Series to Watch: July 2020

Series to Watch: July 2020


By DQ
June 25, 2020

Ones to Watch

DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick out 10 new dramas to watch this July, from a Japanese horror to an adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s dystopian novel Brave New World.

Ju-On: Origins
From: Japan
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Starring: Yoshiyoshi Arakawa, Yuina Kuroshima, Ririka, Koki Osamura, Seiko Iwaido, Kai Inowaki, Tei Ryushin, Yuya Matsuura, Kaho Tsuchimura, Tokio Emoto, Nobuko Sendo, Kana Kurashina
Air date: July 3
This six-part series marks Netflix Japan’s first ever horror. Ju-On: Origins focuses on the true events that inspired the legendary film franchise (remade in the US as The Grudge), the beginning of the curse and the terror that befalls those who come into contact with it.

Hanna (S2)
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Amazon Prime Video
Starring: Esmé Creed-Miles, Mireille Enos, Dermot Mulroney
Air date: July 3
Based on the 2011 film of the same name, Hanna centres on a young woman who develops unparalleled skills and training during her isolated upbringing. Following her discovery at the end of season one, Hanna now knows she is not alone: the Utrax programme has produced a whole contingent of highly trained teenagers whose development is about to reach the lethal ‘second phase.’

Little Voice
From: US
Original broadcaster: AppleTV+
Starring: Brittany O’Grady, Sean Teale, Colton Ryan, Shalini Bathina, Kevin Valdez, Phillip Johnson Richardson, Chuck Cooper
Air date: July 10
From executive producers JJ Abrams, Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson, Little Voice is described as a love letter to the diverse musicality of New York. It follows Bess King (O’Grady), a uniquely talented performer struggling to fulfil her dreams while navigating rejection, love and complicated family issues. The coming-of-age drama features original music by Grammy and Tony Award nominee Bareilles.

P-Valley
From: US
Original broadcaster: Starz
Starring: Brandee Evans, Nicco Annan, Shannon Thornton, Elarica Johnson
Air date: July 12
Adapted by showrunner Katori Hall from her own stage play, P-Valley transports viewers to the Mississippi Delta to tell the story of a little-strip-club-that-could and the big characters who come through its doors – the hopeful, the lost, the broken, the ballers, the beautiful and the damned. Trap music meets film noir in this lyrical and atmospheric series that asks what happens when small-town folk dream beyond the boundaries of the Piggly Wiggly and the pawnshop.

Brave New World
From: US
Original broadcaster: Peacock
Starring: Harry Lloyd, Jessica Brown Findlay, Alden Ehrenreich, Hannah John-Kamen, Kylie Bunbury, Sen Mitsuji, Demi Moore
Air date: July 15
Based on Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World imagines a utopian society that has achieved peace and stability through the prohibition of monogamy, privacy, money, family, and history itself. As citizens of New London, Bernard Marx (Lloyd) and Lenina Crowne (Brown Findlay) embark on a vacation to the Savage Lands, where they become embroiled in a harrowing and violent rebellion. Rescued by John the Savage (Ehrenreich), they escape back to New London, where John’s arrival soon threatens to disrupt utopian harmony, leaving Bernard and Lenina to grapple with the repercussions.

Cursed
From: US
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Starring: Katherine Langford, Devon Terrell, Gustaf Skarsgård, Daniel Sharman, Sebastian Armesto, Matt Stokoe, Lily Newmark, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Emily Coates, Billy Jenkins, Bella Dayne and Peter Mullan.
Air date: July 17
This reimagining of the Arthurian legend is based on book by executive producers Tom Wheeler (The Cape) and Frank Miller (Sin City), which tells the story through the eyes of Nimue (13 Reasons Why’s Langford, pictured top), a young woman with a mysterious gift who is destined to become the powerful (and tragic) Lady of the Lake. After her mother’s death, Nimue finds an unexpected partner in Arthur, a humble mercenary, in a quest to find Merlin and deliver an ancient sword.

The Alienist: Angel of Darkness
From: US
Original broadcaster: TNT
Starring: Daniel Brühl, Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans
Air date: July 19
Based on Caleb Carr’s novel, this follow-up to 2018’s The Alienist reunites ‘alienist’ Dr Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl), newspaper illustrator John Moore (Evans) and secretary-turned-detective Sara Howard (Fanning). Sara has now opened her own private detective agency and is leading the charge on a new case to find Ana Linares, the kidnapped infant daughter of the Spanish Consular. Their investigation leads them down a sinister path of murder and deceit, heading towards a dangerous and elusive killer.

Sløborn
From: Germany
Original broadcaster: ZDF
Starring: Emily Kusche, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Alexander Scheer, Roland Møller, Laura Tonke, Annika Kuhl, Adrian Grünewald, Urs Rechn, Marc Benjamin, Tim Bülow, Linda Stockfleth
Air date: July 23
From Christian Alvart, the creator of Netflix series Dogs of Berlin, this topical series mixes coming-of-age drama with pandemic thriller to tell the story of a group of islanders fighting, falling, loving and hating, all while being confronted with a fatal virus.

A Suitable Boy
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BBC
Starring: Ishaan Khatter, Tabu, Tanya Maniktala
Air date: July TBC
Andrew Davies (War & Peace) adapts Vikram Seth’s novel of the same name, telling the story of spirited university student Lata (Maniktala), who is growing up in North India in 1951 at the same time as the country is carving out its own identity as an independent nation. Lata’s mother is determined to find her a husband but, torn between family duty and the excitement of romance, Lata embarks on her own, epic journey of love and self-discovery.

Between Two Worlds
From: Australia
Original broadcaster: Seven Network
Starring: Phillip Quast, Hermione Norris, Sara Wiseman, Aaron Jeffrey, Tom Dalzell, Melanie Jarnson, Megan Hajjar
Air date: July TBC
Business tycoon Phillip Walford (Quast) enjoys a tempestuous marriage with wife Cate (Norris) in this melodrama. Through a twist of fate, their dark and murky relationship collides with the seemingly disconnected world of a widow and her children, leading to the exposure of destructive secrets in a series where nothing is as it seems.

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