war with a warm, uplifting generosity of spirit.
This two-part drama is written by Paula Milne (Endgame, The Virgin Queen) and Sarah Williams (Becoming Jane, The Secr
et Life Of Mrs Beeton) and directed by John Alexander (Life On Mars, Survivors).
Gavin & Stacey
With four British Comedy Awards, two Baftas and a South Bank award to its name, Gavin & Stacey returns for a new series on BBC One. As Gavin starts his new job, the move to Barry Island means big changes for the whole family. Pam and Mick have to adjust to an empty nest while Gwen’s got a full house again. Stacey is in her element, but will this finally be the solution to the couple’s long-distance problem? And how will Gavin take to living in Wales?
Smithy questions their friendship along with his own role as father – and with Dave Coaches on the scene and now engaged to Nessa, will Smithy find himself pushed out of the frame? How will life in a caravan work out for Nessa and her soon-to-be husband Dave?
Written by James Corden and Ruth Jones, Gavin & Stacey stars Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Ruth Jones and James Corden, with Alison Steadman, Rob Brydon, Larry Lamb and Melanie Walters. Guest stars include Julia Davis, Adrian Scarborough, Steffan Rhodri and Sheridan Smith.
