HOLLYWOOD SPY'S MEGA LIST OF ALL EPIC, FANTASY AND HISTORICAL SHOWS AIRING TILL THE END OF 2021: EMPRESSES, GALAXIES, VIKINGS, RUSSIAN PRINCES, SORCERERS AND TRAVELLERS WILL RULE THE AUTUMN

  EPIC SHOWS AUTUMN 2021  

 CZARINA ELIZABETH

Although we've seen her in both of the recent series on Catherine the Great, her mother in law empress ELIZABETH is getting her own historical saga on Russia 1 this Autumn! Yuliya Hlinina plays Empress Elizabeth,

Elizabeth will be a new Russian series on the famous czarina

daughter of Peter I, who was only sixteen when her father left her in control of a huge empire. For Elizabeth, the throne became a curse: against her will, the girl finds herself drawn into a whirlpool of palace intrigues, where she is opposed by influential courtiers!

AUSTRIAN EMPRESS SISI

She won't be the only empress getting a series as German TVNow will air new six part saga SISI, probably for Holidays. It follows the extraordinary life of empress Elisabeth of Austria (Dominique Devenport). Told from the

Sisi will probably air for Holidays on ORF in Austria

perspective of her closest confidants, the 19th century set series takes a new look at the empress' life and reveals a multi-layered woman. Jannik Schumann is emperor Franz. 

ISAAC ASIMOV'S FOUNDATION

The only intergalactic sf epic action series we will get this season is FOUNDATION which will arrive to Apple TV September 24th in ten episodes. Starring Lee Pace, Jared Harris and Daniel MacPherson, this

Foundation starts at the end of the month at Apple TV Plus

small screen adaptation of Asimov's cult series is a complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire.

 

RIDLEY ROAD AT BBC

BBC is secretive about their programme as usual, but I did spy with my little eye that their new series RIDLEY ROAD might be arriving this October. Starring our dear Tom Varey,  the four-part series blends 60s

Tom Varey takes the male lead in Ridley Road

period romance with darker, more socially conscious intrigue in the story of a young Jewish hairdresser (Agnes O'Casey) who arrives wide-eyed in London and becomes caught up in the anti-fascist movement of the city’s East End!

 

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

BBC will also present us with their new version of Jules Verne's AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, probably around Christmas. The series will premiere at Canneseries in October! The eight part drama follows David Tennant as Phileas Fogg and his newly employed French valet

The series will probably be a holiday series for BBC

Passepartout as they attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days as part of an outrageous bet. Along the way they’re joined by an aspiring journalist, Abigail Fix, who seizes the opportunity to report on the legendary journey. Production finished in March.

VIKINGS VALHALLA SPINOFF

Netflix still has this one set for 2021 although they might postpone it as they have Witcher in December. Or it might arrive in November? VALHALLA did finish post production last month and they've apparently started production on season 2! Starring our boos David Oakes, Leo Suter

David Oake in the first photo from the sets!

and Sam Corlett, it is set 100 years after the original series ends and chronicles the exploits of the most famous Vikings of all time – Leif Erikson, Freydis, Harald Harada, and Norman King William the Conqueror! Michael Hirst is producing.

 

RUSSIAN PRISONER

The Prisoner will be a 12 episode saga

Russian broadcaster is ready to bring us a new 12 episode lavish saga RUSSIAN PRISONER  following Alekha (Ilya Malakov) an honest, strong, freedom loving Cossack who decided to fulfill his father's last will. As a result, he goes to a foreign land in order to bow to the Virgin Mary. By the will of fate, he finds himself in the palace of the Sultan Mehmed (Serbian star Ivan Bosiljcic) of the Ottoman Empire where he is taken prisoner and sent to become one of the evil Jannisaries and must serve the sultan he hates. More here.

 

NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN

Is coming to us from Australian SBS October 13th and I already showed you the trailer. Starring our handsome boy Yoson An, four part series NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN is set in  1857, where the charismatic headman of the

New Gold Mountain will be coming to us from Australia

Chinese mining camp struggles to maintain the fragile harmony between Chinese and European diggers when a murdered European woman is discovered to have links to the Chinese community.

