International TV

Every Friday, TMINE lets you know when the latest TV shows from around the world will air in the UK

No new acquisitions without premiere dates, you’ll be pleased to hear, so let’s get straight down to it.

Premiere dates

Green Door (Taiwan: Public Television Service; UK: Netflix)
Premiere date: Tomorrow

The six-episode show is adapted from Taiwanese author Joseph Chen’s novel of the same title. It tells the story of Wei Sung-Yen, a troubled psychologist who returns from the US to set up his own practice in Taiwan, where mysterious patients and uncanny events shed light on his murky past.

The series is directed by Lingo Hsieh (aka Xie Tingwei), known for her fantasy-horror movie The Bride, which she co-created with Japanese thrill-master Takashige Ichise. The screenplay is adapted by Hsieh and Li Ting-yu.

The cast is headed by Taiwanese singer-actor Jam Hsiao, who makes his debut to lead in a drama series, and co-stars Hsieh Ying-Hsuan, who won the Golden Horse best actress prize last year for her role in Dear Ex, and Lan Wei-Hua. The cast is fleshed out by Haden Kuo (Tiny Times) and Ruby Zhan (The Tag-Along 2).

Nero a metà (Carlo & Malik) (Italy: Rai 1; UK: Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, March 22

A veteran detective must face both his own biases and ghosts from his past when he’s paired up with a star rookie on a string of murder cases in Rome. Stars Claudio Amendola and Miguel Gobbo Diaz.

Netflix has somewhat glossed over the racial issues (“own biases”) in that brief description and sensibly changed the name to Carlo & Malik from the original’s somewhat dodgy “black in the middle”…

Project Blue Book (US: History; UK: Syfy)
Premiere date: Wednesday March 27, 9pm

Dramatisation of the USAF’s 1960s UFO debunking programme starring Aidan Gillen. It’s initially 50% conspiracy nonsense, 50% moderately interesting adaptations of real Blue Book investigations, but by the second episode, it’s turned into 100% soporific stupidity that makes The X-Files look like CSPAN.

Episode reviews: 1, 2

Leila (Netflix)
Premiere date: Friday, June 14

Indian Netflix original. In the forgotten margins of the segregated communities of a dystopian future, a woman searches for the daughter she lost upon her arrest years ago.

Stars Huma Qureshi, Saddharth, Rahul Khanna.