FIRST LOOK AT JASON MOMOA AS HAWAII WARRIOR IN CHIEF OF WAR 18TH CENTURY EPIC TV SERIES PLUS THE START DATE

    CHIEF OF WAR   

FIRST JASON MOMOA EPIC SERIES IMAGE

Apple TV + has opened the new week with the first image of Jason Momoa in his epic new series CHIEF OF WAR and the start date set for August 1st when it will launch with first two episodes and then continue weekly.  The series depicts the unification and colonization of Hawai’i from an indigenous point of view with Momoa playing warrior Ka’iana, as he tries to unify the islands before Western colonization in the late 18th century.

PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON ITALIAN PERIOD SET SERIES BELCANTO ON THE 18TH CENTURY BIRTH OF OPERA WITH VITTORIA PUCCINI

  BELCANTO 18TH CENTURY  

PERIOD SET TV SERIES FROM ITALY

Belcanto started airing on RAI February 28th

I have to admit that I actually thought this one was coming up sometime later this year, but it turns out that it started airing in Italy in February and finished a week ago, so beside El Turco and Leopard we have another Italian costume drama to watch this spring.  Coming from Mariano Di Nardo, Antonio Manca and Federico Fava  BELCANTO eight part series set in 1798, had, it seems, quite nice viewing ratings in Italy with over 20% of viewership in the country tuning in to every episode. The actresses and actors do not sing in the series on their own, but have voices lent from operatic singers from Italy and it is interesting that the soundtrack of the series has

Belcanto consists of eight episodes

entered Italian music charts. The series was shot in the historic parts of Naples at the beginning of last year.

 

  THE STORY OF THE SERIES FOLLOWS

14-year-old Carolina (Adriana Savarese), her 17-year-old sister Antonia  (Caterina Ferioli) and their mother Maria (Vittoria Puccini) who seek refuge in the city of Milan after stabbing their violent father to death. The elder sister dreams of becoming a renowned singer, much as her mother once hoped for when she was the girl’s age. However, an unhappy and often violent marriage waylaid young Maria, who is now willing to go the extreme lengths to ensure that her daughter is afforded every opportunity withheld from herself. Maria’s intense focus on the beautiful elder sister leaves little attention or affection for young and ugly Carolina however, who more modestly only dreams of earning her mother’s affection. Things go upside down however when a well-respected singing teacher in the cosmopolitan city renowned for its music discovers that Maria’s youngest is the true talent in the family. The Italian bel canto opera movement flourished in the early 19th century and is exemplified by the operas of Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti and others. Literally “beautiful singing”, bel canto opera derives from the Italian stylistic singing school of the same name. Carmine Recano, Giacomo Giorgio, Vincenzo Ferrera and Nicolo Pasetti also star in the historical series.

 

GEMMA ARTERTON, RAFE SPALL, MARK STANLEY, ALEX KINGSTON TO LEAD ITV'S NEW ESPIONAGE SERIES SECRET SERVICE

  SECRET SERVICE SERIES  

GEMMA ARTERTON AND RAFE SPALL TO LEAD

ITV has set quite an interesting cast for their new high end espionage series SECRET SERVICE with Gemma Arterton and Rafe Spall leading the cast alongside Mark Stanley, Alex Kingston. This five part drama  The drama follows senior MI6 officer Kate Henderson (Gemma Arterton). On the surface, her life appears ordinary, a civil servant married to Stuart (Rafe Spall) with two teenage children. However, to those who don’t know her well, Kate’s true role is heading the Russia Desk at the Secret Intelligence Service. When her undercover operations reveal alarming evidence that a high-ranking UK politician may be a Russian asset, Kate finds herself in a desperate race to uncover their identity. As a brutal murder thrusts her team into the spotlight, Kate must navigate the dangerous world of espionage while trying to hold her family together and protect her reputation.

