France 2 green lights: Victor Hugo biopic Victor Hugo, ennemi d’État (Victor Hugo: Enemy of the State), with Yannick Choirat and Isabelle Carré [French]
Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK
A couple of acquisitions this week: Sky Living’s picked up Fox (US)’s 9-1-1, which will air later this year, while BBC One (and BBC Three) have acquired BBC America’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge spy show Killing Eve, again to air later this year.
YA Belgian crime acquisition by Walter and More4. I haven’t seen this one, so let’s hand summarising over to a heady combination of Dutch Wikipedia and Google Translate:
In Aalst, a 16-year-old Turkish girl was cut over her throat. The police assume an honor killing and has a suspect for this. Nobody in the family speaks, and the case seems to be stuck, but the next day the suspect is heavily burned but still alive under a bridge. On the bridge, “Above all, one God” was sprayed as graffiti.
Someone who calls himself Moses then commits crime after crime, each time inspired by one of the ten commandments. He wants to awaken society and to think about norms and values. Violators of the rules are being punished relentlessly. It is up to two police inspectors to start the hunt for the perpetrator. The ambitious Vicky Degraeve (role played by Marie Vinck) and the older fancier Peter Devriendt (role of Dirk Van Dijck) are sitting on the case and more and more clashing with the sympathy that the series has, despite the atrocities that he commits, of the public opinion.
SEAL Team (US: CBS; UK: Sky1)
Premiere date: Thursday, March 22, 9pm
A slightly more authentic look at US special forces operations than The Unit – as well as the other special forces show that hit US screens last year – SEAL Team also maintains the same mix between personal and private lives as its predecessor. Glossy, far less guns and glory than you’d think, and smarter, too, it’s never quite made the TMINE recommended list but is still regular viewing each week.
The Terror (US: AMC; UK: BT Vision)
Premiere date: Tuesday, April 24, 9pm
This hasn’t started in the US yet, which means I haven’t seen it yet. Until my delightful forthcoming review provides further enlightenment, here’s the spiel:
Story of the Royal Navy’s perilous voyage into uncharted territory as the crew attempts to discover the Northwest Passage. Faced with treacherous conditions, limited resources, dwindling hope and fear of the unknown, the crew is pushed to the brink of extinction.
The drama series, which inspired by a true story, was developed for television by David Kajganich, who serves as co-showrunner alongside Soo Hugh. It is being produced by AMC Studios, Scott Free, Emjag Productions and Entertainment 360 and stars Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, Ciarán Hinds, Paul Ready, Adam Nagaitis, Nive Nielsen, Ian Hart and Trystan Gravelle.
Haven’t seen this so let’s see what Google Translate makes of the spiel:
In an ideal world, justice and justice are synonyms. A criminal commits a crime against a victim and the justice system ensures that the scales are rebalanced. The criminal gets his deserved punishment and the victim is compensated as far as possible for the suffering suffered. Often the reality is different. Lady Justice is not wearing a blindfold for centuries. Large fraudsters are released while small shrimps are being dealt with. Perpetrators are released by procedural errors while victims remain in the cold. Sometimes the law can be very unjust.
‘Coppers’, the new crime series by VTM and the production house Menuet, in which Hilde De Baerdemaeker, in the role of Commissioner Liese Meerhout of the federal judicial police, is looking for justice. In thirteen stand-alone episodes, the audience is introduced to Liese Meerhout, a warm, driven flick, with a quirky side.
The television series is a combination of free adaptations of the crime novels by Toni Coppers and new stories in line with the work of the author.
Gidseltagningen (Below The Surface)
Gidseltagningen (Below The Surface) (Denmark: Kanal 5; UK: BBC Four)
Premiere date: Saturday, March 10, 9pm
Written and directed by Kasper Barfoed, Below The Surface focuses on an act of terrorism committed on the Copenhagen Metro, where fifteen people are taken hostage. Former soldier Philip Nørgaard (Johannes Lassen), who is head of the PET Terror Task Force, tries to save the hostages with help from members of his elite team.
Frankie Shaw (Mr Robot) writes and stars in this series based on a semi-autobiographical short film she directed a few years ago. Obviously, it all feels accurate and the fact Showtime has it paired with Shameless should tell you something about how it feels tonally. However, it’s a lot less funnier than Shameless, and is mostly a sad tale about someone losing out on life’s events. An interesting perspective, perhaps even important, but not really a journey I want to go on, I’m afraid.
The Resident (US: Fox; UK: Universal Channel)
Premiere date: Tuesday, April 10, 9pm
A medical procedural that gets better but duller over time as we learn the difference between medicine in theory and medicine in practice. The show starts off a “Battle of the Dicks”, with new arrival Manish Dayal learning that his teaching resident (Matt Czuchry) is a dick, but one who knows more than he does; meanwhile, Czuchry has to deal with fatally incompetent head of surgery Bruce Greenwood, who in turn knows more than he does and is willing to use it blackmail everyone into keeping quiet about his shaky hands.
Later episodes then downgrade the dickishness of the characters so that the show becomes more of a consideration of the financial and political issues involved in treating patients. It’s a more interesting, if more predictable show, but still not worth sticking around for.
Date My Dad (US: UP TV; UK: Movies 24) Premiere date: Sunday, April 29, 5pm
Former professional baseball player, Ricky Cooper had the perfect life until his world comes crashing down when his wife passes away, leaving him to raise his three daughters with the help of his live-in mother-in-law Rosa.
Sounds grim, but it’s supposed to be a comedy and it sees Raquel Welch playing Rosa. Huh.
