Best series to binge this December, from Poker Face to The Winter King to World On Fire

30th Nov 2023 | Source: Showmax

<div><em>1st seasons of Poker Face, The Winter King, Blue Lights; new World On Fire, How To With John Wilson</em></div>

<div><strong>POKER FACE S1</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Binge from 11 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Four-time Emmy nominee Natasha Lyonne (</span><em>Russian Doll</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Orange Is The New Black</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) is on the case in </span><em>Poker Face</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, a Peacock Original mystery from Oscar-nominated creator Rian Johnson (</span><em>Knives Out, Glass Onion, Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">). </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, </span><span style="color:#1f1f1f; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">a casino worker with an extraordinary ability to detect lies. After a close friend is murdered, she hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda. At every stop, she encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can't help but investigate and solve. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#1f1f1f; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The all-star cast includes </span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Oscar winner Adrien Brody (</span><em>The Grand Budapest Hotel</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Oscar nominees Hong Chau (</span><em>The Whale</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Nick Nolte (</span><em>Warrior</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Chl</span><span style="color:#202124; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">oë</span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> Sevigny (</span><em>Big Love</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Emmy winners Joseph Gordon-Levitt (</span><em>Inception</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Ellen Barkin (</span><em>Animal Kingdom</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and Cherry Jones (</span><em>Succession</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and Emmy nominees Benjamin Bratt (</span><em>Law & Order</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Ron Perlman (</span><em>Hellboy</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Judith Light (</span><em>The Menu, Shining Vale</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">). </span></div>

<div><em>Poker Face</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is the 10th best-reviewed series of 2023 on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes,</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> with a 98% critic's rating, and is up for four Emmys, including Lead Actress (Lyonne) and Guest Actress (Light). </span></div>

<div><strong>WORLD ON FIRE S2</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Binge from 20 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Four years after its acclaimed first season (thanks to Covid-19 delays), the World War II series </span><em>World on Fire</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is back for a second season. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Starring Jonah Hauer-King (Prince Eric in </span><em>The Little Mermaid</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and Laurie Laurence in </span><em>Little Women</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Oscar nominee Lesley Manville (</span><em>Mrs Harris Goes to Paris</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Crown</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Phantom Thread</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and an ensemble cast, </span><em>World on Fire</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> Season 2 is set between 1940 and 1941, taking us from the war-torn streets of Britain and the start of The Blitz in Manchester deep into Nazi Germany, the resistance within occupied France, and the brutal sands of the North African desert, including the Siege of Tobruk and Operation Compass.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Season 2 has a 100% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, with </span><em>The Guardian</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">'s calling it, "totally gripping" and saying, "This hugely ambitious attempt to show the war through the lives of ordinary people has an immaculate grasp of tension and character. To watch is to be fully invested in these peoples' fate."</span></div>

<div><strong>THE WINTER KING S1</strong><strong> </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| First On Showmax | Mondays from 4 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Before Britain, there was King Arthur... </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Set amid the brutality of the 5th Century in a land of warring factions and tribes, </span><em>The Winter King</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> follows Arthur Pendragon (BAFTA Scotland nominee Iain De Caestecker, aka Leopold Fitz/The Doctor in </span><em>Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as he evolves from outcast son to legendary warrior, leader and ultimately, legend. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">An epic revisionist take on the well-loved Arthurian legends, </span><em>The Winter King</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is based on </span><em>The Warlord Chronicles</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> trilogy by Bernard Cornwell, and has an 82% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">. As the critics' consensus says, "Action-packed and sprawling in scope, </span><em>The Winter King</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> compensates for its lack of fidelity to Bernard Cornwell's books with sheer entertainment value." </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The cast includes award winner Valene Kane (</span><em>Gangs of London</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Morgan,</span><em> </em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Olumide Olorunfemi (</span><em>Venom: Let There Be Carnage</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) </span><span style="color:#202122; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">as Lunette,</span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> award winner Tatjana Nardone (</span><em>Devils</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Medici</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Ladwys, Ken Nwosu (</span><em>Christopher Robin</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Witches</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Killing Eve</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Letter for the King</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Sagramor, and award winner Nathaniel Martello-White (</span><em>Collateral</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Deceit</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>I Hate Suzie</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Merlin, with former Cape Town model Jordan Alexandra (</span><em>Surprised by Oxford</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Guinevere. Also look out for Screen Actors' Guild Award nominee Daniel Ings (</span><em>The Crown</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>I Hate Suzie</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Owain, Ellie James (</span><em>Girl/Haji</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>I May Destroy You</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Nimue, and Billy Postlethwaite (</span><em>Silo</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>1917</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as </span><span style="color:#202122; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Cadwys,</span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> with Teen Choice nominee Eddie Marsan (</span><em>The Thief, His Wife and the Canoe</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as Uther.</span></div>

