David Farnor | On 27, Feb 2020

BritBox, the streaming service created by BBC and ITV, has officially gone live in the UK, as the public service broadcasters team up to take on Netflix.

The subscription VOD platform is slowly but surely adding more titles to its collection of British box sets centred on homegrown talent, and this month, ITV’s stakes in the platform are really starting to pay off, with the exclusive rights to White House Farm, Cold Feet, Endeavour and Grantchester. BritBox’s first Channel 4 drama, Babylon, also arrives on the service.

And, to top it off, BritBox celebrates 23 years of Midsomer Murders with specially curated collections highlighting the best, and most unusual, episodes from more than two decades in Britain’s most dangerous county – not to mention famous guest stars such as Henry Cavill, Hugh Bonneville and Olivia Colman.

Here’s what’s coming soon to BritBox in March 2020:

Exclusive: White House Farm – 14th March

A six-part factual drama, White House Farm, produced by New Pictures revolves around one fateful night in August 1985 when five members of the same family were murdered at an Essex farmhouse; Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons, Daniel and Nicholas, and her parents, Nevill and June Bamber.

The series provides fresh insight into this family tragedy and the contested accounts of what actually happened at White House Farm. Based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts including, ‘The Murders at White House Farm’ by Carol Ann Lee with additional material from ‘In Search of The Rainbow’s End’ by Colin Caffell, the husband of Sheila and father to Daniel and Nicholas Caffell.

Exclusive: Cold Feet: Season 9 – 19th March

The latest season of the BAFTA-winning comedy drama which follows five friends from Manchester, now in their fifties, through the ups and downs of life. Starring James Nesbitt, Hermione Norris, Robert Bathurst, Fay Ripley and John Thomson.

Exclusive: Midsomer Murders: Season 21, Episode 2 – 6th March

Straight from the ITV Hub comes the most recent episode from the world-renowned murder mystery series set in the idyllic Midsomer county. Inspector Barnaby and his young sergeant are back to work probing suspicious deaths in the community with a terrible crime rate.

Exclusive: Endeavour: Season 7 – 25th March

The stylish prequel to Colin Dexter’s Inspector Morse returns for its latest series. In the social upheaval of the 60s, a young Endeavour Morse hones his detective skills on the streets of Oxford. Watch him unravel the mysteries in complicated crimes beneath the city’s spires. Starring Shaun Evans.

Exclusive: Grantchester: Season 5 – 16th March

The latest season of the clerical crime drama set in the 1950s, focusing on Sidney Chambers, the vicar of a Cambridgeshire village named Grantchester. Together with the local detective, he tackles mysterious and violent crimes in the parish. Starring Tom Brittney, Robson Green, Al Weaver, Kacey Ainsworth, Tessa Peake-Jones, Lauren Carse and Jemma Redgrave.

The Worricker Trilogy (2013) – 5th March

Page Eight, Turks & Caicos, and Salting the Battlefield form The Worricker Trilogy – three gripping films following the exploits of the intensely private and scrupulous Worricker – from MI5 headquarters in London to exile on a Caribbean island to life on the run with his former lover and fellow agent Margot Tyrrell (Helena Bonham Carter). A spy who prefers the black-and-white certainties of the Cold War, Worricker (Bill Nighy) finds himself increasingly out of his element as the distinction between ally and enemy dissolves into the amorphous alliances of the 21st century. Other stars include Rachel Weisz, Michael Gambon, Tom Hughes, Ralph Fiennes, and Judy Davis.

Babylon (2014) – 5th March

Comedy drama written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong and directed by Oscar-winner, Danny Boyle. London’s police force – the oldest in the world – is in need of a public image revamp, and Chief Constable Richard Miller (James Nesbitt) has found just the woman to do it. Introducing Liz Garvey (Brit Marling) – an American visionary from the world of new media parachuted in to revolutionise the force’s PR department. In an age of rolling news, smartphones and an information-hungry public, Liz preaches transparency and honesty. But as an outbreak of violence erupts across London – and internal back-biting begins to simmer – Liz’s vision for the future of the world’s oldest police force faces its greatest test.

Shetland Season 5 (2019) – 20th March

Douglas Henshall returns as DI Jimmy Perez in the latest instalment of this acclaimed long-running crime series inspired by Ann Cleeves’ bestselling novels. When a severed human hand washes up on a Shetland beach, Perez and his team face a disturbing new investigation. The victim is identified as a young Nigerian man, spotted in Lerwick a few days before, but what was he doing on the island? As Perez edges closer to a sinister truth stretching far beyond Shetland’s shores, he finds himself drawn into a desperate search for a vulnerable young woman.

Baptiste (2019)

A spin-off of the critically acclaimed BBC One drama, The Missing. From Harry and Jack Williams comes Baptiste; a thrilling drama starring Tchéky Karyo as the insightful but stubborn investigator Julien Baptiste. When Julien and his wife move to Amsterdam, the Chief of Police (an old girlfriend) seeks him out for his questioning and persistent approach to crime solving. Baptiste rapidly becomes embroiled in a case that exposes layers of atrocity in the trade of sex, drugs and people themselves. For Julien Baptiste, the beautiful streets, canals and houses of Amsterdam hide dark and dangerous secrets. Starring Tchéky Karyo in the title role; also starring Tom Hollander and Jessica Raine.

 

A subscription to BritBox costs £5.99 a month, with titles available in HD.

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