NEW SERIES OUT TODAY: HULU'S MID-CENTURY MODERN SITCOM WITH MATT BOMER, NATHAN LANE, LADY'S COMPANION 19TH CENTURY DRAMA AT NETFLIX

    NEW SERIES OUT TODAY   

MID-CENTURY MODERN SITCOM ON HULU

New sitcom starts today over at Hulu

Two new series coming out today for your viewing pleasure this weekend. Over at Hulu out today is their new multicam sitcom from Will & Grace creators titled MID-CENTURY MODERN about three best friends, gay gentlemen of a certain age, played by Matt Bomer, Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham, who, after an unexpected death, decide to spend their golden years living together in Palm Springs where the wealthiest one lives with his mother and a naked Gen Z housekeeper. As a chosen family, they prove that no matter how hard things get, there’s always someone around to remind you it would be better if you got your neck done! Linda Lavin, who recently died, is Bunny’s mother, Sybil whose strengths are her weaknesses: wise, caring, and iconoclastic, which sometimes means she’s critical, smothering and amoral!

 

 

THE LADY'S COMPANION AT NETFLIX

If you are also in the mood for a costume drama, hitting Netflix today is Spanish period set series THE LADY'S COMPANION with Álvaro Mel, Nadia de

The Lady's Companion streams from today

Santiago and Isa Montalbán in the lead roles of the series set in Madrid, 1880. Elena Bianda is the most sought-after lady-in-waiting in the entire city. Despite her youth, more than 20 ladies have already had decent courtships and marriages under her tutelage. Her success lies in being rigid in morality with their families and sensitive to the concerns of the ladies. A complicated balance that Elena handles perfectly. She was born for it: seeing them successfully walk down the aisle is, quite simply, her whole life. All this changes when she arrives at the Mencía house and has to take care of 3 sisters.

 

FIRST IMAGES AND STREAMING DATE FOR THE BETTER SISTER PRIME VIDEO SERIES WITH JESSICA BIEL, ELIZABETH BANKS, COREY STOLL

  THE BETTER SISTER  

JESSICA BIEL, ELIZABETH BANKS IMAGES

Prime Video has revealed first images from their new TV series adaptation of Alafair Burke's THE BETTER SISTER that unveils the terrible things that drive sisters apart and ultimately bring them back together. The series has a premiere date set on May 29th when it'll launch in more than 240 countries around the world. Jessica Biel leads the cast as Chloe, who moves through the world with her handsome lawyer husband Adam (Corey Stoll) and teenage son Ethan (Maxwell Donovan) by her side while her estranged sister Nicky (Elizabeth Banks) struggles to stay clean and hustles to make ends meet. When Adam is brutally murdered, the prime suspect sends shockwaves through the family, laying bare long-buried secrets. Kim Dickens will play Nancy Guidry, a detective investigating Adam’s murder, while Bobby Naderi will play her kinder and younger detective partner.

FIRST IMAGES OF CONNOR SWINDELLS IN BBC AND NETFLIX LOCKERBIE AIRPLANE EXPLOSION TV SERIES THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103

 1ST CONNOR SWINDELLS PICS 

FROM THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 SERIES

Although the Colin Firth series Lockerbie: A Search for Truth already aired without much success, I previously already told you that there is another series on the same terrorist attack coming up and today I have for you first images from THE BOMBING OF PAN AM 103 series with  Connor Swindells who leads the cast in the story based on the real events surrounding the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the joint Scots-U.S. investigation which sought to bring the perpetrators to justice. Peter Mullan, Tony Curran, Eddie Marsan, Kevin McKidd also star in thebrand new series that will first air on BBC sometime later this year and then stream on Netflix globally! 

 

WHAT IS THE STORY ABOUT? 

On 21 December 1988, flight Pan Am 103 was en route from Heathrow to JFK when a bomb exploded in its hold over the small Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people, including 43 British citizens and 190 Americans. It was the worst ever terror attack on British soil. LOCKERBIE will focus on the investigation into the crash on both sides of the Atlantic and the devastating effect it had on the small town and the families who lost loved ones. From the initial exhaustive search for evidence on the ground in Scotland, via the U.S. and Malta to the trial at Camp Zeist in 2000, the drama takes us right up to the most recent indictment at the end of 2022.

JAMES NORTON TO LEAD THE TV SERIES ADAPTATION OF WAVEWALKER: BREAKING FREE MEMOIRS BY SUZANNE HEYWOOD

  JAMES NORTON TO LEAD 

WAVEWALKER: BREAKING FREE TV SERIES

After we see him as Harold Earl of Wessex in King and Conqueror epic TV series at BBC later this year, James Norton will take another series lead: he will topline four part series adaptation of WAVEWALKER: BREAKING FREE memoir by Suzanne Heywood. He will also produce the series which tells how Heywood's parents took her on a trip around the world on a sailing boat when she was aged 7, in a journey which ended up lasting for a decade. He will play the roguish father who paints this beautiful picture about the trip that is meant to take a year or two, but takes about 10. The two children were basically enslaved by their father as crew members on this boat. He denied them a youth and an education.

