Pick of the Week: Wolf Hall
SVT1, Sun 21:45
You would have thought the world would be bored of English history dramas following the likes of The White Queen and The Tudors, but the spanking new series Wolf Hall begs to differ.
Based on novels by Hilary Mantel, the story is set around treachery and intrigues of King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) and his personal adviser Thomas Cromwell (Mark Rylance).
With a budget of £7 million, the series was filmed in Belgium and in some of the most beautiful Tudor houses and castles around England.
It has been nominated for the 5th Critics’ Choice Television Awards in four categories and has an immense score of 86 on Metacritic.
This has to be worth a try even if you do not consider kings and queens big news anymore. (LK)
Also new
Coming a close second to Wolf Hall is the Channel 4 drama series Indian Summers (SVT1, Sat 21:00). Set in 1932, the clock is ticking down to India’s independence from Britain 15 years later, but that doesn’t mean the Raj isn’t leaving its little corner of England quietly. Excellent production values all round, this could eventually out-glisten The Jewel in the Crown.
Burning a damp squib, however, is The Great Fire (DR1, Sun 21:50), a miniseries that gets lost in pointless melodrama. And how on earth did they think they’d get away with another vampire series – and to think they’ve called it The Originals (Zulu, Sun 12:10). Watch the entire first season and marvel at how it got that high IMDB score.
Elsewhere, we’ve got season two of the over-rated, saw the ending a mile coming, Forbrydelsen rip-off Broadchurch, the 2015 episodes of the godforsaken awful Midomer Murders (TV2, Mon 21:05) and Bad Lads’ Army wannabe Royal Marines Commando Show (BBC Ent, Sat 22:45, Mon 22:50); another chance to see mediocre British miniseries Spies of Warsaw (DR1, Sun 23:20) and above average US miniseries The Company (DR2, Mon 23:00); while 2015 docs Outbreak (DR2, Thu 23:00) and Secrets, Politics, and Torture (DR2, Tue 23:00) seek answers about ebola and the CIA. (BH)
Coming soon: True detective (S2)
Coming to our rescue to fill the void left by Games of Thrones following the finale of season finale left this week, HBO has the perfect remedy: the second season of True Detective, which is being released on June 22.
A murder in the city of Ventura, California, leads to a conspiracy behind a prostitution ring, involving a mobster, a detective and the county sheriff.
Same drama, but a new case and a stunning new cast that includes Rachel McAdams, Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn.
Its Metacritic score of 62 suggests it will divide opinion though.(EN)
Sport of the week
Kind of disappointing to think you need Viasat Golf (Sun 21:00) US Open final round to watch the US Open. I like the majors but the last thing I want is an entire channel dedicated to what is a pretty boring sport the rest of the year. Elsewhere, the Women’s World Cup (SVT4), European under-21s (TV3 Sport 1, Sun 17:30), European Games (TV2 Sport) and Formula One (3+ , Sun 13:00) season all continue. (BH)
(photos: Pop1, Tsutomu Takasu, SD Dirk)
Film of the week
What happened to Kevin McKidd (Trainspotting, Rome), besides playing Killer No 2 in Bunraku, a film so bad you won’t get through the trailer. Grey’s Anatomy for a decade is the answer … success in the States and there goes your career. Albert Nobbs stars Glenn Close (that’s given it away), while Michael Shannon is one of the reasons to stay with girl band biopic The Runaways. (BH)
