BBC America has given the go-ahead for a new Cold War spy thriller series called The Game. The six episodes will start airing in the fall.
In addition, the cable channel has announced the upcoming premieres of 24 Hours on Earth (Tuesday, March 11), Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan (Tuesday, March 25), and The Real History of Science Fiction (Saturday, April 19).
BBC AMERICA ANNOUNCES COLD WAR SPY THRILLER, “THE GAME,” AND PREMIERE DATES FOR UPCOMING SERIES AT TCA WINTER PRESS TOUR
Pasadena – Saturday, January 11, 2014 – BBC AMERICA’s General Manager, Perry Simon, made the following announcements during the channel’s presentation for the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills.
NEW SERIES ANNOUNCED:
The Game – Fall 2014
BBC AMERICA announced new Cold War spy thriller, The Game, set in the secretive world of 1970s espionage. The six-part drama series will premiere this fall as part of BBC AMERICA’s Dramaville programming block, the home of groundbreaking British drama.
Written and created by Toby Whithouse (Being Human, Doctor Who), The Game tells the story of the invisible war fought by MI5 as it battles to protect the nation from the threats of the Cold War. When a KGB defector reveals the existence of a devastating Soviet plot, codenamed Operation Glass, the charismatic but paranoid head of MI5, simply known as Daddy (Brian Cox, Troy, The Bourne Supremacy), assembles a secret committee to investigate. Maybe they’re the best, maybe they’re just the ones he trusts. Each episode will see the team uncover a new traitor to investigate, another piece of the jigsaw and another mission into the unknown. With Cold War tensions at a terrifying peak, how far are they prepared to go to keep ahead of the great game?
The series also stars Tom Hughes (Dancing On The Edge, Cemetery Junction), Paul Ritter (Quantum Of Solace, The Libertine), Shaun Dooley (The White Queen, Misfits), Chloe Pirrie (Misfits, Black Mirror), Victoria Hamilton (Lark Rise To Candleford, What Remains), Jonathan Aris (Sherlock, Bright Star) and Judy Parfitt (Call The Midwife, Little Dorrit). The Game is produced by BBC Cymru Wales for BBC One and executive produced by Faith Penhale, Brian Minchin and Toby Whithouse.
PREMIERE DATES ANNOUNCED:
24 Hours on Earth – Tuesday, March 11, 9:00pm ET
In this epic spectacular, the BBC Natural History Unit use a brand new approach to delve deep into the natural world and explore its most critical dimension – time. 24 Hours on Earth travels moment by moment through a virtual day and celebrates the most extraordinary and spectacular examples of how animals and plants are adapted to exploit the 24-hour cycle. The two-part series features returnable characters that show the huge highs and desperate lows they face across a single day in the wild. It celebrates the most mind-blowing adaptations that life uses to exploit tiny windows of time. 24 Hours on Earth is a BBC/BBC AMERICA co-production and is executive produced by James Honeyborne. It will premiere as part of BBC AMERICA’s new BBC Earth programming block on Tuesdays.
Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan – Tuesday, March 25, 10:00pm ET
BBC AMERICA’s returning original adventure series, Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan, which earned a Critics’ Choice Award “Best Reality Series” nomination, follows host and executive producer Dominic Monaghan (Lost, Lord of the Rings) on heart-pumping adventures to the most remote corners of the globe in search of the biggest, scariest and most exotic animals on the planet. The second season sees Dominic traveling to locales including Kenya, Zambia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Japan plus Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd joins him for an adventure in New Zealand. Wild Things with Dominic Monaghan is a BBC AMERICA original production, produced by Cream Productions and Wildfire Television. It will premiere as part of BBC AMERICA’s new BBC Earth programming block on Tuesdays.
The Real History of Science Fiction – Saturday, April 19, 10:00pm ET
The Real History of Science Fiction heads to the very frontiers of space and science to produce the definitive television history of science fiction. The story of one of the liveliest and most stimulating genres in popular culture will be told through its impact on cinema, television and literature. Each episode of the four-part docu-series explores one of the enduring themes of science fiction – time travel, the exploration of space, robots and artificial intelligence, and aliens. It features a collection of the genre’s greatest pioneers. This is the story of science fiction told by the men and women who fell to earth… From HG Wells’s War Of The Worlds to The Terminator, from Doctor Who to Star Wars, this series will guide viewers through a rich, thought-provoking and endlessly exciting genre. The Real History of Science Fiction is a BBC AMERICA and BBC Two co-production from executive producer Michael Poole. It will premiere as part of BBC AMERICA’s Supernatural Saturday programming block.
BBC AMERICA presented panels for upcoming drama mini-series Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, which premieres January 29, hit series Orphan Black, which returns April 19 and new drama series The Musketeers which premieres Spring 2014.
What do you think? Do you plan on watching The Game on BBC America?