Series to Watch: July 2024

Series to Watch: July 2024


By DQ
June 27, 2024

Ones to Watch

DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick 10 new series to watch this July, from a Spanish sports period drama and a swords ‘n’ sandals gladiatorial epic to a Jenna Coleman-led crime drama and the return of Betty la Fea, the series that inspired Ugly Betty.

A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
From: UK
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: BBC
Other broadcasters: ZDFneo (Germany), Stan (Australia), Netflix
Producer: Moonage Pictures
Distributor: BBC Studios
Starring: Emma Myers, Anna Maxwell Martin, Gary Beadle, Mathew Baynton and Zain Iqbal
Launch date: July 1
Five years ago, schoolgirl Andie Bell was murdered by her boyfriend Sal Singh. Case closed. The police know he did it, everyone in town knows he did it. But smart and single-minded Pip Fitz-Amobi (Myers) isn’t so sure, and she’s determined to prove it was someone else. If Sal Singh isn’t a murderer and the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from the truth? This six-part series is based on Holly Jackson’s novel of the same name.
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Fake
From: Australia
Original broadcaster: Paramount+
Producer: Kindling Pictures
Distributor: Entertainment One
Starring: Asher Keddie, David Wenham
Launch date: July 4
Inspired by Stephanie Wood’s memoir of the same name, this eight-parter explores love in a world of liars, cheats, fantasists and phonies. Birdie Bell (Keddie) is a magazine features writer who thinks she’s found her perfect match when she meets successful grazier Joe Burt (Wenham) on a dating app. But as the relationship intensifies, Birdie is torn between Joe’s magnetic pull and the instinct that her boyfriend isn’t all he has led her to believe.
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Las Pelotaris 1926
From: Spain
Original broadcaster: SkyShowtime
Producers: The Mediapro Studio, TelevisaUnivision
Starring: Claudia Salas, María de Nati and Zuria Vega
Launch date: July 5
This period drama chronicles the struggle of three ‘pelotaris’ who try to achieve their dreams by overcoming the prejudices and limitations of the 1920s, when men hold all the power. Idoia, Itzi and Chelo are successful sportswomen who face up to the consequences of breaking the mould in a world where ambition and sexual freedom are denied to women.
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Sunny
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producer: A24
Starring: Rashida Jones, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Joanna Sotomura, Judy Ongg, You, annie the clumsy and Jun Kunimura
Launch date: July 10
In a series based on Colin O’Sullivan’s novel The Dark Manual, Jones stars as Suzie, an American woman living in Kyoto, Japan. Her life is upended when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash and, as consolation, she is given Sunny, one of a new class of domestic robots made by her husband’s company. Though at first Suzie resents Sunny’s attempts to fill the void in her life, the pair gradually develop an unexpected friendship and come to uncover the dark truth of what really happened to Suzie’s family.

