Silver Spring, MD, July 11, 2018 - Following July’s US Premieres of the newest addictive Welsh noir with HIDDEN (Trailer, Mon., July 16) and charming travel doc, COASTAL RAILWAYS with Julie Walters (Mon., July 30, Trailer), Acorn TV, North America’s largest SVOD for British and international TV, announces August slate featuring three exclusive U.S./Canada Premieres, including new hit ABC Australia and Acorn TV Original drama series MYSTERY ROAD (Trailer) on Aug. 20, called “Australia’s answer to ‘True Detective’” (Junkee) and starring multiple Emmy® and Golden Globe® winner Judy Davis and AFCA winner Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish) as detectives in this outback noir. The return of must-see outrageous British police procedural NO OFFENCE, Series 2 (Aug. 6, Trailer) from Paul Abbott (Shameless, State of Play); and new Italian-language drama series TANGLED LIES (Aug. 27).
August 2018 Acorn TV Calendar
Monday, August 6th
NO OFFENCE, Series 2 (Exclusive U.S./Canada Premiere, Trailer)
Called “an irresistible feast for all the senses” (The Telegraph) and winner of the Best Drama Series from the Royal Television Society, No Offence is Channel 4’s outrageous female-driven police procedural from award-winning writer Paul Abbott (Shameless (UK), State of Play). The series stars Joanna Scanlan (Requiem, Notes on a Scandal) and Elaine Cassidy (Acceptable Risk). Mixing laugh-out-loud moments with heartfelt drama, No Offence is set in a crumbling cop shop on the wrong side of Manchester and follows an unorthodox crack team of cops on the front line. In Series 2, dizzyingly capable but unquestionably unhinged DI Vivienne Deering (Scanlan) is back and this time she and the Friday St. team are thrust head to head against a ferocious and unpredictable Nigerian crime matriarch, Nora Attah (Reike Ayola, Holby City). In between fighting their way through the unexpected and unpredictable crimes of week, Friday Street and the Attahs push each other to the point of destruction with shocking and naturally unpredictable consequences. This time we’re hoping everyone makes it out alive. (7 EPS)
MR. PALFREY OF WESTMINSTER, Series 1-2 (Trailer)
In the vein of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, this classic 80s British drama seen on PBS follows a British spy hunting down traitors in the heart of government. Golden Globe nominee Alec McCowen (Gangs of New York, The Age of Innocence, Travels with My Aunt), “plays [Palfrey] to perfection” (The Times) in this stylish drama about a mild-mannered British civil servant who’s secretly a counterspy. He describes himself as “just a civil servant.” But in the cloak-and-dagger world of the British security services, Mr. Palfrey is an invaluable player in the spy game. A master of counterespionage and a spy-catcher extraordinaire, he’s smart, discreet, cunning—and likes to do things his own way. His new boss (Caroline Blakiston, Poldark, Return of the Jedi’s Mon Mothma) quickly realizes the talents and the dangers of the deceptively charming, utterly ruthless Palfrey. (10 EPS)
Monday, August 13th
FIVE DAYS: THE TRAIN
BAFTA-award winner Suranne Jones (Vanity Fair, Doctor Foster, Coronation Street) and David Morrissey (The Walking Dead, The Missing) star in this five-part BBC thriller following several intersecting lives on five non-consecutive days after a baby is found abandoned in a hospital toilet and a young Muslim commits suicide by jumping in front of a train. From the pen of Golden Globe Nominee Gwyneth Hughes (Vanity Fair, The Girl) comes this compelling BBC production highlighting the real feelings of formerly close communities. Co-starring Anne Reid (Bleak House, Last Tango in Halifax), Hugo Speer (London Kills, Britannia) and Matthew McNulty (Versailles, The Terror, Lark Rise to Candleford). (5 EPS)
MURDER INVESTIGATION TEAM, Series 1-2 (Trailer)
“Intelligent, edgy, and gripping” -The Times
“A tough, no-nonsense British mystery series…loved every second of it” -PaperMag
