With the glimmer of summer and the longest day of the year on the horizon the Acorn TV June 2022 slate offers a wealth of watching to fill those extra hours…
This month brings a sea of series from Oceania: from acclaimed Australian drama Love Me, a no-holds-barred story of love, grief and the complexity of family relationships starring Hugo Weaving, Bojana Novakovic and Shalom Brune-Franklin, to Crownies, the original legal drama that saw the inimitable Marta Dusseldorp play Janet King – a favourite character who landed an eponymous spin-off series (also available on Acorn TV). You’ll see more of Marta, in the much-loved A Place to Call Home series five. Plus, they return to New Zealand for series seven of The Brokenwood Mysteries.
Back on British soil its megastar duos ahoy with David Tennant and Ashley Jensen starring in thriller The Escape Artist, and Jill Halfpenny and Rupert Penry-Jones in another gripping drama The Drowning. To round things off a trip to Sweden for some Nordic-noir with the UK premiere of series one and two of Maria Wern.
Monday, 6th June 2022
Love Me (World Premiere, Acorn Original, Streaming Exclusive)
This acclaimed six-part Australian drama tells a no-holds-barred story of love, grief and the complexity of family relationships featuring a stellar line-up of acting talent including Hugo Weaving (Seven Types of Ambiguity, Lord of the Rings), Bojana Novakovic (I, Tonya, Birds of Prey) and William Lodder (Wakefield) and Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Tourist, Line of Duty).
A Place to Call Home Series 5 (1 – 5 Box set available)
The multi-award-winning sweeping romantic drama returns for its fifth series and follows the lives of Nurse Sarah Adams (Marta Dusseldorp, Jack Irish) and the Blighs, a wealthy and complicated Pastoralist family living in Inverness, New South Wales. We pick up four years later in 1958 and dark clouds are forming over Ash Park. The family are vulnerable to the malicious intentions of Sir Richard Bennett and his entanglement in their financial affairs makes their hold on their home precarious and tenuous. Could Regina be their only hope of salvation, or is she playing a double game against them?
Monday 13th June 2022
Crownies (UK Premiere, Streaming Exclusive)
More from queen of Australian TV, the inimitable Marta Dusseldorp who stars in this legal drama and prequel to the highly acclaimed spin-off Janet King. The young lawyers of the Office of Public Prosecutions find that their passion for justice collides with the realities of a system that struggles to protect the vulnerable.
Monday 20th June 2022
Maria Wern Series 1 & 2 (UK Premiere, Streaming Exclusive)
Maria Wern (Eva Röse, Äkta Människor) is a single mother of two and the Deputy Crime Commissioner on the Swedish island of Gotland. When she returns to her job after six months’ leave, she is thrown straight into a murder case. Then there’s a sudden an outbreak of bird flu in the area to contend with and all resources must focus on containing the infection before it is too late.
The Brokenwood Mysteries Series 7 (Streaming Exclusive, 1 – 7 Box set available)
We return to the sleepy New Zealand town for Brokenwood C.I. B’s finest, D.S.S. Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea, Go Girls) and his associates, Detective Kristin Sims, D.C. and Sam Breen (Nic Sampson, The Luminaries) back for more enthralling investigations, joined by the newly appointed D.C. Daniel Chalmers (Jared Rawiri, Shortland Street) and pathologist Gina Kadinsky (Cristina Ionda, Filthy Rich). This curious team of detectives work together with a warm camaraderie and deadpan humour against the background of sublime small-town New Zealand and must investigate fresh murder cases including the demise of an antiques show host, a death at a health retreat and a killing at a farmer’s market.
Monday 27th June 2022
The Drowning
Jill Halfpenny and Rupert Penry-Jones star as a couple who lose their son and nine years later are still struggling to rebuild their lives, in this gripping thriller. When Jodie (Halfpenny) sees Daniel (Jonas Armstrong), she is convinced the teenager is her missing son and her hope is reignited. In a drama that asks how far a mother will go to find her child, Jodie embarks on a dangerous, life-changing path that will take her to the edge of reason.
The Escape Artist
TV favourites David Tennant (Broadchurch, Dr Who) and Ashley Jensen (Agatha Raisin) star in this gripping, critically acclaimed drama. Will Burton (Tennant) is a talented junior barrister of peerless intellect and winning charm, who specialises in getting his clients out of tight legal corners, hence his nickname – The Escape Artist. Much to the aggravation of his courtroom rival, Maggie Gardner (Sophie Okonedo, Flack, His Dark Materials), Will is in high demand, never having lost a case. But when Will’s talents acquit Liam Foyle (Toby Kebbell), who is standing trial for a horrific and high-profile murder, that courtroom brilliance comes back to bite him. Foyle walks free, but surely, it’s only a matter of time before this serial killer finds his next victim.
