Acorn TV December highlights include original series Under the Vines, plus exclusive premieres The Syndicate: All or Nothing, Small Claims and Candice Renoir.
DECEMBER ON ACORN TV
Under the Vines
Acorn TV Original
Under The Vines follows Daisy (Gold Logie winner Rebecca Gibney, Packed to the Rafters) and Louis (Charles Edwards, The Crown), two unlikely city slickers who inherit a failing vineyard in rural New Zealand.
When Sydney socialite Daisy Munroe heads to New Zealand for a vacation at her recently deceased stepfather’s winery, which she intends to sell, little does she know that the vineyard has a co-owner: Grumpy UK-born lawyer, Louis Oakley, who also travels to New Zealand to escape a spiraling series of unfortunate events in his life. Despite neither having done a hard days’ work in their lives and both despising each other, Daisy and Louis must somehow make the vineyard successful so they can sell up.
Also stars Sarah Peirse (Heavenly Creatures), Trae Te Wiki (Killer Sofa), Simon Mead (Nothing Trivial), Dean O’Gorman (The Hobbit trilogy) and Robbie Magasiva (Wentworth).
Under the Vines – premieres 6th December, 2021 on Acorn TV with two episodes and then new episodes premiere each Monday
The Syndicate: All or Nothing
Acorn TV Exclusive
“As addictive as playing the lottery”
– Inside Pulse
The stately home of Hazelwood Manor has been in the family of Lord Hazelwood (Anthony Andrews, Brideshead Revisited) since the 18th century. But the once impressive manor is crumbling and its owners are burdened with ₤6.5 million in debt. Lord and Lady Hazelwood (Alice Krige, Thor: The Dark World) have been forced to
let most of their staff go, and only five servants help maintain the estate. But when the remaining staff wins the lottery, the lines between upstairs and downstairs begin to blur.
From BAFTA Award-winning writer Kay Mellor (Playing the Field), The Syndicate: All or Nothing also stars Polly Walker (Line of Duty), Lenny Henry (Broadchurch) and Cara Theobold (Downton Abbey).
The Syndicate: All or Nothing – December 6th, 2021 on Acorn TV
Small Claims
(Movies 1, 2 and 3) – Acorn TV Streaming Exclusive
“Deftly blends murder mystery with domestic drama and a touch of character comedy”
– The Age
A classic Australian series of three TV movies about two overworked young mums. Finding themselves deskilled beyond their worst nightmares, Chrissy and Jo head in a whole new direction and become a formidable pair of sleuths. Their cases focus on the murders, greed and dark passions that lurk behind the seemingly anonymous facade of the suburbs.
Stars Rebecca Gibney (Under the Vines) as Chrissy Hindmarsh and Claudia Karvan (Love My Way) as Jo Collins.
Small Claims – 13th December, 2021 on Acorn TV
Candice Renoir (Series 3)
Acorn TV Exclusive
“Crime drama with a difference… Candice Renoir stands out from the crowd”
– Drama Quarterly
After 10 years abroad, Candice Renoir is back in the south of France and back on the case as a police commandant. Newly divorced with four kids, Candice feels rusty at work – and her skeptical colleagues don’t help. Determined to prove her so-called weaknesses are
strengths, she solves complex cases with common sense, acute observations and a practical nature honed by the life of a busy mum.
Stars Cécile Bois, Raphaël Lenglet and Clara Antoons.
Candice Renoir – premieres 27th December, 2021 on Acorn TV
THE PERFECT MENU:
ALL YOUR FOODIE FAVOURITES TO STREAM YOUR WAY INTO THE FESTIVE SEASON
It’s nearly time to open a box of choccies, pop a bottle, crack a coldie and gather with loved ones to celebrate as yet another year nears the end. So, when our bellies are full and a postprandial binge session is in order, Acorn TV has dished up the perfect menu.
The gift that keeps on giving, Acorn TV has your lead up to the festive season sorted with The Foodie Favourites Playlist!
See our list of Foodie Favourite series and episodes below
WHITSTABLE PEARL
“[A] coy whodunit… Kerry Godliman and Howard Charles’s copper make an appealing odd couple”
– The Daily Telegraph
Based on the novels by Julie Wassmer, Acorn TV Original Whitstable Pearl is a delicious mystery series set in a seaside town.
