PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON THE ESSEX SERPENT 19TH CENTURY SET APPLE TV DRAMA WITH TOM HIDDLESTON AND CLAIRE DANES

  ESSEX SERPENT SERIES  

ARRIVES THIS WEEK

Based on a Sarah Perry's book, Apple TV's six part mini series ESSEX SERPENT will arrive May 13th as the biggest premiere of a period set drama in the upcoming week. The story will see Claire Danes playing London widow Cora Seaborne as she moves to Essex to investigate reports of a  mythical serpent. She forms an unlikely bond with the hot village vicar Will Ransome ( played by our dearest Tom Hiddleston whom we haven't actually seen in a historical show for almost ten years since his roles in Hollow Crown and Cranford), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature! The cast of the mini series also includes Frank Dillane, Hayley Squires, Clémence Poésy, Jamael Westman, Dixie Egerickx and Michael Jibson. You can see an explosive first trailer below for this atmospheric new historical series!

NEWLY WIDOWED CORA

(Claire Danes) arrives at the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, ready for a fresh start after her husband's death released her from an abusive marriage. She soon becomes intrigued by a local superstition about a mythical creature known as  the Essex Serpent that has allegedly returned to the area. Meanwhile, trusted community leader Will Ransom (Tom Hiddleston) has to deal with the mysterious rumours as they begin to spread.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

The series comes from See Saw Films who also did Slow Horses series for Apple TV +. The series will open with two episodes and the remaining four episodes will then stream weekly till mid June. Clio Barnard who directed the series, is also serving as the executive producer of the show that was shot last spring and summer in Essex. When it comes to other historical series at Apple TV, we can also expect from them Steven Spielberg's Masters of the Air World War II series with Callum Turner a tie up to legendary Band of Brothers, but this time about pilots. Check out The Essex Serpent trailer below and tell us what you think:

TOM MISON TO LEAD PARAMOUNT + FIRST BRITISH ORIGINAL SERIES THE EX WIFE! EXPLOSIVE TRAILER FOR ESSEX SERPENT PERIOD SET SERIES WITH TOM HIDDLESTON, CLAIRE DANES

  TOM MISON TO LEAD  

PARAMOUNT'S EX WIFE SERIES

Paramount + first British original series titled simply THE EX WIFE has just cast Tom Mison, Janet Montgomery and Celine Buckens in lead roles. It tells the story of newly married Tasha (Céline Buckens), who has the perfect house, a loving husband in Jack (Tom

Janet Montgomery, Celine Buckens, Tom Mison will star

Mison) and a beautiful little girl, but her husband’s ex-wife Jen (Janet Montgomery) seems intent on staying in the picture. When Tasha returns home one day to find her life turned upside down, she realises that the dream she is living may be about to turn into a nightmare. It is based on a Jess Ryder novel.

 

  ESSEX SERPENT SERIES  

gets explosive trailer

Based on a Sarah Perry's book, Apple TV's six part mini series ESSEX SERPENT will arrive May 13th. The story will see Claire Danes playing London widow Cora Seaborne as she moves to Essex to investigate reports of a  mythical serpent. She forms an unlikely bond with the hot village vicar Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature! The cast of the mini series also includes Frank Dillane, Hayley Squires, Clémence Poésy, Jamael Westman, Dixie Egerickx and Michael Jibson. You can see an explosive first trailer below!

 

NEWLY WIDOWED CORA

(Claire Danes) arrives at the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, ready for a fresh start after her husband's death released her from an abusive marriage. She soon becomes intrigued by a local superstition about a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent that has allegedly returned to the area. Meanwhile, trusted community leader Will Ransom (Tom Hiddleston) has to deal with the mysterious rumours as they begin to spread.

 

PS Blogger gave us new comment box today, if you have trouble commenting, turning down protection in your browser (Firefox for example) solves the problem, but it is terribly annoying.

ESSEX SERPENT PERIOD SET TV SERIES WITH TOM HIDDLESTON, CLAIRE DANES, AIRING DATE ANNOUNCED! SEE RUPERT FRIEND, SIENNA MILLER, MICHELLE DOCKERY IN ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL NETFLIX SERIES TRAILER

  ESSEX SERPENT SERIES  

AIRING DATE ANNOUNCED

Based on a Sarah Perry's book, Apple TV's six part mini series ESSEX SERPENT will arrive May 13th. The story will see Claire Danes playing London widow Cora Seaborne as she moves to Essex to investigate reports of a mythical serpent. She forms an unlikely bond with the hot village vicar Will Ransome (Tom Hiddleston), but when tragedy strikes, locals accuse her of attracting the creature! The cast of the mini series also includes Frank Dillane, Hayley Squires, Clémence Poésy, Jamael Westman, Dixie Egerickx and Michael Jibson.

