Bodyguard is over — here’s what else you should be watching this Autumn
Drama is back
The BBC’s decision to eschew a Netflix-inspired binge-dump of its flagship Autumn thriller Bodyguard in favour of a more traditional week-by-week release has paid off.
At its peak last Sunday night around 8.3 million people tuned in to watch, a million more than the week before. The final — which airs on Sunday night — is expected to top that. Bodyguard has turned into a good, old-fashioned, water-cooler drama giving viewers the feeling they’re watching, and waiting, along with millions of other people.
And if you haven’t been watching (where have you been?!) you can catch up on BBC iPlayer.
Then get cracking on some of the Autumn’s other TV delights.
Killing Eve, BBC3 and iPlayer
More drama, more BBC, but this time the broadcaster’s opted for making all episodes available online at once. Commissioned by BBC America, Killing Eve was released in the US first and was a runaway success (it increased the networks audience by 41% over the course of its first six episodes). The head of BBC America reportedly told screenwriter Phoebe Waller-Bridge to “keep it weird” — and fans of Waller-Bridge’s first major telly outing Fleabag will know how weird she can get. You can expect more sharp-tongued dialogue, and female characters who pay absolutely no attention to female-character clichés.
Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, CNN & Netflix
When Anthony Bourdain died tragically earlier this year, he was midway through filming a new series of his much-loved CNN series Parts Unknown. CNN announced the final series would still air, using the footage already shot before Bourdain’s suicide in France. In an emotional first trailer, TV host W. Kamau Bell introduces Bourdain’s journey to Kenya. The final episodes of Parts Unknown will air on CNN at the end of September — a UK release date is currently unknown but the rest of the series is available on Netflix now. Highlights includes Bourdain and Barack Obama eating noodles at a plastic table in Hanoi.
Black Earth Rising, BBC 2
Another big hitter from the BBC, Black Earth Rising deals with adoption, mental health, and the Rwandan genocide in an eight-part thriller. It’s from the same writer and director as the BBC’s The Honourable Woman, bringing the same trademark mix of international politics and warm human drama. It’s just two episodes in, but the central character Kate — an orphaned survivor of the genocide, adopted by international lawyer Eve — has produced a standout performance by Michaela Coel.
The Circle, C4
It was only a matter of time before someone worked out how to turn our obsession with social media popularity into a reality show. Hosted by smart millennial (and social media) heroes Alice Levine and Maya Jama, eight contestants will live in the same building, and bid to become the most popular and get the most likes — with £50k at stake. Harmless fun, astute social experiment, or straight out of an episode of Black Mirror? You decide.
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