THE GILDED AGE AT HBO

This one also might be pushed again, but the ten episode HBO series THE GILDED AGE from Julian Fellowes did finish production. Starring Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Blake Ritson, Harry

Gilded Age might arrive this year to HBO

Richardson, Thomas Cocquerel, Nathan Lane and many others, it will follow a number of rich families during the Gilded Age, the boom years of 1880s New York City. 

 

LAND OF LEGENDS SERIES

Land of Legends will also be a film

Also coming from Russia till the end of the year, with Beta Film distributing worldwide, is LAND OF LEGENDS, an epic, visually stunning series based on an Alexei Ivanov novel, combining historical drama with mystery and fantasy. The 15th century. Sent from Moscow, Prince Yermolay wants to unite all peoples of Perm, Christians and pagans alike. To do so, he, a Christian, seizes the pagans' most powerful artefact, the Golden Woman, or Sorni Nai, only to be killed in battle shortly thereafter. His son Mikhail (Aleksandr Kuznetsov), however, gains the respect of the locals and marries Tiche, a beautiful, yet mysterious woman.

Grand Prince Mikhail is the lead character in the series

Little does he know that Tiche is the living incarnation of the Sorni Nai: Her supernatural powers and their bond grant him control over Perm.  

THE WHEEL OF TIME

The only epic fantasy series we are getting this year will arrive to Amazon November 19th! Set in a high fantasy world where magic exists, but only some can access it, eight part THE WHEEL OF TIME will see Rosamund Pike

Rosamund Pike leads the cast of Wheel of Time series

playing a woman named Moiraine who crosses paths with five young men and women. This sparks a dangerous, world-spanning journey. Based on the book series by Robert Jordan. See trailer here.

PARAMOUNT TV'S 1883 SERIES

Although it is still in production Paramount TV has announced December 19th as the starting date of their new 1883 historical ten part series which will be a prequel to their Yellowstone drama. Starring Tim McGraw,

1883 is a Yellowstone prequel series at Paramount TV

Faith Hill, this Taylor Sheridan produced series follows the Dutton family on a journey west through the Great Plains toward the last bastion of untamed America.

 

SERIES THAT MIGHT ALSO ARRIVE

There are a few series that according to my knowledge have finished shooting but I'm not sure if they will arrive till the end of year: Keeley

First pic of Keeley in Midwich Cuckoos series

Hawes' THE MIDWICH CUCKOOS at Sky, Emily Blunt's THE ENGLISH Western at BBC and also their SAS: ROGUE HEROES with Jack O'Connell.

CATHEDRAL & PETER THE GREAT

Russian television is ready to start airing 16 part historical saga THE CATHEDRAL this Autumn! The story is set in the year 1700, the time of dramatic changes in the Russian Empire, the time of reformations carried out

The Cathedral will air on Russian National Broadcaster

by Peter the Great. Sergey Marin plays young serf Ivan Starshov is head over heels in love with Maria, the daughter of his master. He doesn't want to accept that the young princess is no match for him and prove his love he will even dedicate her a cathedral in the imperial capital.

 

THE HOTEL SACHER

This two season historical series aired on German ZDF and Austrian ORF four years ago, but it is airing from September 10, on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and the Walter Presents digital channels. Set in the city of Vienna around 1900, it tells the story of Anna Sacher (Ursula

Hotel Sacher aired in two season in Germany and Austria

Strauss), the widow of Eduard Sacher, who was the founder and owner of the Hotel Sacher, and the son of Franz Sacher, inventor of the famous Sachertorte. The story begins with Eduard’s death and Anna’s tough decision to take over the management of the Hotel. 

DEREK JACOBI, AIDAN TURNER, DUSTIN HOFFMAN, SAM NEILL TO LEAD MR SHAW GOES TO HOLLYWOOD PERIOD SET BIOPIC! NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN EPIC MINI SERIES TRAILER WITH YOSON AN AND AIR DATE ARE HERE!

