New season, new series of favourites
There is a mixed bag of thriller, murder, reality and fantasy to whet your appetite, writes Bianca Coleman
OCTOBER is on the doorstep, bringing with it a host of fab new series and fresh seasons of long-time favourites.
MNet 101’s exciting content coming up over the next few weeks includes three series beginning on Monday: season two of the creepy Stephen King story Mr Mercedes at 11.05pm, Manifest at 8pm, and Sharp Objects at 10.05pm.
Manifest is about passengers in a plane who suddenly reappear after being presumed dead for five years. Sharp Objects, starring Amy Adams, is a psychological thriller limited series about an emotionally troubled reporter who returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two young girls.
In the first season of Mr Mercedes, we met the crazy killer Brady and the retired cop who hunted him. In the second season, Brady (Harry Treadaway) is in hospital and Hodges (Brendan Gleeson) and Holly (Justine Lupe) open a private investigation agency.
Season five of How To Get Away With Murder is on 1Magic tomorrow at 1am (and on Monday at 8.30pm) and revolves around criminal defence attorney Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) who earns back her notoriety within the law field after her class action is accepted.
On BBC Brit, a new season of Strictly Come Dancing will begin on Sunday at 6pm and will feature South Africans Oti Mabuse, a former finalist, and newcomer Johannes Radebe. Mabuse was born in Pretoria and began dancing in South Africa as a child with her sister, who is a judge on the German version of the show. Radebe is from Sasolburg and is a twotime Professional South African Latin Champion and three-time South African Amateur Latin Champion. He dances with the Afro Arimba Dance Company and has been a professional dancer on the show for two seasons, reaching the final on both. as how lucky he is because without the best artists in the world none of this would have happened.
Later, he talked about being sick of the type of stories his publisher demanded and being on the verge of quitting. “My wife said – because she is the wisest and most beautiful woman in the world – ‘why don’t you do a book the way you want to do it? The worst that can happen is they fire you, but you want to quit anyway’.”
The result of that conversation was Fantastic Four.
Having had my mood primed, I went back to Cloak And Dagger (also Showmax). Based on characters who first guest-appeared in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 (March 1982), it premiered this year and all 10 episodes are there.
It stars Olivia Holt as Tandy Bowen and Aubrey Joseph as Tyrone Johnson – two teenagers in New Orleans who, when they were younger, survived the destruction of a Roxxon Corporation offshore lab during a hurricane, but now find themselves with superpowers which are mysteriously linked to one another.
For a teenage show, it’s engaging (even for an older viewer), and the gorgeous soundtrack is available on Apple Music, downloading as I type.