Series to Watch: February 2024

Series to Watch: February 2024


By DQ
January 25, 2024

Ones to Watch

DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick 10 new series to watch this February, from the latest entry in the Genius anthology and a Mr & Mrs Smith reboot to a Spanish suspense thriller and an epic Japanese historical drama.

Genius: MLK/X
From: US
Original broadcaster: National Geographic
Producer: Imagine Television, Undisputed Cinema, 20th Television
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr, Aaron Pierre, Weruche Opia, Jayme Lawson and Ron Cephas Jones
Launch date: February 1 (US), February 3 (UK)
This fourth instalment of the Genius franchise is the first to focus on two subjects – Dr Martin Luther King (Harrison Jr) and Malcolm X (Pierre) – rather than just one, simultaneously exploring their formative years, pioneering accomplishments, duelling philosophies and key personal relationships. While King advanced racial equality through non-violent activism, X advocated for black empowerment, identity and self-determination. Though they only met once and often challenged each other’s views, they ultimately rose to pioneer a movement that lives on today.
Watch trailer 

Mr & Mrs Smith
From: US
Original broadcaster: Prime Video
Producers: Amazon Studios, New Regency and Wells Street Films
Starring: Donald Glover and Maya Erskine
Launch date: February 2
In a reworking of the 2005 film of the same name, two lonely strangers land a job working for a mysterious spy agency that offers them a glorious life of espionage, wealth, travel and a dream home in Manhattan. The catch is they have new identities and an arranged marriage as Mr & Mrs John and Jane Smith. But while they navigate high-risk missions every week, their complex cover story becomes more complicated when they catch real feelings for each other.
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One Day
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Drama Republic
Starring: Ambika Mod, Leo Woodall, Essie Davis, Tim McInnerny, Amber Grappy
Launch date: February 8
Previously adapted as a 2011 feature film, David Nicholls’ novel now gets the small-screen treatment. Emma Morley (Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Woodall) speak for the first time at their graduation on July 15, 1988, and go their separate ways the next morning. Each episode then finds them one year on, on the same date, as they grow and change, move together and apart, and experience joy and heartbreak.
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Constellation
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producers: Turbine Studios, Haut et Court TV
Starring: Noomi Rapace, Jonathan Banks, James D’Arcy, Julian Looman, William Catlett, Barbara Sukowa and Rosie & Davina Coleman
Launch date: February 21
This conspiracy-based space adventure stars Rapace as Jo, an astronaut who returns to Earth after a disaster in space, only to discover that key pieces of her life seem to be missing, leading her to embark on a desperate quest to expose the truth about the hidden history of space travel and recover all she has lost.

Avatar: The Last Airbender
From: US
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Rideback
Starring: Gordon Cormier, Ian Ousley, Kiawentiio, Daniel Dae Kim and Dallas Liu
Launch date: February 22
A live-action reimagining of the popular animated series, this show follows Aang (Cormier), the young Avatar, as he learns to master the four elements (water, earth, air and fire) to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation.
Watch trailer 

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
From: US
Original broadcasters: AMC, AMC+
Producer: AMC Studios
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Danai Gurira, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Matt Jeffries, Pollyanna McIntosh and Terry O’Quinn
Launch date: February 25
The latest entry in the long-running Walking Dead franchise, The Ones Who Live notably sees the return of two beloved characters – Rick Grimes (Lincoln) and Michonne (Gurira) – in what is described as an epic love story of two people changed by a changed world. Can Rick and Michonne find themselves and each other in a place and situation unlike they’ve ever known before?
Watch trailer 

Shōgun
From: Japan, US
Original broadcasters: FX & Hulu (US), Star + (Latin America), Disney+ (worldwide)
Producer: FX Productions
Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Cosmo Jarvis, Anna Sawai, Tadanobu Asano, Hiroto Kanai, Takehiro Hira, Moeka Hoshi, Tokuma Nishioka, Shinnosuke Abe, Yuki Kura, Yuka Kouri and Fumi Nikaido
Launch date: February 27
Based on the novel by James Clavell, this epic series is set in 1600s Japan at the dawn of a civil war that will define a century. Sanada plays Lord Yoshii Toranaga, who is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him. When a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village, its English pilot John Blackthorne (Jarvis) comes bearing secrets that could help Toranaga tip the scales of power and devastate the formidable influence of Blackthorne’s own enemies.
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Reina Roja (Red Queen)
From: Spain
Original broadcaster: Prime Video
Producers: Dopamine, Focus
Starring: Vicky Luengo and Hovik Keuchkerian
Launch date: February 29
A seven-episode TV adaptation of the first book in Juan Gómez-Jurado’s trilogy, Reina Roja follows Antonia Scott, who is officially declared the smartest person on Earth. Her intelligence made her the ‘Red Queen’ of a secret and experimental police project, but what seemed like a gift became a curse and she lost everything. When the son of a powerful tycoon is found murdered and the daughter of Spain’s wealthiest man is kidnapped, the Red Queen organisation is set in motion and hot-tempered Basque cop Jon Gutiérrez is sent to reactivate Antonia.
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Elsbeth
From: US
Original broadcaster: CBS
Producers: CBS Studios in association with King Size Productions
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Starring: Carrie Preston, Wendell Pierce and Carra Patterson
Launch date: February 29
Preston reprises her role as Elsbeth Tascioni in this spin-off from The Good Wife and The Good Fight. An astute but unconventional attorney, Elsbeth utilises her singular point of view to make unique observations and corner brilliant criminals alongside the NYPD. After leaving her successful legal career in Chicago to tackle a new investigative role in New York City, Elsbeth finds herself jockeying with the toast of the NYPD, Captain CW Wagner (Pierce), a charismatic and revered leader. Working alongside Elsbeth is Officer Kaya Blanke (Patterson), a stoic and ethical officer who quickly develops an appreciation for Elsbeth’s insightful and offbeat ways.
Watch trailer

Boarders
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BBC Three
Producer: Studio Lambert
Distributor: All3Media International
Starring: Josh Tedeku, Jodie Campbell, Myles Kamwendo, Sekou Diaby, Aruna Jalloh, Derek Riddell, Niky Wardley and Daniel Lawrence Taylor
Launch date: February TBC
This comedy-drama from Lawrence Taylor (Timewasters) follows five under-privileged black students from inner-city London as they gain scholarships at St Gilberts, an elite boarding school. They soon find themselves in a world they can only describe as something out of Harry Potter, surrounded by lush playing fields, cloistered grandeur and complex social rules they must quickly decipher in order to survive.

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