JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON

Once upon a time, you knew where you were with JeanClaude Van Damme – he could be relied on for silly but enjoyable action films with plenty of kicking. But then in 2008, ‘The Muscles from Brussels’ starred in JCVD, in which he played a semi-fictionalised version of himself as a washedup movie star who finds himself caught up in a real heist. The film – and in particular, Van Damme’s self-deprecating performance – wowed the critics and showed there was more to the actor than a talent for kickboxing. Now he’s at it again in the spy comedy Jean-Claude Van Johnson. Once again, he’s playing himself, but this time he’s retired from the acting and martial arts game and is going back to his old job as an undercover private agent.

ERASED

Netflix

Also known as Boku dake ha Inai Machi (The Town Without Me), Kei Sanbe’s manga comic Erased was a huge hit in its native Japan – so much so, that last year it was adapted into an animated series and a live-action thriller. Netflix could also see the story’s potential and has adapted the tale for this new drama series. The plot focuses on Satoru, a twentysomething struggling artist with the ability to travel back in time, usually to the moments before a tragedy occurs – but it’s a power he has no control over. When his mother is murdered by a serial killer, Satoru is thrust into the past, but instead of returning to the time immediately prior to her death, he is sent back 18 years – just before three of his classmates were kidnapped in an incident that has haunted him ever since.

THE INDIAN DETECTIVE

Netflix

No, it’s not a spin-off from the BBC series The Indian Doctor. Instead, this new Canadian drama series stars comedian Russell Peters – and Star Trek icon William Shatner. The plot focuses on Doug (Peters), a Toronto cop of AngloIndian descent who is unfairly suspended from his job. He decides to make the most of the enforced break by visiting his father in Mumbai, where he becomes embroiled in a murder case. As he digs deeper, he uncovers a conspiracy involving a billionaire property developer (Shatner). But even while he’s looking for clues, Doug must also deal with his ambivalent feelings about his family’s homeland, and the fact that, despite his heritage, he’s still considered an outsider there.