SHERIDAN SMITH AND MICHAEL SOCHA TO PLAY CASINO ROBBERS IN NEW BBC MINI SERIES CAGE

   BBC'S CAGE DRAMA  

ADS SHERIDAN SMITH AND MICHAEL SOCHA

BBC One has commissioned a new six part  crime drama CAGE set in the world of a Liverpool Casino with Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha in the lead roles. When Leanne (Smith) and Matty (Socha) discover they are both robbing from the safe at the inner- city casino they work in, their lives are set on a collision course; with each other, the local gangster they’re stealing from, and the police. The show is created by Tony Schumacher.

SAM CLAFLIN AND KALEY CUOCO TO LEAD NEW PARIS SET MYSTERY TV SERIES VANISHED

   VANISHED TV SERIES  

WITH SAM CLAFLIN AND KALEY CUOCO

Coming from David Hilton and Preston Thompson is a new mystery Paris set series VANISHED which does not yet have a broadcaster but it has Sam Claflin and Kaley Cuoco as leads. They will be Alice and Tom, a couple whose romantic getaway to Paris takes a dark turn after Tom suddenly disappears aboard a train to the south of France. Alice is plunged into a web of intrigue and danger, uncovering shocking secrets about the man she thought she knew. Matthias Schweighöfer and Karin Viard will also star. Beside Lazarus and Barbaric this is Sam's third upcoming new series.

SEE FIRST IMAGES FROM 1920'S SET HISTORICAL SERIES CONSTANTINOPLE ON THE EXILED REFUGEES OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION

   CONSTANTINOPLE  

FIRST IMAGES FROM HISTORICAL SERIES

You can always count on brothers Russians to have some new historical series for us. Today you can check out first images from their upcoming new war series CONSTANTINOPLE from director Sergei Chekalov and with our dearest Vyacheslav Chepurchenko in the lead role beside Sergei Marin and Alexander Ustyugov. Done for NTV and Ivi streamer it is set at the beginning of the 20th century following  Russian officers in exile who are trying to survive in Constantinople among other refugees. The series will be filmed in Moscow, St. Petersburg with Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, acting as Constantinople.

 

THE ACTION TAKES PLACE IN NOVEMBER 1920

White Guard officer Sergei Neratov (Alexander Ustyugov) arrives from Crimea to Constantinople together with the remnants of Wrangel's defeated army and civilian refugees. Alone and broken, having lost absolutely everything in the revolution and the Civil War - the army was defeated, his wife and children died - Neratov becomes the head of the Russian emigration. In Constantinople, where the Russian refugees had pinned their hopes for salvation and freedom, they are met with a cold reception. Sergei Neratov is a principled Russian officer who puts duty and honor above personal gain. He finds himself in a completely alien world, where refugees from Russia are perceived as “second-class” people – outcasts doomed to poverty and death. But Neratov is able to defend the right of his compatriots to a decent life. He will be able to protect the Russian world from tyranny.

 

1920'S SPAIN SET SUPER LAVISH CULINARY TV SERIES LA FAVORITA 1922 IS NOW AIRING, SEE THE TRAILER AND NEW IMAGES

  LA FAVORITA 1922  

SPANISH PERIOD SET SERIES IS NOW AIRING

The series started airing this week

Back in October, ahead of Mipcom in Cannes your trusted spy informed you first about  LA FAVORITA 1922 seven episode mini TV series and now it has finally started airing as of March 17th over in Spain on their Telecinco. Love, intrigue, humor and a touch of thriller come together in a carefully crafted production. The series, which will also be present next week at this year's Series Mania, has already been sold to many broadcasters around Europe and South America and will also stream on PBS service Walter Presents at some point for the viewers in USA and Canada. The series was shot on massive 2000 square meters set with over 500 costumes used in the process of production.

