blue light, britbox
I never miss an opportunity to try to attract readers to this drama set in Belfast. The drama is more than just a police procedural thanks to its almost sociological approach to its setting. The show, created by former journalists Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, is often compared to HBO’s The Wire in its exploration of the relevance and impact of the illegal drug trade on all sectors of this still divided city.
The third season, now airing on Canada’s Britbox a year after its BBC debut, follows a crew of not-always-loved “skinners” working for the fictional Blackthorn Police Department as they chase gold from street dealers in working-class neighborhoods to wealthy suburbs to the south.
The plot is tighter and the set pieces are more tense. There’s a particularly suspenseful scene in the second episode, which centers on Dearbail McKinney’s Officer Aisling Byrne. He first witnesses the death of a young man at the scene of a car accident, and then has to risk his own life to inform the deceased’s parents, who live in a dissident Republican district.
I’ll try it, Apple TV
This sweet British comedy outlives its original premise on the strength of its lovable characters. After the central story of Nicky (Esther Smith) and Jason (Rafe Spall), a London couple trying to adopt a child, reached its natural conclusion, the show took a six-year time leap between seasons three and four. Season 5, which launched on Apple TV on Wednesday, follows two teenagers as they resurface and struggle to welcome their distrustful biological mother into their family. “She’s trying, Nick,” Jason says. “Maybe her efforts are not similar to ours.”
Trying and Blue Lights are linked by actor Sian Brooke, who plays Grace, a benevolent social worker turned police officer in the crime drama, but here she shows off her comedic talents as Nikki’s younger sister, a writer confused by motherhood.
Amandaland, CBC Gem
Amanda Hughes, the ostentatious, suave mother played with a completely unwarranted sense of superiority by Lucy Punch, was a great supporting character in the three-season BBC comedy Motherland, but she didn’t necessarily seem deep enough to anchor her own spin-off.
But Amandaland is arguably the more entertaining show. In the film, divorced and depressed Amanda moves to a less fashionable part of London and joins a group of new parents. Although she imagines herself to be an influencer for lifestyle brands, she actually makes a living working in a kitchen store. The one and only Joanna Lumley (Patsy, Absolutely Fabulous) plays a key role as Amanda’s gin-swilling mother. The second season joins the first season on CBC Gem.
IXE-13, Disney+
Quebecor recently licensed this entertaining 2024 Illico+ miniseries to Disney+, making it available with English subtitles in Canada for the first time.
Fans of Murdoch mysteries and historical spy thrillers will enjoy this eight-part drama inspired by the story of the Canadian ace spy codenamed Pierre Sorel, codenamed by Quebec writer Paul Dainot between 1947 and 1966.
[Setin1945thestoryfollowsAgentIXE-13akaJeanThibault(CRAZY’sMarc-AndreGrondin)whoreturnstoMontrealafterthewarandattemptstopeacefullyrunanightclubonMontreal’sMainStreetButaSovietplottostealCanada’suraniumanduncheckedNazisrunningaroundQuebeceventuallydrawhimandhisfriends(includingAnnaComesHome’sJulieLeBreton)backintothefrayThisbig-budgetperioddramamorethanprestigepayshomagetoitsreferencestohistoryexploringforexamplethepsychologicalaftermathofthedisastrousDiepperaidwhichcausedCanada’sworstmilitarycasualtiesduringWorldWarII[1945年を舞台に、戦後モントリオールに戻ってきたエージェントIXE-13、別名ジャン・ティボー（CRAZYのマルク＝アンドレ・グロンダン）が、モントリオールのメイン通りでナイトクラブを平和に経営しようとする姿を描く。しかし、カナダのウランを盗むというソ連の陰謀と、ケベック中を走り回っている野放図なナチスが、結局彼とその仲間たち（『アンナ・カムズ・ホーム』のジュリー・ル・ブルトンもその一人）を再び争いに引き戻すことになる。名声というよりも、巨額の予算をかけて作られたこの時代劇は、歴史への言及に敬意を表しており、たとえば、第二次世界大戦中、カナダにとって最悪の軍事的犠牲者を出した悲惨なディエップ襲撃の心理的後遺症を探求している。
Less Than Kind, Pluto and Tubi
This Canadian cult drama (2008-2013) about a Jewish family in Winnipeg aired for one season on Citytv and then three more seasons on (now defunct) HBO Canada, but was stuck in a streaming limbo for a while. However, I (belatedly) discovered that all four seasons are available on free ad-supported streamers Pluto and Tubi.
Sheldon Bretcher (Jesse Camacho), a brawny teenager, comes of age in a big-time family. Her father, Sam (Maury Chaykin), is a shady driving instructor. His mother, Anne (Wendell Meldrum), is a nervous arsonist. and his older brother (Benjamin Arthur), a vain actor who resents having to return to his hometown of Winnipeg. There’s a great line in the pilot where Sam tries to sell his eldest son on the benefits of his hometown (and my hometown). “Winnipeg has the best parking of any city in North America.”
Created by Marvin Kaye (who drew inspiration from his own life) and Chris Ciesgreen, with Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney serving as showrunner, the character-driven show was ahead of its time with a hybrid tone and loose narrative that made it a more natural fit for streaming than for weekly viewing. Even after Chaykin’s death, it survived until the final two seasons on the strength of its originality. Globe and Mail TV critic John Doyle, in one of his year-end top 10 lists, called it “strange and endearing and rooted in banal poetry.”
Source link