BREAKING (& DELIGHTFUL) NEWS:
As we were preparing this email, we received an email from Acorn TV's PR department announcing that the Australian mystery-drama Darby & Joan has been commissioned for a second season.
Easily one of Acorn's best original series, it stars Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi as a former cop and English nurse who collide in the Australian outback and become entangled in a string of intriguing mysteries.
According to their email, this is what we can expect from the upcoming season, which will film in mid-2024:
"Season two, which will film mid-year in Australia, finds Jack and Joan on the hunt for the one person Jack believes can reveal the truth about his mysterious past. Jack and Joan soon realize they aren’t alone on this journey and their quest becomes a race against time. But can they really find the truth after all these years? Or will their search for answers only unearth more questions?"
11 British TV Shows Leaving Acorn TV in June 2024 - Acorn TV hasn't taken off many shows in the last few months, but 11 will be dropped in June. Here's a look at what they are, what they're about, and where to watch them if you miss them (where available).
New & Upcoming
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On BritBox, June 1st brought the 2005 period drama Fingersmith, while the 5th gave us season 1 of the heavily improvised crime drama Suspects (seasons 2-4 will follow on the 12th, 19th, and 26th). On June 6th, they added Changing Ends, a semi-autobiographical sitcom about comedian Alan Carr's childhood in the 1980s as the son of a professional football manager. On June 7th, they'll add the 1975 film Naked Civil Servant, and on the 10th, they're adding season 4 of Lovejoy.
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On Acorn TV, the 3rd brought the thriller Hollington Drive, along with new episodes of Murdoch Mysteries, Brokenwood Mysteries (FINALE), The Truth, and Harry Wild. The 10th will bring new episodes of Murdoch Mysteries, The Truth, and Harry Wild.
- On Amazon Prime Video, season 3 of The Outlaws premiered on May 31st. Picking up from where season 2 left off, the new season begins with The Dean behind bars awaiting trial while the outlaws try to move on - until one of them puts them all in danger with a deadly secret.
- On Peacock, June 6th brings Queer Planet, a nature documentary about sexual diversity in the animal kingdom.
- On Netflix, June 13th will bring part 2 of season 3 of Bridgerton.
- On Hulu, June 7th brings the premiere of Queenie, a drama about a twentysomething Jamaican British woman living in south London and feeling unsettled in both her cultural identity and adult life in general. A new season of Love Island UK will be added on June 8th. On the 11th, they'll be adding season 2 of Wreck, a horror-comedy in which a young man gets a job on a cruise ship to investigate the death of his sister. In season 2, he's back on land - vengeance in mind.
More to Read...
BritBox June 2024 Premieres (US) - Blue Lights fans will be pleased with the June lineup, but sadly, there's still no news about new Silent Witness episodes.
11 Things You Might Now Know About Pride & Prejudice - A bit of fun trivia about one of the world's most famous novels (and best-loved period dramas, in TV form).
20 Mysteries & Crime Dramas for British TV Fans on Hulu - Not all of these are strictly British, but they're all likely to appeal to many British TV fans for one reason or another. Some are from Australia, New Zealand, or Canada, while others have one or more British leads.
Ted: “Would you like your pizza cut into six or eight slices Dougal?”
Dougal: “Oh just six, I don’t think I could eat eight.”
Father Ted
Stream it (US): Amazon Prime Video, Peacock,
25 Charming British Movies You Can Stream - Looking for something you can easily finish in a single evening? We have 25 British film suggestions, all of which are available to stream in one way or another.
Recent Casting Notices...
As always, there's much to look forward to. Here are a few more projects in various stages of development:
- The Split Up - This six-episode series will be a spin-off to The Split. It will take place in the high-stakes world of Manchester's divorce law circuit, where the Kishans are among the most prominent families in the business.
- Glenrothan - Scottish actor Brian Cox will direct this upcoming feature film about two estranged brothers brought back together by their family's whisky distillery. It will go into production in September.
- The Dream Lands - This upcoming BBC One series will be set in a near-future version of Margate, a seaside town in Kent. Against a backdrop of extreme inequality, we'll follow the story of Chance, a young lesbian who comes of age while her family is trying to fight for survival in 2039 - a time of soaring temperatures, rising seas, and brutal politics.
- Flavia de Luce - This mystery series will be based on Alan Bradley's popular Flavia de Luce girl sleuth novels, and so far, Martin Freeman, Meera Syal, and Toby Jones are in the cast. From the official synopsis: "It is the summer of 1950 - and a series of inexplicable events has struck Buckshaw, the decaying English mansion that Flavia’s family calls home. A dead bird is found on the doorstep, a postage stamp bizarrely pinned to its beak. Hours later, Flavia finds a man lying in the cucumber patch and watches him as he takes his dying breath."
