#and Miri getting into high school shenanigans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

royalreef · 3 years

Text

@bestconqueror inquired: What could a barbarian with so little possibly gift the princess with so much? That was a question Dahlia had pondered on thoroughly in the days leading up to the holiday, and so dearly hoped she’d found the answer to in time.

Hanging from the handle of Miranda’s locker by a thread, thin and easy enough for the princess to break, was a small present, contained in bright wrapping decorated in a pattern of pink crocodiles... exceptionally light, as suggested by it’s meager support. Whatever was held within gave nothing away with it’s weight, nor did it’s contents jingle or shake as it was tilted.

Taped to the top of it was piece of canvas paper, with the drawing taking up most of it more than confirming who the gift was from- an all too familiar cobalt demoness, scrawled in Dahlia simplistic style that Miri had undoubtedly already become accustomed to from watching her best friend doodle; the cartoonish representation of her holding a finger to her lips in a “Shhh”ing gesture, as if about to share a secret. The text accompanying it confirmed the assumption, “Only open this in private, please” jotted down in Dahlia’s handwriting.

When the wrapping is eventually torn off (hopefully away from prying eyes), it’d reveal a blank, cardboard box beneath- a truly simple container for a gift meant for a princess, isn’t it? But for this, it serves it’s purpose.

As the lid is slipped away, the first thing that would’ve likely caught the merfolk’s eyes would be what lay onto- another one of Dahlia’s art pieces, this time featuring the big blue ox AND a certain pink croc (drawn to the best of her ability... she’s trying), the two of them smiling and... holding hands, pink & blue hearts scattered around them. No text accompanying the cutesy image.

Aside from that, the box appeared nearly empty, only containing a smaller piece of folded piece of parchment.. nothing shining or outwardly expensive, no jewels or gold or relics of hell’s past to speak of. In all respects, this offering seemed humble... but, big things can come from small packages.

Even just on outward inspection, the parchment was clearly of different make from what Dahlia had drawn on; not of canvas or line or any other simple school material... in fact, it didn’t seem to be paper at all, but instead a dried hide... the hide of a high demon, specifically. Such a thing was certainly not unheard for anyone versed in the goings-on of hell, but it would’ve been the first time Dahlia had ever presented it to anyone outside of the nine circles.

Unfolding the gruesome scroll, Miri would be met most abruptly by large, crimson text... ascribed in the jagged script of demon tongue, a language outsiders tended to call “Infernal”... lettering which, if the princess passed over it with her scaled hands, would let off a dim but distinct orange glow, and give off a warmth that would be all too familiar to her.

Not only was this signed in demon blood, but it was Dahlia’s own blood.

Which, even if Miranda could not read the Infernal text herself, would likely be enough to surmise what this was; Dahlia’s true name, and not the common one she and her clan took for ease of interaction with the other planes.

To a layman, such a thing would be meaningless piece of personal info, but to Dahlia and quite likely Miranda, it was clearly a sign of immense trust. A demon’s true name ties to their very essence, and gives those with the knowledge and the resources the ability to hold power of them. It can be used to summon or message them from across the planes, banish back to hell, and most commonly, bind them to one’s will.

Clan Aquino, and Taurus Demons as a whole, never engaged in such things- having such a disdain and repulsion to the idea of being bound that they scorn their true names, intent on abolishing the practice as a whole in their rewriting of hell’s practices... making this to quite possibly be the only written name of a Taurus Demon currently in existence.

This was no contract, no convoluted deal offering her service for the princess’s soul, just... just her name, shared freely. Something entirely unheard of in the history of the nine circles... offering one's whole self to another, in the truest sense.

Miranda didn’t need to investigate far to figure out who the dainty little package was from. As if her smell wasn’t written all over it already, so familiar to Miranda, calling to her with hellfire promise and all the sweetest memories that it represented. The doodle, taped down and showing Dahlia’s visage as penned by her own telltale hand, only confirmed that for Miranda, though even more questions than answers were left in its wake.

It was tiny. Light, dangling from her locker by but a thread that Miranda easily freed with her claws. Maybe to another, that would be a warning sign to a disappointing present - but this was Miranda. The norm was giant presents, extravagant gifts whenever a suitor wished to earn her favor or an enemy her mercy. Things traded amongst royals, grandiosity so extreme that it became trivial, trying to constantly one-up the last gift given, and growing less and less connected to reality as the price tag increased. A small gift, a light gift, was entirely out of the norm. Strange, new! And from Dahlia? Left all the more unanswered questions, odd unknowns, burning at the back of Miranda’s mind as she tucked the little gift into her arms, handling it delicately, keeping it safe.

