In the dog days of summer, few can escape to a restored Italian villa like Acorn TV’s Signora Volpe, in which a former British spy settles in the Umbrian countryside for a quieter life. For most, our escape from the heat is jumping in the lake or plunging into a gripping new series (with our air conditioning or fan on, of course). Once you’ve caught up on new stealth hit Art Detectives, about the MET’s Heritage Crime Unit of cultural thefts (on Acorn TV), and had a second helping of Crave’s popular Quebecois original Inspirez, Expirez, these are the new scripted series worth watching.
Ballard
The Bosch television universe expands with this new series based on bestselling author Michael Connelly’s spinoff series about LAPD homicide detective Renée Ballard (introduced in the series finale of Bosch: Legacy). Divergent’s Maggie Q, 46, plays the homicide detective who has been demoted to the Hollywood graveyard shift as punishment for filing a complaint against a male fellow officer. As in the recent hit Dept. Q, she’s offered a second chance — setting up a new and underfunded cold case unit in the department’s basement with a colleague played by Courtney Taylor (Abbott Elementary) and a seasoned detective (John Carroll Lynch, 61, of Fargo) lured out of retirement. Connections to active investigations are as inevitable as cameos from her retired mentor, detective Bosch (Titus Welliver, 63).
Where to Watch: Streaming on Prime starting July 9 (10 episodes)
Dexter: Resurrection
Like Halloween’s Michael Myers, psychopaths never die – at least not in in the world of lucrative Hollywood IP. Now, after a middling prequel, spinoffs and sequels, the character-driven chiller is back. Nearly 20 years after Dexter’s debut, the revival centres on the Miami psychopath and blood-splatter analyst (Michael C. Hall, now 54) as he wakes up from a coma. In search of peace and anonymity, he relocates from Miami to New York, where his urges can better be channeled into a secretive murder society. David Zayas, 62, is also back as Batista, the homicide detective who was once his friend and may now be his nemesis, and a supporting cast that includes Peter Dinklage, Uma Thurman, Krysten Ritter, and Neil Patrick Harris.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Paramount+ Showtime starting July 11 (10 episodes)
Untamed
You’ll be forgiven for staying inside on a sunny day to watch this limited series, which for summer perhaps offers the best of both worlds – an intriguing mystery on screen that’s set in the spectacular great outdoors. The atmospheric murder mystery takes place against the grandeur (and danger) of Yosemite National Park’s vast wilderness, where Eric Bana, 56, is an investigative agent for the National Parks Service dispatched to solve a brutal death. With the advice of ex-wife (Rosemarie DeWitt, 53), he contends with chief park ranger Sam Neill (Jurassic Park, 77), rangers and renegade loners who orbit the park as well as the politics of the environment, unpredictable wildlife – and human visitors. Some scenes were set in Yosemite but for its look and feel the bulk of the series was actually shot in glorious British Columbia.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix starting July 17 (6 episodes)
Washington Black
Oscar nominee Sterling K. Brown (49, This Is Us, American Fiction) produces and stars in this long-awaited period adaptation of Esi Edugyan’s 2018 Giller Prize-winning historical adventure. Beginning in 1830 when George “Wash” Black is 11 years old, the Calgary-born Canadian author’s acclaimed coming-of-age story chronicles a gifted young artist’s journey of escape from slavery on a Barbados sugar plantation to eventual freedom and a new life in Nova Scotia (where the series was filmed in 2022). Initially, the perilous travels (and incredible globe-trotting scenery) include kindly steampunk engineer Titch (Lucifer’s Tom Ellis, 46); once finally in Halifax, Wash kindles romance with Tanna (Iola Evans), a mixed-race woman passing as white in order to safely marry merchant McGee (Edward Bluemel, My Lady Jane). His friendship with fellow refugee Medwin (Brown), now a community leader in the close-knit Black community, brings its own set of complications.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Disney+ starting July 23 (8 episodes)
Code of Silence
Rose Ayling-Ellis leads this BritBox Original as a deaf cafeteria worker who is recruited by DI Marsh (Andrew Buchan, 46) for a covert police surveillance operation because of her lipreading skills. The actress and disability activist, 30, has been deaf since birth and is a British Sign Language user. Her character becomes increasingly involved in the surveillance and plans to trap a violent criminal gang in a thriller being hailed as both gripping and groundbreaking in its authentic portrayals, with simultaneous release to streaming both in English and American Sign Language (ASL).
Where to Watch: Streaming on BritBox starting July 24 (6 episodes)
Leanne
We’re looking past Lena Dunham’s London ex-pat romcom Too Much (July 10) to this more mature sitcom about a “grandmama from Tennessee” forced to start over when her husband of 33 years leaves her for another woman. Comedian Leanne Morgan, 59, stars as the self-deprecating Gen X Southerner navigating the loyalty of adult children, divorce settlements, dating and hot flashes, with support from her sister and new roommate Carol (Kristen Johnston, 57, Third Rock from the Sun). Co-created with The Big Bang Theory super-producer Chuck Lorre, watch for guest stars and a cast rounded out by Tim Daly, 69, and the indomitable Celia Weston, 73.
Where to Watch: Streaming on Netflix starting July 31 (16 episodes)
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