 MR SHAW GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

DEREK JACOBI, AIDAN TURNER, SAM NEILL, DUSTIN HOFFMAN

Well, it certainly is a stellar cast: Simon Callow has added Derek Jacobi, Sam Neill, Aidan Turner, Dustin Hoffman, Roger Allam and Eileen Atkins to MR. SHAW GOES TO HOLLYWOOD comedy movie which tells the story of what happened before Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion became a worldwide phenomenon and answers the question of who will come out on top when the Irish born writer meets with the Hollywood elite. It starts

Aidan Turner, Sam Neill, Derek Jacobi lead the cast

in 1933, when Shaw (Derek Jacobi), goes to Hollywood with his wife Charlotte (Eileen Atkins) to see whether Shaw's most successful play Pygmalion should be turned into a film as everyone in Hollywood competes for his attention! Hoffman will be studio boss Louis B Mayer, co-founder of MGM, Aidan Turner will be Clark Gable and Sam Neill will be William Randolph Hearst.

 

NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN TRAILER

FOR NEW EPIC TV SERIES

Continuing our week of epic delights (which will actually culminate on Sunday with our mega list of all the historical and epic shows to air till the

New Gold Mountain starts October 13th

end of the year) here is a trailer that Australian SBS has published for their new four part mini series NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN which will arrive October 13th depicting the Gold Rush in 1850s Australia. 

 

  NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN opens in Ballarat, in 1857, where European, Chinese and Indigenous Australian characters live together in a wild-west frontier town as they seek to strike it rich by finding gold. Tensions between rival camps run high, and Wei Shing (Yoson An), the charismatic leader of the Chinese operation, struggles to remain in control as he secretly amasses his own riches. A further threat to his authority is Cheung Lei (Mabel Li), a formidable woman who has arrived

Alyssa Sutherland and Yoson An lead the cast

with orders from China from her powerful father. When a white woman is found murdered, Shing is fearful the prejudiced Europeans will blame the

New Gold Mountain will air in four hourlong episodes

Chinese. Determined to remain in power and keep his fortune, Shing must find out what really happened. As Shing unravels the mystery, he encounters

Mabel Li also stars in the new SBS historical series

the recently widowed Belle (Alyssa Sutherland), who is making her name in town through the local newspaper she has inherited, and Hattie, a young Aboriginal girl trying to get by.

 

WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS DIAMOND KOHINOOR GETTING ITS OWN EPIC TV SAGA BASED ON A BOOK BY WILLIAM DALRYMPLE! SBS UNVEILS ITS MOST AMBITIOUS EPIC TV SERIES EVER NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN

  KOH-I-NOOR DIAMOND  

GETTING ITS OWN TV SERIES

Koel Purie Rinchet is producing!

Earlier this summer I announced that William Dalrymple's THE ANARCHY book on the rise of the East India company will be turned into a TVseries and now another of his books KOHINOOR: The History Of World's Most Infamous Diamond, written together with Anita Anand, will get a series adaptation too by 185 Carat Films from Mumbai! The book describes the winding true story of the Indian diamond, the 27th largest in the world, which is currently part of the British Crown Jewels. The precious stone changed hands between various factions in south and west Asia, until being ceded to Queen Victoria after the British annexation of the Punjab in 1849. The diamond has inspired much folklore over the decades and has become a

Dalrymple's Anarchy is also becoming a series

symbol of power as it passed from one royal to another. 

 

    This famous and cursed diamond wreaked untold devastation as it was viciously ripped from one royal hand to another. It has ended up in its final home, the Tower of London, after being gruesomely wrested from the hands of its last owner, a nine year old Maharaja. Television has never witnessed a historical story of this magnitude, where bloodshed, love, sex, intrigue, beauty and cruelty all come together to create a layered narrative. This story, rooted in South Asia and traversing countries like Afghanistan and Iran, has a unique international appeal. It is a timely story of greed, power and appropriation regardless of cost.

  NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN  

EPIC TV SERIES FROM AUSTRALIA

Speaking of epic drama, Australian streamer SBS has revealed first photo from their most ambitious drama ever - four part epic series NEW GOLD MOUNTAIN starring Mulan and Luminaries’ Yoson An alongside

Yoson An and Alyssa Sutherland are leading the cast

Vikings’ Alyssa Sutherland, Christopher James Baker and Dan Spielman! It tells the untold story of the Australian gold rush from the perspective of Chinese miners who risked everything for a chance at unlikely fortune in a new land.