 

NEWLY WIDOWED CORA

(Claire Danes) arrives at the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, ready for a fresh start after her husband's death released her from an abusive marriage. She soon becomes intrigued by a local superstition about a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent that has allegedly returned to the area. Meanwhile, trusted community leader Will Ransom (Tom Hiddleston) has to deal with the mysterious rumours as they begin to spread.

 ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL 

TV SERIES TRAILER IS HERE

Anatomy of a Scandal arrives this April

Netflix has released a trailer for their new mini TV series ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL which will stream from April 15th! A psychological thriller and gripping courtroom drama, the series infiltrates Britain's elite through personal and political scandal, where the truth lies between justice and privilege. James (Rupert Friend) and Sophie (Sienna Miller) Whitehouse live in a blissful and rarified world. A Minister in Parliament, a loving family at home, James' trajectory appears without limits. Until a scandalous secret suddenly comes to light. Barrister Kate Woodcroft (Michelle Dockery) has a trajectory of her own, and her prosecution threatens to tear into Westminster, the Whitehouse marriage, and her own personal esteem. Check out the trailer below:

HOLLYWOOD SPY'S ULTIMATE GUIDE THROUGH ALL NEW EPIC, PERIOD SET AND HISTORICAL 2022 TV SERIES: FROM LORD OF THE RINGS AND VIKINGS, TO ROYAL COURTS, WILD WEST AND HISTORICAL VENUES

 UPCOMING 2022 EPIC SHOWS 

 WORLD'S MOST EXTENSIVE LIST

Your Spy is bringing you our traditional list of all the period set series to expect in the upcoming new year. We have a few ultra exclusive pics (Tom Jones, Hotel Portofino etc) and if you click on the links within the sections you will find out more about the series.

 

LORD OF THE RINGS

Without any doubt the most anticipated of the 2022 new epic shows and also, with the budget of over half a billion dollar, the most expensive series ever made is LORD OF THE RINGS which arrives to Amazon with

The second season is moving production over to UK from New Zealand

the first eight part season September 2nd. Set thousands of years before the events of the films, it will follow a group of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil in Middle-earth. Morfydd Clark plays young queen Galadriel, and the second season is in works too.

 

SERIES FROM STARZ

Starz, the usual home of lavish epic dramas, is bringing us three of them this year: SERPENT QUEEN in which Samantha Morton plays famous

First photo from the sets of The Serpent Queen in France

Catherine de Medici with Colm Meaney as her hubby King Francis and Charles Dance as the pope . They also have a prequel to cult DANGEROUS LIAISONS 18th century French story with Alice Englert and Nicholas

John Heffernan as Duke of Somerset in Becoming Elizabeth

Denton as leads. Their BECOMING ELIZABETH will reveal young years of the Virgin Queen with Alicia von Rittberg, Tom Cullen,  Romola Garai, Jessica Raine, Jamie Blackley in the cast.

SHOGUN AT FX

FX has started production (which will last till April) on their small screen version of SHOGUN which means we might get it at the end of the year.

Cosmo Jarvis takes the lead role in new Shogun

Cosmo Jarvis takes the lead role a risk-taking English sailor who ends up shipwrecked in Japan, a land whose unfamiliar culture will ultimately redefine him! Hiroyuki Sanada will be Lord Toranaga.

SERIES FROM GREAT BRITAIN

BBC is bringing us Connor Swindells, Jack O'Connell, Alfie Alen in SAS ROGUE HEROES six part series on the creation of the famed Special Forces Unit. We might also get, over at ITV, a new version of Henry Fielding's

SAS Rogue Heroes will probably arrive rather soon to BBC

TOM JONES from the Poldark team. Solly McLeod plays the poor foundling in the story of the young man's complicated journey to find love and

Exclusive first look at Solly McLeod as Tom Jones

success in 18th century England. BBC is also bringing us GALLOWS POLE which follows a development of a criminal enterprise set against the backdrop of the coming industrial revolution in 18th century Yorkshire, with George

Ultra exclusive first look at the cast of Hotel Portofino

Mackay, Tom Burke and Michael Socha in the cast. ITV and BRITBOX will air HOTEL PORTOFINO 1920s Italian riviera set mini series starring Natascha McElhone, Anna Chancellor and Lorenzo Richelmy.

 

THE ESSEX SERPENT

Apple has Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston leading six part THE ESSEX SERPENT which follows newly widowed Cora, who, having been released from an abusive marriage, relocates from Victorian London to the

Claire Danes will sport a lot of interesting costumes in the series

small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area. 

