like The Pitt, The Night Manager and A<\/a>
\n Knight of the Seven Kingdoms \u2013 are already here. Elsewhere, it\u2019s looking like a big year for book-based dramas, including two Austens, a Margaret Attwood, a Jo Nesb\u00f8 and a rare adaptation of work by veteran crime writer Patricia Cornwell, whose Kay Scarpetta books helped invent forensic crime drama decades ago. NZ debut dates for shows have been added where the information is available.\n <\/p>\nTHE ALTRUISTS<\/p>\n
An eight-part true-life drama centred on Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the failed crypto exchange FTX, starring Julia Garner and Anthony Boyle. A release date might have to wait for the decision on Bankman-Fried\u2019s appeal against his multiple fraud convictions. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
BEEF<\/p>\n
Season one of Lee Sung Jin\u2019s road-rage comedy-drama won five prime-time Emmys in 2023. Now, he\u2019s thrown it all out and come back with a new setting, new cast (including Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan) and a new beef. It was an anthology series all along! (Netflix, April 16)<\/p>\n
BLADE RUNNER 2099<\/p>\n
This has been a long time coming. Ridley Scott announced in 2021 that a 10-part TV series \u2013 effectively a sequel to the Blade Runner 2049 film \u2013 had been written. Its story is set 50 years on and centres on the unlikely alliance between a fugitive replicant (Hunter Schafer) and an ageing Blade Runner (Michelle Yeoh). (Prime Video)<\/p>\n
THE BOROUGHS<\/p>\n
With Stranger Things finally resolved (or not), the Duffer brothers are about to decamp to a new deal with Paramount. But their production company still has business with Netflix, including this supernatural series about a group of oddball retirees in New Mexico who band together to stop an otherworldly threat. Starring Alfred Molina and Geena Davis. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL<\/p>\n
Ira Levin\u2019s 1976 Nazi-hunter novel became a memorable film in 1978. Here, Peter Morgan (The Crown) works the book into a five-part thriller starring Jeremy Strong, in his first TV lead since Succession, and Gillian Anderson. The producers are calling it a \u201cbold reimagining\u201d of the text. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
DTF ST LOUIS<\/p>\n
A dark comedy with Jason Bateman, Linda Cardellini and David Harbour starring as three bored suburbanites brought together by a hookup app. The swinging is all good fun \u2013 until one of them winds up dead. Also, don\u2019t ask your kids what \u201cDTF\u201d stands for and definitely don\u2019t google it. (Sky HBO)<\/p>\n
EAST OF EDEN<\/p>\n
The streets of \u014camaru and Devonport were made over as 19th-century California for this adaptation of the classic Steinbeck novel. Starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames and written by Zoe Kazan (The Deuce), whose grandfather Elia Kazan directed the 1955 film version. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
![\"Jamie]()
Jamie Bell and Richard Gadd in Half Man (HBO).<\/p>\n
HALF MAN<\/p>\n
Richard Gadd\u2019s follow-up to Baby Reindeer is the decade-spanning story of two mates in Glasgow, played by Gadd and Jamie Bell (Rocketman). The two \u201cbrothers\u201d bond as troubled teenagers and fall out as adults, while the city evolves around them. Gadd might be hoping this one doesn\u2019t end up in any sensational interviews with Piers Morgan. (Sky HBO)<\/p>\n
JO NESB\u00d8\u2019S DETECTIVE HOLE<\/p>\n
Norwegian polymath Jo Nesb\u00f8 is, with more than 50 million books sold, his nation\u2019s most successful author. Here he\u2019s adapted his own series of whodunnit novels featuring brilliant but troubled Oslo detective Harry Hole, who has a serial killer to find and a corrupt colleague in the way. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
LORD OF THE FLIES<\/p>\n
Adolescence creator Jack Thorne is behind this BBC adaptation of William Golding\u2019s 1954 novel (the first for television, remarkably) about young men and the veneer of civilisation. Four parts and a cast of young unknowns. (TVNZ)<\/p>\n
![\"Michelle]()
Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning in Margo’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV)<\/p>\n
MARGO\u2019S GOT MONEY TROUBLES<\/p>\n
This adaptation of Rufi Thorpe\u2019s 2024 comedic novel comes with some big names attached. It\u2019s created by TV legend David E Kelley (Big Little Lies), and Elle Fanning stars as Margo, a financially stretched woman who strikes fortune with OnlyFans. Nick Offerman and Michelle Pfeiffer play her parents. (Apple TV, April 15)<\/p>\n
THE MINIATURE WIFE<\/p>\n
Les (Matthew Macfadyen, Succession) and Lindy (Elizabeth Banks, The Hunger Games) are a husband and wife whose battle for dominance takes an unexpected twist when she is shrunk to doll size. Metaphorical magic realist romantic dramedy from the people who brought you Boardwalk Empire. (TVNZ)<\/p>\n
THE OTHER BENNET SISTER<\/p>\n
A 10-part series adapted from Janice Ludlow\u2019s 2020 novel, which sought to give Mary, the most unassuming of the Bennet sisters, the personal story Jane Austen didn\u2019t write for her in Pride and Prejudice. Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife, Bridgerton) plays Mary; the supporting cast includes Richard E Grant and Ruth Jones. (TVNZ)<\/p>\n
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a truth universally acknowledged,\u201d runs a cheeky headline on the Netflix website, \u201cthat each generation gets its own adaptation of the Austen classic.\u201d This one, written by UK memoirist Dolly Alderton and starring Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Emma Corrin (The Crown) and many others, has been hotly anticipated. (Netflix)<\/p>\n