<div><strong>SHINING VALE S2</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | First on Showmax | Binge from 4 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Season 2 of </span><em>Shining Vale</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> promises a Phelps family reunion like no other. The story picks up four months later, with Pat (Emmy-nominated </span><em>Scream</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> queen and </span><em>Friends</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> star Courteney Cox) being released from the psychiatric hospital early and returning home, determined to pick up the pieces of her broken family. But she quickly finds out her children (Gus Birney from </span><em>Dickinson</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and Dylan Gage from </span><em>PEN15</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) don't need her, and her husband Terry (Oscar nominee Greg Kinnear from </span><em>As Good As It Gets</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> and </span><em>Little Miss Sunshine</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">)</span><span style="color:#333333; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> </span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">doesn't remember her – thanks to that little brain injury. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">To make matters worse, Pat's new neighbour looks uncannily like Season 1's resident spectre, Rosemary (Oscar winner Mira Sorvino from </span><em>Mighty Aphrodite</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Romy and Michele's High School Reunion</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), and the house is starting to reveal the shocking secrets of its dark past...</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Four-time Emmy nominee Judith Light (</span><em>tick, tick...BOOM!</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Transparent</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Ugly Betty</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, and </span><em>Who's the Boss?</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) returns as Pat's mom, Joan, with Screen Actors' Guild Award nominee Merrin Dungey (</span><em>Big Little Lies</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Alias</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) as her editor, Kam. Emmy nominees Sherilyn Fenn (</span><em>Twin Peaks</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Allison Tolman (</span><em>Why Women Kill</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Fargo</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) are also among the cast this season.</span></div>

<div><em>Shining Vale</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> won the 2022 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Television Series, with nominations for Best Actress and Best Performance by a Younger Actor for Cox and Birney respectively. Cox was also named Best Actress in a Comedy at last year's Women's Image Network Awards, where the show won Outstanding Comedy Series.</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Created by Emmy-nominated writer and executive producer Sharon Horgan (</span><em>Bad Sisters</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Writers Guild of America Award nominee Jeff Astrof (</span><em>Trial & Error</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The New Adventures of Old Christine</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), </span><em>Shining Vale</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> is once again helmed by an all-female line-up of directors, with Cox producing.</span></div>

<div><strong>BLUE LIGHTS S1</strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> | Binge from 11 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Set in Belfast in Northern Ireland, </span><em>Blue Lights</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> follows three rookie police officers who find themselves up against criminal gangs, undercover agents, their own communities and even their own police force as they work to complete the last two months of their probationary period.</span></div>

<div><em>Blue Lights</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> has an 89% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes,</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> with five-star reviews from both</span><em> The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, with the latter calling the series "well-crafted, fantastically tense, thrilling stuff," and "one of the best shows of the year".</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#1f1f1f; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The BBC </span><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">police procedural is led by award nominee Sian Brooke (</span><em>Guilt</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>Good Omens</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and newcomers Katherine Devlin and Nathan Braniff, with the likes of Irish Film and Television Award winner Martin McCann (</span><em>Last Sentinel</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Survivalist</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), Screen Actors Guild nominee Richard Dormer (</span><em>Game of Thrones</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">), ??and award winners Valene Kane (</span><em>Gangs of London</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Winter King</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) and Andi Osho (</span><em>I May Destroy You</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">, </span><em>The Sandman</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">) co-starring.</span></div>

<div><strong>HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON S2 </strong><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">| Binge from 20 December</span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">The third and final season of the zany, hilarious, and widely acclaimed HBO Original docu-comedy series </span><em>How To With John Wilson</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> follows documentary filmmaker and self-described "anxious New Yorker" John Wilson. Continuing his heartfelt mission of self-discovery, exploration, and observation, Wilson films the lives of his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give everyday advice on six new deceptively simple and wildly random topics, from how to find a public restroom to how to work out to how to clean your ears. Obviously. </span></div>

<div><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Nominated for a 2022 Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Nonfiction Program, </span><em>How To With John Wilson</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> boasts a consistent 100% critics' rating on </span><em>Rotten Tomatoes</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> across all three seasons, with the Season 3 critics' consensus saying, "Still subversive but taking on new layers of emotional resonance, John Wilson's opus demonstrates exactly how to bring a labour of love to a satisfying finish."</span></div>

<div><em>The Guardian</em><span style="color:#000000; font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> calls it "miraculous", saying, "Every episode of this visual essay is an absolute masterpiece – like nothing else on television... One of the finest shows to come out of the US in years... A complete modern reinvention of the visual essay form, something funny and profound and head-spinningly human, a glimpse of New York City from an angle it's never been seen before, at grubby street level and round freakish little corners."  </span></div>