Russian Doll
News

Bite Club acquired; Weird City, Russian Doll trailers; + more

Every weekday, TMINE brings you the latest TV news from around the world

UK TV acquisitions

Internet TV

  • Trailer for Netflix’s Russian Doll
  • Trailer for YouTube Premium’s Weird City

French TV

  • JoeyStarr, Marina Hands and Myriam Boyer to guest on France 3’s Capitaine Marleau

US TV show casting

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

Bloom
Australian and New Zealand TV

Boxset Tuesday: Bloom (season one) (Australia: Stan; UK: My5)

In Australia: Available on Stan
In the UK: Acquired by My5. Will start Wednesday, May 1

When I was reviewing Glitch, the last entry in the worldwide “dead loved ones are coming back to life to screw up our lives” TV series stakes, I figured that was it from Australia. That was their entry for the top spot. No more for this genre from them.

Little did I know that Australia’s up-and-coming streaming service Stan was going to have a go, too.

Bloom is a bit different, though. Rather than the dead coming back to life after accidents, floods, etc as per The Returned (Les Revenants) et al, it instead gives us something potentially more terrifying: our loved ones returning to us but in the prime of their lives.

The show is set in a small country town in Australia that was a hit by a terrible flood a year previously that caused numerous deaths. Bryan Brown (FX – Murder By Illusion, The Wanderer, Old School) has been married to former movie star Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom, Squinters, Secret City) for nearly 50 years, but Weaver is now in a care home, suffering from dementia, and hardly recognises Brown. Then one day Brown notices that his dying dog seems to have recovered all its youth and vigour after eating the fruit of a strange plant in his garden. And he has an idea that might just cure his wife and return her to him…

However, he’s not the only one who’d discovered the miraculous properties of the plant and numerous old folk are already or are soon looking for it to become young again – for both good and bad reasons. And even if they don’t want to eat it, maybe others would like them to – and might even make them eat it without their knowing.

Unfortunately, it soon becomes apparent that the magic plant’s special powers only last for a short time and that it only grows on spots where someone died in the flood. With less and less of the plant available, what will people do to get hold of just a few more days of youth for both them and others?

Continue reading “Boxset Tuesday: Bloom (season one) (Australia: Stan; UK: My5)”
Happy on Syfy
Streaming TV

It’s that moment you’ve all been waiting for: it’s the TMINE Top N programmes of 2018!

As usual at this time of year, TMINE is busily packing its bags to get ready for its annual Christmas break. We’re not there yet, though, as everything will continue until Friday. 

But barring minor miracles, unless it turns out Chicago ILLDogs of Berlin or Tideland have been cruelly overlooked, there’ll be no shows that are both new and excellent for me to review this year, which means I can at last unveil this year’s TMINE’s Top N programmes, where N is a positive integer that I’ve more or less picked at random each year. This year, N=14, you’ll be excited to hear. Can you guess what they are?

There’s certainly been some interesting new arrivals, whose presence in the Top N you’ll probably have been able to predict in advance – I’ve certainly dropped a few hints throughout the year. But there’s a few surprises in there, I think.

As always, a caveat: I’ve not watched every TV programme broadcast or acquired in the UK this year and I barely watched any live TV, so there are almost certainly some good shows that that I’ve left off the list. There’s also a show or two that got made ages ago but which never made it to the UK or my viewing queue until this year, so it’s entirely possible some quite oldies have made it onto the 2018 list. And, of course, there are a few shows that started well but I’ve not finished yet, so aren’t eligible for the list (honourable mention to the likes of Plan Cœur, for example)

So best not to think of this as the definitive “Best new TV shows from around the world of 2018″, so much as just the top “TMINE would recommend to a friend shows of the ones I’ve watched in 2018”.

As always, too, feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments, on your own blog or on the TMINE Facebook page. Just for reference, here are previous years’ Top Ns:

And now, to the top N…

Continue reading “It’s that moment you’ve all been waiting for: it’s the TMINE Top N programmes of 2018!”

The Blake Mysteries
News

The Blake Mysteries cancelled; Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Van Helsing renewed; + more

Every weekday, TMINE brings you the latest TV news from around the world

Internet TV

Australian TV

Canadian TV

US TV show casting

New US TV shows

New US TV show casting

Dinner For One
News

Now Apocalypse, Dinner For One acquired; Netflix’s first African original; + more

Every weekday, TMINE brings you the latest TV news from around the world

UK TV acquisitions

Internet TV

International TV

Australian TV

  • Trailer for Stan’s No Activity: The Night Before Christmas

Scandinavian TV

UK TV

US TV show casting

New US TV shows