Netflix green lights: series of adaptation of Prayaag Akbar’s Leila; supernatural terrorist horror series Ghoul, with Radhika Apte and Manav Kaul; and young adult murder mystery Crocodile
Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK
Only one new acquisition this week, with Walter Presents picking up ZDF/Arte (Germany)’s Bad Banks. No word even about what year that will go out in, though, which is fairly typical for Walter.
But we do have a quiet a few premiere dates. Don’t be too surprised that they’re all on streaming services.
Set in a remote Alaskan town that has been overrun by paranormal forces, Ghost Wars sees local outcast Avan Jogia having to overcome the town’s prejudices and his own personal demons to harness his repressed psychic powers in order to save everyone from the mass haunting threatening to destroy them all. Also stars Vincent D’Onofrio and Meatloaf.
Despite coming from the Final Draft® of Simon Barry (Continuum), Ghost Wars is a really rather laughable affair that’s almost simultaneously boring. Best avoided.
The Dangerous Book For Boys (Amazon)
Premiere date: Friday, March 30
Created by Bryan Cranston (yes, that one) and Greg Mottola (Superbad) and based on the book by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book For Boys follows the McKenna family as they cope with the untimely passing of Patrick (Let’s Get Physical and Silicon Valley‘s Chris Diamantopoulos), their patriarch and a whimsical inventor who touched the lives of everyone who knew him. His death has left the family reeling, but hope appears in the form of a book called The Dangerous Book for Boys that Patrick created as a handbook to help his three sons.
The book is a how-to guide for childhood that inspires fantasies for his youngest son, Wyatt (Gabriel Bateman). While in his fantasy world, Wyatt reconnects with his father and learns life skills that help him navigate the real world. The series also stars Erinn Hayes (Kevin Can Wait, Guys with Kids, Worst Week, The Winner) as Beth, the matriarch of the family who is trying to raise her boys as a single parent. Diamantopoulos also plays the role of Terry, Patrick’s twin brother.
Lost in Space (Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, April 13
Adaptation of the 60s TV series. Set 30 years in the future, the Robinson clan finds itself among those first selected to colonize space. They are forced to come together and forge new alliances after crash-landing on a lost planet, which is light years from their intended destination.
Toby Stephens (Black Sails) and Molly Parker (Deadwood) play parents/scientists John and Maureen Robinson, while Taylor Russell (Falling Skies), Ignacio Serricchio (General Hospital) and Parker Posey (Louie) round out the cast as daughter Judy Robinson, blue-collar contractor Don West and the manipulative Dr Smith.
DVD releases
Bet you’d forgotten I did these, hadn’t you? Tell the truth, so had I. But I’ll just point out that Britannia(UK: Sky Atlantic) is coming out on DVD and Blu-Ray on March 26.
Every week, Weekly Wonder Woman keeps you up to date on everything involving DC Comics’ premier superheroine, including whether she’s been blessed by a fertility god
Do you know, I don’t think there’s been any proper Wonder Woman news this week. Not movies, not comics, definitely not TV. Nothing.
There is some book news, though, with Laurie Halse Anderson’s Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed reimagining of our Diana:
15-year-old Diana sees drowning refugees and disobeys her mother Hippolyta to rescue them. She becomes caught up in their struggle, becoming a refugee herself. Washing up on a foreign shore, she is met by two UN workers – one called Steve and another called Trevor. While trying to help her find her way home, she uncovers a smuggler and trafficking ring.
But that doesn’t really count cos it’s, you know, for kids.
So let’s head straight into the reviews. We have the last of the Wonder Woman-Conan crossover in Wonder Woman/Conan #6, while in Trinity #18, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are off fighting dinosaurs and riding unicorns on ‘Skartaris’. But we also have the start of a Batman-Wonder Woman team-up in The Brave and the Bold #1 as they have to go to Ireland to visit some gods.
Diana did also appear in Justice League #39. But this is all she did:
It does make me wonder, though: given that the writers can clearly still write decent bantz for Stonebridge (Philip Winchester) and Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), are they deliberately writing the new characters as a bit dull and rubbish?
I do hope our former dynamic duo aren’t dead by the end of the season, though – that would be pretty predictable for Strike Back, which kills off characters with even greater regularity than Blake’s 7.
Might be nice to have it work out differently for a change…