With her son grown, single mum Pearl (Kerry Godliman, After Life) pursues her lifelong dream and starts a private detective agency, which she runs from her family restaurant in the coastal town of Whitstable, world famous for its oysters. Drawn by her caring nature, locals soon flock to her with all kinds of cases.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 1: ‘THE FREE WATERS’
In episode one, Pearl discovers the body of her friend and oyster supplier chained to the anchor of his ship. The police, led by gruff, out-of-towner Chief inspector Mike McGuire(Howard Charles, Shadow and Bone), believes it was an accident, but Pearl finds herself in conflict with him, suspecting foul play.
AGATHA RAISIN
Based on MC Beaton’s best-selling mystery novels, Acorn TV Original Agatha Raisin is a funny and intriguing mystery series.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 1: ‘THE QUICHE OF DEATH’
In the feature-length pilot movie, ‘The Quiche of Death’, high flying London PR executive Agatha Raisin (Emmy® nominated actress Ashley Jensen, Catastrophe, Extras, Ugly Betty), fulfills a lifelong dream of retiring to a small village. Desperate to fit in, she enters the local quiche-baking competition, only to find herself a suspect when her entry kills the judge. To save her reputation, Agatha sets out to solve the murder with the help of her former assistant, Roy (Mathew Horne, Gavin and Stacey), eager Detective Constable Bill Wong (Matt McCooey, The Salisbury Poisonings) and her cleaner, Gemma (Katy Wix, Torchwood). Along the way, Agatha discovers that she has a talent for crime solving, even if it means her new life in the country is not the quiet idyll she had imagined.
The movie co-stars Jamie Glover (Waterloo Road), Hermione Norris (Cold Feet) and Robert Bathurst (Downton Abbey).
MY LIFE IS MURDER
Lucy Lawless (Xena: Warrior Princess) stars as retired cop Alexa Crowe in this contemporary Australian detective drama. With her old boss (Bernard Curry, Once Upon a Time)regularly asking for her insight on cold cases and a young police data-analyst (Ebony Vagulans, The Furies) eager to be mentored – whether Alexa wants to or not – Alexa can’t seem to stop solving crime.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 4: ‘CAN’T STAND THE HEAT’
In ‘Can’t Stand the Heat’ culinary student Ivan Zhang is found dead in the school’s kitchen after slipping on oil and smacking his head. But Kieran considers the scene suspicious – where did the oil come from, when the dish Ivan was preparing didn’t call for it? It might all boil down to Ivan’s archrival, Ling, the last person to see him alive. Alexa goes undercover to the cooking class to smoke out the killer.
MISS FISHER’S MURDER MYSTERIES
Based on the popular detective novels by Kerry Greenwood, the gorgeously costumed and evocatively shot Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries stars Essie Davis (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Cloudstreet) as the honourable Miss Phryne Fisher. A thoroughly modern woman of the late 1920s operating in a mostly male world, the glamorous “lady detective” goes about her work with a pistol close at hand – and more often than not, a male admirer even closer.
SEASON 2 EPISODE 10: ‘DEATH ON THE VINE’
When Phryne and Dot (Ashleigh Cummings, Tomorrow, When the War Began) arrive at an idyllic vineyard to investigate mysterious photos for the owner, they find their client dead and quickly become involved in investigating a suspicious death. But hostile townsfolk do everything they can to drive them out of town.
SEASON 3 EPISODE 3: ‘MURDER AND MOZZARELLA’
The murder of an Italian grandmother in her restaurant kitchen sets more than spaghetti sauce simmering, as two rival immigrant families juggle the demands of cooking, love, and an Italian crime syndicate.
MS FISHER’S MODERN MURDER MYSTERIES
In the spin-off series to the wildly popular Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Phryne Fisher’s long-lost niece, Peregrine (Geraldine Hakewill, Wanted), decides to follow in her stylish aunt’s footsteps as a lady detective for a new era. With the help of the handsome, straitlaced Detective James Steed (Joel Jackson, Peter Allen), a group of accomplished women and inventor Samuel Birnside (Toby Truslove, Utopia), Peregrine investigates murders in 1960s Melbourne.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 4: ‘SEASONED FOR MURDER’
In ‘Seasoned for Murder’, a chef is found dead at a culinary school run by Samuel’s ex-sister-in-law. The investigation into the murder leads to chefs that can’t cook, questions about the car crash that killed Samuel’s wife and an injured Chief Inspector Sparrow.
MIDSOMER MURDERS
“A must for British TV fans”
– Los Angeles Times
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. But the culprits are no match for DCI Tom Barnaby (John Nettles, Bergerac); his successor upon retirement, DCI John Barnaby (Neil Dudgeon, Life of Riley); and their assistants.
