SLOW HORSES, SERIES PREMIERE
Slow Horses is the first big A-lister-fronted series from Apple TV+ this April, this one starring Gary Oldman alongside Jonathan Pryce and Kristin Scott Thomas. Based on the British spy novel of the same name by Mick Herron, the six-part series is written by Veep and The Thick of It’s Will Smith (the less punchy one), which gives you an idea of what the tone will be. Rather than James Bond escapes, this is a show all about the truer to real-life mundanity of espionage work, with protagonist River Cartwright banished to a desk job following a public embarrassment. Season 2 is already in the works.
Slow Horses begins streaming Fri Apr 1 on Apple TV+.
CURSED FILMS, SEASON 2
The first season of this fascinating Shudder docuseries dived into the urban legends behind the making of The Exorcist, The Omen, Poltergeist, The Crow and Twilight Zone: The Movie – films that were beset with tragedies both during and after their making. Season 2 will dive into similar territory for Rosemary’s Baby, The Conjuring, The Possession and the original The Amityville Horror from the 70s. Films nerds and conspiracy theorists alike should find more than a few creepy things here to keep themselves up at night thinking about.
Cursed Films Season 2 begins streaming Thurs Apr 7 on Shudder.
GRACE AND FRANKIE, SEASON 7b
From the producers of Friends, spunky octogenarian comedy-drama Grace and Frankie has been a quiet revolution in a genre where characters of their age usually take a backseat. Not only does it introduce a whole new audience to screen legends Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson, but the late-in-life romantic pairing of the latter two also provides seldom seen representation for queer elders. After dropping the first half of this, its final season, last summer, the final batch of episodes arrives this Spring. Hopefully not the last time we’ll see the dynamic duo that is Fonda and Tomlin on-screen together.
Grace and Frankie Season 7b begins streaming Sat Apr 9 on Netflix.
SPY X FAMILY, COUR 1
One of the most ingenious new manga to come from Japan’s legendary Shonen Jump magazine is Tatsuya Endo’s Spy X Family. Set in a fictionalised version of Cold War Germany, the action-comedy series follows secret agent “Twilight”, who is given his trickiest mission yet: create a family and use them as cover to get close to an important target, which Endo uses to satirise the pressures of domestic life. The upcoming anime adaptation is being co-produced by the superstar duo of WIT Studio (Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga) and CloverWorks (The Promised Neverland, Wonder Egg Priority).
Spy X Family Cour 1 begins streaming Fri Apr 9 on Crunchyroll.
ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL, SERIES PREMIERE
Not a whole lot of information is out there on David E. Kelley and Melissa James Gibson’s upcoming Netflix anthology, but Kelley’s prolific TV creator credits (Doogie Houser, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and more) speak for themselves. The same can be said for its source – Guardian journalist Sarah Vaughan’s critically acclaimed and eponymously-titled book, which details a fictional sexual scandal that a junior government becomes embroiled in. This first season stars Sienna Miller; subsequent seasons will focus on different controversies at the highest rung of power in Britain.
Anatomy of a Scandal begins streaming Fri Apr 15 on Netflix.
ROAR, SERIES PREMIERE
Another star-stuffed Apple TV+ show – with Nicole Kidman, Cynthia Erivo, Alison Brie and more on the cast list – Roar compacts “darkly comic feminist fables” into eight, 30-minute episodes. With the creators of the criminally cancelled women’s wrestling drama GLOW behind it, expectations are high for another wry and raw glimpse into the highs and lows of the female experience, albeit without being cut prematurely short this time.
Roar begins streaming Fri 15 Apr on Apple TV+.
DOCTOR WHO, SERIES SPECIAL
The second of three specials announced this year for the thirteenth Doctor, still played by the delightful dorky Jodie Whittaker. Following “Eve of the Daleks” in January, this Spring instalment of the Chris Chibnall-helmed Who era will be called called “Legend of the Sea Devils” and feature a version of legendary Chinese pirate queen Ching Shih from the 1800s. The final one, slated to drop later in the year, will both be part of Whittaker and Chibnall’s exit plan from the franchise and released as part of the celebrations for the BBC’s 100th year.
Doctor Who’s second series special airs Sun 17 Apr on BBC One and will be available for streaming on BBC iPlayer thereafter.
BETTER CALL SAUL, SEASON 6a
If sequels to successful properties are hard, prequels are downright hellacious. And yet, having already established itself as one of the best TV shows of the millennium golden era, Breaking Bad has also become a prequel mould-breaker. The Bob Odenkirk-starring spinoff has seen the actor (and on-set heart attack survivor) reprise his role as con man turned criminal defence attorney Saul Goodman for seven years. That’ll come to an end soon with Season 6, leaving behind a world-building masterclass.
Better Call Saul Season 6a begins streaming Tues 19 Apr on Netflix.
PACIFIC RIM: THE BLACK, SEASON 2
The first surprisingly robust season of The Black had the potential to be self-contained, but it looks like the Netflix anime is now going to be a two-parter, with this second helping being described as the final instalment. Spun-off from Guillermo del Toro’s bombastic film series about giant mechs (Jaegers) battling equally giant kaiju, this sequel series focuses on two young siblings trying to find out what became of their missing parents, who were Jaeger pilots. Season 1 also introduced the concept of kaiju disguised as humans, taking the franchise into a whole new realm of possibilities.
Pacific Rim: The Black Season 2 begins streaming Tues 19 Apr on Netflix.
RUSSIAN DOLL, SEASON 2
Season 2, what a concept! That is, presumably, what the time-challenged Nadia Vulvokov might say should she find out that she’s being forced to relive another season of endless looping. Three years is a while to wait, and given how good the first was – following the chainsmoking-voiced Nadia as she Groundhog Day’s her way through a perpetual party that always ends in her death – expectations are high. Maybe our real-life time-distorting event in the past couple of years will make it more relatable…
Russian Doll Season 2 begins streaming Wed 20 Apr on Netflix.
HEARTSTOPPER, SERIES PREMIERE
Webcomic adaptations have been taking East Asian audiences by storm. Now it seems the trend is travelling west. Written and drawn by Alice Oseman, Heartstopper is classic coming-of-age fare for tween audiences, following two young boys, Nick Nelson and Charlie Spring – one openly gay and the other not so – who begin to suspect their feelings for one another might be more than platonic. If you’re alienated by the glamour and grit of Euphoria, this might be the ideal sweet remedy.
Heartstopper begins streaming Fri 22 Apr on Netflix.
GASLIT, SERIES PREMIERE
Based on Slowburn, the hit narrative podcast from Slate covering various political scandals in the States, this inaugural season of Gaslit will focus on Watergate and feature Julia Roberts and (an unrecognisable) Sean Penn as Martha and John N. Mitchell – Attorney General and convicted criminal under President Nixon, and his wife. The decision to focus on this notorious couple lends lesser-known perspectives to a story everyone may think they already know; Martha, a Southern socialite, was actually the first Watergate whistleblower, with naturally disastrous consequences for her.
Gaslit begins airing Sun 24 Apr on StarzPlay.
SHINING GIRLS, SERIES PREMIERE
Shining Girls tells the story of enigmatic time-traveller Harper Curtis who finds himself compelled to murder women who ‘shine’ with potential in order to keep tapping into this mysterious power. That is until he meets his match in one of his victims. Cult TV icon Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid’s Tale) is that woman – staunch survivor Kirby Mazrachi. Moss is also heavily involved in the show’s direction and production, which has taken almost a decade to arrive on the small screen from a company founded by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Shining Girls begins streaming Fri 29 Apr on Apple TV+.
words HANNAH COLLINS