Of course she heeded the written request. How couldn’t she? It made all the more questions swirl in her head, buzzing around with giddy delight. Waiting almost felt a part of the experience, the unknown, an odd feeling, but a welcome one. She couldn’t break Dahlia’s trust, not even for a minor thing like this. Especially not for the little things like this, given weight and contour by how constantly new the sensation felt, inadvertently stressed by how much she was supposed to be dealing with life-or-death moments.

And so she waited. Kept by her side, safe from those who might see the princess’s eye turned and figure that anything of hers would fetch a fortune, or those who pried anything they could to use against her. Kept safe from the shenanigans of the day, things which Miri was so used to, so familiar with what Spooky High regularly threw at her. Not even pondering the question of opening it until she had returned to her castle, held tight within the walls of her own bedchamber, the only possible witness being her darling Sprinkles.

There, Miranda lifted the label and set it aside, finally pulling away the fitting paper covered in rose crocodilians. To be greeted by a cardboard box that only intensified her curiosity as it could finally be satisfied, working it open with such delicate claws.

The art alone would’ve been enough. Heart fluttered in Miranda’s chest, picking up from typical languid pace, and there was nothing to be seen on her face other than admiration. Sure, Miranda was formally trained in her type of artwork, and sure, maybe someone with a far crueler soul wouldn’t have called the art good, especially in comparison to Miranda’s training - but, to Miri herself, it outshined all of the masterpieces in the Royal Palace itself.

Lifting up to admire it, a soft heat burning on her cheeks, smile turning them sore. It was Dahlia’s artwork. That alone was worth all the treasure Miranda had, but it was them. The two of them. Holding hands, surrounded by hearts, and Miri curled where she sat on her bed. Tail circling around, shoulders bending over as spine followed along the curve. So, so delicate, making sure not to damage the paper, but the closest thing to hugging around it she dared try. And it being mere artwork on paper didn’t stop Miranda from thumping her tail against her sheets. Her body unable to contain the delight, the warmth and the flow, the way her eyes softened and head went fuzzy and everything felt so right within just a single gesture.

It was a good thing she had opened this privately, for more than one reason.

Aside the artwork was set. Later, Miri would have to get a frame for it. Nothing too grand, as it would never be presented in the halls of her castle. No, it was far, far too important for that. Nowhere else to place it than in the place of highest pride, where Miri kept all of her finest gifts from her years at Spooky, somewhere that she would see every day and be reminded of the people out there who she loved, and be reminded that they loved her back.

For that, she had almost considered that all within the box, but Miranda was one to double-check, and double-check she did. A good thing, as her fins perked, noticing the folded... not parchment? It didn’t smell right for parchment. It smelled closer to leather - tanned hides and burned bodies, the clinging smell of sulfur.

Miranda, as it was, had dabbled in the dealings of demons before. Not personally, of course. Her attention was far too widespread for that, but the progress within the Hells was a part of the Merkingdom’s business, and thus, Miranda’s business. And she had seen prepared hide like this before, how flayed skin could be made into it. Several examples were still at her own disposal, within her private archives for such things.

But... Dahlia had never given her anything of that sort before. Miranda was fairly sure she hadn’t even seen her with any before, even with how fraught her memory could be. Curious as could be, down she reached, until her hand gripped the folded skin, and opened it up to read it.

Miranda had never learned Infernal. Of course, she could. If she really wanted to, she knew the tutors she could easily find for such a thing, and have entire classes worked out for her to become fully fluent. A few words she was familiar with, not much, and not even as much as some of the other languages she had an unsteady grasp on.

Yet, as her jaw went slack and she stared down at the text, thumb rubbing over it, that familiar heat simmering against the pad of her digit, there was no doubt what this was. Dahlia’s True Name.

Did... Did she know what she was doing? In a more generic sense. Did they know what they were doing? Miranda surely didn’t. She didn’t know the emotion in her chest that swelled up and over, broke over its banks and flooded until her eyes became teary and one hand lifted up to cover her mouth in shock. A deluge of a feeling so intense that it washed away any name she could try to pin to it, lost to seas of a fierce intensity that washed her out to sea before she could ever try to escape the riptide. Did Dahlia know that Miranda would feel that, the way a laugh broke free of her throat before she could chain it back in, a shake to her shoulders? A smile that hurt only in the very best of ways, a flurry of blue that turned across her scales and refused to leave? Did she know the name that eluded Miranda, of that broken dam that her body could no longer hold back?

True Names were something Miranda was familiar with. How couldn’t she? Her people -- and this was truly Miranda’s people, her dominion, her claim to power as a heir to the throne, the rightful inheritor of the seat of the Merkingdom’s command -- kept a list of their known True Names. Few demons gave them up willingly. Even to a kingdom as powerful and with so many souls and so much power to spare, most were clever enough to know that putting such a thing in their hands would only come back to bite them in the end.

