CAPITAL Starring Toby Jones, Rachael Stirling, Adeel Akhtar And Lesley Sharp Added To Acorn TV Slate This August

‘A complicated and brilliant portrait of London life’ –The Guardian

‘The cast is brilliant…Feels real in the portrayal of its characters…a series that truly gets it’ –Evening Standard

Based on John Lanchester’s hit novel and featuring an all-star cast, this BBC miniseries takes place in the fictional South London street, Pepys Road, right in the heart of London’s melting-pot.  The residents include wealthy couple Roger and Arabella played by Toby Jones (Captain America) and Rachael Stirling (Detectorists), elderly widow Petunia (Gemma Jones, Gentleman Jack) and her daughter Mary (Lesley Sharp – Scott and Bailey), corner shop keeper Ahmed (Adeel Akhtar, Four Lions) and his family, and Quentina (Wunmi Mosaku, Luther), an asylum seeker facing deportation.  When they all receive identical postcards bearing the message “We want what you have”, how will they react?

Monday 3rd August
BALTHAZAR SERIES 2
EXCLUSIVE UK PREMIERE

“A thrilling ride...not one you’ll want to miss” –Decider “Brilliant and handsome...A huge hit in France”–Daily Mail
Tomer Sisley (Messiah, We’re the Millers), returns as the handsome, intelligent and quick-witted forensic pathologist Raphaël Balthazar, for a second gripping series of the critically acclaimed hit French drama.
Solving crimes in an unconventional way that causes tension with his no-nonsense police commander Hélène Bach (Hélène de Fougerolles, Le Secret d’Elise), Balthazar’s extraordinary ability to ‘speak’ to the murder victims means he’s always one step ahead, but there’s a case he still can’t crack: the murder of his beloved wife 13 years ago. Now expanded to ten thrilling episodes, Series Two sees Balthazar face some his most complex cases yet, including a deranged killer who dresses his victims up as fairy tale characters, and a psychiatric hospital patient that just may push Balthazar to lose his grip on reality...

Monday 10th August
FINDING JOY SERIES 1

“Well worth checking out” ★★★★ –Heat Magazine

Amy Huberman (Striking Out, Cold Feet) writes and stars alongside Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Living With Yourself) and Jenny Rainsford (Fleabag) in this hilarious six-part comedy series that follows the trials and tribulations of a journalist turned accidental superstar vlogger.

Joy may have just broken up with her long-term boyfriend, Aidan (Lochlann O'Mearain, Vikings), and her best friend is busy having a baby, but she's totally fine...no matter what her dog, Canine Aidan (Peter McDonald, Moone Boy, Dublin Murders), thinks. Joy is perfectly happy with her secluded and orderly existence as a back-room news editor. That is until her quiet life is turned upside down as she is summoned to step into the position of the media corporation's sexy and adventurous lifestyle guru and Ireland's most beloved vlogger, Flora the Happy Hunter (Laura Whitmore, Love Island presenter). Joy is catapulted headlong into the unknown and unwelcome world of social media stardom.

The Exclusive UK Premiere of Series 2 is coming to Acorn TV later this year.

Monday 17th August
THE RESTAURANT SERIES 2

“As brave, bold and ambitious as they come” – Drama Quarterly
This award-winning Swedish drama, described, as the next Downton Abbey, returns for a second mesmerising series. This epic ensemble period piece, begins at the end of WWII and runs across two decades, following the ever-changing lives of the Löwander family and their renowned restaurant. Season two spans a decade
beginning in 1955, as new faces and old must face new challenges. Starring Suzanne Reuter, Mattias Nordkvist and Adam Lundgren.

Monday 24th August
FAMILY BUSINESS SERIES 1 EXCLUSIVE UK PREMIERE
This award-winning French series follows mother and daughter Astrid (Catherine Marchal) and Aubrey (Ophélia Kolb), two hot shot lawyers who make the perilous decision to work together. As they set up their legal firm specialising in family law, the harsh realities soon set in. From their wide- ranging clients, to their own delicate working partnership, they must face the complexities of relationships. Each case they tackle presents a new challenge, from a divorcing couple fighting over custody of their bulldog, to shady fertility trade dealings and everything in between.

FULL SCHEDULE AUGUST

Monday 3rd August
Balthazar Series 2 (Complete 1 & 2 Box set now available)
Tomer Sisley (Messiah, We’re The Millers), returns as the brilliant, handsome, forensic pathologist who can ‘speak’ with the dead to solve their murders. This second gripping series of the critically acclaimed hit French drama sees Balthazar face some his most complex cases yet, including a deranged killer who dresses his victims up as fairy tale characters, and a psychiatric hospital patient, that just may push Balthazar to lose his grip on reality...

Party Tricks – Complete Series (Box Set)
"Sizzle and substance...scripts bubble with energy" – The Sydney Morning Herald
Part political drama part rom-com, this Australian series follows Kate Ballard (Asher Keddie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), a politician confidently facing her first election for State Premier...until the opposition announces a shock new candidate: David McLeod (Roger Corser, The Heart Guy, Home and Away), who she had a secret tumultuous affair with several years ago. Are they destined to be together?

