Series to Watch: June 2021
DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick out 10 new dramas to watch this June, from a British remake of a Belgian crime drama and Stephen King’s adaptation of his own novel to an Icelandic mystery thriller and a psychological thriller about Anne Boleyn.
Anne Boleyn
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Channel 5
Starring: Jodie Turner-Smith, Paapa Essiedu, Mark Stanley, Lola Petticrew, Barry Ward, Jamael Westman, Amanda Burton and Thalissa Teixeira
Air date: June 1
This three-part psychological thriller aims to shed new light on Anne Boleyn, remembered in history as the beheaded second wife of Henry VIII. It explores the final months of Anne Boleyn’s life from her own perspective as she struggles to secure a future for her daughter and challenge the powerful patriarchy closing in around her.
Professor T
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BritBox UK
Starring: Ben Miller, Frances de la Tour, Emma Naomi, Barney White, Juliet Aubrey, Andy Gathergood, Sarah Woodward, Ben Onwukwe and Douglas Reith
Air date: June 3 (also airing this summer on ITV)
In this six-part series based on the Belgian drama of the same name, Miller plays Jasper Tempest, a professor of criminology at Cambridge University. Obsessed with cleanliness, structure and order, Jasper is also a crime-solving genius, meaning he is constantly having to get his hands dirty as he helps the police to crack their most difficult cases. De la Tour is Jasper’s colourful but overbearing mother Adelaide.
Lisey’s Story
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Starring: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Dane DeHaan, Joan Allen, Ron Cephas Jones and Sung Kang
Air date: June 4
Written by Stephen King and based on his novel of the same name, this eight-part thriller (also pictured top) follows Lisey Landon (Moore) two years after the death of her husband, famous novelist Scott Landon (Owen). A series of unsettling events forces Lisey to face memories of her marriage to Scott that she had previously blocked out of her mind.
Paraísao
From: Spain
Original broadcaster: Movistar+
Starring: Macarena García, Iñaki Ardanaz, Gorka Otxoa, Pau Gimeno, Cristian López, León Martínez, Héctor Gozalbo, María Romanillos and Patricia Iserte
Air date: June 4
Spanish streamer Movistar+’s first original fantasy drama, Paraíso is set in 1992 at the end of the summer in a small coastal town. Sandra, Eva and 15-year-old Malena disappear without trace in a nightclub, but with the police investigation going nowhere, Sandra’s younger brother Javi and his friends discover the people who have taken his sister aren’t from this world.
Time
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BBC
Starring: Sean Bean, Stephen Graham, Siobhan Finneran, Sue Johnston, Hannah Walters, David Calder, Nadine Marshall, Michael Socha, Aneurin Barnard, Jack McMullen and James Nelson-Joyce
Air date: June 6
Written by Jimmy McGovern, Time stars Bean as newly imprisoned Mark Cobden, consumed by guilt for his crime and way out of his depth in the volatile world of prison life. He meets Eric McNally (Graham), an excellent prison officer doing his best to protect those in his charge. However, when one of the most dangerous inmates identifies his weakness, Eric faces an impossible choice between his principles and his family.
Max Anger – With One Eye Open
From: Sweden
Original broadcaster: Viaplay
Starring: Adam Lundgren, Evin Ahmad, Johan Rheborg, Joel Spira, Linus Wahlgren, Malin Crépin, Per Ragnar, Annika Hallin and Ieva Andrejevaitė
Air date: June 6
Set 25 years ago, this series centres on former soldier Max Anger (Lundgren), who lives a quiet life as a business analyst for a Swedish company and is in a new relationship with Russian colleague Pashie (Ahmad). When Max begins to suspect Pashie is a spy and she then disappears, he drops everything to find her.
Loki
From: US
Original broadcaster: Disney+
Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia Di Martino, Wunmi Mosaku and Richard E Grant
Air date: June 9
Hot on the heels of WandaVision and The Falcon & The Winter Soldier comes the next Marvel Studios series to land on Disney+, this time featuring the titular God of Mischief (Hiddleston) as he steps out of his brother Thor’s shadow. The story takes place after the events of the most recent film in the Avengers franchise, Endgame.
Lupin Part 2
From: France
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Starring: Omar Sy, Hervé Pierre, Nicole Garcia, Clotilde Hesme, Ludivine Sagnier, Antoine Gouy, Shirine Boutella and Soufiane Guerrab
Air date: June 11
The first part of this French crime thriller, inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, became a word-of-mouth hit at the end of last year. In Part 1, gentleman thief Assane Diop (Sy) set out to avenge his father for an injustice inflicted by a wealthy family. Now the story continues as Assane’s quest for revenge against Hubert Pelligrini has torn his family to pieces, leaving him to think of a new plan even if it puts himself in danger.
Katla
From: Iceland
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Starring: Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð, Íris Tanja Flygenring, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Sólveig Arnarsdóttir, Guðrún Gísladóttir, Baltasar Breki, Björn Thors, Aliette Opheim and Valter Skarsgård
Air date: June 17
Set in Iceland, this mystery thriller created by director Baltasar Kormákur (Trapped, Everest) begins after subglacial volcano Katla has been erupting constantly for a whole year. Gríma is still looking for her missing sister who disappeared the day the eruption started but, as her hope of finding her body begins to fade, the residents of the surrounding area start to receive visits from unexpected guests. There might be something hidden under the glacier no one could ever have foreseen.
Physical
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Starring: Rose Byrne, Rory Scovel, Deirdre Friel, Della Saba, Lou Taylor Pucci, Paul Sparks and Ashley Liao
Air date: June 18
This 10-part dramedy is set in the idyllic but fragile beach paradise of sunny 1980s San Diego, where Sheila Rubin (Byrne) is a quietly tortured, seemingly dutiful housewife supporting her smart but controversial husband’s bid for state assembly. Behind closed doors, however, Sheila is battling a complex set of personal demons relating to her self-image – until she finds release through the unlikeliest source: the world of aerobics. Then when she discovers a way to merge this newfound passion with the burgeoning technology of videotape, she starts a revolutionary business and transforms into a female lifestyle guru.
tagged in: Anne Boleyn, Katla, Lisey’s Story, Loki, Lupin, Max Anger – With One Eye Open, Paraísao, Physical, Professor T, Time