To keep you on your toes, this month BritBox is providing a special collection of British mystery classics, sci-fi cult favourites and brand new crime dramas. Aussies that love British television and film can also enjoy complete box sets of their favourite crime series, comedies and dramas.
UPCOMING TITLES
5th August
Agatha’s Christie’s, Death on the Nile
Belgian Detective Poirot embarks on a luxurious Egyptian holiday cruise only to discover honeymooner and heiress, Linnet Ridgeway, has been murdered. Detective Poirot and his friend, Colonel Race, take up the task to solve the mysterious death, and in doing so, discover many passengers have suspicious motives.
The classic 1978 detective film has a star-studded cast including Mia Farrow (The Great Gatsby), Bette Davis (Jezebel) and Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey). Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile won an Oscar for ‘Best Costume Design’.
Agatha’s Christie’s, Murder on the Orient Express
5th August
The classic Academy Award winning blockbuster that inspired the Orient Express films of today
On a snowy winter’s day, Detective Poirot is travelling aboard the famous Orient Express from the Middle East to London. While stopping through Istanbul, an unpopular billionaire is murdered on the train. It’s now up to Detective Poirot to solve the case and find the murderer, however, each person he questions becomes a suspect who must work to prove their innocence.
Directed by Sidney Lumet (Twelve Angry Men), starring Albert Finney (Annie), Lauren Bacall (To Have and Have Not) and Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca).
9th August
Vera
Season 10
Vera returns to investigate and solve a series of chilling crimes
This long standing award-winning detective series is based on the crime novels of Ann Cleeves and stars Brenda Blethyn (Pride and Prejudice, War and Peace, Atonement) as DCI Vera Stanhope. It follows her team as they solve mysteries amid the stunning landscapes of Northumberland.
In Season 10, the indomitable Vera investigates a series of complex mysteries from a body of a teenage boy found floating in a salmon farm, to the murder of a wealthy gambling magnate.
Only place to watch complete seasons of Vera from the beginning. BritBox has Australia’s largest streaming collection of Vera.
12th August
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
A famed radio presenter hilariously negotiates himself out of a hostage situation in a ‘light TV’ parody
Created and starring Steve Coogan (This Time With Alan Partridge, Knowing Me, Knowing You, Night at the Museum), the iconic character of Alan Partridge now has his own memoir in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.
Alan is a failed television presenter turned disc jockey of a local station who encounters an unexpected turn of events when the radio station is sold and his disgruntled colleague holds him hostage from fear of losing his job. Alan assumes the role of police negotiator, and amusingly tries to defuse the situation.
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa joins a collective of classic Alan Partridge titles on BritBox Australia, including I Am Alan Partridge, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, Alan Partridge Mid-Morning Matters and This Time with Alan Partridge.
Stars Marshall Lancaster (Coronation Street, The Lakes, Holby City).
17th August
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Complete series
Find the answer to the ultimate question of life with this cult sci-fi comedy
After discovering the world is seconds away from being destroyed by aliens, Arthur Dent and his pal, Ford Prefect, escape to embark on a series of intergalactic adventures to discover the true meaning of life.
This classic British comedy was written by Douglas Adams, the author of the original novel that has also been adapted to a featured film and radio series.
Starring Simon Jones (Downton Abbey, Monty Python Live), Mark Wing-Davey (The Bill, Absolutely Fabulous) and Peter Jones (Whoops Apocalypse, The Return of The Pink Panther).
20th August
Agatha Christie’s, Evil Under the Sun
A murder, a fake diamond and a luxurious island sets the stage in this nail biting mystery from the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie’s hero sleuth, Hercule Poirot, is called upon by billionaire Sir Horace Blatt to check the authenticity of an expensive diamond ring. When the ring is confirmed as a fake, Blatt takes Poirot to a glamorous island in the Adriatic Sea to confront the woman that conned him into buying it.
Starring Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey, Harry Potter), Diana Rigg (Games of Thrones, All Creatures Great and Small) and Peter Ustinov (Death On The Nile).
Agatha Christie’s, The Mirror Crack’d
A big Hollywood production comes to a quiet rural town, but something sinister happens…
Lovers of classic crime can join Agatha Christie’s beloved female sleuth, Miss Marple, who discovers another mystery in her quaint village of St Mary Mead. Based in the 1950s, a glitzy movie production company comes to town as it plans to film a period drama. Starring Angela Lansbury (Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Murder She Wrote) and Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof).
23rd August
Dr. Who and the Daleks
Dr. Who invents a time machine that takes him and his family to another planet
In the first-ever Dr. Who film, based on the favourite science-fiction television series Doctor Who, Peter Cushing (Star Wars, Dracula) stars in this 1965 cult classic.
Dr. Who and his family accidentally travel to another planet named Skaros. On their arrival, they discover it’s been taken over by evil cyborg creatures, Daleks, and now the Dr. is on a mission to protect the planet.
Dr. Who and The Daleks was the first Doctor Who story to be made in colour in a widescreen format.
Daleks Invasion: Earth 2150 A.D.
Dr. Who travels to the year 2150 to find Earth invaded by his arch nemesis… Daleks
Released in 1966, this second Dr. Who film Peter Cushing (Star Wars, Dracula) returns to the role of eccentric inventor and time traveller, Dr. Who. Dr. Who travels back in time in the Tardis to the year 2150 where Earth has been overthrown by the Daleks.
The sequel to Dr. Who and the Daleks, this story is based on the Doctor Who television serial The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1964).
Die-hard Doctor Who fans will gravitate towards these two complementary films outside of the ‘Whoniverse’, coupled with the largest streaming collection of Classic and New Doctor Who available on BritBox.
26th August
Professor T
Season 1
Exclusive, express from the UK
Based on the hit Belgian TV series, Professor T is set against the stunning backdrop of one of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions, Cambridge University. Ben Miller (Death in Paradise) plays the eccentric but brilliant criminologist, Professor Jasper Tempest, alongside Tony award-winning actress Frances de la Tour as his colourful but overbearing mother, Adelaide.
Professor T is an unorthodox teacher who is beset by a plethora of neuroses that hold him back from getting close to people. He quite literally protects himself from the outside world in a shroud of anti-bacterial spray and latex gloves. Contending daily with a domineering mother, haunted by an unlocked childhood trauma and now joining forces with the police department, Professor T finds himself well out of his comfort zone and struggles to cope with his increasingly vivid neuroses, but solving tricky crimes? Well, that comes naturally.
30th August
David Attenborough’s, Rise of the Animals: Triumph of the Vertebrates
Discover Earth and its inhabitants 500 million years ago as Sir David Attenborough reveals the beginning of vertebrates.
Learning how humans came to be, legendary award-winning documentary maker Sir David Attenborough goes on an extraordinary visual journey explaining the evolution of animals, starting from prehistoric creatures and how they evolved to humans of today.
Using outstanding CGI technology, this documentary has received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Nature Programming.
Britbox Media Release says “This classic British comedy was written by Douglas Adams, the author of the original novel that has also been adapted to a featured film and radio series.”
er … no … the ORIGINAL radio serial came first in 1978 … the first novel was an adaptation from the radio scripts and came later …