TV & streaming for February: Ten new shows to check out
Clockwise from left: Lisa Dwan in Blackshore; Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm; Daisy Edgar Jones in Under the Banner of Heaven
Promising new drama series from some of the people behind Smother. Lisa Dwan plays a detective whose traumatic past bubbles to the surface when she investigates a missing-person case in rural Ireland.
Season 12 is being billed as our final encounter with Larry David’s lovable curmudgeon. The previous season didn’t quite hit the heights, but hopefully the 76-year-old comic genius can go out on a bang.
The respective lead men of AC/DC and Dire Straits put a personal slant on the history of rock music, identifying some of their key moments along the way.
The seven-episode prequel to the films was released in the US in early January, but has been nudged on a few weeks on this side of the pond. We see Seth McFarlane’s misbehaving bear hanging out with his 16-year-old owner John Bennett as they both discover weed and girls.
The show about Irish surnames is already underway, but this episode will be of particular interest to any O’Sullivans. Seán Ó Súilleabháin’s journey takes him from the Epic Museum in Dublin to the clan’s origins in West Cork.
The second season of the decent documentary series kicks off with a look at on Freshers Week in UCC. Other segments involve security staff at Trinity, and DCU shows off its autism-friendly credentials.
Swedish actress Noomi Repace is the star of this psychological thriller about an astronaut who has trouble readjusting to life back on Earth. Other familiar faces in the cast include Jonathan Banks (Mike in Breaking Bad).
We’ve already had various takes on the original animated series, including a poorly-received film in 2010, but hopefully this live-action adaptation is worthy. The fantasy show combines elements of Asian and American Indian cultures for a tale of a world where some beings have the ability to ‘bend’ elements.
We loved Daisy Edgar-Jones in Normal People, and in this series the British actress plays real-life murder victim Brenda Wright Lafferty. Released to acclaim in the US in 2022, it delves into the killing of Lafferty and her baby daughter Erica in Utah.
People of a certain age will remember the classic 1980 series starring Richard Chamberlain. This new 10-parter is based on the same novel by James Cavell, partly taken from real events, where a shipwrecked westerner joined the Samurai of Japan.