But the Merkingdom had their methods, and she almost hurt, knowing what sat so sweetly in her palms, a gift, and what she had seen within some of the darkest prisons that the world had never witnessed.

Miranda had personally worked upon several rites which involved the invocation of True Names. What butchery they had been. What atrocities. Time had sharpened the blade of magical knowledge, the inner workings of such things, and Miranda had seen, had done, things of which any stray wizard or rogue necromancer could never envision, sitting alone. No one else to work their ideas off of, no one else who could refine and hone the butcher’s knife. And all taken so carefully, so gently, so that no one else would be the wiser. No magical ripples. No trace.

And there Dahlia’s True Name sat. Written in her own blood, held in Miranda’s hands. The Crown Princess of Abomination herself. Only considering how much then, how intensely she had to protect the gift, sweet and vulnerable and so, so trusting, that she had been willingly given.

Miranda didn’t need to check to know it was a first. Not just in the sensibilities of Taurus Demons, but in the Hells themselves. Her dearest friend. Her Best Friend. Her kiis’r.

The sheer weight of this amount of trust would’ve been enough to break Bellanda’s back, let alone the frailest of the four sisters.

All Miranda could do was pull the written Name to her chest. Press it against the scales that sat just above her heart, feel the hellfire heat that felt so much like her second pulse. And cry the hot, heavy tears of an emotion that burned so bright and pure that Miranda swore she had been scorched by the unfamiliarity of this kind of intimacy, this kind of love.

Sooner would the princess be executed as traitor to the Merkingdom than betray that trust.

#Glory and Gore || IC #Dreaded rumors || Asks #bestconqueror #I see the good in the bad and the ugly || Dahlia x Miranda ( bestconqueror )#long post #(( WHELP #(( dahlia accidentally kills miranda through the power of LOVE #(( later shes gonna jus #(( crawl into dahlia's lap and CLING and PURR AT MAX VOLUME #(( SHES HAVING THE EMOTIONS #(( HAVING SO MANY EMOTIONS #(( she loves her ox so so so much #(( is proud to be her crocodile

2 notes · View notes

romcomathon2016 · 6 years

Text

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (USA, 2008)

Predictions: We have both seen this movie before.

Plot: Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks are best friends and roommates who do NOT have their shit together. They are perpetually on the brink of having their utilities shut off. Somehow we are supposed to believe that Elizabeth Banks is as much of an uncool mess as Seth Rogen? OKAY, MOVIE. Anyway, they've been friends forever. They attend their high school reunion, where Seth Rogen meets Justin Long, their now-gay classmate Brandon Routh's boyfriend, who incidentally is extremely successful in gay porn. This, combined with accidental YouTube stardom, inspires Seth Rogen to suggest to Elizabeth Banks that the solution to their money problems is obviously to go into making porn. Of course! How did they not think of this sooner?!

Elizabeth Banks, despite some initial reluctance, gets on board. With the help of Seth Rogen's pal Craig Robinson and some other people, they put together an elaborate Star-Wars-themed porno. Blah blah blah, some shenanigans, blah blah blah, they wind up having to do a much less elaborate porno just in the coffeeshop where they work. (WHAT A FUCKING HEALTH CODE VIOLATION, BY THE WAY.) Long story short, Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks have sex for the porno, which they have agreed will not affect their friendship, but of course it does, because at this point they have both kind of caught feelings for each other. Those pesky feelings! They get in a fight/misunderstanding around each of them being jealous of the idea of the other sleeping with anyone else, because first Seth Rogen is too chicken to confess his feelings, and then Elizabeth Banks is too chicken to reciprocate his feelings once he does confess them, et cetera, et cetera. Seth Rogen gets a new job and place and moves out of the apartment he previously shared with Elizabeth Banks.

Some time passes. Seth Rogen's friends talk some sense into him, and he returns to said apartment to confess his love AGAIN. This time, Elizabeth Banks reciprocates, and they get together. They wed and take one another's names (charming, unlike most of the rest of this film) and live happily ever after as co-owners of a home-sex-tape company.

Best Scene: The scene where Seth Rogen meets Justin Long and gradually realizes that he is a gay porn star is actually incredibly funny. In fact, pretty much all of Justin Long's scenes in this movie were hilarious. He is a star. Of gay porn. And of this film.

Worst Scene: Ehhhh… Most of the scenes where they're actually shooting the terrible porno are a bit dull. Their dimwitted cast and crew don't, like, add that much to this film.

