Some things are looking up: Masterpiece new shows for fall

I saw something about murder cicadas now? I didn't even read that one. Too much. 

On a positive note, Masterpiece's line up for fall looks promising.

First, you probably know Endeavor Season 7 starts this weekend, Sunday August 9. Only three episodes though. I guess we should be lucky we are getting any, since so much filming was stopped and still has not started up.

Here are some new shows coming up in the fall that look good.

Van der Valk  September 13, 2020

About: "Amsterdam—city of bikes, boats, and bodies. At least, that’s the way steely-eyed cop Piet van der Valk sees his murder-infested beat. Marc Warren (Beecham House, The Good Wife) stars as the title character in Van der Valk an all-new, three-part series based on Nicolas Freeling’s legendary crime thrillers.

Co-starring are Maimie McCoy (Wallander) as Van der Valk’s right-hand woman, Lucienne Hassell; Luke Allen-Gale (Dominion) as the scruffy sergeant, Brad de Vries; and Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Jericho) as the squad’s brainy new guy, Job Cloovers. The recurring cast also includes Emma Fielding (Les Misérables) as Van der Valk’s incorruptible but indulgent boss, Julia Dahlman; and Darrell D’Silva (Game of Thrones) as the team’s hard-living, virtuoso pathologist, Hendrik Davie."

Three episodes

Flesh and Blood October 4, 2020

About: "Get ready to hit the beach, find romance, sniff out lies, cringe at mistakes, and suspect everyone in Flesh and Blood, a family drama/thriller that will have you guessing and obsessing through all four episodes.

When glamorous widow Vivien (Francesca Annis, Home Fires, Cranford) finds unexpected romance with retired surgeon Mark (Stephen Rea, The Crying Game, V for Vendetta), 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 (Russell Tovey, Little Dorrit, Years and Years, Sherlock: The Hounds of Baskerville); professional troubles for executive Helen (Claudie Blakley, Cranford, Pride & Prejudice, Gosford Park); or relationship troubles for other-woman Natalie (Lydia Leonard, Gentleman Jack). And what does desperately lonely, unnervingly nosy neighbor/amateur sleuth, Mary (Imelda Staunton, Harry Potter, Vera Drake, and slated to play Queen Elizabeth II in Season 5 of The Crown), 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?"

I don't always watch the drama/romance series but this has the word "thiller" in it. lol

Four episodes

 Roadkill November 1, 2020

About: "Hugh Laurie (House, Veep, The Night Manager) stars as a scheming politician in Roadkill, a taut, propulsive drama scripted by Sir David Hare (the Worriker trilogy, The Hours). 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, Belgravia) 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."

They don't say how many episodes. I like Hugh Laurie. I watched House when it was on. Now we will hear his normal British accent instead of his American accent when he was in House.

There are some new shows after the New Year it looks like but we will wait and see.

I did see an announcement that PBS  "will co-produce and broadcast Magpie Murders, a new drama based on the bestselling novel written by Anthony Horowitz OBE. The six-part series is produced by Jill Green and Eleventh Hour Films. Lauded as “a magnificent piece of crime fiction” and “an ingenious novel within a novel” by the Sunday Times (London), Magpie Murders topped multiple best-seller lists including the New York Times and Los Angeles Times and appeared on the year-end Best Books lists of NPR, USA Today and others. Its international awards include the prestigious Macavity Award for Best Novel."

That sounds good too. So while we continue to be pretty much at home, and I think that will continue through winter, PBS has some good entertainment coming our way. :)