WILD WEST SET SERIES

We are probably most interested in BBC produced and Emily Blunt, Rafe Spall, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Hughes, Stephen Rea, Toby Jones starring THE ENGLISH six part saga about a woman who seeks revenge on the man

First look at Matthias Schoenaerts as Django

she sees as responsible for the death of her son in the Wild West. Rival Sky is bringing us DJANGO in which Matthias Schoenaerts plays a gunslinger in the Wild West who is searching for his daughter who he believes escaped the

Douglas Booth and Dominic Cooper in That Dirty Black Bag series

murder of his family eight years ago. Tom Austen, Noomi Rapace also star. AMC has THAT DIRTY BLACK BAG a raw, epic and romantic spaghetti western series about the dark side of the Far West. Travis Fimmel,

Tom Blyth as Billy the Kid in new Epix historical series

Douglas Booth, Dominic Cooper and Aidan Gillen star. Epix will have BILLY THE KID series in which Tom Blyth plays the young gangster. It comes from Michael Hirst.

 

WILLOW AT DISNEY PLUS 

Disney Plus has a new remake of the famous 80s cult classic WILLOW ready for 2022. Warwick Davis returns as a dwarf farmer who does magic.

First look at the cast that is shooting Willow over in UK

The story will take place years after the events of the film bringing new characters to the enchanted realm of fairy queens and two headed Eborsisk monsters! Ellie Bamber leads the now femalecentric cast. 

 

  NEW HBO EPIC SERIES 

HBO is of course headlining its epic offer with Game of Thrones spin off series HOUSE OF THE DRAGON! Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Ryan Corr, Graham McTavish, lead the new saga

House of the Dragon is a Game of Thrones spin off

following the story of the House Targaryen set 200 years before the events of the original series. In January, HBO is bringing us Julian Fellowes

Gilded Age comes from Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes

produced costume drama THE GILDED AGE set in the 19th century golden age of New York and following the clash between the new business families

Sarah Lancashire is famous cook Julia Child

and old aristocrats. They will also air JULIA series in which Sarah Lancashire plays famous TV cook Julia Child. David Hyde Pierce plays her husband.

 

 BOUNDLESS AT AMAZON

Amazon will take us on a sail across the seas in historical four episode saga BOUNDLESS in which Alvaro Morte and Rodrigo Santoro play

Rodrigo Santoro plays the lead role in Boundless series

Juan Sebastián Elcano and Ferdinand Magellan whose epic voyage around the world after they set sail from Spain 500 years ago is in the focus of the story. 

 

EPIC SERIES ON NETFLIX 

World's most popular streamer will launch this spring THE EMPRESS series on Austrian empress Sisi starring Devrim Lignau and Philip

The imperial couple in The Empress series on Sisi of Austria

Froissant as the imperial couple. They also have our dearest boys Leo Suter, David Oakes and Sam Corlett in VIKINGS: VALHALLA which

Valhalla already has the second season shot and done!

arrives February, set 100 years after Vikings series and centering on the adventures of Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Hardrada and the Norman King

Blood Origin is a six part prequel to Witcher series

William the Conqueror. They also have BLOOD ORIGIN prequel to their popular Witcher, with Laurence O'Fuarain and Michelle Yeoh leading

The cast aboard the ship in spooky series 1899

the cast of the series set in an elven world 1,200 years before the original show, centering on the origins of the very first Witcher. 1899 will be set on a 19th century spooky voyage ship whose journey becomes a trip to nightmare.

 

EPIC SERIES FROM FRANCE 

Another queen awaits us in Canal + series MARIE ANTOINETTE which will see Emilia Schule playing the 18th century queen with James

First look at the queen of France in Marie Antoinette

Purefoy also in the cast. Isabelle Adjani will play DIANE DE POITIERS in the two part series on the famous lover of French king Henry II, the

Isabelle Adjani is the royal mistress in Diane de Poitiers

husband of the above mentioned Catherine de Medici. They also have AND MOUNTAINS WILL BLOOM a six episode family saga set in 1837 in Provence with Guillaume Arnault in the lead. 

 

  EPIC SERIES FROM RUSSIA 

Russians are bringing us a historical saga on their tzarina ELIZAVETA in which Yulia Khlynina plays the heiress of Peter the Great. They also have Ilya Malakov playing a Russian boy who ends up in Turkish

First look at the tzarina Elizaveta in the new Russian epic saga

sultan's army in RUSSIAN PRISONER saga, and also DECEMBER in which Alexander Petrov plays famous poet Yesenin in his last days when he was in love with Isadora Duncan, the famous dancer. You will also see Ivan

Our boo Ily Malakov is Russian Prisoner

Bosilychich in CASANOVA IN RUSSIA where he is seducing Catherine the Great and LAND OF LEGENDS in which Alexander Kuznetsov play 15th century prince Mikhail who tries to unite the people of Rus.