Best Line: Any time Seth Rogen referred to porn as "a re-imagining" and referenced The Wiz. It happened at least twice. Also, this exchange between Seth Rogen and Justin Long, in the aforementioned Best Scene: "You're not in my demographic, so I'm not insulted." "Not really. Who's your demographic?" "Do you love pussy?" "I do." "Then not you." A+++, we laughed.

Worst Line: Oh, who cares.

Highlights of the Watching Experience: Honestly, mostly we just find it so incredibly implausible a) that Elizabeth Banks was ever so uncool/unattractive as to be called names in high school, b) that she would be best friends with Seth Rogen, and c) that she would be broke. She just seems so...responsible. It's her ~vibe. You expect to see her, like, in class with Paris Geller. Getting steamrollered, sure, but still, she's in class, not smoking under the bleachers with Seth Rogen.

How Many POC in the Film: Craig Robinson. The Indian coffeeshop owner. And… *crickets*

Alternate Scenes: The thing about this movie is… Premise-wise, it like...almost speaks to us?? They're best friends! We are predisposed to want them to bang! And bang they do, and yet...there are so many things we would change about this film. Pretty much everything except the part about them being best friends who bang. Sigh.

Was the Poster Better or Worse than the Film: Worse, astonishingly. The poster features Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks, completely different people from different walks of life (we buy Elizabeth Banks's supposed schlubbiness even less on this poster than in the movie), thrown together suddenly to give each other head for money. This is basically the movie we watched, removing the one part of it we liked (their friendship). Cool cool cool cool cool.

Score: 3.5 out of 10 pornographic smooches. SIGH. It's… This movie… Just… The thing is, while we clearly don't particularly enjoy this film, as Seth Rogen romcoms go, it's actually...fairly palatable? (Ugh, what passes for palatable on this blog.) They seem to be good friends to each other, and while Seth Rogen's life is trash, his person is not completely trash, unlike in, say, Knocked Up. That is the best we can say about this movie. That and Elizabeth Banks's face, however implausible we find it in this setting. She is a treasure.

Ranking: 114, out of the 145 movies we've watched so far. THERE ARE THIRTY MOVIES WORSE THAN THIS SETH ROGEN PORN ROMCOM. WEEP WITH US, READERS.

#zack and miri make a porno #seth rogen #elizabeth banks #2008

17 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Best Returning British TV Series 2021: the Most Anticipated Series Coming Back This Year

https://ift.tt/3ohYR6W

There’s no getting around it; you’re going to see more of your TV than your friends and loved ones over the next few months. That being so, it’s lucky that there continues to be still so bloody much of the stuff, despite Covid-19’s best efforts to shut it all down. They might have been delayed, they might have been curtailed, but they weren’t stopped. Returning British TV shows are on their way. The horizon is filled with them, gambolling like lambs over the fields and into your living room.

There’s comedy and drama and crime thrillers arriving by the lorryload, and sci-fi and fantasy coming by the… much smaller lorryload. (More of a small van for returning British sci-fi and fantasy this year, but check out the new titles coming soon.)

We’ll keep this list updated as soon as more details are announced and release dates are confirmed.

A Discovery of Witches Season 2 (January 8th)

Based on Deborah Harkness’ All Souls trilogy about the forbidden love between a powerful witch and a centuries-old vampire, A Discovery Of Witches debuted on Sky in autumn 2018 (read our reviews here) and was renewed for series two and three almost straight away. The second run sees leads Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode (pictured) time-walking in Elizabethan England where they meet some famous faces of yore.

A Very English Scandal series 2

This one has yet to receive the official commission stamp, but it’s too good not to pass on a bit prematurely. Following on from the success of Russell T. Davies’ acclaimed three-part drama based on the real-life events of Lib Dem leader Jeremy Thorpe’s plot to have his lover Norman Scott murdered, the BBC plans to turn the ‘A Very English Scandal’ header into an anthology series following different true life events that rocked English society. As reported by Deadline in March 2020, Agatha Christie adapter extraordinaire Sarah Phelps is writing a three-part drama about a 1963 sex scandal involving the Duchess of Argyll, nicknamed ‘The Dirty Duchess.’

Back Season 2 (January)

Channel 4 has a second run of Simon Blackwell’s excellent sitcom Back on the way. The first series aired in autumn 2017 and was delayed while actor Robert Webb suffered an episode of ill health. The comedy reunites Peep Show’s David Mitchell and Webb as Stephen and Andrew, two erstwhile foster brothers whose neurotic rivalry boils up in the wake of Stephen’s father’s death. Louise Brealey also stars in the squirming, tragicomic delight. Stream the first series on All4 here.

