This year’s offerings in summer television seem in many ways to be all about the blockbuster: those big-name, bombastic series that will convince you to step away from the pool, put down your sangria, and tune in to the best of this year’s big hitters.
In a surprise start to the summer, fan-favourite Poldark (BBC1, from June 11th) may see Aidan Turner getting his kit off even earlier than usual as a speedy filming schedule sees it conveniently side-step rival autumn headliner Victoria. Television’s taste for historical Brits and the occasional dose of emotional repression will evidently never go out of fashion. In other book-to-screen adaptations, Neil Gaiman’s long-awaited American Gods (Amazon Prime, from May 1st) is a dark but visually intense conjuring of mythological and, argues Gaiman – a man with most of his limbs let alone fingers in literary-entertainment pies – technological pantheons. Margaret Atwood’s novel The Handmaid’s Tale (began May 28th) has been turned into a ten-episode dystopian series, airing with purveyor of gritty drama and inexplicable numbers of property shows, Channel 4.
The annual return of what was undoubtedly one of Netflix’s breakout hits, prison comedy-drama Orange is the New Black (June 9th), is almost part of the furniture. Its diverse cast look set to take further dramatic turns in the upcoming fifth series. In a title just similar enough to confuse your well-meaning, would-be pop culture junkie relatives, Canadian sci-fi saga Orphan Black (beginning June 11th), helmed by a character-hopping Tatiana Maslany, will also see a high-stakes fifth series on Netflix this year. And, of course, the titan fantasy-historical epic Game of Thrones (beginning July 16th-17th, Sky Atlantic) returns to remind us that, despite what a few days of Irish sunshine may have told you, winter is coming; in fact, it’s already here. There’s a 2am premiere for the particularly hardcore, and a more audience-friendly 9pm showing for those of us who like their blood and guts after dinner has been eaten and the washing-up has been done, thank you very much.
Kooky comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Netflix, May 19th) is back for a third series of peppy attitude and primary colours, as Ellie Kemper leads what continues to be one of the more refreshing additions to the genre of recent years. British comedies are relatively thin on the ground, with Ed Westwick vehicle White Gold (BBC2, began May 24th) proving that even an Inbetweeners-inspired sitcom set in a 1980s Essex double-glazing showroom is more likely to be commissioned than a female-led comedy ensemble. One of 2016’s comedy efforts Upstart Crow (BBC2, TBC) has made it to series two and genuinely gets some laughs out of Shakespeare, mostly at the playwright’s expense. And no summer line-up would be complete without The Rose of Tralee (RTÉ1, August 21st), even if it is so you can confer over the dresses and take part in the requisite drinking game.
Meanwhile, Marvel is still trying to make fetch happen as it attempts to spin a lasting hit out of non-Avengers hero squads on the small screen. Its latest installment, The Defenders (Netflix, August 18th) sees several solo names, including superhero-turned-private-investigator Jessica Jones and Hell’s Kitchen lawyer Matt Murdock chasing villains in much the same way as they usually would, only this time with more bickering and betrayal. On the weirder end of the comic-book-to-television scale is a second series for DC’s Preacher (Amazon Prime, June 16th), though it is notably comfortable with its own weirdness. The supernatural-western-gory-black-comedy stars Dominic Cooper as a small-town preacher, who may be possessed, Joseph Gilgun as a dry but dodgily-accented Irish vampire, and Oscar nominee Ruth Negga as woman-on-a-mission Tulip.
This year’s summer selection may feature more big-budget blockbusters than ever, but they’re also weirder and more eclectic – perhaps demonstrating that it takes more than the standard fare to tear us away from months of music festivals and Malaga (or at least washed-out barbecues and dreams of relaxation).