As seen on A&E, this hit crime procedural reveals the gritty reality of police work. From Paul Marquess (London Kills, Suspects), the suspenseful series follows a squad of elite detectives as they investigate horrific crimes in metropolitan London. Meticulously crafted to reflect real-life investigations, each episode brims with twists and tension. The series stars a strong ensemble cast including Olivier Award-winner Samantha Sprio (The Bill, Tracey Ullman’s Show), Lindsey Coulson (EastEnders, The Level), Richard Hope (Poldark, Broadchurch), Michael McKell (Doctors), and Richard Huw (Line of Duty). (12 EPS)
Monday, August 20th
MYSTERY ROAD (Exclusive U.S./Canada Premiere, Acorn TV Original Series, Trailer)
“Australia’s answer to ‘True Detective’…Judy Davis is phenomenal.”-Junkee
“Stellar cast and outstanding cinematography”-The Guardian
ABC Australia’s hit new drama series starring multiple Emmy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe winner Judy Davis and AFCA winner Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish, A Place to Call Home). This beautifully filmed and highly-anticipated follows two detectives investigating the mysterious disappearance of two young men in a remote outback town. The 6-part series is currently a major ratings success for ABC Australia in primetime and has been featured at several festivals, including Denver’s SeriesFest, the Munich Film Festival, Saint-Tropez Film Festival, BANFF World Media Festival ‘Master Class Series’, MIP-TV and Series Mania. (6 EPS)
TESTAMENT
A series of seven hour-long documentary films, telling the story of the Bible told from an historical point of view by writer and archaeologist John Romer (Ancient Lives, Romer’s Egypt). Romer travels throughout the Middle East and Europe to examine the original of the authorship of the Bible and its relationship with history. (7 EPS, 1988)
THE SPY WHO WENT INTO THE COLD (Documentary)
In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, a well-educated Englishman called Kim Philby boarded a Russian freighter in Beirut and defected to Moscow under the nose of British Intelligence. For 30 years he had been spying for the Soviet Union while holding senior jobs in the intelligence agency, MI6. Was his escape from justice an embarrassing mistake or part of a plan worked out with the Soviets? (2013, 75-minute film)
Monday, August 27th
TANGLED LIES (Exclusive U.S. Premiere, Italian Language)
New Italian drama series known as Scomparsa in Italy. The life of a single mother is thrown into anguish when her only daughter and a friend disappear on their way home one night. The whole community joins in a race against time to find the girls, uncovering the seemingly tranquil town’s dirty secrets. (6 EPS)
LOVE HURTS, Series 2
The second season of the 90s BBC One comedy-drama series starring Zoë Wanamaker (Harry Potter, Agatha Christie’s Poirot, Girlfriends), Adam Faith (Stardust, musician), and Tony®-winner Jane Lapotaire. When Tessa Piggott (Wanamaker) goes through a difficult breakup (her married ex-lover and ex-boss left her for a younger mistress), she looks for a new job. Deciding to leave the rat-race, she finds herself a position in a charitable organization with an old college friend, Diane Warburg (Lapotaire). Tessa finds a new boyfriend in Frank Carver (Faith), a roguish entrepreneur who’s learning how to live with his college-age daughter. The series follows Tessa and Frank's romance and the stories of their friends and families. Show ran for three seasons. (10 EPS)
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About Acorn TV: Called a “glorious streaming service… an essential must-have” (The Hollywood Reporter) and “Netflix for the Anglophile” (NPR), Acorn TV continues to curate the very best in international television and remains North America’s largest streaming service for international television. Emmy®-nominated Acorn TV adds exclusive new programs every week and features a deep library of mysteries, dramas, and comedies with no set end dates. Subscribers can stream many of their favorite international series and discover new and classic programs previously unavailable to U.S. audiences. Acorn TV is available via Apple TV, Roku, iOS, Chromecast, Android, among many other devices and offers a free trial and thereafter is just $4.99/month or $49.99/year. Facebook: OfficialAcornTV - Twitter @AcornTV
WATCH NOW: All August premieres are available to watch now for press only: https://acorn.tv/press
Acorn TV Press Contact: Chad Campbell, ccampbell@acorn.tv