Back To Life Season 2 (tbc)

Daisy Haggard and Laura Solon’s six part comedy-drama about a woman released from a lengthy prison sentence arrived in 2019 as one of a clutch of well-received original BBC shows. Haggard plays Miri, who returns to her childhood home and isn’t exactly welcomed back to the community with open arms, alongside Adeel Akhtar, Geraldine James, Liam Williams and more. It aired on Showtime over in the US, and will return for series two, which is currently being written.

Baptiste Season 2 (tbc)

Tcheky Karyo will return as grizzled French detective Julien Baptiste in a second series of the Williams Brothers’ Euro-set crime thriller. The character made his name on two series of The Missing, and earned his own BBC spin-off in spring 2019. (Read our spoiler-filled reviews here.) Series two sees Baptiste in Budapest on a search for the missing family of a British Ambassador, and co-stars Killing Eve‘s Fiona Shaw. Production on series two was halted in March 2020 because of the global spread of COVID-19, but got back up and running in the summer.

Breeders Season 2 (tbc)

Filming wrapped on the second series of Sky One parenting comedy Breeders just before Christmas 2020, so we can expect to see the new episodes later this year. The series, created by Simon Blackwell, Chris Addison and Martin Freeman, follows the child-based frustrations and catastrophes of Paul (Freeman) and Ally (Daisy Haggard), breaking taboos and punching you in the heart as it goes.

Britannia Season 3 (tbc)

Playwright Jez Butterworth and showrunner James Richardson first brought their trippy vision of warring Celts, mystical druids and invading Romans to Sky Atlantic in January 2018, and were quickly rewarded by a second series renewal. That run has already been and gone, leaving us awaiting the return of David Morrissey, Mackenzie Crook and co. for more bonkers ancient history, this time with added Sophie Okonedo!

Bulletproof: South Africa (January 20th)

After two hit series of crime drama Bulletproof on Sky One, police officers Bishop (Noel Clarke) and Pike (Ashley Walters) are back for a three-part special set in South Africa. The miniseries will see the crime-fighters’ attempt to relax on holiday scuppered when they become entangled with a dangerous kidnap plot.

Cobra Season 2 (tbc)

Robert Carlyle’s PM will return for another series of Sky One political thriller Cobra, written by The Tunnel and Strike: Cuckoo’s Calling‘s Ben Richards. The first series saw Carlyle’s character attempting to maintain power after solar flares took out Britain’s power grid and left the country in chaos as political factions vied for his position. What disaster will befall him in series two we don’t yet know…

Dead Pixels Season 2 (January)

Jon Brown’s gamer comedy debuted in March 2019 and was renewed four months later for series two. It stars Alexa Davies and Will Merrick as two die-hard MMORPG gamers (massive multiplayer online roleplay game, if you were wondering) and Charlotte Ritchie as their non-gaming flatmate. Here’s our interview with the creator on how other TV shows and films so often go wrong in their depiction of gaming and gamers.

Derry Girls Season 3 (tbc)

Lisa McGee’s terrific 90s-set Northern Irish comedy is set to return for a third series about the lives of secondary school students Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James. Filming was due to begin in June 2020, but Covid-19 disrupted that schedule so we’ll have to wait a little longer for this one. Set in the 1990s, Derry Girls is a coming-of-age nostalgia-flood with characters to love and jokes to spare, in which crushes and friendship fall-outs are dealt with in the same breath as dangerous political turmoil. Cracker.

Doctor Who Season 13 (tbc)

Thanks to Covid-19, we’re getting a shorter run of eight episodes for Doctor Who‘s next series, which is confirmed to welcome new companion Dan to the TARDIS. Played by comedian-actor John Bishop, Dan will join Yaz and the Doctor as they continue their travels after saying goodbye to Ryan and Graham in New Year special ‘Revolution of the Daleks.’

Endeavour Season 8 (tbc)

A three-episode seventh series of Russell Lewis’ Inspector Morse prequel aired in February 2020, taking Morse into a new decade, as he and the team investigated the discovery of a body on a canal path on New Year’s Day 1970 (read our spoiler-filled reviews here). Shaun Evans not only returned as the lead, but also directed his second instalment of the long-running crime prequel. Series eight was due to begin filming in summer 2020 but it was pushed back until 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Gangs of London Season 2 (tbc)

The body count was high in Sky Atlantic’s ultra-stylish, ultra-violent 2020 thriller Gangs of London, but enough characters made it all the way through for a second season to be commissioned. When it eventually arrives, expect more expertly choreographed fight scenes, more international crime family intrigue and more betrayal. Co-creator Gareth Evans and his fellow directors gave us a taste of what to expect from the new run here.

