February will feature a solid line-up of world-class riches new to Acorn TV, the premium streamer specialising in British and international television.
Search no further for bingeable, acclaimed English, international and foreign language dramas, offbeat comedies and documentaries.
This month, relax in front of your favourite screen and stream the following shows on Acorn TV:
- The Australian Premiere of the first series of France’s top-rated procedural starring Tomer Sisley (Philharmonia, Messiah), Balthazar follows a suave forensic pathologist who make the dead “speak” to help solve Paris’ most disturbing crimes
- The Australian Premiere of the compelling Black Box starring Kelly Reilly (True Detective, Yellowstone) as a brilliant world-famous neurologist hiding dark secrets, alongside Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement, Howard’s End)
- Fay Ripley (Cold Feet) returns in Series 4 and the final, fifth series of Suspects, theunique procedural crime drama following investigations into hard-hitting crimes in contemporary London
- Emmy®-nominated Ashley Jensen (After Life, Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty) is raring to go in Season 3 of Agatha Raisin
- Homicide, blackmail, greed and betrayal: just a taste of what goes on behind the well-trimmed county hedges in Midsomer Murders Series 19
- New Zealand’s popular murder mystery series, The Brokenwood Mysteries, continues on the trail of secrets and suspicions in Series 6
Plus plenty more with Acorn TV’s ever-growing list of quality and compelling series from Britain, Australia and beyond. Read on for the full list of February releases… Previews and interview opportunities are available.
HIGHLIGHTS
Monday, 1 February 2021
BALTHAZAR – SERIES 1 (French with English subtitles)
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
“Tomer Sisley is flawless” – Paris Match
“Not to be missed” – El Figaro
Compared favourably to such shows as Castle, The Mentalist and Bones, this acclaimed series was one of the 10 highest-rated dramas in France in 2018. Popular actor, director and comic Tomer Sisley (Messiah, The Heir Apparent: Largo Winch) stars as Raphaël Balthazar, a handsome, intelligent and quick-witted forensic pathologist in Paris. Working on the investigations of violent murders, Balthazar can make the dead “speak” like no one else, but he is also irreverent, mischievous and lives his life in firm defiance of norms and conventions. This presents a major challenge for new, no-nonsense police commander Hélène Bach (Hélène de Fougerolles, Le Secret d’Elise, VA Savoir), who must collaborate with him on these complicated cases.
On the job, Balthazar is confident; his conclusions about the victims, their lifestyles and their deaths often accurately fill in gaps and, drawing from his top-notch skills and the latest technology, he helps uncover evidence that police missed on the crime scene. He becomes so personally invested in the victims’ back stories that he speaks with them while conducting their autopsies at the morgue and they interact in return. Balthazar is openly flirtatious with Bach, yet he is vulnerable at home where he still mourns – and draws comfort from intimate imagined conversations with – his late wife, Lise (Pauline Cheviller, Le Secret d’Elise), who was murdered 13 years earlier. Balthazar is now greatly conflicted over whether the man locked up for Lise’s murder was actually the perpetrator. Thanks to new clues, he is in hot pursuit to learn the true identity of her killer.
Monday, 15 February 2021
BLACK BOX
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
“Forceful, yet unforced and riveting” – Newsday
“Reilly is compelling” – Common Sense Media
Unlike any doctor you’ve ever met.
The brain is the ultimate black box, full of questions that science has yet to solve. And there is no one better to unwrap these magical mysteries than the beautiful and brilliant world-famous neurologist, Dr. Catherine Black (Kelly Reilly, True Detective, Yellowstone, Britannia). Part detective, part diagnostician, Catherine will take us inside the world of people outside the norm – and into a world of dark secrets that she hides from her fiancé and family. Academy Award winner Vanessa Redgrave (Atonement, Howard’s End) also stars.
Monday, 8 February 2021
SUSPECTS – SERIES 4
NEW TO STREAMING / EXCLUSIVE
Monday, 22 February 2021
SUSPECTS – SERIES 5 All five series now available!
NEW TO STREAMING / EXCLUSIVE
“Fresh, very different, and absolutely cracking drama”
– Daily Mail UK
Using improvised dialogue and filming techniques usually associated with factual programming, this unique procedural crime drama follows D.I. Martha Bellamy (Fay Ripley, Cold Feet) and her team as they investigate hard-hitting crimes in contemporary London.
Monday, 1 February 2021
MIDSOMER MURDERS – SERIES 19
“TV gold” – Entertainment Today
“Delightful in a murderously charming way” – Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy
Homicide, blackmail, greed and betrayal: just a taste of what goes on behind the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer County, which boasts a staggering murder toll of over 300 deaths.
