M-NET 101 has one of its best slates for a long time this month. Sophomore seasons of Tulsa King (Mondays at 9pm), Accused (Tuesdays at 8pm) and The Responder (Tuesdays at 9pm) are already up and running; and season 24 of Law & Order begins tonight at 8pm.
In Tulsa King (from Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan), Sylvester Stallone (pictured above) plays Dwight “the General” Manfredi, an American Mafia capo who when recently released from prison in New York is sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he began to set up a criminal organisation.
Crime drama anthology Accused chronicles ordinary people, wherein each episode opens in a courtroom introducing the accused without knowing their crime or how they ended up on trial. The audience is then told the events that led them there from the defendant’s point of view.
In the excellent The Responder, Martin Freeman plays Chris Carson, a police officer in a fictional constabulary covering Liverpool, who has been demoted from his position as an inspector and undertakes a series of night shifts in the city centre. He is a conflicted and compromised man, with somewhat divided loyalties, a desire to do good, but with anger issues brought on by childhood trauma and exacerbated by his experience in the police.
Other highlights this month are:
- The Day Of The Jackal, Monday 13 January at 8pm (also on Showmax)
Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne dazzles, glides – and kills without a blink – in a retelling of the 1971 Frederick Forsyth novel of the same name. With the 86-year-old author serving as a consulting producer, The Day Of The Jackal is a “Bond-gone-bad-meets-villainous-Bourne-meets-cat and mouse-game” of epic proportions.
An elite sniper, a master of disguise and a highly trained killer, the Jackal (Redmayne) is an assassin, coldly carrying out hits for a fee. Following an attack on a high-profile and notorious politician, he’s offered his riskiest job yet – one that could pay him enough to leave his murderous career for good. But his work has attracted the attention of Bianca (Lashana Lynch), a tenacious British intelligence officer, whose world-class expertise in firearms makes her the ideal candidate to hunt him down.
- Killing It, Wednesday 15 January at 10pm (two seasons available on Showmax)
Craig Robinson plays a cash-strapped would-be entrepreneur who teams up with his Uber driver (Claudia O’Doherty) for a snake-hunting contest.
Boetie Boer, Thursday 16 January at 10pm (available on Showmax)
In 1997, a boy goes missing from an informal settlement in PE. When a suspect’s alibi doesn’t check out, he is questioned and confesses to more than just the boy’s murder.
- Recipes For Love & Murder, Thursday 23 January at 8pm
The story of Tannie Maria (Maria Doyle Kennedy), a cook and amateur detective, continues. In season two, a large fire engulfs the small town of Eden and a fateful chain of events is triggered and Tannie Maria, Jessie (Kylie Fisher) and Khaya (Tony Kgoroge) get dragged into a multiple murder investigation that unearths the town’s darkest secrets.
- Ghost, Thursday 23 January at 9pm
While Sam (Rose McIver) and the ghosts race to find him in season four, Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones) comes face to face with Puritan ghost Patience (Mary Holland) for the first time since she was lost in the dirt.
- The Equalizer, Friday 24 January at 7pm
McCall (Queen Latifah) races to rescue two siblings who run into trouble after stealing a grocery truck carrying firearms.
- Orlando Bloom: To the Edge, Saturday 25 January at 7pm
Actor and adventure lover Orlando Bloom sets out on a journey of self-discovery, challenging himself physically, mentally and spiritually through three extreme sports: wing suiting, free diving, and rock climbing.
- MasterChef Australia Dessert Masters season one, Sunday 26 January at 6pm
Some of the most exciting names in pastry, desserts and all things sweet and delicious will bring their elite skills to the competition as they contend to be Australia’s first Dessert Master.
- Matlock, Monday 27 January at 7pm
Emmy and Academy Award-winner Kathy Bates stars as Madeline “Matty” Matlock, a brilliant lawyer who uses her unassuming demeanour to win cases.
Matty is assigned to Olympia (Skye P Marshall), a senior attorney and key rainmaker with a thirst for justice, while Olympia’s ex-husband, Julian (Jason Ritter), the son of the head of the firm, is intrigued by Matty and the way she uses wily tactics to win cases and expose corruption from within. Matty works alongside the firm’s younger associates – the charismatic Billy (David del Rio) and the ultra-ambitious Sarah (Leah Lewis) – as she endeavours to establish herself in her new high-stakes world.