ROOSTER<\/p>\n
The highly bankable Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Ted Lasso, Shrinking, all of which also have new seasons) is behind this show, in which Steve Carell plays Greg Russo, a popular novelist (and not the real-life guy who wrote Mortal Kombat) trying to mend things with his adult daughter. Expectations are high. (Sky HBO, March)<\/p>\n
![\"Kay]()
Kay Scarpetta (Nicole Kidman) in Scarpetta (Prime)<\/p>\n
SCARPETTA<\/p>\n
With Nicole Kidman and Jamie Lee Curtis playing the leads and 35 books to draw on, this adaptation of Patricia Cornwell\u2019s Kay Scarpetta novels is shaping up as a procedural drama juggernaut. Kidman plays the sharp-eyed medical examiner and Jamie Lee Curtis (who worked for years to bring Cornwell\u2019s work to screen) is her sister Dorothy. (Prime Video, March 11)<\/p>\n
![\"Spider-Noir]()
Spider-Noir starring Nicholas Cage (Prime Video)<\/p>\n
SPIDER-NOIR<\/p>\n
When Nicolas Cage turned up in 2018\u2019s Into the Spider-Verse as Spider-Man Noir, a 1930s private investigator with Spidey powers, it just seemed like another classic Cage cameo. But no. Here\u2019s a whole live-action series with Cage in the lead role. You\u2019ll be able to choose between full colour and nostalgic black and white versions. (Prime Video)<\/p>\n
THE TESTAMENTS<\/p>\n
Margaret Atwood wrote The Testaments, her follow-up to The Handmaid\u2019s Tale, with a line open to the producers of the Hulu adaptation of the first book, to make sure they understood where her story was going. Fifteen years on, it\u2019s still grim in Gilead. Ann Dowd returns as Aunt Lydia, otherwise it\u2019s a new cast, including One Battle After Another sensation Chase Infiniti. (Disney+, April 26)<\/p>\n
TRINITY<\/p>\n
Cop drama king Jed Mercurio reunites with Richard Madden, the star of Bodyguard, for this nine-part thriller. Madden plays a charismatic US Defense Secretary and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki) is the navy officer who begins to suspect his motives. (And yes, there\u2019s a new Line of Duty due this year, too.) (Netflix)<\/p>\n
![\"Matthew]()
Matthew Rhys in Widows Bay (Apple TV)<\/p>\n
WIDOW\u2019S BAY<\/p>\n
Matthew Rhys (The Americans) plays the mayor of a quaint island town off the New England coast. He wants to bring back tourists and revive the place. No, say locals, there is a curse. Turns out they\u2019re right. According to the publicity, it \u201cblends genuine horror with character-driven comedy\u201d. (Apple TV, April 29) <\/p>\n
Welcome returns and last gasps<\/p>\n
The year brings back seasons of Listener-approved shows including Aussie black comedy crime series Deadloch (Prime, March 11), which switches location from Tasmania to Darwin, a fourth season of football comedy Ted Lasso (this time featuring a female team, Apple TV), a sixth season of Slow Horses, and Netflix thrillers Black Doves, The Gentlemen, Lupin and The Diplomat. Among the bigger titles coming to an end with final seasons are Outlander (Neon, March), the Karl Urban and Antony Starr-starring superhero spoof The Boys (Prime), and the Melanie Lynskey-starring Yellowjackets (Neon).<\/p>\n
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Copy LinkEmailFacebookTwitter\/XLinkedInReddit<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bennet sisters and mother of Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice including Emma Corrin (at left) and Olivia Colman…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236902,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2327,2246,64402,27309,24752,6127,139949,139948,19796,1558,139947,489,34507,24004,139951,74059,6147,17896,35142,9060,6097,5136,125292,52000,156,106380,305,1360,9832,191,26098,8454,2454,15415,1019,139952,302,31789,13635,13840,9201,440,19133,93,87076,139946,139950,111,139,2551,69,1118,48783,3525,56630,8205,102477,5419,202,418,544,57809,8822,417,223,84459,437,9347,6923,14605,540,17454,4576,1965,379],"class_list":["post-236901","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-2327","tag-2246","tag-adaptation","tag-added","tag-ago","tag-already","tag-attwood","tag-austens","tag-available","tag-been","tag-bookbased","tag-books","tag-broadcasters","tag-coming","tag-cornwell","tag-covered","tag-crime","tag-dates","tag-debut","tag-decades","tag-down","tag-drama","tag-dramas","tag-elsewhere","tag-entertainment","tag-forensic","tag-have","tag-having","tag-helped","tag-here","tag-heres","tag-including","tag-industry","tag-information","tag-international","tag-invent","tag-its","tag-kingdoms","tag-knight","tag-like","tag-listeners","tag-local","tag-looking","tag-manager","tag-margaret","tag-mostanticipated","tag-nesb","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-night","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-patricia","tag-pipeline","tag-pitt","tag-rare","tag-scarpetta","tag-screen","tag-seven","tag-shows","tag-some","tag-streamers","tag-survey","tag-television","tag-the","tag-throwing","tag-tv","tag-veteran","tag-what","tag-whats","tag-where","tag-whose","tag-work","tag-writer","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236901","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236901"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236901\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236901"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236901"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236901"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}