Skip to main content

TOP TEN TV SHOWS TO WATCH IN APRIL


Guerrilla
Idris Elba co-stars in his first TV drama since BBC One’s Luther alongside Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire) and Babou Ceesay in this six-part drama by 12 Years a Slave writer John Ridley, about a radical underground cell in 1970s London.

Asking what might have happened if Black Power groups in the UK took up arms in their fight for equal rights, Guerrilla tells the story of a couple whose relationship is tested when they get swept up in radical activism and go head-to-head with abusive police and a racist system.
Better Call Saul
When things start to get tough, legally speaking, for Walter White in Breaking Bad season two, Jesse Pinkman tells him: “You don’t want a criminal lawyer – you want a ‘criminal’ lawyer.” Even if you gave up on the saga mid-way through, this charming prequel spin-off showing how fledgling and law-abiding attorney Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) transforms into the amoral lawyer Saul Goodman, is still worth watching as it stands firmly on its own two feet.

The last instalment finished on a cliff-hanger, and in season three we can finally expect to see Saul Goodman emerge. Fans will be thrilled to discover more about Breaking Bad villain Gus Fring’s backstory, plus there is the promise of a couple more familiar characters dropping in as we edge closer to the narrative terrain of Breaking Bad. Premieres 10 April on AMC.

The Handmaid's Tale
Topping Amazon’s bestseller chart earlier this year alongside dystopian classics 1984 and It Can't Happen Here, Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel tells of life in Gilead, a totalitarian society facing environmental disasters and a plunging birth-rate, ruled by twisted fundamentalism and militarised misogyny.

Atwood’s chilling yarn has been adapted for the small screen by Hulu and sees Mad Men’s Elisabeth Moss star as one of a caste of women forced into sexual servitude for the country’s leaders, as a last attempt to repopulate the world. Expect paranoia, bizarre rituals and brutal violence. Premieres 26 April on Hulu.

Las Chicas del Cable
Spain’s national telephone company opens its headquarters in Madrid during the Roaring ‘20s and in the only place that represents progress and modernity for women at the time, hundreds queue up to get a job as a ‘cable girl’. A romantic drama set around the lives of four women from very different backgrounds working as cable operators, Las Chicas del Cable is Netflix’s first original series from Spain.

The sleek trailer caught our attention, and having already been confirmed for a second season, here’s hoping Cable Girls has the story – as well as the style – to keep us engaged.

Fargo
Ewan McGregor stars twice as rival siblings in the third season of the TV adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ 1996 black comedy. Set in 2010, the latest instalment centres on Emmit Stussy, ‘the Parking Lot King of Minnesota’, and his younger brother Ray, a pot-bellied parole officer with a huge chip on his shoulder. Their rivalry follows a path that begins with theft but leads to mobsters and murder – as things often do in that part of the world.

Although season one was a masterpiece in itself, a terrifically bloody closing act in season two and storyline that relied less on the original film brought an end to any debate about which was better – but it will take an altogether stellar turn from the new cast and a script that truly is stranger than fiction to build on that success. Premieres 19 April on FX.

American Gods
Neil Gaiman’s bestselling novel gets the Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) treatment in a series starring Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon and Ian McShane playing the mysterious Mr Wednesday. Shadow Moon finds himself in a world where magic is real, and where the Old Norse Gods fear both irrelevance and the growing power of the New Gods, like Technology and Media. A bloody war ensues.

Those who love the award-winning book will be hoping the production can deliver – but with Gaiman himself on exec producer duties, fans should keep the faith. Premieres 30 April on Starz.

Veep
Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns for a sixth season of satire as ex-Veep and former Potus Selina Meyer and we’ve been wondering what she’s been up to since she was ousting from the Oval Office, letting go of the presidency and most of her staff. The loss, she says, gave her a chance to ‘reacquaint herself with an old friend… by the name of Selina Meyer.’

