Series to Watch: October 2023

DQ checks out the upcoming schedules to pick 10 new series to watch this October, from a compulsive Korean thriller and an Italian historical saga to the return of French mystery thriller Lupin and a pair of series starring Stephen Graham.

Boiling Point
From: UK
Original broadcaster: BBC
Producers: Ascendant Fox and Matriarch Productions, with Made Up Productions
Distributor: BBC Studios
Starring: Vinette Robinson, Stephen Graham, Ray Panthaki, Hannah Walters, Izuka Hoyle, Gary Lamont, Missy Haysom, Cathy Tyson, Stephen Odubola, Shaun Fagan, Aine Rose Daly, Taz Skylar, Daniel Larkai and Hannah Traylen
Launch date: October 1
Expect unbearable tension as this restaurant series picks up the story of the one-shot short and feature films of the same name. Eight months after her mentor Andy Jones (Graham) suffered a heart attack (at the end of the feature film), head chef Carly (Robinson) is battling to forge a name for new London restaurant Point North alongside her old kitchen crew. Under pressure to draw in new, hungry customers and facing a financial squeeze to keep the business profitable, the team must find a way to manage their complicated personal lives while creating quality food day in, day out.
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Bargain
From: Korea
Original broadcasters: Paramount+, TVING (Korea)
Producer: SLL, Climax Studio
Distributor: Paramount Global Content Distribution
Starring: Jin Sun-kyu, Jun Jong-seo and Chang Ryul
Launch date: October 5 (Paramount+)
An adaptation of the 2015 short film of the same name, Bargain (also pictured top) revolves around a group of men who are lured to a remote motel by the promise of sexual encounters, only to find themselves caught in a trafficking ring where their organs are auctioned off to the highest bidder. But after a catastrophic earthquake, the victims, traffickers and buyers all are trapped inside the crumbling building. Cut off from the outside world, they must fight to survive the aftermath at any cost.
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Lupin
From: France
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Gaumont Television
Starring: Omar Sy, Ludivine Sagnier, Antoine Gouy, Soufiane Guerrab and Shirine Boutella
Launch date: October 5
Inspired by the adventures of master thief Arsène Lupin, the third part of the French mystery thriller picks up following the events of part two, which left gentleman thief Assane (Sy) exposed, framed for murder and forced into hiding. Unable to stay away from his wife and son, he decides to return to Paris to make them a crazy proposal: leave France and start a new life elsewhere. But the ghosts of the past are never far away, and an unexpected return will flip his plans upside down.
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Nada (Nothing)
From: Argentina
Original broadcaster: Disney+
Producer: Metrovisión
Starring: Luis Brandoni, María Rosa Fugazot, Majo Cabrera, Silvia Kutika, Enrique Piñeyro, Gastón Cocchiarale, Daniel Miglioranza, Pablo Novak, Belén Chavanne, Alejandro Paker, Rodrigo Noya, Ariadna Asturzzi, Cecilia Dopazo, Manuel Vicente, Daniel Aráoz and Robert De Niro
Launch date: October 11
Nada Manuel (Brandoni) is a sophisticated culinary critic from Buenos Aires, an art lover and provocateur who has lived for decades with a woman (Fugazot) who does everything for him. However, an exceptional event forces him to change his routine and hire Antonia (Cabrera), an inexperienced young woman born and raised in a small town in Paraguay, to help him with household chores, leading to a clash of cultures and generations. Meanwhile, Manuel receives a visit from his old friend Vincent (De Niro), a famous New York writer with whom he shares many adventures between food tastings, readings, long walks and existential talks.
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La Mesías (The Messiah)
From: Spain
Original broadcaster: Movistar+
Producer: Suma Content
Distributor: Movistar+ International
Starring: Macarena García, Roger Casamajor, Lola Dueñas, Carmen Machi, Ana Rujas, Albert Pla, Amaia, Biel Rossell Pelfort and Cecilia Roth
Launch date: October 11
Blending genres from thriller to musical, La Mesías marks the first project in three years from creators, writers and directors Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvso. Filmed in 30 locations across Catalonia and featuring more than 170 characters in a story that spans the 1980s to 2013, it introduces Enric, whose childhood was marked by his parents’ neglect, their religious fanaticism and his mother’s messianic delusions. When a pop music video from a group of Christian sisters goes viral, memories start to fill his head.
