Paris Has Fallen
From Friday, November 1st, Prime Video
The Has Fallen series of political thriller films – Olympus Has Fallen, London Has Fallen and Angel Has Fallen – starred Gerard Butler and Morgan Freeman. This TV series, the latest in the franchise, stars Sean Harris as Jacob Pearce, the ruthless leader of a terrorist organisation hell-bent on assassinating France’s interior minister. Harris channels his bad-guy role in Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation as he sets out his vengeful agenda in his trademark scratchy sneer. It’s up to protection officer Vincent Taleb (Tewfik Jallab) and MI6 agent Zara Taylor (Ritu Arya) to work together to stop Pearce before he reaches his target. But it’s not long before they learn that killing the politician is only the overture, and Pearce is planning a symphony of large-scale death and destruction.
The Old Man
From Wednesday, November 6th, Disney+
Jeff Bridges is back as the titular geriatric hero in another all-action adventure, this one set on very dangerous ground: Afghanistan. In series one, if you recall, Bridges’ former CIA operative, Dan Chase, had been living off grid in Vermont when an incident with an intruder put him back on the agency’s radar and turned him into a fugitive. In this second series Chase must deploy his very particular set of skills after his daughter Emily (Alia Shakwat) is kidnapped by a powerful Afghan warlord, Faraz Hamzad (Navid Negahban). Helping Dan on his rescue mission is former FBI man Harold Harper (John Lithgow), but there’s an added complication: Chase, Harper and Hamzad all claim Emily as their own daughter. Sounds like Mamma Mia! crossed with Taken.
Countdown: Paul vs Tyson
From Friday, November 8th, Netflix
Is this the heavyweight bout of the year or just another example of boxing’s transformation into circus sideshow? In one corner is the boxing legend Mike Tyson, returning to the ring at 58 for his first professional fight since he retired, in 2005. In the other corner is the YouTube star Jake Paul, who made his debut in the ring in 2020 but so far has only had to wear kid gloves against a series of MMA fighters. This documentary series follows the preparations for the big fight on November 15th, but, in taking on Tyson, has Paul bitten off more than he can chew? The series also brings us inside the build-up to another hugely anticipated clash due to take place on November 15th – one we can take seriously: the career-defining rematch between the undisputed super-lightweight champion Katie Taylor and the unified featherweight champion Amanda Serrano.
Bad Sisters
From Wednesday, November 13th, Apple TV+
You couldn’t not have a second series of this deliciously wicked black comedy, so welcome back the Garvey sisters, Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka, played once again to perfection by Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson. In the first series the sisters came under suspicion following the unexpected death of Grace’s abusive and controlling husband, John Paul, aka the Prick. Two years later the sisters are getting on with their lives, but if they think they’re home and dry they’ve another think coming, as nosy church lady Angelica, played by Fiona Shaw, is giving off serious I-know-what-you-did-last-summer vibes. Soon the Garda is putting two and two together and coming up with five prime sibling suspects, and the sisters are going to have to do it for themselves if they’re going to avoid becoming extras in Prisoner: Cell Block H.
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Say Nothing
From Thursday, November 14th, Disney+
There are several threads to this new series set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the early 1970s, and it will be interesting to see if the makers can pull it all together into a cohesive narrative. Based on the bestseller by the investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe, of the New Yorker magazine, it tells the story of the Price sisters, Dolours and Marian, who became key figures in the IRA, taking part in a bombing campaign in London, including the bombing of the Old Bailey in 1973. Dolours also claimed to be involved in the abduction and murder of the mother of 10 Jean McConville, an event that provides the harrowing opening for a series exploring the huge human cost of a code of silence, and how the violence of the past casts a long shadow on the present. Lola Pettigrew and Hazel Doupe play Dolours and Marian, with Maxine Peake as an older Dolours, Anthony Boyle as the IRA commander Brendan Hughes, and Josh Finan as Gerry Adams.
Cross
From Thursday, November 14th, Prime Video
We all know Alex Cross, the fiercely dedicated forensic detective from the bestselling series of crime novels by James Patterson. Now we’re going to get to know him even better in this new series starring Aldis Hodge as the iconic Washington, DC, investigator, and Isaiah Mustapha as Cross’s partner, John Sampson. As the series opens, Cross’s life has been upended by the murder of his wife, but he has to stay focused as he and Sampson hunt down a sick and sadistic serial killer who has struck in several parts of the US capital. When Cross learns that his two young children are in danger, suddenly the stakes are even higher.
Silo
From Friday, November 15th, Apple TV+
Rebecca Ferguson returns as Juliette in the second series of this dystopian sci-fi series based on the bestselling trilogy by Hugh Howey, and she’s still trying to unlock the mysteries of the world outside the silo. The last 10,000 people on Earth live in this underground bunker 100 storeys deep. They’ve been told that the surface is a toxic wasteland and that anyone who ventures outside will die immediately. But some suspect that the dead world relayed from the silo’s external cameras is fake, and when engineer Juliette finally steps outside she is shocked by what she finds. Tim Robbins returns as head of IT Bernard Holland, who keeps a tight grip on the silo and will have no talk of fresh air and lush vegetation outside. Juliette is presumed dead, but rebellion is beginning to stir, and Holland will have to find a way to crush dissent – quickly.
A Man on the Inside
From Thursday, November 21st, Netflix
Are you newly retired and feeling a little bored, in need of a new challenge? Why not become an undercover agent? It’s much more exciting than pottering about in the garden. Ted Danson stars as Charles in this new comedy series based on a true story, and possibly aimed at fans of Only Murders in the Building. Charles is in a bit of a retirement rut, and his daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) urges him to try new things, so he answers a private detective’s ad and is hired to do an unusual job: infiltrate a retirement home in San Francisco and track down a missing family heirloom. Charles must pose as a new arrival, and get to know all the residents and staff, but he soon finds himself getting a new appetite for life. The series is created by Mike Schur, the man behind Danson’s hit Netflix series The Good Place.
Cruel Intentions
From Thursday, November 21st, Prime Video
We remember the 1999 movie starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon – basically Dangerous Liaisons set in a posh high school in New York. Now comes the TV series, and the catty action moves to the elite Manchester College, near Washington, DC, where the sons and daughters of the rich and powerful learn the art of getting what they want, whatever the cost. Sarah Catherine Hook and Zac Burgess star as stepsiblings Caroline Merteuil and Lucien Belmont, who see the school as their playground and its students as their playthings. But when their position as top dogs in the social pack is threatened, they’ll have to take drastic action – seducing the US vice-president’s daughter. Dig out your old DVD of the movie just to get back in the merciless mood.
Senna
From Friday, November 29th, Netflix
He was feted as the fastest Formula 1 driver of all time, winning three world titles over a dazzling 10-year career that came to a tragic end during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, Italy, in 1994. This six-part series tells the story of the Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, tracking his rise to pole position in the world of F1, his rivalries and relationships, and what drove him to push the speedometer ever higher. Gabriel Leone stars as Senna, with a wide supporting cast portraying such real-life racing figures as Niki Lauda, Alain Prost and Rubens Barrichello. The story begins with Senna’s move to England to ignite his racing career. If the trailer is any indication, we’ll be right there in the cockpit with Senna as he pushes the envelope.
