Full disclosure: I’m still not entirely sure that Danish series Greyzone is crime or not. It feels like more of a political thriller, but because it’s got good, familiar people in it and, well, it’s Danish (as well as Swedish and German, too), we think it’ll be of interest to readers of The Killing Times, regardless of whether it’s pure crime or not. Actually, come to think of it, it feels like more like a hostage drama with some political stuff tacked on. (Where have we seen a Danish hostage thriller with political stuff tacked on recently?)
So, Greyzone (or Gråzon in its native tongue) is coming to the UK and has a very recognisable star at its centre.
Set in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Frankfurt, the series follows Victoria, played by “Borgen” star Brigitte Hjort Sørensen, a drone engineer who is taken hostage by a group of terrorists. Before being abducted, she manages to get a message to the secret services about a potential attack on Scandinavian soil.
Here’s a trailer:
The good news is that Walter Presents has picked it up for transmission in the UK (no word on whether the brand will stream it in the US), and naturally it’s quite pleased with its high-profile pick-up
American actress Carrie Coon was fantastic in series three of Fargo (along with Mary Elizabeth Winstead, she pretty much stole the show), and there’s no doubt she’s beginning to amass quite the résumé. Continue reading Carrie Coon to star in series two of The Sinner→
Snowfall was one of the shows we missed last year, but what we saw of it, it looked like a good, solid entrant into the crime drama genre.
Created by Oscar-nominated director and writer John Singleton, Snowfall transported us back to 1983 and detailed how the crack cocaine epidemic was in its infancy in Los Angeles. Ambitious Lucia – the daughter of a Mexican crime lord who sells marijuana throughout the city – sees the burgeoning cocaine business as a potential moneymaker, so she manipulates her family into entering the more dangerous and profitable territory than pot. Getting involved with the new drug is setting her on a violent collision course with the likes of Franklin, a young street entrepreneur on a quest for power, and former Mexican wrestler Gustavo, who is caught up in a power struggle within a crime family. Also getting involved in the cocaine trade is CIA operative Teddy, who is running from a dark past and begins an off-book operation to fund Nicaraguan Contras.
The sophomore-season plot: Snowfall continues its story about the infancy of the crack cocaine epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. Season 2 follows the ensemble of characters as they intersect and overlap within the mosaic of Los Angeles as we enter 1984, all of them working toward their ultimate goals of money, power and influence.
FX
The players include Franklin Saint (Damson Idris), the young street entrepreneur beginning to experience the perils of success; Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), a CIA operative who finds that his off-book drug-funded operation might be vulnerable from unexpected sources, both personal and professional; and Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and Lucia Villanueva (Emily Rios), the drug-running couple who discover the potency of crack and try to exploit it, despite the new dangers involved.
Series two will transmit on FX in the US on 19th July. Snowfall was picked up for broadcast by BBC Two in the UK, but there’s no word yet on whether the channel will air series two.
One of the big ITV crime dramas of the spring, Innocent, is just around the corner, and it sounds like it’s going to be a helter-skelter ride.
It stars the brilliant Lee Ingleby (who will always be John Bacchus to us) and Hermione Norris, and is a four=part series.
The drama series tells the compelling story of David Collins (Lee Ingleby) who is living a nightmare.Convicted of murdering his wife Tara, David has served seven years in prison. He’s lost everything he held dear: his wife, his two children and even the house he owned. He’s always protested his innocence and faces the rest of his life behind bars. His situation couldn’t be more desperate.
Despised by his wife’s family and friends, his only support has been his faithful brother Phil (Daniel Ryan) who has stood by him, sacrificing his own career and livelihood to mount a tireless campaign to prove his brother’s innocence.
Here’s a trailer:
Ingelby and Norris are joined by an ensemble cast including Daniel Ryan, Angel Coulby, Nigel Lindsay, Elliot Cowan and Adrian Rowlins.
It’s going to be stripped across the week, Monday through to Thursday.
A few days ago, we brought you news of the transmission date of series 20 of Midsomer Murders. UK broadcaster, ITV, announced that Sunday 13th May., There’s huge interest in the veteran crime series overseas – especially in the US, it seems – and today it was announced that those viewers Stateside are going to get a treat. Continue reading Midsomer Murders to air on BritBox in the US ahead of UK premiere→
Dissecting the best crime drama on television and radio from around the world
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