 

GERMAN PERIOD SET SERIES 

Coming from Germany next year we have a number of period set dramas. HOUSE OF PROMISES, set in the 1920s Berlin inside a newly

First look at the cast of House of Promises series

opened department store. BONN will, meanwhile, be a six-part political thriller about the rise of Germany’s Federal Republic after the terror of WW2.

Hotel Europe will air sometime next year on German ARD

HOTEL EUROPA will be set between WW1 and WW2 in a hotel on the Rhine which hosted some of the most famous names of that time including Hitler and Charlie Chaplin. Currently we've no news on upcoming historical series coming from Italy or Spain, so if you have any info contact us freely!

TOM HIDDLESTON JOINS CLAIRE DANES IN ESSEX SERPENT PERIOD SET SERIES! SUPER THRILLING EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE TRAILER WITH SAM CLAFLIN, CASEY AFFLECK, MICHELLE MONAGHAN

  1ST TOM HIDDLESTON PHOTO 

FROM ESSEX SERPENT SERIES

A few weeks ago I showed you first photos of Claire Danes from Apple's new period set series THE ESSEX SERPENT and now news arrive that Tom Hiddleston has joined her in the series that follows newly widowed Cora who, having being released from an abusive marriage, relocates from

First photo of Hiddleston in the series that started shooting yesterday

  Victorian London to the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area. Hiddleston will star as Will Ransome, the trusted leader of a small rural community.

 

  EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE  

TRAILER WITH SAM CLAFLIN

Every Breath You Take is out this April

In the video department, you can check out the first trailer for thriller movie EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE which is out April 2nd in USA. It is a searing psychological thriller about a psychiatrist (Casey Affleck), whose career is thrown into jeopardy when his patient takes her own life. When he invites his patient's surviving brother (Sam Claflin) into his home to meet his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and daughter, his family life is suddenly torn apart. The film has been in production since 2012, changing directors and actors in the process. Harrison Ford and Zac Efron were the original cast choice under the helm of Rob Reiner but the film was ultimately helmed by Vaughn Stein.

 

PAULA BEER TO LEAD PERIOD SET DRAMA LADY NAZCA ABOUT INTRIGUING NAZCA LINES IN PERU! 1ST IMAGES OF VICKY KRIEPS AS EMPRESS SISI IN CORSAGE & CLAIRE DANES IN VICTORIAN SERIES ESSEX SERPENT

  LADY NAZCA MOVIE 

SENDS PAULA BEER TO PERU

European updates this weekend, starting with Screen Daily's report on Paula Beer and Guillaume Gallienne who will lead the English language biopic LADY NAZCA about German mathematician Maria Reiche who pioneered research into Peru’s mysterious Nazca lines in the 1940s, and then

Paula Beer will topline Lady Nazca period set drama

fought for their preservation throughout her life. The Nazca lines, a 50 square km area in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru, are a mysterious group of geoglyphs, forming geometric designs and the shapes of birds and animals when viewed from the sky. Reiche first moved to Peru in the 1930s to work as a governess after studying mathematics and languages at university in her native city of Dresden. She became fascinated by the lines after a trip to the Nazca Desert in the early 1940s and made it her life’s mission to research their meaning and protect them. This passion brought with it trouble and danger but also give her a sense of peace. Gallienne will play her co-archaeologist Paul Kosok in the Damien Dorsaz helmed movie.

 1ST IMAGE OF VICKY KRIEPS 

AS EMPRESS SISI IN CORSAGE

Screen Daily has also published the first photo of Vicky Krieps as the 19th century Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Marie Kreutzer's movie CORSAGE. Shooting till July, the movie will depict the empress famous for her beauty during the short period of her life around Christmas 1877 when she

First Look at Vicky Krieps as Austrian vain empress Sisi

turned 40, an age considered old for women at the time. Florian Teichtmeister plays her husband Emperor Joseph, Manuel Rubey is cousin and close friend Ludwig II, King of Bavaria and Katharina Lorenz is lady-in-waiting and confidante Marie Festetics.

 1ST IMAGE OF CLAIRE DANES 

IN THE ESSEX SERPENT SERIES

Over in Britain, Claire Danes is shooting period set TV series for Apple TV + THE ESSEX SERPENT which is a small screen adaptation of  Sarah Perry’s 2016 novel about newly widowed Cora (Claire Danes) who, having

First look at Claire Danes in The Essex Serpent television series

being released from an abusive marriage, relocates in 1893 from Victorian London to the small village of Aldwinter in Essex, intrigued by a local

Claire Danes in Victorian garb at the set of the new series

superstition that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area. The book itself won a number of awards back when it was published over in Britain.