New on BritBox in the US for November 2023: ‘Merlin’, new ‘Shetland’ and more!

Some great British television shows are coming to BritBox in the US this November.

The streaming service kicks off the month with political drama This England, starring Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson during the disgraced former UK Prime Minister’s chaotic first few months.

BritBox then welcomes back several hit series for new seasons, including a second run for Irvine Welsh’s critically acclaimed drama Crime, brand new Hope Street, more of This Farming Life, and new episodes of popular quiz show Pointless.

November will close with the much-anticipated eighth season of crime drama Shetland, which sees Ashley Jensen take over from Douglas Henshall as the show’s new lead detective.

Comedy-lovers can also enjoy every episode of school-based sitcom Bad Education, and Lewis fans can take a look behind the scenes of the Inspector Morse spin-off in a one-off special documentary.

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Featuring the latest hits from the UK and much-loved telly classics from the past, BritBox is available for just $8.99 per month, or $89.99 per year.

The subscription streaming service from BBC Studios and ITV offers viewers in the US and Canada the biggest collection of streaming British television.

Amazon Prime members can also watch BritBox as an Amazon Channel and you can sign up for a free trial here!

Here are all the upcoming new additions:

 

This England (available from 1 November 2023)

This England is a 6-part series based on Boris Johnson’s tumultuous first months as UK Prime Minister, tracing the impact on the country of the first wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Co-written and directed by Michael Winterbottom (24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart) and from award-winning executive producer Richard Brown (True Detective, Catch-22), the drama takes viewers inside the halls of power, as Johnson (Kenneth Branagh) grapples with Covid-19, Brexit, and a controversial personal and political life.

The events in government are interwoven with stories from around the country, from the experts and scientists racing against time to understand the virus; the doctors, nurses and care-home workers on the frontline working tirelessly and heroically to contain and overcome it; and ordinary people whose lives were thrown into turmoil.

 

Lewis: Behind the Scenes (available from 1 November 2023)

A behind-the-scenes look at the filming of Lewis, the popular 2007 drama series.

This special insight to the series features Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Kevin Whately (Inspector Morse), Stephen Churchett (The House of Eliott), James Grout (Inspector Morse), and John Thaw (Inspector Morse).

 

Pointless – Season 29 (available from 3 November 2023)

Joining BritBox’s Panel Channel is the quiz show hosted by Alexander Armstrong (Armstrong & Miller) with assistance from Richard Osman (You Have Been Watching).

In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show’s cash jackpot.

All questions used in the show are pre-surveyed, and here’s the plot twist, contestants seek to find correct answers that were given by as few of the survey subjects as possible. You score the best point, zero, when the answer is given by nobody from the survey.

 

Bad Education – Seasons 1-3 (available from 7 November 2023)

A comedy about a teacher who’s a bigger kid than the pupils he teaches. Alfie Wicker (Jack Whitehall, Jungle Cruise) was always a loser. He was the kid that everyone gave up hope in, dropping back year after year in school.

But in the end, he scraped through and got his PGCSE, and now, he’s got his first job as a teacher of a support class – class K. His class is made up of pupils struggling to get through their GCSE’s and it’s his job to give them extra attention in a selection of key topics.

Alfie loves his pupils, and while he makes plenty of mistakes along the way, he genuinely has their best interests at heart. But a love interest, a computer game or the opportunity of getting off his head sometimes might complicate things.

 

Bad Education – Season 4 (available from 7 November 2023)

Former pupils Stephen Carmichael (Layton Williams, The Bad Education Movie) and Mitchell Harper (Charlie Wernham, The Bad Education Movie) return to Abbey Grove to teach class K.

With the school now headed by Bernadette Hoburn (Vicki Pepperdine, Getting On) the series follows the students as they get caught in their own schemes.

 

Bad Education movie (available from 7 November 2023)

Based on Jack Whitehall’s Bad Education series, this movie reunited the cast and follows Alfie Wicker (Whitehall) as he tries to supervise and educate class K on a final school trip after they’ve finished their GCSE’s .

 

Bad Education – Reunion special (available from 7 November 2023)

Created to celebrate the series’ 10th anniversary, Class K returns for a careers day and reunion that turns into mayhem. Meanwhile, Alfie Wicker is faced with a tough personal decision.

 

Irvine Welsh’s Crime –  Season 2 (available from 15 November 2023)

Returning to his Emmy Award winning role, Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible 2, My Week with Marilyn) stars as troubled detective DI Ray Lennox in the second Season of Irvine Welsh’s Crime.

After a harrowing mental breakdown, DI Lennox is thrown back into more brutal investigations after a colleague is attacked. This season also features John Simm (Grace), Ken Stott (Rebus) and Joanna Vanderham (The Paradise).

 

Merlin – Seasons 1-5 (available from 20 November 2023)

Merlin will one day be the greatest wizard that the world will ever know, but for now, he is just a young man, geeky and awkward, who must keep his talent hidden in a kingdom where magic is banned or face certain death.

In this ambitious and action-packed drama, the myths, monsters and magic of Arthurian legend are revitalized and given a modern twist which sees relationships and friendships develop between the characters in preparation for their inevitable destinies.

 

Hope Street – Season 3 Part 1 (available from 22 November 2023)

The new season revisits the trials and tribulations of the Port Devine police department and will continue to reveal more about their private lives.

Featuring a returning cast, the series celebrates the humor and warmth of the people in Northern Ireland, as well as its stunning coastlines and breathtaking landscapes.

 

This Farming Life – Season 6 Part 2 (available from 27 November 2023)

Not just a job, a way of life. This warm, compelling series weaves intimate personal stories with the dramatic events that make up life on a farm, with families carving out a living in some of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes.

 

Chasing Shadows – Season 1 (available from 28 November 2023)

This four-part drama follows the crimes investigated by the troubled Detective Sergeant Sean Stone (Reece Shearsmith, Inside No. 9), an intense, socially awkward misfit who is obsessed with uncovering behavioral patterns to help locate missing people.

Sean’s bosses feel that he is a liability on his own and needs someone to work with him to keep him under control. That person is Ruth Hattersley (Alex Kingston, Doctor Who, Upstairs Downstairs), a maternal figure who is an analyst with the Missing Persons Bureau.

At first Sean is reluctant to work with her, but he eventually realizes that the two of them make a good team. Ruth’s ability to connect with people and Sean’s expertise in locating missing persons strike a perfect balance in an otherwise rocky partnership.

 

Shetland – Season 8 (available from 29 November 2023)

The highly anticipated return of Shetland!

After 7 seasons playing the beloved Detective Jimmy Perez, Douglas Henshall will be passing the baton to Ashley Jensen (Ugly Betty) to star in the series.

Jensen will play DI Ruth Calder, a native Shetlander who returns to the isles after 20 years working in London.

Based on the best-selling books by award-winning crime writer Ann Cleeves, follow DI Ruth Calder as she begins investigating crimes within the close-knit island community.

 

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