Series to Watch: April 2023

Series to Watch: April 2023


By DQ
March 30, 2023

Ones to Watch

DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick 10 new series to watch this April, from a high-flying spy drama and a pair of Second World War stories to a female-led seaside comedy and a show that flips the script on mafia series.

Krigsseileren (War Sailor)
From: Norway
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producers: Mer Film in coproduction with Rohfilm Factory and Falkun Films
Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Pal Sverre Hagen and Ine Marie Wilmann
Launch date: April 2
One of Norway’s biggest theatrical hits of 2022 makes its way to television, but not in its original form. Writer and director Gunnar Vikene (Vegas) has recut the feature film into a three-part miniseries with added footage not seen on the big screen. Based on true stories of Norwegian merchant sailors and their families during and after the Second World War, War Sailor follows working-class sailor Alfred Garnes, who is working with childhood friend Sigbjørn Kvalen on a merchant ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean when war breaks out. Meanwhile, Alfred’s wife Cecilia struggles in Bergen raising three children alone.

The Good Mothers
From: Italy
Original broadcaster: Disney+
Producers: Wildside and House Productions
Starring: Gaia Girace, Valentina Bellè, Barbara Chichiarelli, Francesco Colella, Simona Distefano, Andrea Dodero and Micaela Ramazzotti
Launch date: April 5
This six-part Italian series tells the story of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia clan, seen entirely from the perspective of the women who dared to challenge it. It follows Denise (Girace), daughter of Lea Garofalo (Ramazzotti), Maria Concetta Cacciola (Distefano) and Giuseppina Pesce (Bellè), who joined with prosecutor Anna Colace (Chichiarelli) to bring down the famous and feared ‘Ndrangheta and free themselves from the criminal power.
Watch trailer 

Dreamland
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Sky
Producers: Merman in association with Sky Studios
Distributor: NBCUniversal Global Distribution
Starring: Freema Agyeman, Lily Allen, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Gabby Best, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Frances Barber and Sheila Reid
Launch date: April 6
Based on the Bafta-winning short film of the same name and filmed in the English seaside town of Margate, this comedy is described as an exploration of multi-generational female relationships and their family dynamics. Agyeman stars as Trish, who is pregnant for the third time with her partner Spence (Smith-Bynoe) and is supported by sisters Clare (Best) and Leila (Edwards), their mum (Barber) and nan (Reid). But when other sister Mel (Allen) unexpectedly reappears, her return threatens to destabilise the entire family.
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Transatlantic
From: Germany/France
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Airlift Productions
Starring: Cory Michael Smith, Gillian Jacobs, Lucas Englander, Corey Stoll, Gregory Montel, Ralph Amoussou, Deleila Piasko, Amit Rahav, Moritz Bleibtreu, Alexander Fehling, Jonas Nay, Lolita Chammah, Luke Thompson, Jodhi May, Rafaela Nicolay and Henriette Confurius
Launch date: April 7
This seven-part drama comes from Deutschland 83 and Unorthodox creator Anna Winger.  The show is inspired by Julia Orringer’s novel The Flight Portfolio and the real adventures of the Emergency Rescue Committee, an international gang that risked their lives to save more than 2,000 refugees during the Second World War. Set in Marseille, it follows a group of young heroes who help blacklisted artists and other “undesirables” escape Nazi-occupied France.

The Diplomat
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Starring: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear and Ato Essandoh
Launch date: April 20
Kate Wyler (Russell) is the new US ambassador to the UK. As war brews on one continent and boils over on another, Kate will have to diffuse international crises, forge strategic alliances in London, and adjust to her new place in the spotlight – all while trying to survive her marriage to fellow career diplomat and political star Hal Wyler (Sewell).

Dead Ringers
From: US
Original broadcaster: Prime Video
Producers: Amazon Studios and Annapurna Television
Starring: Rachel Weisz
Launch date: April 21
In this modern take on David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller, Weisz plays the double lead roles of Elliot and Beverly Mantle, twins who share everything: drugs, lovers and an unapologetic desire to do whatever it takes – including pushing the boundaries of medical ethics – in an effort to challenge antiquated practices and bring women’s healthcare to the forefront.
Watch trailer

Sam – Ein Sachse (Sam – A Saxon)
From: Germany
Original broadcaster: Disney+
Producers: Big Window Productions in cooperation with Panthertainment
Starring: Malick Bauer, Tyron Ricketts, Svenja Jung, Luise von Finckh, Carina Wiese, Paula Essam, Uvy Quainoo, Thorsten Merten, Martin Brambach, Nyamandi Adrian, Aristo Luis and Daniel Klare
Launch date: April 26
The first German Original series to launch on Disney+, Sam – A Saxon tells the true story of Samuel Meffire, the first black policeman in East Germany. The series follows Sam’s irrepressible search for his place in an intensely prejudiced society as he becomes the face of an anti-racism campaign and a symbol of a new Germany. But his meteoric rise to fame is quickly followed by an abrupt downfall as he ends up behind bars with German tabloids branding him public enemy number one.

Love & Death
From: US
Original broadcaster: HBO Max
Producers: Lionsgate, David E Kelley Productions and Blossom Films
Distributor: Warner Bros Discovery
Starring: Elizabeth Olsen, Jesse Plemons, Lily Rabe, Patrick Fugit, Krysten Ritter, Tom Pelphrey, Keir Gilchrist and Elizabeth Marvel
Launch date: April 27
This drama, written by David E Kelley and directed by Lesli Linka Glatter, tells the true story of Candy and Pat Montgomery and Betty and Allan Gore – two churchgoing couples enjoying small-town Texas life until an extramarital affair leads somebody to pick up an axe.
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Citadel
From: US
Original broadcaster: Prime Video
Producers: Amazon Studios, AGBO and Midnight Radio
Starring: Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Stanley Tucci and Lesley Manville
Launch date: April 28
Pitched as the first of several globetrotting, interconnected stories (Indian and Italian versions are also in the works), Citadel (also pictured top) opens eight years after the titular global spy agency was destroyed by operatives of Manticore, a powerful syndicate operating from the shadows. As a result, elite spies Mason Kane (Madden) and Nadia Sinh (Chopra Jones) had their memories wiped and have remained hidden ever since – until their former colleague pulls them out of their new lives to prevent Manticore establishing a new world order, all while contending with a relationship built on secrets, lies and a dangerous yet undying love.
Watch trailer

Malpractice
From: UK
Original broadcasters: ITV1 and ITVX
Producer: World Productions
Distributor: ITV Studios
Starring: Niamh Algar, James Purefoy, Brian Bovell, Helen Behan, Jordan Kouamé and Lorne MacFadyen
Launch date: April TBC
Dr Lucinda Edwards (Algar) is a smart, battle-hardened doctor on a nightmare shift that ends in the death of an opioid overdose victim, Edith Owusu. Despite Lucinda getting the support of her medical supervisor, Dr Leo Harris (Purefoy), Edith’s grieving father Sir Anthony Owusu (Bovell) demands an enquiry into Lucinda’s actions on the fateful night. While medical investigators seek to discover whether Edith’s death was an unavoidable tragedy or Lucinda was at fault, Lucinda’s relationship with her husband and her professional exterior start to fracture.

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