  SERIES SET IN MADRID

 follows Seville’s Marquise Elena de Valmonte (Veronica Sanchez), who battles to turn an abandoned restaurant into the capital’s finest eating establishment. With the story set in the 1920s, Marquise Elena de Valmonte explores her passion for cooking, as a means of evading her authoritarian husband. An incident makes her and maid Cecilia (Raquel Querol) fugitives. They reopen an abandoned restaurant as 'La Favorita Bistro'. Luis Fernández stars as Julio, the owner of the premises. Andrea Duro, Maribel Salas, Elena Maroto give life to Ana, Lourdes, Rosa, employees of the restaurant; Fernando Cayo as César, the father-in-law of Elena Valmonte; Joel Sánchez in the skin of Roberto, waiter and friend of Julio; Javier Lago and Manuel de Andrés as the mobster Don Benito and his henchman Armando; and Ángela Vega plays Consuelo,the owner of the fill-master. Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think, will you be giving it a go if you come upon it in your country?

 

EL TURCO EPIC TV SERIES WITH CAN YAMAN AND WILL KEMP LAUNCHES THIS WEEKEND AROUND THE WORLD! SEE NEW ENGLISH TRAILER

  EL TURCO SERIES  

LAUNCHES THIS WEEKEND WORLDWIDE

While we are waiting for his Sandocan series, Turkish super star Can Yaman is hitting broadcasters around the world from March 21st with historical adventure EL TURCO  a six-episode series with international cast including actors from nine different countries! From this weekend it is available on Voyo in Romania, on IVI in Russia, and on Globoplay Brazil. In Italy  it is out March 27 on Mediaset’s Canale 5. It will also start March 23 on Teleonce in Honduras and on April 2 on Gaín in Turkey. It will also start April 18 on Starz in the Middle East and North Africa.

 

IN EL TURCO EPIC TV SERIES

Can Yaman plays 17th Ottoman soldier Hasan Balaban, who was wounded during the Turkish army’s campaign to conquer Vienna in 1683 and ended up some 200 kilometers away in the Italian Alpine village of Moena. Nicknamed “El Turco” by the villagers, he led the locals to a clamorous revolt against unfair taxes that made him a local hero. In the 17th century, the villagers erected a monument to the Turkish janissary on their main square, where during the first week of August they still hold the Moena Turkish Festival to celebrate “El Turco”. The show, which will have airing dates for other regions announced in due time also stars Will Kemp, David Nykl, Kieran O’Reilly, Veronica Ferres, Slavko Sobin, Nick Wittman, Caroline Boulton and Maddalena Aragão. 

 

BROOKE SHIELDS AND DAVID SPADE TO LEAD ALMOST PARADISE MULTICAMERA SITCOM AS A COUPLE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND FOR DECADES

    ALMOST PARADISE   

NEW BROOKE SHIELDS SITCOM AT FOX

According to Deadline, Fox has set Brooke Shields and David Spade as leads in their new multi camera sitcom ALMOST PARADISE from Danny Zuker. New comedy series is described as The Blue Lagoon meets Gilligan’s Island. Just your everyday, normal married couple facing all the everyday, normal challenges of being stranded on a desert Island for decades. Think Blue Lagoon, the family sitcom. Fox has apparently ordered scripts for two episodes. Shields previously led Suddenly Susan multicam.

TRAILER FOR APPLE TV'S FRENCH HISTORICAL SERIES CAREME ON 19TH CENTURY 1ST EVER CELEBRITY CHEF WITH BENJAMIN VOISIN, JEREMIE RENIER, LYNA KHOUDRI

 APPLE TV'S CAREME 

1ST 19TH CENTURY CULINARY SERIES TRAILER

Two years ago I told you that  Benjamin Voisin will lead Apple TV's new French historical original series CAREME on the famous 19th century chef turned spy and now we have the first trailer for the show that will launch April 30th.  Set in the 19th century, the eight episode series, directed by Martin Bourboulon who helmed The Three Musketeers, will follow the sprawling story of Antonin Carême, who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe. He not only became an iconic chef, he also became a spy for France as his talent and ambitions attracted the attention of powerful politicians, including Napoleon. The series will shed light on the miserable reality of 19th century kitchens, contrasting with the opulence of the mansions and sophisticated of aristocrats. Jérémie Renier will play Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, a Machiavellian diplomat who was minister of foreign affairs in the government of Napoleon Bonaparte; and Lyna Khoudri will appear as Henriette, Carême’s lover and most dangerous threat. The series is inspired by Ian Kelly book “Cooking for Kings: The Life of Antonin Carême – The First Celebrity Chef”!