New to Stream: Acorn TV's October 2020 Lineup

Acorn TV has announced its upcoming lineup for the month of October, including the including the eagerly-awaited return of multiple award-winning Australian crime series Mystery Road, as well as the Scandinavian psychological and character-driven crime thriller Darkness: Those Who Kill.

Monday, October 5, 2020

The Sounds (Acorn TV Original Series, Commissioned) – Episode 7 of 8

In this riveting, twisty psychological thriller, Rachelle Lefevre (Proven Innocent, Under the Dome) and Matt Whelan (The Luminaries, Narcos) star as a married Canadian couple who moves halfway around the world to a small idyllic town in New Zealand to start a new life –to escape the husband’s wealthy, oppressive father and launch his own business venture – a sustainable salmon fishery- that will help revive the local troubled economy, but not everyone in the community welcomes the change. When Tom Cabbott (Whelan) disappears after he goes out kayaking, unsettling facts about him soon come to light, and the search for him brings long-buried wounds

to the surface. As wife Maggie (Lefevre) struggles to navigate the escalating events, it becomes clear that in this small, seemingly close-knit community of Pelorus, nothing and no one are quite what they seem. As it turns out, the couple chose the wrong town for their happy ending. The series is created and written by international bestselling novelist, Sarah-Kate Lynch (Blessed Are the Cheesemakers).

Bloodlines

This television thriller reveals the true story of one of the most evil crimes in New Zealand history. In November 1999, the head of Psychiatry at Otago Hospital, Dr Colin Bouwer (Mark Mitchinson, High Road, Mystery Road), thought he was clever enough to commit the perfect murder, and he almost got away with it. He wanted his wife, Annette (Nathalie Boltt, Riverdale), out of the way and over three months slowly poisoned her with insulin, causing a slow and painful death watched by helpless family and friends. Believing medical authorities and police were not smart enough to ever catch him, this “Dr. Death” almost got away with murder. But he was detected by Andrew Bowers (Craig Hall, A Place To Call Home), a young consultant physician, who never expected that he would stumble upon a murder in process. It was down to Bowers and Detective Brett Roberts (Will Hall, Netherwood), whose dogged pursuit of the truth eventually uncovered Annette Bouwer’s cold-blooded murder by her husband, an evil man with a Mensa IQ who thought he was smarter than anyone else in New Zealand.

The Gulf

This psychological thriller series captures the moral disintegration of Detective Jess Savage (Kate Elliott, Wentworth), who investigates crimes in Waiheke Island, New Zealand. After losing her memory in a car crash that killed her husband, Jess becomes determined to bring the killer to justice. Convinced that someone is trying to kill her because of something she has uncovered in a recent investigation, she in effect begins investigating herself, retracing her steps over the weeks prior. As her colleagues become increasingly uncooperative, Jess suffers from paranoia, while starting to fight an addiction to morphine. As she gets closer to the truth she so desperately seeks, Jess discovers that her world is not so morally black and white. The personal story of Jess and the revelation of it to her and the audience is complex and intriguing, which dovetails seamlessly with three intriguing criminal cases that have a major impact on her career. (6 EPS, 2019)

Tales of Irish Castles

This six part series explores the great stories, legends and characters associated with the most beautiful, notorious and historical castles across Ireland – in Dublin, Trim, Blarney, Limerick, Carrickfergus, Kilkenny, Birr and more. Hosted by Simon Delaney, the series takes the audience on an incredible journey throughout the island of Ireland – where more castles were built than in the rest of the British Isles combined. From the imposing Anglo-Norman strongholds of the 13th and 14th centuries (e.g. Trim, Carrickfergus and King John’s), to the more modest tower houses of the 15th and 16th centuries (e.g. Clonony and Leap) and to the lavish fortified houses of the 17th and 18th centuries (Tullynally, Ashford), Irish castles have provided the backdrop for countless bloody battles, savage sieges, haunting happenings and lavish lifestyles over the years. The series documents these magnificent stone structures and the stories contained within their walls, bringing them to life through specially shot re-enactments, archive footage and contributions from Ireland’s leading historians, archaeologists, castle owners and inhabitants. (6 EPS, 2014)

Monday, October 12, 2020

Mystery Road, Series 2 (Acorn TV Original series) – Episodes 1 and 2 of 6

Aaron Pedersen (Jack Irish, A Place to Call Home) reprises his signature role as Indigenous detective Jay Swan in this beautifully-filmed, acclaimed mystery set in the Australian outback. When a body is found in the mangroves of a coastal town of Gideon, Jay teams up with local constable Fran Davis (Jada Alberts, Wentworth) to investigate the crime. Soon a nearby archaeologist (Sofia Helin, The Bridge) makes a find that could help with the case, but she conceals it for fear of shutting down her dig site. Facing obstruction at every turn and a rising body count, Jay must expose the web of corruption plaguing the town. Voted Most Popular Drama at the 2019 Logie Awards and winner of five AACTA Awards, including Best Television Drama Series, as well as awards from the Australian Directors Guild and the Australian Writers’ Guild.

