Category: IN FOCUS
Hunting down Al Pacino
Al Pacino’s first role in a serialised drama sees him play the leader of a gang of Nazi hunters and underlines just how far TV series have come in a relatively short space of time.
Welcome to Paradise
Nordic noir collides with the sunny Mediterranean in Finnish-Spanish drama Paratiisi (The Paradise), a crime series inspired by a community of Finns living on the Costa del Sol.
No fairy tale
French drama Il était une seconde fois (Twice Upon a Time) places a sci-fi twist on a relationship drama, as a man finds he has a chance to win back his ex. DQ meets the cast and talks to director Guillaume Nicloux about his unorthodox style.
To boldly go… again
Alongside the cast and crew of Star Trek: Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart opens up about returning to the lead role after 18 years and explains why this series marks a new direction for the storied franchise.
Welcome to Windermere
The previously untold story of how hundreds of children came to the UK from concentration camps at the end of the Second World War is dramatised in The Windermere Children, a stark and poignant film commissioned to mark the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Shaking up Shakespeare
Reynaldo Gianecchini, one of the stars of Brazilian melodrama Dulce Ambición (Sweet Diva), and director Amora Mautner open up about making the telenovela and its take on the classic Romeo & Juliet love story.
Gold Dust
Danish drama Når støvet har lagt sig (When the Dust Settles) sees a disparate group of characters brought together by a devastating terrorist attack in Copenhagen. DQ finds out why this isn’t another Nordic noir.
Straight from The Heartless
Screenwriter Lucie Barât and her brother, The Libertines co-frontman Carl, are behind a music drama showcasing Britain’s indie scene in the early noughties. DQ spoke to the siblings about developing the show with RubyRock Pictures’ Zoë Rocha.
Lights out
Philippe De Schepper, showrunner of Belgian drama Blackout, and producer Helen Perquy take DQ inside this thriller set at a time when the country is plunged into darkness.
Turning the Scrooge
British screenwriter Steven Knight has reinvented A Christmas Carol for the BBC and FX. DQ speaks to some of the creative team to find out why this isn’t Peaky Blinders meets The Muppets.
Taking responsibility
Documentary maker Nick Holt is moving into drama for the first time with Skins writer Sean Buckley on BBC2’s one-off Responsible Child, based on a tremendously challenging real-life trial of a young boy. DQ met them.
Spectacular viewing
Described as ‘Friends with a twist,’ Israeli drama On the Spectrum has won numerous awards for its depiction of three housemates who all have autism. DQ meets the co-creator and stars.
Missing memories
BBC single drama Elizabeth is Missing offers viewers a gripping mystery as well as profound insight into how living with dementia affects one woman and her family, as writer Andrea Gibb and executive producer Sarah Brown explain.
Back with a vengeance
After a 20-year absence, Rebecca Gibney is reprising her role as forensic psychiatrist Jane Halifax in Australian crime drama Halifax: Retribution. The star and series creator Roger Simpson tell DQ how the show has evolved to meet modern TV viewing habits.
Washed up
Flemish series Grenslanders (Floodland) sets a crime mystery against a unique backdrop as investigators from Belgium and the Netherlands join forces in this cross-border drama.
Rogue caller
Sally Lindsay’s out for revenge in psychological drama Cold Call, in which she plays the unwitting victim of telephone fraudsters who is pushed to increasing extremes in her pursuit of justice.
Murder in Vienna
Period crime drama Vienna Blood stands out as a unique European project, an adaptation of Frank Tallis’s novels that has been produced in English for German and Austrian broadcasters. DQ finds out more.
Worlds apart
Science fiction crashes into Edwardian England in The War of the Worlds, a new BBC adaptation of HG Wells’ iconic 1897 novel. Writer Peter Harness, executive producer Damien Timmer and director Craig Viveiros tell DQ how they took this futuristic story back to its period setting.
Out of the woods
Welsh noir Craith (Hidden) finds new shades of light and dark in a fresh urban setting for its second season, but with new terrors to uncover, the crime drama promises to be as menacing as ever.
Facing the truth
A father’s desperate attempt to uncover the truth about his daughter’s death takes Danish drama Forhøret (Face to Face) beyond the traditional Nordic noir tropes.