Monday, July 6, 2020
SENSITIVE SKIN, Series 1
This acclaimed remake is the story of Davina, a fiftysomething year-old woman (Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City) and her longtime husband (Don McKellar, Slings & Arrows) who sell their comfortable upper middle class family home and moves downtown to a hip condo in a conscious effort to breathe life into their 30 year relationship, to change their lives, to keep relevant – to begin again. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happens. Davina soon finds that all their efforts do nothing to address the emptiness she feels inside. It isn’t long after the move that she suffers the first in a series of disturbing delusional episodes that indicate to her that she is, without a doubt, in crisis. Eventually she embraces these delusions, using them to rationalize dangerous behavior. Davina’s questionable choices lead her to a better understanding of who she is at this point in her life, but at the cost of the one thing that was keeping her sane: her marriage. Also starring Nicolas Wright (White House Down), Joanna Gleason (The Wedding Planner) and Colm Feore (Chicago). (6 EPS, 2015)
BODILY HARM
This riveting series zeroes in on an apparently ordinary suburban family whose lives are suddenly rocked to their very foundations. Mitchel Greenfield (Timothy Spall, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) is on the surface a well-balanced and happy family man. He loves his wife Mandy (Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread), dotes on his sparky teenage daughter Nic (Sadie Thompson, 30 Seconds Apart) and is a devoted son to his aging parents, Sidney (George Cole, Minder) and Sheila (Annette Crosbie, One Foot in the Grave). However, on the eve of his forty-fourth birthday, he is struck by a volley of devastating psychological blows. Mitchel’s world begins to collapse, and he struggles with all his might to cling on to the one thing he holds most dear; his family. It makes for a deeply affecting and ultimately life-affirming drama about the stresses and strains of 21st century family life. (3 EPS, 2002)
EDWARD & MARY: THE UNKNOWN TUDORS
Written and hosted by Dr. David Starkey (Beyond the Walls: in Search of the Celts), this documentary is the compelling story of two of England’s most striking monarchs: a brother and sister, tied by blood and affection, and torn apart by religion, power, and some of the bloodiest episodes in English history: Mary was the first born child of Henry VIII and for 20 years she was heir to her adored father. Then came the birth of her little half-brother Edward, and Mary found herself cast into the shadows, ignored by her father and declared illegitimate. Mary ended up becoming England’s first reigning Queen since Matilda, and who is best known to generations of British schoolchildren as Bloody Mary. (2 EPS, 2002)
Monday, July 13, 2020
THE NEST
(Exclusive U.S. Premiere, Acorn TV Original Series)
A wealthy couple and a teenage girl make a pact that will change all of their lives forever, in BBC One’s highest-rated new drama in 2020, from BAFTA and RTS award-winning writer Nicole Taylor (Three Girls, Wild Rose). In this acclaimed five-part psychological thriller, Dan Docherty (BAFTA award-winner Martin Compston, Line of Duty, Mary Queen of Scots) and wife Emily (Sophie Rundle, Bodyguard, Gentleman Jack) are crazy about each other – they live in a huge house in a beautiful location just outside Glasgow and want for nothing. All that’s missing is a baby – and they’ve been trying for years. Through a chance encounter they meet Kaya (Mirren Mack, Sex Education), an 18 year-old from the other side of the city, whose life is as precarious as theirs is comfortable. When Kaya agrees to be their surrogate for several reasons, it feels like they were meant to meet – but was it really by chance? Who is Kaya and what has brought her to this couple? Can the dreams of Kaya, Emily and Dan be fulfilled, or have all three embarked on a relationship of mutually assured destruction? (2 EPS, 2020)
MCLEOD’S DAUGHTERS, SERIES 3
Two sisters separated as children are reunited when they inherit a vast cattle property in the Australian bush: fiercely independent and courageous 26-year-old Claire McLeod (Lisa Chappell, Gloss) and her long-estranged half-sister, Tess (Bridie Carter, 800 Words, I Love You Too), a city girl hell bent on changing the world. The two pull together an all-female workforce and, with an abundance of heart and humor, commit to an extraordinary life at Drovers Run, a patch of land the size of a small country. On the adjoining property live the men of the Ryan family – thus romance is added to the mix of heart stopping action, laughter, and deep emotion. Co-starring Aaron Jeffery (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Sonia Todd (Shine), Rachael Carpani (800 Words, Against The Wall) and Jessica Napier (Ghost Rider). (30 EPS, 2003)
WAINWRIGHT WALKS, SERIES 1
Expert walker Julia Bradbury explores four favorite walks in England’s Lake District region of famed author, Alfred Wainwright. Featuring stunning aerial footage, each episode centers on iconic locations in Wainwright’s best-selling series of walking books – which he wrote, illustrated and published himself. Wainwright’s Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells became known as the perfect city escape guide, which is still highly popular today. Season 1 includes appearances from the acclaimed writer’s friends – thrillingly high, difficult peaks – intimate insight into Wainwright’s love for the region – and a sunset finish on Scafell Pike, known as the “roof of England.” This series follows in Wainwright’s footsteps, delving back into the beautiful Lakeland world, as seen through his eyes. (4 EPS, 2007)
Monday, July 20, 2020
THE NEST Episode 3
(Exclusive U.S. Premiere, Acorn TV Original Series)
Tormented by what he now knows about Kaya (Mirren Mack), Dan (Martin Compston) is faced with an impossible decision. See series description under July 13. (1 EP, 2020)
MOUNT PLEASANT Series 5
(Exclusive U.S. Premiere)-First time available in U.S.