Gentleman Jack Season 2 (tbc)

Renewed even before series one had aired, Sally Wainwright’s Gentleman Jack arrived on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US with a bang. It stars Suranne Jones as real-life trail-blazing lesbian industrialist Anne Lister, with a cast including Sophie Rundle, Gemma Whelan and Rosie Cavaliero. It’s witty and dynamic, offering television a new 19th century hero at whom to marvel (here’s our episode one review). The eight-episode second series started filming in November 2020.

Ghosts Season 3 (tbc)

This tremendously fun comedy arrived in 2019 from the cast of Horrible Histories and Yonderland. Happily, it was renewed by the BBC for a third series, which guarantees us at least six more episodes of spectral shenanigans as Alison and Mike (alive) try to keep the ancestral family home going while dealing with an influx of housemates from history (dead). Speaking to Den of Geek in November 2020 about the terrific Christmas special, Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who plays Mike in the show, said they were hoping to film series three in spring 2021.

Guilt Season 2 (tbc)

BBC Scotland’s dark comedy-drama Guilt was a word-of-mouth hit that became an award-winning hit. Created by Neil Forsyth and starring Mark Bonnar, it was the story of two very different brothers attempting to cover up an unthinkable act. It’s currently available to watch on BBC iPlayer and will be joined by a second four-part series. Don’t get it confused with the US Amanda Knox series of the same name, which was cancelled.

Happy Valley Season 3 (tbc)

We’re cheating here because there is very little chance that 2021 will see the planned third and final series of Sally Wainwright’s excellent crime drama Happy Valley but it’s too good a drama not to include. The word seems to be that creator Wainwright and star Sarah Lancashire are keen to return for the final chapter in Sgt. Cawood’s story, but they’re waiting for young star Rhys Connah, who plays Cawood’s grandson Ryan, to get a bit older before tackling the story Wainwright wants to tell. Patience.

His Dark Materials Season 3 (tbc)

One final eight-episode season is on its way to BBC One and HBO to conclude this stunning adaptation of Philip Pullman’s book trilogy. Season three will tell the story of The Amber Spyglass, taking Lyra and Will to even more new worlds, where they’ll meet strange creatures and have to face a weighty choice. Pre-production began earlier in 2020, but the renewal announcement didn’t officially arrive until December. Here’s a taster of what we might expect to see.

Innocent Season 2 (tbc)

ITV’s Innocent was a four-part series about a miscarriage of justice that aired in May 2018. Its conclusion certainly didn’t call for a continuation so news of a second series renewal was a bit of a head-scratcher until it was revealed that creator Chris Lang (Unforgotten) was writing a whole new case and a whole new set of characters for the second run, now due to arrive this year.

Inside No. 9 Season 6 (tbc)

Knowing a good thing when it has one, BBC Two renewed Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith’s ingenious anthology series Inside No. 9 for a sixth and seventh series back in March. That means 12 new half-hour stories told with wit, originality and – every so often – a surprising amount of heart. Shearsmith Tweeted in November 2020 that the team were in rehearsals and planning to start filming on the new episodes imminently.

Killing Eve Season 4 (tbc)

Season four of mega-hit spy thriller Killing Eve was announced back before season three aired, so we know that it is coming, the question is: when? As the series films across various European locations, it’s been hit harder than many by the Covid-19 pandemic, and production was confirmed as being on an indefinite hiatus in October 2020, so don’t hold your breath for the usual April start date. As soon as things are up and running, we’ll let you know.

New British TV Series for 2021: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky Dramas and More

By Louisa Mellor

New British TV Series from 2020: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky Dramas and More

By Louisa Mellor

Line of Duty Season 6 (March)

Series five of Jed Mercurio’s hugely successful crime thriller concluded in May 2019, and, after a Covid-related five-month delay, filming wrapped on series six in November 2020. Line of Duty stars Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar as bent-copper-hunters AC-12, with each series welcoming a high-profile guest – previous series have welcomed Stephen Graham, Thandie Newton and Keeley Hawes, and this time around it’s Kelly Macdonald.

Man Like Mobeen Season 4 (tbc)

Announced on creator and star Guz Khan’s Instagram account in September 2020, as reported by Comedy.co.uk, hit BBC Three comedy Man Like Mobeen will return in 2021. Series three left fans on a serious cliffhanger that saw Mobeen doing time despite his best efforts to stay out of trouble and raise his younger sister. Catch up on BBC iPlayer here.

Marcella Season 3 (January)

ITV’s Marcella, co-created by The Killing’s Hans Rosenfeldt and starring Anna Friel, went out in a blaze of bonkers glory in 2018. Series two marked a turning point for the detective show, which went from domestic crime drama to full-blown comic-book spy thriller, complete with faked deaths, conspiracy, and secret investigative units. Series three has Marcella working undercover in a Belfast crime family. It’s already aired on Netflix around the world, and will finally arrive on ITV in January 2021.

