ALL THE EPIC TV SHOWS
WE CAN STILL EXPECT IN 2020
I've already told you that after
Last Kingdom season 4 which is currently streaming on
Netflix we shouldn't expect many epic TV shows on the telly this year due to corona virus. Production on all series has stopped, some
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| Rege Jean Page leads Bridgerton cast |
networks (
Sky namely) have halted their productions entirely till 2021, and some are seeking ways to continue with work,
BBC is for example looking to shoot by quarantining crews and actors together at overseas filmings. Here are the shows that are already shot and will probably be aired this year.
Bridgerton
Netflix has not only finished shooting their new historical series
BRIDGERTON in March, but I hear rumours of a 2nd season already
ordered. The adaptation of
Julia Quinn's historical romance novels will
use the method of black washing to put actors of colour into the roles of
dukes, lord and ladies. It will star
Polly Walker, Regé Jean Page,
Phoebe Dynevor, Julie Andrews, Ben Miller, Luke Newton, Jonathan Bailey,
with the story set during England’s early 1800s Regency period
following love lives of eight very rich Bridgerton family heirs! Given that it comes from
Shonda Rhymes who gave us the criminally bad
Still Star Crossed, you can expect cheap cheesiness in this one too.
Cursed
Netflix has already finished shooting Arthurian legends epic mini series
CURSED last year, so it is ready to air sometime this year with
Katherine Langford as Nimue, a young rebellious heroine whose destiny lies in helping
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| Cursed will premiere sometime this summer on Netflix |
Arthur, a young mercenary to ascend to the throne of Camelot. In another case of blackwashing
Devon Turell is playing Arthur,
Gustaf Skarsgard is
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| Matt Stokoe as Sir Gawain in the new epic TV series |
Merlin,
Matt Stokoe is Sir Gawain,
Bella Dayne is Viking captain Red Spear, with
Petter Mulan and
Daniel Sharman also in the cast.
Black Narcissus
As far as I've heard the shooting of BBC's period set series
BLACK NARCISSUS begun in October and was over before the lockdown, so we will probably be able to see
Gemma Arterton (playing a nun struggling to
contain her repressed emotions in the remote Himalayan mountains up in the palace of Mopu) sometime this year! The three part adaptation of
Rumer Godden’s classic novel will also star
Alessandro Nivola, Diana Rigg, Gina Mckee and
Jim Broadbent!
The Luminaries
BBC also finished their adaption of
Eleanor Catton's Man Booker Prize-winning novel
LUMINARIES in early 2019 and it was supposed to air this April but they might be keeping it for summer of autumn. The six part 19th
century adventure series, starring
Eva Green and
Marton Csokas, tells an epic story of love, murder and revenge, as men and women travelled across the world to New Zealand to make their fortunes.
The North Water
British broadcaster also has another historical adventure already finished: four part mini series
THE NORTH WATER, based on
Ian McGuire's novel in which
Colin Farrell as Henry Drax, a harpooner and
brutish killer whose amorality has been shaped to fit the harshness of his world, sets sail on a whaling expedition to the Arctic with Patrick Sumner (
Jack O'Connell), a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as the ship’s doctor.
Romulus
Although they halted their international production till next year,
Sky Atlantic has a few series already done, for example
ROMULUS epic series shot in archaic Latin in ten episodes, following the story of Romulus (
Andrea 
Arcangeli) and his twin brother Remus (
Francesco Di Napoli), in eighth century B.C. as seen through the eyes of three people marked by death, loneliness and violence.
Little Birds
The production of another of Sky's period set mini series has also finished in Andalusia and UK.
LITTLE BIRDS inspired by
Anais Nin's erotic stories, will be set in Tangier in 1955, in the famous ‘international zone’ - one of the
last outposts of colonial decadence, and a culture shock in more ways than one for troubled American debutante Lucy Savage (
Juno Temple).
Hugh Skinner and
Jean Marc Barr also star.
A Discovery Of Witches
Although the first season wasn't period set, the second season of Sky's
A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES will be as flimsy witch Diana Bishop (played atrociously by scandalously bad
Teresa Palmer) and vampire Matthew
Claremont (always charismatic
Matthew Goode) have been transported by means of magic to Elizabethan England. We might expect the airing later this year, although nothing has been confirmed.
Warrior Season 2
Although
at some point there was a possibility of it having to find a new home
as
Cinemax was to abandon all scripted programmes, I have info that the 2nd season of their magnificently dynamic series
WARRIOR might air in
October!
Andrew Koji, Kiearan Bew and
Tom Weston Jones are to return to
19th century San Francisco China Town. This one was shot at the end of
2019.
Chen Tang, Celine Buckens and
Miranda Raison have joined the
series regular cast together with
Maria Elena Laas.
The Singapore Grip
ITV
has finished an ambitious and exotic family saga set in colonial
Singapore during World War Two.
THE SINGAPORE GRIP follows the schemes,
both commercial and amorous, of a wealthy British family as they
struggle to preserve their prosperous business amid cataclysmic world
events.
A compelling portrait of a society in decline and a family
clinging to a world that is crumbling around them!
David Morrissey, Luke
Treadaway, Colm Meaney and
Charles Dance star in the six part
adaptation of
J.G. Farrell’s classic novel. It will air either this
summer or autumn.
The Spanish Princess Season 2
Although
the 1st season was one of the most poorly acted and most amateurishly
written and directed shows we've ever had the misfortune to watch,
Starz has already finished shooting the 2nd season of
THE SPANISH
PRINCESS which stars almost offensively talentless
Charlotte Hope as Catherine of Aragon.
The cast will now also include
Ray Stevenson as King James IV of
Scotland and
Andrew Buchan as social climber Sir Thomas More!
BarkSkins
As
I've recently announced,
NatGeo will air their new epic TV series
BARKSKINS from May 25th with a
Hulu release the very next day. Starring
David Thewlis, Christian Cooke, Aneurin Barnard and
Marcia Gay 
Harden,
the series, based on the novel by Pulitzer-winner
Annie Proulx, follows a disparate group of outcasts who must navigate
brutal hardships, competing interests, and tangled loyalties at the
crossroads of civilization in late 1600s New France.
The Great
Hulu
has already set May 15th airing date for their new four part historical
comedy series
THE GREAT!
Elle Fanning leads this fictionalized,
irreverent and anachronistic story of an idealistic, romantic young girl
who arrives in Russia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor
Peter played by
Nicholas Hoult.
All Creatures Big And Small
British
Channel 5 hasn't set an airing date yet for their remake of popular
series
ALL CREATURES BIG AND SMALL but I heard they shot
a Christmas
episode as well so it might be sometime next winter.
Nicholas Ralph
leads the cast of the series which chronicles the heartwarming and
humorous adventures of a young country vet.
Atlantic Crossing
Our
favourite German production house
Beta Film has finished filming period
set series
ATLANTIC CROSSING starring
Sofia Helin, Tobias Santelmann,
Kyle MacLachlan and
Daniel Betts. The eight episode
series brings the
story of Crown Princess Märtha who fought for her country and her
marriage during the tragic events of World War II.
Empire Oktoberfest
Beta
Film has another epic saga in their sleeve for this year, Munich set
EMPIRE OKTOBERFEST in which the story revolves around a young girl who
falls in love with a poor brewer's son. Their relationship is opposed by
the
girl's father, a rich mobster who has come to town to try to bully
his way into the inner circle of Munich's brewery dynasties.
We can probably expect at least one
Spanish and
Russian epic TV series too this year, but it is difficult for me to explore their markets in advance, so stay tuned or
email us if you have any info on new epic projects!