Those About to Die
From: US
Original broadcaster: Peacock (US)
Other broadcasters: Prime Video (UK, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, , Poland, Turkey, Andorra, Monaco, Luxembourg and Belgium)
Producers: AGC Studios, High End Productions, Constantin Film, Centropolis, Hollywood Gang and Street Entertainment
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Iwan Rheon, Tom Hughes, Sara Martins, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Gabriella Pession, Dimitri Leonidas, Moe Hashim, Rupert Penry-Jones, Eneko Sagardoy, Pepe Barroso, Gonçalo Almeida, Kyshan Wilson and Alicia Edogamhe
Launch date: July 18 (US), July 19 (UK & Ireland)
Directed by Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) and inspired by the non-fiction book of the same name by Daniel P Mannix, this 10-episode series is set within the spectacular, complex and corrupt world of chariot racing and gladiatorial fights in 79AD Rome. At the centre of the Roman Empire is the wealthiest city in the world, where there is a heavy influx of slave labourers from the growing empire to take over the work. The Roman population – bored, restless and increasingly violent – is kept in line mainly by two things: free food and spectacular entertainment, in the form of chariot racing and gladiator fights.
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Lady in the Lake
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producer: Crazyrose and Bad Wolf America
Starring: Natalie Portman, Moses Ingram, Y’lan Noel, Brett Gelman, Byron Bowers, Noah Jupe, Josiah Cross, Mikey Madison and Pruitt Taylor Vince
Launch date: July 19
When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger.
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Betty la Fea, la Historia Continúa (The Story Continues)
From: Colombia
Original broadcaster: Prime Video
Producer: Estudios RCN
Starring: Ana María Orozco, Jorge Enrique Abello, Mario Duarte, Lorna Cepeda, Natalia Ramirez, Julián Arango, Ricardo Velez, Carlos ‘Pity’ Camacho, Zharick León, Rodrigo Candamil B, Juanita Molina González, Jerónimo Cantillo, Sebastián Osorio, Jorge Herrera, Luces Velásquez, Julio César Herrera, Marcela Posada Arbeláez, Estefanía Gómez, Valentina Lagarejo
Launch date: July 19
Betty’s back! The continuation of the show (Yo soy Betty, la Fea) that inspired US series Ugly Betty picks up the story of Beatriz Pinzón Solano 20 years after the conclusion of the original show. A death in Ecomoda forces Betty to reconnect with her former co-workers, as well as Armando, whom she is still married to but separated. She also reunites with her daughter, Mila, who has been studying fashion in New York. Betty will have to rebuild her relationship with her daughter while making important decisions that will impact her career, and decide whether to reconcile with Armando, who will do everything to win her back. Considered the most successful telenovela in history, Yo soy Betty, la Fea has aired in 180 countries, dubbed into 15 languages, and has been adapted in almost 30 territories, including India, South Africa and the US.
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Time Bandits
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producers: Paramount Television Studios, Anonymous Content’s AC Studios, MRC
Starring: Lisa Kudrow, Kal-El Tuck, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, Rune Temte, Charlyne Yi, Rachel House, Kiera Thompson, James Dryden, Felicity Ward, Francesca Mills and Imaan Hadchiti, with appearances from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement
Launch date: July 24
The first ever television adaptation of the 1981 cult classic feature film, this comedic live-action series was created by Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords), Iain Morris (The Inbetweeners) and Taika Waititi (Our Flag Means Death). It follows the unpredictable journey through time and space of a ragtag group of thieves and their newest recruit: an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin. Together, they set out on a thrilling quest to save the boy’s parents – and the world. As the gang stumble upon fascinating worlds of the distant past while seeking out treasure, they depend on Kevin to shed light on each situation. The Time Bandits witness the creation of Stonehenge, see the Trojan Horse in action, escape dinosaurs in the prehistoric ages, wreak havoc during medieval times, and experience the ice age, ancient civilisations, the Harlem Renaissance and much more along the way.

Las Azules (Women in Blue)
From: Mexico
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producer: Lemon Studios
Starring: Bárbara Mori, Amorita Rasgado, Ximena Sariñana and Natalia Téllez
Launch date: July 31
Inspired by true stories, this 10-episode Spanish-language series is set in 1970 and follows four women who defy the ultraconservative norms of the time to join Mexico’s first female police force, only to discover that their squad is a publicity stunt to distract the media from a brutal serial killer. As the body count grows, María (Mori), whose determination to catch the killer becomes an obsession; Gabina (Rasgado), whose father is a renowned cop; Ángeles (Sariñana), a brilliant fingerprint analyst; and Valentina (Téllez), a young rebel, set up a secret investigation to achieve what no male officer has been able to do: bring the serial killer to justice.

The Jetty
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BBC
Producer: Firebird Pictures
Distributor: BBC Studios
Starring: Jenna Coleman, Tom Glynn-Carney, Ruby Stokes, Archie Renaux, Laura Marcus, Bo Bragason, Weruche Opia and Amelia Bullmore
Launch date: July TBC
When a fire tears through a property in a scenic Lancashire lake town, detective Ember Manning (Coleman) must work out how it connects to a podcast journalist investigating a missing persons cold case and an illicit ‘love’ triangle between a man in his 20s and two underage girls. But as Ember gets close to the truth, it threatens to destroy her life – forcing her to re-evaluate everything she thought she knew about her past, present and the town she’s always called home.
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