So how will Selina fare as a civilian – and what will she do to remain relevant and get her legacy in order? More importantly, can the return of Veep make US politics funny again? Thankfully, the crack cast of oddballs are back to help her, including Selina’s personal aide Gary Walsh who is still right behind her (or pushed out in front when walking through a refugee camp surrounded by landmines). Premieres 16 April on HBO
Veep (Credit: Credit: HBO)
Veep
Julia Louis-Dreyfus returns for a sixth season of satire as ex-Veep and former Potus Selina Meyer and we’ve been wondering what she’s been up to since she was ousting from the Oval Office, letting go of the presidency and most of her staff. The loss, she says, gave her a chance to ‘reacquaint herself with an old friend… by the name of Selina Meyer.’

So how will Selina fare as a civilian – and what will she do to remain relevant and get her legacy in order? More importantly, can the return of Veep make US politics funny again? Thankfully, the crack cast of oddballs are back to help her, including Selina’s personal aide Gary Walsh who is still right behind her (or pushed out in front when walking through a refugee camp surrounded by landmines). Premieres 16 April on HBO.
Dear White People (Credit: Credit: Netflix)

Dear White People
It’s been three years since Justin Simeon’s crowd-funded film Dear White People gave us a provocative satire of race relations at a predominantly white Ivy league college during the Obama era. While an excellent film, by the closing credits it felt there was much more to explore with the characters than the two-hour runtime could deliver – happily, a TV adaptation of 10 episodes picks up where the film left off.

Following the release of a ‘save the date’ trailer for the Netflix adaptation with Simien at the helm, the writer-director wrote a heartfelt essay responding to the backlash online from people who take exception to the show’s name and brutal honesty. If you missed the film back in 2014, then this should be essential viewing. Premieres 28 April on Netflix.
The Leftovers (Credit: Credit: HBO)
The Leftovers
One of TV's most underrated shows, The Leftovers is returning for a third and final season. Based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the same name, the series follows Justin Theroux as Kevin Garvey, a father of two and the chief of police, in the aftermath of an event in which 140 million people disappear without explanation.

Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof’s mystery also stars Christopher Eccleston, Carrie Coon and most the main cast from the critically-acclaimed second series are back – which sees the characters relocated to Australia. The end is coming to this end of the world, so spend your time wisely and don’t miss this swansong. Premieres 16 April on HBO
Casting JonBenet (Credit: Credit: Netflix)
Casting JonBenet
new kind of experimental documentary by Australian director Kitty Green explores why the US is still haunted by the unsolved death of six-year-old beauty pageant queen JonBenét Ramsey. Twenty years after JonBenét was found murdered in her Colorado home, Green has created a hybrid documentary, by filming auditions with actors and non-professionals trying out for roles of the Ramsey family members.

With the locals familiar with the case professing their own theories of what really happened, the mix of fiction and non-fiction around the tiny starlet’s death doesn’t search for a definitive truth. When the truth is unknowable, it seems all that’s left is our compulsion to fill in the blanks. Premieres 28 April on Netflix


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Nigerians Lose Job As Ecobank Shuts Down 74 Branches

Ecobank Nigeria has shut down about 74 of its 479 branches. The bank says it will deploy staff from the merged branches to other projects but failed to touch on reports that the bank had terminated the appointment of about 50 top personnel staff.  A statement by the bank reaffirmed its commitment to digital transformation, which would enable customers carry out banking activities online, thereby reducing the need to visit physical locations. Charles Kie, the managing director, said the bank hopes to shift its activities to digital channels and improve customers’ experience at reduced cost. This, he said, also supports the bank’s financial inclusion strategy and the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.   Kie said the bank has enhanced its retail internet banking platform with the Ecobank mobile app that enables customers to do instant payments; open accounts, as well as do instant transfers across 33 countries in Africa. “After a detailed analysis of the physical network of b

Burna Boy, Endia, Yung L, Eva & Sarkodie – Shuga Prod by chopsticx

Have a spoon fool of shuga it goes down well