EXPRESS from the UK, the eagerly awaited Death in Paradise spin-off Beyond Paradise launched on BritBox on February 24, with new episodes landing weekly throughout March. It follows the bumbling but brilliant DI Humphrey Goodman (Kris Marshall – My Family, Love Actually, Sanditon) and his fiancée, Martha (Sally Bretton – Not Going Out, The Office) as they relocate to the beautiful Devonshire coast.
A new adventure awaits in Martha’s hometown as she pursues her dream of running her own business, while Humphrey joins the local police – and must solve a host of baffling mysteries, from an entire family disappearing into thin air to a woman who claims she was attacked by a ghost. Beyond Paradise also stars Dylan Llewellyn, well known from his role as James in the hit series Derry Girls. Writer Tony Jordan describes the six-part BritBox Original as uplifting escapism that puts an English Riviera spin on the show people know and love.
Another must-watch highlight on BritBox from March 8 is the new four-part period drama The Confessions of Frannie Langton, a tragic love story with a murder mystery at its heart, based on the award-winning novel by Sara Collins. Adapted by the author from her award-winning novel of the same name and set against the dazzling opulence of Georgian London, The Confessions of Frannie Langton narrates Frannie’s journey from a Jamaican plantation to the grand Mayfair mansion of celebrated scientist George Benham and his beautiful wife, Madame Marguerite.
In a misguided and monstrous gesture, Frannie is gifted to Benham by the man who owns her, John Langton, and finds herself trapped in a deeply troubled household. As the plot twists, events take a fateful turn when the Benhams are found murdered in their beds and Frannie becomes the chief suspect.
Be sure to catch the female-led detective drama Karen Pirie (March 16), based on veteran crime writer Val McDermid’s cold case novels and shot on location in Scotland. DS Karen Pirie (Lauren Lyle – Outlander, Vigil) is a young and fearless Scottish investigator with a quick mouth and a tenacious desire for the truth. Following her promotion to Scotland’s Historic Cases Unit, she’s tasked with reopening the investigation into the murder of teenage barmaid Rosie Duff, now the subject of a provocative true crime podcast. Stabbed to death in 1995, suspicion fell on the three drunken students who discovered her body but, despite police suspicion, the boys were never charged.
Arriving 25 years later in the beautiful university town of St Andrew’s, Karen is determined to discover what happened that fateful night. However, when she uncovers flaws in the initial investigation, she soon finds herself in conflict with the officers who led the original hunt for Rosie’s killer.
Multi-award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn dons her iconic mac and hat to return on March 23 as the unorthodox but brilliantly perceptive Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope in the 12th season of Vera, new and exclusive to BritBox South Africa.
In each of the four self-contained crime stories, Vera and her team investigate complex cases, unravel mysteries and uncover secrets that sometimes stray a little too close to home. She may be unglamorous, but Vera faces the world with caustic wit, and what she lacks in charm she more than makes up for in wisdom and insight. Blethyn recently received the Rose d’Or Lifetime Achievement Award for her many iconic roles, including playing the title role in Vera, and all previous seasons are available to binge on BritBox.
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.
