The X Factor and Doctor Who have both returned to our screens in recent weeks, which can mean only one thing: summer is over and it’s pretty much nearly Christmas. Before too long, it’ll be dark at 4pm and my leisure time will be spent strictly indoors.
I know I’m not alone in having spent the summer on the sofa, hooked on sports I barely understood and weeping at countless inspirational athletic achievements. But with the Olympics a sadly distant memory and the Paralympics soon to join them, there’s a huge televisual void to fill in my front room.
Luckily, broadcasters have already been heavily trailing their autumn season of programmes and there’s some great stuff in store. Here’s what this telly addict is going to be watching this autumn.
Chris O’Dowd is my second favourite Irish comedian after David O’Doherty and I am extremely excited that he has followed stars such as Adam Buxton, Julia Davies and Charlie Brooker to Sky to do his own thing.
Moone Boy is O’Dowd’s semi-autobiographical sitcom about growing up in small-town Ireland and features O’Dowd himself as the imaginary friend of the main character, 11-year-old Martin. The show promises comedy, some rather fetching woolly hats, quirky animation, Steve Coogan and O’Dowd sporting a very sexy beard. But don’t take my word for it, check out the Moone Boy trailer.
Moone Boy starts at 9.30pm on Friday 14th September on Sky1
2011 was the year that everyone went crazy for subtitled drama. It all started with Swedish crime thriller, The Killing (or Forbrydelsen to those of us who liked to pretend we were a little more fluent in Swedish than we were, tack). Soon, TV fans were lapping up grisly French homicide in Spiral; more Scandinavian murders in The Bridge; Sicily’s answer to Poirot, Inspector Montalbano; and my favourite programme of 2012 so far: Danish feminist political drama, Borgen.
Now we get to find out if we like comedy with subtitles, as BBC4 broadcasts Lilyhammer. It stars The Sopranos’ Steven Van Zandt as a gruff American gangster, Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano, (er, not that he’s type cast or anything), relocated under witness protection to the sleepy Norwegian town of Lilyhammer. The show has had mixed reviews but is worth a watch if only to satisfy those Scandinavian TV cravings.
Lilyhammer starts at 10pm on Tuesday 11th September on BBC4
It’s back! US thriller, Homeland, returns to Channel 4 this autumn for its second season and I, for one, am very excited. Will Carrie be the same erratic CIA agent we know and love after her electroconvulsive therapy? Will she remember that important little detail she struck upon before the treatment? Will her relationship with Brody get even more complicated? And just what is Brody planning?
Who knows? Well, the internet probably knows but no spoilers please, yeah?
Season two of Homeland starts on Channel 4 some time in October
I’ve never been much of a fan of BBC drama. I know, I know, everyone raves about Spooks and Luther and the rest but it’s just never really done it for me. And don’t even get me started on Sherlock…
But that was all until the second series of Accused, which started a few weeks ago and blew me away with Jimmy McGovern’s razor-sharp script, stellar cast and knockout performances. Seriously, if you’ve missed it, do catch up. Then the BBC only went and followed that by wowing me with the trailer for their autumn Original British Drama season, all of which looks brilliant: gripping, gritty and highly watchable. There’s everything from a good old crime drama to a creepy James Herbert adaptation and the obligatory period drama. I’m going to give BBC drama a second chance.
Six new dramas will be screening on BBC1 throughout the autumn