Masterpiece preview: PBS reveals what’s coming up on Sunday nights this Fall

PBS has announced the new British shows that will be airing later this year.

Sadly it looks like there won’t be any period drama series in Masterpiece’s Sunday night slot in the US this Fall.

However, there will be plenty of quality British television to keep American audiences entertained!

First up is ITV’s remake of Van der Valk, premiering at 9/8c on Sunday 13th September.

 

Mark Warren (Beecham House) stars as steely-eyed, street-smart, and unapologetic detective Piet Van der Valk  investigates high profile cases and gritty murders in Amsterdam, a city of bikes, boats…and bodies.

In three gripping 90-minute episodes, Van der Valk and his colleagues face a trio of challenging cases set amid the city’s canals, galleries, bars, and industrial areas, where the city’s stylishness and toleration go hand in hand with murder.

Based on author Nicolas Freeling’s legendary crime thrillers, this reboot of the popular series which ran on British television from 1972 to 1992 showcases today’s modern Amsterdam, where it’s filmed entirely on location.

The cast also includes Maimie McCoy (The Musketeers), Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Ready Player One), Emma Fielding (Unforgotten), Daniel Lapaine (The Durrells in Corfu), and Tom York (Poldark).

Next up is ITV’s family drama-thriller Flesh and Blood, which premieres at 9/8c on Sunday 4th October.

 

Imelda Staunton (The Crown), Francesca Annis (Home Fires), and Russell Tovey (Years and Years) star in this four-part series that will have you guessing and obsessing.

Get ready to hit the beach, find romance, sniff out lies, cringe at mistakes, and suspect everyone.

When glamorous widow Vivien finds unexpected romance with retired surgeon Mark, her adult children have mixed reactions—just another complication heaped onto the mounting problems of their own, be it money troubles for debt-ridden Jake; professional troubles for executive Helen; or relationship troubles for other-woman Natalie.

And what does desperately lonely, unnervingly nosy neighbor/amateur sleuth, Mary think? You’ll delight in finding out. But right now, all you need to know is that the series opens with a body, bloodstained rocks beneath a broken balcony, and the flashing lights marking the start of a police inquiry! Who did what to whom?

Taking us up to the end of the year will be the BBC’s political thriller Roadkill, premiering at 9/8c on Sunday 1st November.

Hugh Laurie (House, The Night Manager) stars as a scheming politician in this taut, propulsive four-part drama scripted by Sir David Hare.

Laurie plays Peter Laurence, a self-made former salesman who has risen to the heights of the British government thanks to a natural gift for populism, all while walking the tightrope of Machiavellian party politics. He’s shamelessly untroubled as revelations about his personal life are laid bare.

But beset by enemies who want to take him down, ambitious colleagues who want to overtake him, family and lovers who want what he can’t—or won’t—give, and a past that he can’t outrun, will he be able to claim the ultimate political prize? And at what cost?

Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders) plays the savvy, calculating Prime Minister, Saskia Reeves (Wolf Hall) plays his wife, and Sarah Greene (Normal People) and Pip Torrens (Poldark) play a reporter and her editor at the paper fighting Laurence’s libel suit.

The new All Creatures Great and Small series had been expected to air on Masterpiece this year, but it’s been pushed back to early 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The original All Creatures Great and Small is available on DVD on Amazon.