McMafia Season 2 (tbc)

Starring James Norton as the conflicted British son of a Russian mob boss, McMafia was BBC One’s big, glamorous New Year drama for 2018. It was renewed for another eight episode season a good while back but updates on progress have been very thin on the ground since then Whenever it arrives, expect more double-crossing and high-stakes violence set against the backdrop of gangland London. Read our series one episode reviews here.

Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Season 4 (tbc)

A fishing show may seem like a strange choice for this list of mostly high-profile dramas and comedies, but Gone Fishing deserves as much celebration as any of them. That’s thanks to Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse’s natural chemistry as two long-time friends, both of whom have been forced to contemplate their mortality in recent years due to serious heart problems. It’s fishing, yes, but it’s also chat, silliness and genuine human warmth.

Motherland Season 3 (tbc)

Sharon Horgan, Holly Walsh and Helen Linehan’s parenting comedy Motherland will be back for a third series. Starring Anna Maxwell-Martin (Good Omens, Line Of Duty), Lucy Punch, Paul Ready and Diane Morgan, it’s a caustic look at the demands of modern parenting and life in your thirties and forties that you don’t even need to have kids to relate to/stare at in rapt horror.

Peaky Blinders Season 6 (tbc)

Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight’s BBC Two crime saga following the ascendancy of Birmingham’s Shelby family in post-World War One England, is set to return for two further series, which should, if all goes to plan, take us all the way up to the outbreak of World War II. Series five aired in late summer 2019 and here’s all the news we have on series six, which was sadly forced to suspend production in March due to the global spread of Covid-19. Filming is due to resume in January 2021, so fingers crossed we’ll get the new series later this year.

Sex Education Season 3 (tbc)

Season three of Netflix’s celebrated high school comedy-drama went into production in September 2020, so there’ll be a little wait until the new episodes arrive on the streaming service. The show has won such an adoring fandom over its two seasons that they’ll wait as long as it takes to continue the stories of Otis, Eric, Maeve and of course, Gillian Anderson’s masterful Jean.

Staged Season 2 (January 4th)

A lot of people tried their best to make new TV under lockdown conditions last year, and some fared better than others. At the top of the comedy pile is Staged, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen as exaggerated versions of themselves, rehearsing a play on Zoom with a host of big name guest stars and plenty of laughs courtesy of their other halves Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg.

Stath Lets Flats Season 3

We waited too long to hear that Channel 4 was doing the sensible thing and renewing Jamie Demetriou’s excellent Stath Lets Flats for a third series. During that wait, the show won three Baftas and even more fans, securing its reputation as one of the best comedies around. According to cast-member Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who plays reluctant letting agent Dean, the plan is to start filming in summer 2021, if everybody’s schedules can match up.

Taboo Season 2 (tbc)

From Steven Knight, creator of the excellent Peaky Blinders, in collaboration with star Tom Hardy, Taboo presents a very different vision of Regency England to the traditional Jane Austen world of assembly balls and etiquette faux pas. It’s about James Delaney, an almost invincible, little bit magic, highly mysterious thorn in the side of the East India Company. Series one aired in early 2017, and as of summer 2019, Knight had finished six of the eight scripts for the second series. Here’s what we know so far.

Taskmaster Season 11 (tbc)

Joining the Taskmaster and little Alex Horne for series ten of Taskmaster – its first series on Channel 4 – were Daisy May Cooper, Johnny Vegas, Katherine Parkinson, Mawaan Rizwan and Richard Herring. Then came a New Year treat featuring all-new one-off contestants. In 2021, we’re due a full new series starring Charlotte Ritchie, Jamali Maddix, Lee Mack, Mike Wozniak and Sarah Kendall, plus a champion of champions miniseries.

Temple Season 2 (tbc)

Adapted from Norwegian series Valkyrien, Temple is the story of an underground medical facility run by a desperate surgeon and his apocalypse-prepping colleague. It stars Mark Strong, Carice Van Houten and Daniel Mays, and debuted on Sky One in autumn 2019. The series two renewal was announced as the series one finale aired, and the new episodes are expected to air in summer 2021. Read more about the series here.

The Bay Season 2 (January)

Daragh Carville’s Morecambe-set crime thriller returns with a new case for Morven Christie’s DS Lisa Armstrong and co. this year. The first series dealt with the disappearance of a set of teenage twins and shady goings-on in a picture-perfect coastal town, earning it the title of ‘the new Broadchurch’. Here’s our episode one review.

