20 BEST Tv SHOWS THIS AUTUMN
Naval drama is one of 20 best autumn shows
WITH autumn fast approaching, a raft of new shows are set to brighten our TV screens.
BBC highlights will include Vigil, which pits the police against the Royal Navy, and darkly funny legal thriller Showtrial. STV has The Larkins, a new adaptation of The Darling Buds of May, and thriller Angela Black with Joanne Froggatt Maxwell Martin. Here’s a round-up of what’s in store.
Stephen STV, August 30
THE sequel to the 1999 drama The Murder Of Stephen Lawrence. Three feature-length episodes tell the story of the struggle of parents Doreen and Neville, played by Sharlene Whyte and Hugh Quarshie, to achieve justice – with Steve Coogan as DCI Clive Driscoll.
Landscapers Sky Atlantic/NOW, TBA
OLIVIA Colman stars in this darkly comic thriller inspired by real murders. She plays Susan who, with her husband, killed her parents and buried them at their Mansfield home in 1998. The writers had direct access to the killers, who still protest their innocence.
Walk the Line STV, TBA
SIMON Cowell is back with a new musical gameshow. A departure from shows like The X Factor, the series offers variety acts a chance to win cash. But a high stakes format means they must either cash out or take a risk to stay in the contest and win big.
Manhunt: The Night Stalker STV, Sept
MARTIN Clunes reprises his role as DCI Colin Sutton in this sequel to the acclaimed Manhunt. The fourparter tells the real-life story of the police pursuit of a serial rapist whose 17-year reign of terror left thousands of elderly people living in fear.
My Name is Leon BBC1, TBA
SET in 1980s Birmingham, this uplifting film tells the story of nine-year-old Leon, who is taken into care and separated from his baby brother.
Told through his eyes, it is set against the backdrop of race riots. Stars include Cole Martin and Malachi Kirby, above.
The Trick BBC1, TBA
JASON Watkins and Victoria Hamilton star in this real-life conspiracy thriller.
Prof Philip Jones, a university climate researcher, and wife Ruth were targets in the 2009 Climategate affair, when hacked emails and files were used to claim that climate change is a hoax.
The Larkins STV, TBA
IN a new adaptation of The Darling Buds Of May, Bradley Walsh and Joanna Scanlan play Pop Larkin and wife Ma, who have six kids, a patch of paradise in Kent and battle snobby villagers. Sabrina Bartlett is lovely Mariette.
Wolfe Sky Max/NOW, Sept 10
BABOU Ceesay is forensic pathologist Wolfe Kinteh – the north’s finest crime scene expert. He’s half genius, half liability, but always gets results.
His wife has kicked him out of his home but he’s a doting dad. Also stars Natalia Tena and Amanda Abbington.
Everyone’s talking about Jamie Amazon Prime Video, Sept 17
A FILM adaptation of the award-winning West End musical about a Sheffield teenager who dreams of a life on stage.
Break-out star Max Harwood leads a top cast including Sarah Lancashire, Shobna Gulati and Sharon Horgan as Jamie and his community inspire one another to be more accepting.
Angela Black STV, TBA
ANGELA Black’s life seems perfect. A gorgeous house, two beautiful sons and a charming husband.
But beneath the blissful facade, Angela (Joanne Froggatt) is a victim of domestic violence... she covers it up until, one day, everything changes.
The North Water BBC1, September
BRACE yourselves for this bleak series set in the Arctic, with plenty of drama on the high seas.
Stephen Graham, Tom Courtenay, Peter Mullan, Colin Farrell and Jack O’Connell star in this tale of a disgraced ex-army surgeon who joins an 1850s whaling expedition that has a murderous psychopath aboard.
Cinderella Amazon, Sept 3
CAMILA Cabello takes the title role in this all-singing, all-dancing modern twist on a classic tale.
Pitch Perfect’s Kay Cannon is on directorial duties, with a star cast that also includes Billy Porter, Minnie Driver and Pierce Brosnan.
James Corden produces, and came up with the film’s premise.
The Scotts BBC Scotland, starts September 6
BILLED as the next Still Game, this sitcom from Burnistoun creators Robert Florence and Iain Connell centres on the lives of siblings Henry, Vincent and Colette. They help and hinder each other in striving for wildly contrasting life goals but, for The Scotts, blood is thicker than water. And no one is thicker than The Scotts.
Vigil BBC1, August 29/30
A Scottish fishing trawler has vanished and there’s been a death on a Trident nuclear submarine, leaving the police at loggerheads with the Navy and British security services.
A top cast includes Suranne Jones, left, as DCI Amy Silva, Martin Compston, right, Rose Leslie and Shaun Evans.
Ridley Road BBC1, TBA
BASED on Jo Bloom’s novel, Aggi O’Casey, above, plays a young Jew who infiltrates a far right group in the 60s. Set in east end London with fascism on the rise, the nail-biting thriller, also stars Tamzin Outhwaite. Vivien Epstein (O’Casey) falls in love with a member of the anti-fascist 62 Group, headed by hot-headed taxi driver (Eddie Marsan).
Paul O’Grady’s Saturday Night Line Up STV, Sept
PAUL plays the ringmaster in this comedy show that pits celebrities against each other to find out what the British public really thinks of them.
Each week four stars must line up in order after being asked questions such as: Who is the richest? Most dateable? Most likely to have a midlife crisis? Expect rivalry, banter and laughs.
Showtrial BBC1, TBA
FROM the Line of Duty team comes this darkly funny legal thriller. It follows Talitha Cambell, estranged daughter of a property magnate, who is charged with conspiring to kill a fellow student. Stars include Tracy Ifeachor, pictured, and Celine Buckens.
Guilt BBC Scotland, this autumn
THE award-winning thriller returns for a new four-parter full of twists, turns and deception. Mark Bonnar, left, and Jamie Sives are joined by characters old and new as shocking new developments unfold. Sara Vickers, Phyllis Logan, Ian Pirie and Greg McHugh also star.
The Long Call STV, TBA
OLD wounds and of course a grisly crime. This four-parter, based on a novel by Ann Cleeves, stars Ben Aldridge as a detective returning to a small North Devon community with his husband, forced to re-engage with his estranged mother (Juliet Stevenson).
The Tower STV, TBA
IN a breathtaking opening sequence, a veteran cop and a teenage girl fall to their deaths from a tower block in South East London. Left alive on the roof are a five-year-old boy and rookie police officer Lizzie. But then Lizzie disappears. Gemma Whelan plays DS Sarah Collins, who must find Lizzie and get to the truth.