From Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan to The Innocents, and Matt Groening’s new animation, Eddie Mullan picks the programmes worth seeing this month.
Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan
It’s fair to say that John Krasinski – the guy we used to only refer to as ‘Jim from the US remake of The Office’ – has had a good year. After directing and starring in the box office hit A Quiet Place, Krasinski takes on the beloved Tom Clancy character Jack Ryan, making him the fifth actor to play the CIA analyst-turned-action hero after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. The series follows Ryan – alongside co-stars Wendell Pierce (The Wire) as the CIA boss and Abbie Cornish as a doctor – as he discovers a pattern in terrorist communication that threatens global destruction, and is thrust from his paper-pushing job into a dangerous field assignment for the first time. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 31 August on Amazon Prime Video (Credit: Amazon Prime Video)
Bodyguard
Line of Duty’s Keeley Hawes reunites with show creator Jed Mercurio, alongside Game of Thrones’ Richard Madden in a political thriller seen through the eyes of a bodyguard, set in and around the corridors of power. We meet David Budd (Madden), a volatile war veteran now working for the police and assigned to protect home secretary Julia Montague (Hawes). Finding himself torn between his duty and his political beliefs, the man responsible for the ambitious politician’s safety could become her biggest threat. Supporting cast include Gina McKee (Line of Duty), Sophie Rundle (Peaky Blinders) and Vincent Franklin (Happy Valley). Watch the trailer here. Premieres in August on BBC One (Credit: BBC One)
The Innocents
When English teenagers June McDaniel (Sorcha Groundsell) and Harry Polk (Percelle Ascott) run away from their repressive families to be together, the star-crossed lovers are derailed by an extraordinary discovery – June’s ability to shape-shift. This British supernatural series stars Guy Pearce (LA Confidential) as Halvorson, a mysterious professor who reveals to June that she’s not alone and there are more out there like her. Halvorson claims to be able to cure June, but can he be trusted? The struggle to control this strange new power means June and Harry’s journey becomes increasingly fraught with danger, and the couple’s love for each other is tested to breaking point. Should they keep their innocent dream alive, or embrace their changed lives? Watch the trailer here. Premieres 24 August on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)
Disenchantment
The Simpsons creator Matt Groening reflected the present day in Springfield, transported us to the year 3000 with Futurama, and in his latest project – you’ve guessed it – we’re whisked back to the past for an animated adventure fantasy set in the Dark Ages. On a journey through a crumbling medieval kingdom called Dreamland, we follow the journey of hard-drinking princess Bean (voiced by Broad City’s Abbi Jacobson), her elf companion Elfo (Nat Faxon), and her literal personal demon Luci (Eric Andre). Along the way, the rebellious princess and her pals will encounter mythical creatures, walruses, and lots of human fools. John DiMaggio (Futurama’s Bender), Matt Berry and Noel Fielding join the cast of recognisable voices. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 17 August on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)
Better Call Saul
Tragic events at the end of last season are set to accelerate Jimmy McGill’s (Bob Odenkirk) transformation into Saul Goodman – the crooked lawyer we know and love from Breaking Bad. In se four, Jimmy takes steps into the criminal world that will put his future as a lawyer – and his relationship with Kim (Rhea Seehorn) – in serious jeopardy. Meanwhile, Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) takes a more active role as a security consultant, and it’s a volatile time to be employed by Gus Fring (Giancarlo Esposito), as crime boss Hector Salamanca’s collapse sends shock waves throughout the Albuquerque underworld, throwing the cartel into chaos. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 6 August on AMC (Credit: AMC)
Ozark
The gritty crime thriller returns for a second season, starring Jason Bateman in a game-changing role as Marty Bryde, a financial planner in over his head who turns to money-laundering to appease a crime boss. Along with wife Wendy (Laura Linney), Marty and his children make the sudden move from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Missouri Ozarks. In season two the Byrdes look to be finally settling in when the crime syndicate sends their ruthless attorney Helen Pierce (Janet McTeer) to the town to shake things up. Marty and Wendy struggle to balance their family interests amid escalating dangers presented by their money-laundering partnerships with local criminals the Snells and the cartel. Watch the trailer here. Premieres 31 August on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)
Young and Promising
Now in its third season, Young and Promising tells the story of three creative and ambitious friends from Oslo in their search for success and fulfilment. It explores similar themes of female friendship and enduring the drudgery of modern life to shows like Broad City, Girls, Love, and Fleabag, but this drama, based around its star Siri Seljeseth’s own experiences, often delivers a more nuanced perspective on the value of female solidarity in tough times. This season Elise (Siri Seljeseth) makes progress with a break into screenwriting; Nenne (Gine Cornelia Pedersen) experiences success after the launch of her debut novel, but a turbulent relationship threatens; and Alex (Alexandra Gjerpen) is on the brink of having her dreams come true while auditioning in New York, yet life for her is not as glamorous as it seems. Premieres in the UK 3 August on All4/Walter Presents (Credit: All4/Walter Presents)
Cardinal: Blackfly Season
The Canadian crime drama based on author Giles Blunt’s John Cardinal Mysteries book series returns, picking up several months after the events of the first season, it's early summer in Algonquin Bay and the blackflies aren’t the only ones out for blood. Detectives John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse) – who had a wary partnership in season one – find themselves with a strange case on their hands involving a young woman with a gunshot wound to the head, leaving her with no memory of who she is, or who shot her. The investigation quickly takes a turn as Cardinal and Delorme uncover a series of disturbing, ritualistic killings that may be connected to their young victim. Cardinal must work to identify the young woman before her attacker strikes again. Watch the trailer here. Premieres in the UK 4 August on BBC Four (Credit: BBC Four)
Karppi (Deadwind)
If you thought Nordic noir was dead and buried with the conclusion of The Bridge, think again as this Finnish crime drama gets its global release this month. Detective Sofia Karppi (Pihla Viitala) is struggling to cope with the recent accidental death of her husband and being left alone to raise her two grieving teenagers. On her first day back at the Helsinki police department, Karppi is assigned the case of the murder of a young woman on a construction site and can’t help but identify with the young victim – triggering a chain of events that threatens to destroy her life all over again. Watch the trailer here. Premieres outside Finland on 23 August on Netflix (Credit: Dionysos Films)