SEASON 8 EPISODE 7: ‘SAUCE FOR THE GOOSE’
A tour of the Plummer relish factory proves too hot to handle when a man gets crushed, then thrown into a sterilising oven. Upon learning that the deceased worked for a rival company, Barnaby and Scott stir the pot of the local food wars and discover that the Plummers hide secrets beyond the family recipe.
SEASON 15 EPISODE 6: ‘SCHOOLED IN MURDER’
When Debbie Moffett (Martine McCutcheon, Love Actually) is crushed to death with a giant round of cheese at the home of the world-famous Midsomer Blue, secret and controversial plans to modernise the dairy are revealed while rumours about private lives of the parents cause a row at the prestigious local prep school. As other people linked to the dairy also meet agonising deaths, long-held secrets start to emerge.
SEASON 16 EPISODE 3: ‘WILD HARVEST’
When the body of wealthy farmer, Martin Strickland, is found in woodland on his own land, it is discovered that he was covered in truffle oil and mauled to death by wild a boar. The death leads Barnaby and Nelson to rotten dealings at a celebrity chef’s restaurant.
THE BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES
In a seemingly quiet country town in New Zealand, Detective Inspector Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea, Go Girls) finds that murder can happen anywhere. Working alongside Detective Constable Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland, The Almighty Johnsons), Shepherd solves grisly murders in this gripping and well-written series.
SEASON 1 EPISODE 2: ‘SOUR GRAPES’
In ‘Sour Grapes’, the annual Brokenwood wine show is disrupted when the body of a guest judge, a well-known wine critic, is found in a fermentation vat the morning after choosing the winner. The vat just happens to belong to one of the losers.
MURDOCH MYSTERIES
Set in Toronto at the dawn of the 20th century, Murdoch Mysteries is a one-hour drama series that explores the world of Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson, Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), a methodical and dashing detective who pioneers innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders.
SEASON 11 EPISODE 13: ‘CRABTREE A LA CARTE’
After the judge of a cooking contest is poisoned in ‘Crabtree à la Carte’, Murdoch realises other competitors also tasted the tainted ingredient – including Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris, Republic of Doyle) and Margaret Brackenreid (Arwen Humphreys, Deadly Inferno).
WHITES
FULL SERIES
After the beginnings of a seemingly promising career, Roland White (Alan Davies, Jonathan Creek) is executive chef at the White House hotel and well past his prime. He deals with his derailed career by leaving much of the day-to-day difficulties of running the restaurant to his best friend and sous-chef, Bib (Darren Boyd, Spy), and his restaurant manager, Caroline (Katherine Parkinson¸ Doc Martin). They try their best to cope with incompetent waitress Kiki (Isy Suttie, Peep Show), ambitious apprentice chef Skoose (Stephen Wight, The Paradise) and mercurial hotel owner Celia (Maggie Steed, Pie in the Sky).
THE GOURMET DETECTIVE MYSTERIES
FULL SERIES
Handsome and charismatic Henry Ross (Dylan Neal, Cedar Cove) goes from cooking classes to criminal cases after a shocking death at a five-star San Francisco restaurant. Paired with strong-willed police detective and single mum Maggie Price (Brooke Burns, Baywatch), Henry uses his culinary expertise to crack open investigations in these delectable movies based on the cosy mystery novels by Peter King.
About Acorn TV
Dubbed as “Netflix for the Anglophile” by NPR, Acorn TV is the streaming service offering a carefully curated, quality slate of compelling UK and international TV series all streaming ad-free on demand.
Fan favourites include Cold Feet, Broadchurch, Doc Martin, Victoria, Black Books, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Line of Duty, George Gently, Foyle’s War and Midsomer Murders.
Subscribers can also enjoy popular Acorn TV Originals, including Agatha Raisin starring Ashley Jensen; the British detective drama, London Kills, called a “superb British crime series” by the Los Angeles Times; the wildly fun mystery series, Queens of Mystery, hailed as “a surefire crowd-pleaser” by Los Angeles Times; Finding Joy, a quirky, life-affirming comedy series created & written by, and starring beloved Irish actress Amy Huberman; the fascinatingly original series, Dead Still, starring Michael Smiley as a renowned post-mortem memorial photographer in 1880s Ireland; Whitstable Pearl starring Kerry Godliman (After Life, Derek); 1960s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries spinoff Ms. Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries; and much more.
Acorn TV offers a free trial and thereafter is just $6.99 per month or $69.99 for an annual subscription. Sign up at https://au.acorn.tv.
I LOVE Acorn TV. Acorn and PBS are basically the only 2 channels I watch!!!