THE best coverage of the annual Chelsea Flower Show has been packaged into 13 must-watch episodes and is now streaming exclusively on BritBox for your viewing pleasure. In 2022 the show returned to its usual slot for the first time in three years, with exquisite blooms, show-stopping gardens and beautiful floral displays in the Great Pavilion, where one of this year’s highlights is a horticultural tribute in honour of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Join a parade of entertaining hosts, gardening experts and celebrity guests, including actress Caroline Quentin, Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp, Sharleen Spiteri from the band Texas, plus actor John Hannah, and soak up some gardening inspiration.
Also new and exclusive to Britbox and streaming now, express from the UK, is Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration, a three-hour tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, celebrating a remarkable 70 years of service.
Celebrity guests such as Dame Helen Mirren, Damian Lewis, Tom Cruise, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Dame Joan Collins, Martin Clunes and Sir Mo Farah join an all-star cast of British and international talent in a theatrical arena event that includes 1 300 performers and 500 horses. This celebratory spectacle will take viewers on an entertaining gallop through history in four acts, from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I through to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, culminating in a grand finale.
In other news, BritBox turns up the thermometer on winter thrills this month, with new and exclusive counter-terrorism series Trigger Point, plus three fresh-out-of-the-box PD James crime stories and spine-tingling new suburban thriller Hollington Drive.
Line of Duty’s Vicky McClure teams up again with executive producer Jed Mercurio for the knife-edge thriller Trigger Point (July 14), in which she plays a bomb disposal operative tasked with thwarting a counter-terrorism plot in London. Don’t forget you can also binge all six seasons of the excellent Line of Duty on BritBox.
Fans of Inspector Dalgliesh will be champing at the bit to binge three two-part Dalgliesh mysteries based on James’s acclaimed crime novels, starring Bertie Carvel, who can also be seen in the psychological thriller The Sister on BritBox. From July 21.
Another new crime drama, Hollington Drive (July 7), transports us to seemingly idyllic suburbia where two sisters live side by side – but soon find their lives torn apart when a 10-year-old boy goes missing and dark secrets begin to emerge. Featuring an outstanding performance by BAFTA-nominated actress Anna Maxwell Martin (Bleak House, Death Comes to Pemberley – also on BritBox).
Still craving yet more thrills and chills? Check out riveting real-life crime drama The Secret, which follows a couple (James Nesbitt and Genevieve O’Reilly) who embark on an affair and enter into a sinister murder pact, from July 28. This Northern Irish production was nominated for a BAFTA for best mini-series.
Fancy an inside look at where the world’s rich and famous go to shop? Sit back and embark on a journey into excess with the documentary series Billion Pound Bond Street, in which retailers on Europe’s most exclusive shopping street pull out all the stops to woo customers to splash out on luxury items. From July 28.
The BritBox app is available on Android TV, including enabled Smart TVs, Google Chromecast with GoogleTV, Nvidia Shield, MiBox and MiStick, plus Android and Apple mobile/tablets, FireTV, Samsung Smart TV and LG Smart TV. Enjoy one week’s free trial, sign up at R99.99 per month or R999.99 for 12 months, and register for email updates here.
