Today, BritBox, the premiere streaming destination for British television offering the biggest and best collection of unmissable British television, announced a dynamic slate of upcoming Original series.
Sharing a suspenseful teaser, BritBox announced the thrilling new mystery, Passenger, led by Wunmi Mosaku (Loki), will premiere in October. In the captivating screenwriting debut of actor Andrew Buchan (Broadchurch), inexplicable crimes haunt the fictional village of Chadder Vale where there is perhaps more afoot than meets the eye. Barry Sloane (Revenge), David Threlfall (Shameless), and Rowan Robinson (A Haunting in Venice) also star in the atmospheric crime drama.
Summer will see the release of gritty, impactful crime dramas, starting with the June 15 SVOD premiere of Blue Lights S1. A breakout hit in the UK, the Belfast-based series delves into complicated local politics through the lens of a police drama.
Call the Midwife is coming back this summer for its newest season taking place in 1969. Starring Jenny Agutter (The Avengers), Linda Bassett (Lark Rise to Candleford), Judy Parfitt (Up the Women), Ella Bruccoleri (The Last Kingdom), and Helen George (Dark Matters), season 13 dives into more personal and medical challenges for the sisters and midwives from Nonnatus House.
Multi BAFTA-nominated The Responder returns in September for a new season, once again led by Martin Freeman (Black Panther) who won an International Emmy for his performance in the first season, and penned by former first responder Tony Schumacher. Told with brutal realism, season two follows Chris Carson (Freeman) and Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo, Timewasters) as they cope with the trauma of the night officer beat and try to rebuild their lives in their own ways.
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CALL THE MIDWIFE S13 (Premieres June 11)
More medical and personal dilemmas for the sisters and midwives from Nonnatus House. It’s 1969. More babies than ever are being born in hospital and pressure on maternity beds is high. But Poplar is coping well due to the popularity of home births under the auspices of the Sisters. A midwife-training scheme sees Nonnatus House welcome new recruits. They face a range of challenges including social issues arising from the docks, concerns among the Nigerian and Sylheti communities and health concerns from cerebral palsy, tetanus and TB.
BLUE LIGHTS (Premieres June 15)
Belfast based drama `Blue Lights’ follows new police recruits Grace, Annie, and Tommy, as they learn the ropes in a high-pressure environment. Grace is a former social worker who has decided to switch careers in her forties, Annie has had to leave everything she knows behind, and Tommy finds it challenging to be on the frontline. The team deal with divided communities, criminal gangs, and struggle to know who to trust, all while wondering if they have made the right choice in joining the PSNI.
THE RESPONDER S2 (Premieres September)
The Responder season 2 sees Martin Freeman return to his dark, gritty best. The new series picks up six months after the last one left off. Carson is busy trying to better himself as a police officer and as a father to his daughter, Tilly (Romi Hyland-Rylands). However, the recurrent trauma of the night officer beat continues. And, in an effort to finally free himself, he seeks a day job. Meanwhile, having been dragged into the mud by her partner, Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo) is attempting to rebuild her life. She begins the season furious with Chris, but, after going on to work with a sequence of ‘normal’ coppers, finds that she has more in common with her former partner than she’s perhaps willing to admit.
PASSENGER (Premieres October)
Written by debut screenwriter Andrew Buchan, who is best known for his acting roles on Broadchurch, The Honourable Woman and Better, Passenger explores a close-knit community who are unwilling to face their fears of change, of outsiders and of the unknown. Set in the fictional small Northern town of Chadder Vale, Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku) investigates a series of strange and inexplicable crimes that have the townsfolk spinning on an axis. Riya arrived in decaying Chadder Vale five years ago and has since been searching for that ‘one big crime’, the challenge that will make her feel alive again. Then one night local girl Katie Wells (Rowan Robinson) mysteriously disappears. The town barely has time to register her absence before she reappears the next day, apparently safe and sound. The townsfolk ask few questions and normal life resumes. But for Riya, a relative outsider to the Chadder Vale way of life, none of this sits right. As a series of strange happenings and increasingly shocking crimes start unfolding within the town, the residents resort to short-sighted theories and blame outside influences such as the fracking site and its manager Jim Bracknell (David Threlfall). As things become stranger, the people push back on Riya’s absurd notion that something is not right with this town. But what are they so afraid of?