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The Fall of the House of Usher
From: US
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Intrepid Pictures
Starring: Bruce Greenwood, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Carl Lumbly, Mark Hamill, Michael Trucco, T’Nia Miller, Paola Nuñez, Henry Thomas, Kyleigh Curran, Samantha Sloyan, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel, Sauriyan Sapkota, Zach Gilford, Willa Fitzgerald, Katie Parker, Malcolm Goodwin, Crystal Balint, Aya Furukawa, Daniel Jun, Matt Biedel, Ruth Codd, Annabeth Gish, Igby Rigney and Robert Longstreet
Launch date: October 12
This eight-episode horror series comes from creator Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) and is based on the works by Edgar Allen Poe. Ruthless siblings Roderick and Madeline Usher have built Fortunato Pharmaceuticals into an empire of wealth, privilege and power, but past secrets come to light when the heirs to the Usher dynasty start dying at the hands of a mysterious woman from their youth.
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Lessons in Chemistry
From: US
Original broadcaster: Apple TV+
Producer: Apple Studios
Starring: Brie Larson, Aja Naomi King, Stephanie Koenig, Patrick Walker and Lewis Pullman
Launch date: October 13
Set in the early 1950s, Lessons in Chemistry follows Elizabeth Zott (played by Larson), whose dream of being a scientist is put on hold in a patriarchal society. When Elizabeth finds herself fired from her lab, she accepts a job as a host on a TV cooking show, and sets out to teach a nation of overlooked housewives — and the men who are suddenly listening — a lot more than recipes.
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Bodies
From: UK
Original broadcaster: Netflix
Producer: Moonage Pictures
Starring: Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Shira Haas, Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller and Stephen Graham
Launch date: October 19
Four detectives. Four timelines. One body. Based on the graphic novel by Si Spencer, Bodies is a police procedural with a twist. When a body – the same body – is found on Longharvest Lane in London’s East End in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, one detective from each period must investigate. As connections are drawn across the decades, the detectives soon discover their investigations are linked, and an enigmatic political leader – Elias Mannix (Graham) – becomes increasingly central. Did he have a part to play in the murder? Or is something far more sinister at play? To solve the mystery, four detectives must somehow collaborate and uncover a conspiracy spanning more than 150 years.
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The Lions of Sicily
From: Italy
Original broadcaster: Disney+
Producers: Compagnia Leone Cinematografica and Lotus Production
Starring: Michele Riondino, Miriam Leone, Donatella Finocchiaro, Vinicio Marchioni, Eduardo Scarpetta, Paolo Briguglia, Ester Pantano and Adele Cammarata
Launch date: October 25
A historical family saga based on Stefania Auci’s The Florios of Sicily, this series tells the story of brothers Paolo and Ignazio Florio, two small-time spice merchants who have escaped from a Calabria stuck in the past to search for social redemption. In Sicily, they invent a future, turning a small, run-down shop into a flourishing business that young Vincenzo, with his revolutionary ideas, will transform into an economic empire. However, disrupting Vincenzo’s life and that of the entire family is the arrival of Giulia, a strong and intelligent woman who is in contrast with society’s rigid rules.
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The Vanishing Triangle
From: Ireland
Original broadcasters: Sundance Now & AMC+ (US), Virgin Media TV (Ireland)
Producer: Park Films, 87/Film and Paper Plane Productions
Distributor: Eccho Rights
Starring: India Mullen and Allen Leach
Launch date: October 26 (US)
Inspired by true events, the series opens as investigative journalist Lisa Wallace (Mullen) publishes an article about her mother’s murder, which sparks the disappearance of Amy Reynolds. Alongside Detective David Burkely (Leech), Lisa works to find Amy, and the pair’s investigation takes them around Ireland, while more girls go missing. As they get closer to finding the killer, Lisa must confront her childhood trauma in order to save the missing girls.

tagged in: Bargain, Bodies, Boiling Point, La Mesías, Lessons in Chemistry, Lupin, Nada, Nothing, The Fall of the House of Usher, The Lions of Sicily, The Messiah, The Vanishing Triangle