BBC releases Peaky Blinders 3 trailer and reveals details of Birmingham screening

To be honest I’m not even sure we’re going to cover this yet (as in reviews), but early 20th century gangland series Peaky Blinders is extremely popular with our readers and it is a crime drama… of sorts. Clearly it has become one of the country’s most popular cult dramas, and the return of Tommy Shelby and gang of Brummie cutthroats is big news. The BBC, ahead of its series three transmission date in May, has started to grind the cogs of promotion and today released a trailer, as well as revealed detailed a special screening in Birmingham.

Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series to be adapted for TV

And so the interest in Nordic-based continues apace, with the news that Ragnar Jónasson’s Dark Iceland series, published by Orenda Books, has been optioned for TV by On the Corner, the UK production company responsible for the Academy Award-winning documentary Amy. That’s a pretty big deal, from a company known for quality work and involving one of the genre’s best-loved writers. Here are the details…

Sky1 releases extended preview of Harlan Coben’s The Five

Next week sees the start of Harlan Coben’s The Five – a ten-part series that marks the prolific, best-selling author’s first venture into television and the first time he’s worked on these shores. The Five tells the story of a group of friends whose lives are turned upside down when a tragic incident from their childhood suddenly comes back to haunt them. And now Sky1 has posted an extended preview of the show on its youtube channel.

Review: The People Next Door, Wednesday 6th April, Channel 4

One-off dramas are a bit of a curio at the best of times, but Channel 4’s one-off, The People Next Door, adds layers to the intrigue with an interesting device – much of the footage the story is framed in is from mobile phone cameras and CCTV footage. As I said in an earlier post this week (here, if you fancy reading), these sort of devices are all well and good but if they throw shade on characters and the story itself they tend to overpower the piece. So what was the balance like in The People Next Door?