This long-running heartwarming UK dramedy hit, which originally aired on Sky, depicts the lives of a tightly knit family in suburban Manchester, including their everyday struggles. Starring Sally Lindsay (Coronation Street, Scott & Bailey), Daniel Ryan (Black Sea), Ainsley Howard (Mum & Dad, The Village), and Neil Fitzmaurice (Going Off Big Time). Seasons 1-4 also streaming. (8 EPS, 2015)
THE YORKSHIRE VET, Series 6
Get a glimpse of the true story behind All Creatures Great and Small, the classic BBC TV series by British veterinary surgeon and author Alf Wight, known worldwide as James Herriot. This documentary series profiles the dedicated team of staff at Skeldale Veterinary Centre, Wight’s original practice in Thirsk, North Yorkshire founded in 1940. With exclusive access to Julian Norton, The Yorkshire Vet, as well as his partner and Alf’s former trainee, Peter Wright and their staff, viewers get to follow the day-to-day comings and goings and meet their clientele – both two-legged and four-legged! This center may have moved from the original premises to a purpose-built facility, but the heart and soul of this historic veterinary practice are very much alive and beating. Series 1 and 2 also streaming. (8 EPS, 2018)
Monday, July 27, 2020
REBECKA MARTINSSON, Series 2
(Acorn TV Exclusive, Foreign Language, Swedish, with English subtitles)
“In a television world now awash in female coppers, there aren’t many as interesting and human as Rebecka” (The Wall Street Journal)
This riveting Scandinavian crime thriller revolves around high-powered Stockholm lawyer Rebecka Martinsson, who reluctantly returned to her remote hometown of Kiruna in northern Sweden after the murder of a childhood friend and then worked there as a public prosecutor. In series 2, Rebecka (new lead Sascha Zacharias, Primetime Murder), changes her mind about returning to the city, stays put in her old town and moves into her grandmother’s house in Kurravaara, with dog Snorvalpen (“Little Terror”) and her neighbor Sivving to keep her company. Meanwhile, questions about her dark past and troubled childhood continue to occupy her mind. Her anxieties about truly fitting in and if she made the right choice to return to her roots in Kiruna have grown worse. As a prosecutor, Rebecka is unorthodox, vigorous and very effective – the four new cases this season are more emotionally and professionally challenging than ever before, including an ugly unravelling of an old family feud, a discovery of a woman’s body after a hotel demolition and a new influx of hard drugs among the local teenagers. The series is based on Åsa Larsson’s popular crime novels. (8 EPS, 2020)
THE NEST Episode 4
(Exclusive U.S. Premiere, Acorn TV Original Series)– Episode
Still reeling from the events at the prom, Emily (Sophie Rundle) makes a shocking discovery. See series description under July 13. (1 EP, 2020)
AT HOME WITH THE GEORGIANS
Prize-winning author Amanda Vickery unlocks the secrets of the Georgian home by investigating the lives of the people who lived in them. Based on her highly acclaimed book “Behind Closed Doors – At Home in Georgian England,” she becomes the ultimate house detective unlocking the doors to a lost world: What sex is a teapot? What does your choice of dwelling reveal about your ambitions to marry? What is the moral significance of wallpaper? In what ways does a house resemble a human body? Who has access to your home? Where can you find privacy? Who really runs the roost? With Amanda as our guide, these questions will be explored and answered on a tour of Georgian Britain uncovering fascinating stories of the people in a world we thought we were familiar with- through costume dramas but which only now offers up its secrets. (3 EPS, 2010)
