Hillary, Sky Documentaries, 27th May
The global arms race in television continues apace. Sky, now owned by media giant Comcast, is launching two new channels—Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature—in May, with Documentaries boasting an impressive opening line-up. Its flagship title is Hillary, a four-part series about Hillary Clinton, which features interviews with the family, including the subject herself as well as her husband Bill, and unseen footage of the 2016 campaign. With a US election upcoming, this should be essential viewing.
Space Force, Netflix, 29th May
Netflix has flexed its financial muscle to bring this original 10-part comedy series to our screens. It’s co-created by Greg Daniels, who developed the American version of The Office, and Steve Carell, who starred in it, and the cast includes John Malkovich, and Lisa Kudrow from Friends. The plot turns on a new division of the US Armed Forces given the task of achieving military dominance in space. Carell plays the Air Force general heading up the effort, Malkovich a Dr Strangelove figure. Expect laughs.
The Deceived, Channel 5, June
Since it was bought by Viacom in 2014, Channel 5 has worked hard to overcome the sleazy tag. This four-part psychological drama about an English student who falls in love with her married university lecturer is a good example of canny commissioning: an in-form writer, Lisa McGee, creator of Derry Girls, joins a strong cast that includes Game of Thrones’s Ian McElhinney. A new adaptation of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small is also scheduled for autumn.
The global arms race in television continues apace. Sky, now owned by media giant Comcast, is launching two new channels—Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature—in May, with Documentaries boasting an impressive opening line-up. Its flagship title is Hillary, a four-part series about Hillary Clinton, which features interviews with the family, including the subject herself as well as her husband Bill, and unseen footage of the 2016 campaign. With a US election upcoming, this should be essential viewing.
Space Force, Netflix, 29th May
Netflix has flexed its financial muscle to bring this original 10-part comedy series to our screens. It’s co-created by Greg Daniels, who developed the American version of The Office, and Steve Carell, who starred in it, and the cast includes John Malkovich, and Lisa Kudrow from Friends. The plot turns on a new division of the US Armed Forces given the task of achieving military dominance in space. Carell plays the Air Force general heading up the effort, Malkovich a Dr Strangelove figure. Expect laughs.
The Deceived, Channel 5, June
Since it was bought by Viacom in 2014, Channel 5 has worked hard to overcome the sleazy tag. This four-part psychological drama about an English student who falls in love with her married university lecturer is a good example of canny commissioning: an in-form writer, Lisa McGee, creator of Derry Girls, joins a strong cast that includes Game of Thrones’s Ian McElhinney. A new adaptation of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small is also scheduled for autumn.