Set in the deceptively idyllic fictional village of Midsomer, the English village mystery gets a contemporary spin in this long-running hit British television series that has earned a worldwide following. Based on the award-winning Inspector Barnaby novels by mystery writer Caroline Graham, bucolic settings harbour macabre crimes and eccentric characters are no match for detective DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon, Life of Riley) and his eager assistant, DS Jamie Winter (Nick Hendrix).
Monday, 15 February 2021
AGATHA RAISIN – SEASON 3 All three seasons now available!
“Fans will lap up Ashley Jensen’s schtick ” – The Age
Adapted from the bestselling books by MC Beaton, high-flying PR exec Agatha Raisin (Emmy®-nominated Ashley Jensen, After Life, Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty) decided to leave the rat race of public relations and retire prematurely to the sleepy village of Carsely in the Cotswolds. Desperate to make friends and fit in, she soon inadvertently found herself accused of murder and had to swiftly turn detective to prove her innocence. Once her city-trained sensibility found a taste for adventure in the country, there was no stopping her. Now Agatha and her gang of friends and would-be amateur detectives are back for more in the third series of Agatha Raisin.
Having consciously coupled at the end of Series 2, Agatha is optimistic that her future with James (Jamie Glover, Waterloo Road) is secure and their troubles are behind them. Newly qualified as a Private Detective and with her investigations agency all set up and raring to go, things have never been better for the Cotswolds’ premier PI. But plans have a funny way of going awry in Agatha-land…
FULL SCHEDULE
Monday, 1 February 2021
BALTHAZAR – SERIES 1
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
Suave, smart and somewhat strange, Raphaël Balthazar can make the dead speak like no one else. As a forensic pathologist in Paris, he works with no-nonsense chief inspector Hélène Bach to solve the city’s most disturbing crimes. But there’s one case that continues to haunt him – the murder of his wife over a decade ago.
MIDSOMER MURDERS – SERIES 19
Homicide, blackmail, greed and betrayal: just a taste of what goes on behind the well-trimmed hedges of Midsomer County in this deliciously sinister series.
ABOVE SUSPICION – SERIES 3 & 4
Kelly Reilly (True Detective) and Ciarán Hinds (Game of Thrones) star in this riveting detective series from Prime Suspect creator Lynda La Plante. With thrilling storytelling and smouldering chemistry, it’s “easily one of the best detective shows on the box” (Wales on Sunday, UK).
Monday, 8 February 2021
NATIONAL TREASURE
Once something of a national treasure, Paul is a star of fading relevance but enduring popularity, the less successful half of a once-beloved comedy double-act. As he settles into the twilight years of his life, an allegation of two counts of sexual assault, 20 years prior, shakes him and his family to their core. A poignant, bold and insightful drama about a fall from grace, which could pertain to any figure that is highly regarded in the public eye but has a hidden murky past. A top-notch British cast led by BAFTA nominee Robbie Coltrane (Cracker), Academy Award nominee Julie Walters (Billy Elliot) and BAFTA nominee Andrea Riseborough (Bloodline) star in this compelling BAFTA Award-winning miniseries.
SUSPECTS – SERIES 4
NEW TO STREAMING / EXCLUSIVE
This unique procedural crime-drama follows a team as they investigate hard-hitting crimes in contemporary London.
MOVING ON – SERIES 5 & 6
From creator Jimmy McGovern, this drama series comprises stand-alone stories each revolving around people facing life-changing circumstances.
Monday, 15 February 2021
BLACK BOX
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
The brain is the ultimate black box, full of questions that science has yet to solve. And there is no one better to unwrap these magical mysteries than the beautiful and brilliant world-famous neurologist, Dr. Catherine Black (Kelly Reilly, Yellowstone). Part detective, part diagnostician, she will take us inside the world of people outside the norm.
AGATHA RAISIN – SERIES 3
Ashley Jensen stars in this quintessentially British village mystery based on the bestselling books by M.C. Beaton. All three hit series are now available.
Monday, 22 February 2021
THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES – SERIES 6
The hit, quirky New Zealand mystery series returns to Acorn TV for a sixth season.
SUSPECTS – SERIES 5
NEW TO STREAMING / EXCLUSIVE
In its fifth and final series, this unique procedural crime-drama follows a team as they investigate hard-hitting crimes in contemporary London. The complete collection is now available.
MOVING ON – SERIES 7 & 8
From creator Jimmy McGovern, this drama series comprises stand-alone stories each revolving around people facing life-changing circumstances.