The Capture Season 2 (tbc)

Ben Chanan’s BBC One thriller The Capture was a high-stakes crime drama that tackled the question of what truth and innocence mean when video evidence can be so easily manipulated in the modern age. It starred Strike‘s Holliday Grainger, and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them‘s Callum Turner, and was renewed for a second series in summer 2020.

The Crown Season 5 (tbc)

Olivia Colman took over from Clare Foy as HRH Elizabeth II in The Crown series three. The time jump saw Matt Smith replaced by Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip and Helena Bonham-Carter take the reins from Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret, with Gillian Anderson playing Margaret Thatcher. For season five, the palace welcomes Imelda Staunton (pictured) and Lesley Manville as the Windsor sisters.

The Last Kingdom Season 5 (tbc)

The Last Kingdom series five will adapt the next two books in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Stories series: Warriors of the Storm and The Flame Bearer. Starring Alexander Dreymon as Viking-raised-Saxon Uhtred of Bebbenberg, it’s an action-packed historical drama filled with wit and characters to love. Read our spoiler-filled episode reviews and more.

This Time With Alan Partridge Season 2 (tbc)

Filming concluded on the second run of This Time With Alan Partridge in December 2020, so there shouldn’t be too long a wait for the new episodes to arrive on BBC One. Series two sees Norwich broadcasting veteran Alan established as the co-presenter of fictional magazine chat show This Time, following his gaffes on-screen and off. Susannah Fielding co-stars.

Unforgotten Season 4 (tbc)

Cassie and Sunny (played by Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar) return for a fourth series of ITV’s excellent cold case crime drama Unforgotten. What makes Chris Lang’s detective series stand out is its empathy—for its characters, for the victims, and often, for the killers themselves. The new series will take another decades-old case as its starting point, and no doubt tell another engrossing, affecting story led by excellent performances from a cast including Susan Lynch and Sheila Hancock.

War of the Worlds Season 2 (tbc)

FOX UK sci-fi War of the Worlds was one of the first TV dramas to restart filming after the enforced Covid-19 lockdown (it helps when your show is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the population has been more or less destroyed), so even with all the effects-heavy post-production required, we can expect it to arrive this year. It uses H.G. Wells’ story more as a jumping-off point than a bible, and developed into a poised and atmospheric sci-fi for adults. Read more about it here.

World on Fire Season 2 (tbc)

To the delight of fans following series one’s tense cliff-hanger ending, Peter Bowker’s WWII drama following multiple interconnected stories from around the world during the war, was recommissioned in November 2019. The stories of Harry (Jonah Hauer-King), Kasia (Zofia Wichlacz) and Lois (Julia Brown) will continue in the second run, alongside those of Lois’ conscientious objector father Douglas (Sean Bean) and Harry’s ice-cold mother Robina (Lesley Manville).

Year of the Rabbit Season 2 (tbc)

Detective Rabbit returns! Matt Berry, Susan Wokoma and Freddie Fox will be back for more Victorian crime-based comedy in a second series of Channel 4’s acclaimed Year Of The Rabbit. C4’s Head of Comedy Fiona McDermott describes the show, which is co-written by Matt Berry with Veep and Black Books‘ Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil, as “glorious, gutsy and audacious”, and you won’t hear any disagreement from us. Series one is currently available to stream on All4, and the six new episodes are expected to arrive this year.

Also returning:

Brassic Season 3 (tbc) – Joseph Gilgun’s Sky One comedy returns for a third run.

Code 404 Season 2 (tbc)– Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays are back on Sky One in this very British comedy take on RoboCop.

Don’t Forget the Driver Season 2 (tbc) The brilliant Toby Jones returns in this heartfelt seaside comedy drama.

Feel Good Season 2 (tbc) – Mae Martin’s autobiographically inspired comedy returns to Channel 4.

Hitmen Season 2 (tbc) – Mel and Sue will be back on Sky One for more paid-assassin larks.

King Gary Season 2 – Gary King will be ruling the crescent once again in this BBC One comedy.

I Am… Season 2 (tbc) – The Channel 4 female-fronted anthology drama returns with Suranne Jones among the cast.

Intelligence Season 2 (tbc) – David Schwimmer and Nick Mohammed are back on Sky One for more tech-spy comedy.

State of the Union Season 2 (tbc) – Nick Hornby is creating two new characters who meet up weekly before their marriage counselling sessions for this BBC Two comedy-drama.

The Cockfields Season 2 (tbc) – This Gold original comedy starring Joe Wilkinson and Diane Morgan will return, but sadly, without comedian Bobby Ball, who passed away in 2020.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Best Returning British TV Series 2021: the Most Anticipated Series Coming Back This Year appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3rZ5TQ4

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

0 notes