The Poison Tree (Box Set)
Adapted from Erin Kelly's psychological thriller this gripping ITV miniseries stars Downton Abbey’s Matthew Goode and The Witcher’s MyAnna Buring. When convicted murderer Rex is released from prison after a 12-year stretch, for a crime he didn’t commit, he joins his wife Karen and their daughter as they relocate to try and escape their troubled past. But all is not what it seems, the pair are guarding dark secrets...could Rex’s sister Biba (Ophelia Lovibond, W1A) still be alive and who really committed the crimes that ruined their lives?

Monday 10th August
Finding Joy Series 1 (Streaming Exclusive) (Box Set)
Amy Huberman (Striking Out, Cold Feet) writes and stars alongside Aisling Bea (This Way Up, Living with Yourself) and Jenny Rainsford (Fleabag) in this, hilarious six-part comedy series that follows the trials and tribulations of a journalist turned accidental superstar vlogger.

Seesaw (Box set)
This 1998 three-part crime drama stars acting legend David Suchet (Poirot) and Geraldine James (Calendar Girls) as a couple struggling to return to normality when their daughter Hannah (Joanna Potts) is returned to them after a kidnapping, especially when Hannah reveals she is pregnant with the kidnapper's baby.

Monday 17th August
Missing (Box set)
In this British mystery thriller, Golden Globe® winner Joanne Froggatt (Downton Abbey, Liar) stars as Sybil Foster, a young runaway who has learned to survive by scamming unsuspecting men. But when one of her marks gets murdered, Sybil quickly becomes the police’s prime suspect. Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is her history of psychiatric problems coming back to haunt her?

The Restaurant Series 2 (Complete 1 & 2 Box set now available)
This award-winning Swedish drama, lauded as the next Downton Abbey, returns for a second mesmerising series. This epic ensemble period piece, begins at the end of WWII and runs across two decades, following the ever-changing lives of the Löwander family and their renowned restaurant. Season two spans a decade beginning in 1955, as as new faces and old must face new challenges. Starring Suzanne Reuter, Mattias Nordkvist and Adam Lundgren.

Monday 24th August
A Difficult Woman (Box Set)
This two-part miniseries thriller follows Anne Harriman (Caroline Goodall, Schindler’s List), a research pathologist at an international drugs company, who puts her career on hold to relentlessly pursue a killer into a shadowy criminal underworld rife with political intrigue, to avenge the death of her best friend.

Family Business Series 1 (Box Set)
EXCLUSIVE UK PREMIERE
Award-winning French series Family Business centres around mother and daughter team Astrid (Catherine Marchal) and Aubrey (Ophélia Kolb), who specialise in family law. Each case they must tackle presents a new challenge, from a divorcing couple fighting over custody of their bulldog, to shady fertility trade dealings, all while holding together their own delicate relationship at work.

The Worst Week of My Life Series 1 – 3 (Box Set)
Ben Miller (The Armstrong & Miller Show) and Sarah Alexander (Pennyworth) take centre stage as Howard and Mel, a couple whose wedding is a week away in this hilarious British sitcom...where everything that could go wrong, does. The comedy of errors continues in series two as the couple are a week away from the birth of their first baby, with series three The Worst Christmas of My Life following the family over the festive season, for a mishap filled three-part Christmas special.

31 August
Capital
"A complicated and brilliant portrait of London life" – The Guardian
Based on John Lanchester’s hit novel and featuring an all-star cast, this BBC miniseries takes place in the fictional South London street, Pepys Road, right in the heart of London’s melting-pot. The residents include wealthy couple Roger and Arabella played by Toby Jones (Captain America) and Rachael Stirling (Detectorists), elderly widow Petunia (Gemma Jones, Gentleman Jack) and her daughter Mary (Lesley Sharp – Scott and Bailey), corner shop keeper Ahmed (Adeel Akhtar, Four Lions) and his family, and Quentina (Wunmi Mosaku, Luther), an asylum seeker facing deportation. When they all receive identical postcards bearing the message “We want what you have”, how will they react?

Ain’t Misbehavin’ (Box Set)
Following their success of Soldier, Soldier, dynamic duo Robson and Jerome join forces once again, in this hilarious wartime musical comedy drama about two very different bandsmen. We join the charismatic pair Eddie (Jerome Flynn, Ripper Street, Game of Thrones) and Eric (Robson Green, Grantchester, Touching Evil), as they take on gangsters, search for romance with a bit of wheeling and dealing on the side, in Blitz-era London.

The Ballroom Boys
“A delightful documentary...four young boys from South Wales who dream of becoming dancers in a world where rugby remains king” – The Guardian

This fascinating documentary from Carla Wright follows the world of competitive ballroom where there’s a serious shortage of young male dancers, and hundreds of girls lining up for every boy. It follows four of these rare boys, from the South Wales Valleys, as they head towards the biggest competition of their dancing lives so far...the UK Championships in Bournemouth. In an area that’s rugby obsessed, it isn’t easy to go against the grain. There’s pressure from all sides from friends to family, will any of the boys decide their passion isn’t worth the stress?