The Sounds (Acorn TV Original Series, Commissioned) – Episode 8 – SERIES FINALE!

The Labours of Erica, Series 1 and 2

In this classic Britcom, Erica (Brenda Blethyn, Vera) realizes that she has so far spent her life only looking after other people. Since the death of her husband on their wedding night, she has divided the time between the needs of her son, Jeremy (Paul Spurrier, Eullenia) and her boss, Dexter (Geoffrey Davies, Doctor in the House) with who she’s been having an unsatisfactory affair for the past 12 years. Now Jeremy is 16 and is a managing director of a successful computer company and Dexter wants love, involvement and passion – like her, but with as many women as possible. Within a few hours, Erica gives up her lover, her job and her chances of marriage. Then she finds her teenage diary containing a list of “Twelve things I am going to do before I am Forty.” The discovery symbolizes all the hopes and dreams she has never achieved and heralds the start of a startling change in Erica’s approach to life. (Series 1- 6 EPS, 1989; Series 2- 6 EPS, 1990)

Monday, October 19, 2020

Darkness: Those Who Kill (Acorn TV Exclusive series, Foreign Language, with English subtitles)

This gripping Danish crime drama, which aired last year on BBC4, centers on a duo of investigators who probe a series of brutal murders combining classical investigation techniques with psychological leads to find the small hidden details that can make them understand the location and motives of the murderer and hopefully rescue their next victim. Six months after the abduction of 17-year-old Julie from the streets of Copenhagen, Detective Jan Michelsen (Kenneth M. Christensen, The Legacy) is the only one who believes she might still be alive. In a desperate attempt to keep the case alive, Jan digs into their cold case archive and comes across a missing girl who vanished under similar circumstances 10 years ago. He quickly discovers fresh evidence that eventually leads the police to retrieving her body from a lake. Jan joins forces with expert profiler Louise Bergstein (Natalie Madueño, Follow the Money) and they discover that the girl in the lake was killed 10 years ago by the same person who abducted Julie a few months back. When another girl, Emma, disappears, the pair are convinced they now have a serial killer on their hands. As Jan and Louise race against the clock to find where Julie and Emma are being held captive, more bodies are discovered across Copenhagen. Patterns of a mysterious mind begin to emerge and Jan and Louise finally start to unravel the mystery. However, all is not as it seems… (8 EPS, 2019)

Mystery Road (Acorn TV Original Series) – Episode 3 of 6

Heavenly Gardens

In this BBC One series, garden aficionado Alexander Armstrong and garden designer Arit Anderson visit six spectacular sacred UK gardens that symbolize beauty, joy and hope: from The Bishop’s Palace in Somerset to Pluscarden Abbey in the Highlands of Scotland; from Cambridge University’s stunning Botanical Gardens to Alnwick Castle’s restored gardens in Northumberland; from Scone Palace’s gardens of kings in Perthshire to Sudeley Castle’s sacred connections in the Cotswolds. Alexander and Arit celebrate the significant inclusion of gardens in the spiritual world and meet the custodians of these glorious gardens to pick up gardening tips, as they get their hands dirty, discovering the very special and surprising significance of plants in each place. (2 EPS, 2020)

Monday, October 26, 2020

How To Murder Your Wife

This melodramatic black comedy is the true story of Alfred Benning (Simon O’Connor, Heavenly Creatures), a seemingly mild-mannered animal welfare inspector who prowled 1970’s Wellington for feral cats and stray dogs before becoming an infamous murderer. In 1977, sixty-five year old Alf Benning decided that life was too short if he had to spend the rest of it with his overbearing wife, Elizabeth (Geraldine Brophy, King Kong) … so he decided to murder her and cut her into bits – six to be exact! A set of outlandish plans and misadventures make Alf the most unlikely murderer you will ever know, and his actions will take you on the most bizarre journey of any true story you’ll ever experience. (Movie, 2015)

Mystery Road (Acorn TV Original Series) – Episode 4 of 6

UPCOMING IN 2020:

The South Westerlies (November 2; Acorn TV Original series, commissioned):

Feel-good Irish comedy drama starring Orla Brady (American Horror Story: 1984, Into the Badlands, Star Trek: Picard, Mistresses) as a single working mom and environmental consultant who goes undercover among protesters to quash objections to a Norwegian-owned wind farm earmarked for a small town (6 EPS, 2020)

Reunions (November 16) –

Light French family drama (6 EPS, with English subtitles)