The Night Manager
Every now and then a British mini-series breaks through the content barrier. Both AMC Networks and BBC have had a great track record with the Sundance TV/BBC co-production, The Honourable Woman (one of my favourite binge worthy shows of 2015) and now they have done it again with The Night Manager which will air on Tuesday April 19th on AMC in North America.
For some people this is old news since it aired in February on the BBC in the UK, but for us over the pond is brand new exciting content.
The show brings together Hugh Laurie (House) and Tom Hiddleston (better known as Loki in the Avengers and Thor movies). Both powerhouse actors who own their characters. Hiddleston plays Jonathan Pine, an ex-soldier who is known in the hotel business as "The Night Manager". Pine eventually gets recruited by British Intelligence to infiltrate an arms dealer named Richard Roper, played by Laurie.
With only 6 episodes, each running 1 hr, the series runs fast with little time to draw things out. Don't mistake this for the show not being deep in character or motivation. The storyline does provide enough backdrop, so that we as an audience believe each characters motivation.
Drawing over 10 Million viewers in the UK for the 1st episode it will be interesting to see how this translates on the zombie network (AMC). My fear is this series will get lost in the shuffle, but those in the know, will pick it up. With so much good content on TV and Online Networks this might be a tough one for North American audiences to commit to. But, if you do you will be rewarded with a tight story filled with spies, betrayal, corruption and revenge. Add in good storytelling and beautiful cinematography, The Night Manager delivers in 6 episodes what few series do in 22.
Reward yourself, watch the night manager, you deserve it!
HUMANS
Image: AMC
I am going out on a limb here and I have to say this is the best TV Show of the summer so far. It might even be the best of the year. The unfortunate part is that it is only 8 episodes.
Humans is a joint production with AMC (US), Channel 4 (UK), and Kudos(UK) and is based on a Swedish science fiction series called Real Humans.
The premise of the series is set in a parallel time to ours, with advanced robotic humanoid technology. The world is flooded with androids that are taking the place of human work both in the home and outside. These "Synths" have only one purpose; to take commands from their human owners and can do not harm. Except, there is a rogue group of Syths that have been programmed with emotion.
Even though the story is multi layered and deep it does not come across too complex. It posses a lot of questions as to the morality of humans when faced with machines that on one hand make their lives easier, but also threaten their livelihood and family bonds.
The plots weave together seamlessly and feature an amazing ensemble cast. Its dark, gritty and takes all the best parts of British filmmaking to cast you on a journey that leaves you wanting more. With each episode the story evolves and gets better each week.
The story is told from different perspectives featuring the following:
- A family that buys a Synth to help around the house. But, the working mother feels threatened that her role as "mom" is being taken over by a machine.
- A group of Synths that are separated and hunted because they are "special". They have been programmed with emotion and refuse to be slaves.
- One of the original Synth engineers who is now retired and refuses to give up his original Synth as the government tries to push on him a new fancy model to help take care of him.
- A Synth scientist and creator that has tremendous power and is hunting down the emotional synth to study and eliminate.
I promise i have not given anything away. Tune in to either AMC or Channel 4 on Sundays at 9pm to watch the best television has to offer.
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Go behind the scenes for a look at AMC's new originals series, HUMANS - a drama set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget is a synthetic human servant.
