Review: Midwinter Of The Spirit (S1 E1/3), Wednesday 23rd September, ITV

(C) ITV Plc

Ever since it was announced that ITV was to adapt Phil Rickmam’s best-selling novels, this has been accumulating some buzzy momentum. It’s a crime drama wrapped up in a horror story, once again proving that the hottest sub-genre of crime drama is one that mixes supernatural elements with more traditional procedural tropes. Midwinter Of The Spirit stars Ann Maxwell Martin as Merrily Watkins, a priest who has decamped to the beautiful market town of Hereford on the English/Welsh borders. Merrily’s thinking was that it was the perfect place to reboot her and her teenage daughter’s life after the death of her husband in a car crash. How wrong she was…

BBC confirms transmission dates for From Darkness; ITV confirms transmissions dates for Lewis and Unforgotten

The week starting on Sunday 4th October is going to be a busy one here at The Killing Times. Three new, British crime dramas are due to start that week – two brand new and one returning favourite. Yes, autumn has started with vengeance and crime drama is still the most produced and consumed genre of drama out there. Strap yourselves in!

JK Rowling’s Cormoran Strike crime novels to be adapted by the BBC

Yes, I’ve already uploaded a post about about the BBC’s upcoming autumn/winter slate of programmes (here if you missed it), but within all the Sherlocks and the Luthers there was one titbit that deserved its own news story. JK Rowling is one of the world’s biggest selling and best known authors, thanks to a little wizard called Harry. However, Rowling caused a bit of a stir when she decided to adopt a nom de plume and sneakily write some crime novels on the side. It was announced last night that these crime novels would be getting the full BBC treatment.

Witnesses’ Marie Dompnier: There will be a second season

French drama Witnesses – shown on Channel 4 – is one of our favourite crime dramas of the year. It felt familiar but also felt fresh (a hard balance to achieve), mainly because of its outrageous and macabre set-up – a killer was seemingly digging up the bodies of recently deceased people and then rearranging them like dolls in show homes across Normandy. It was pretty grim stuff, but was elevated to unmissable levels thanks to an outstanding cast and intriguing characters. One of them was actress Marie Dompnier, who played the dogged Sandra Winkler. She spoke to our friends over at Nordic Noir, who are releasing the DVD. There, she revealed the news we’ve been waiting for.

BBC1 reveals autumn/winter slate, provides looks at Luther, Sherlock, And Then There Were None

I know we keep banging on about it but autumn is a special time in TV Land. It’s when all the biggies come back into play, with dramas studding the schedules like stars in a night sky. As the nights draw in there’s nothing quite like snuggling up on the sofa with a brew and some biscuits to watch a really engrossing drama. Or seven. The BBC, despite its tough few years, still keeps producing superb stuff and today it released its autumn/winter ‘sizzle reel’. It’s full of Attenborough and Cox and Norton, but there are crime dramas in there too. There are snippets of River, Sherlock, Luther, Cuffs and a fleeting taste of the Agatha Christie adaptation, And Then There Were None. Have a look after the jump.