David Farnor | On 30, Jun 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.

After month of reality TV series and music, BritBox is delving back into drama box sets this July, and serving up a bumper pack of Louis Theroux documentaries – but perhaps the most intriguing addition is the surprising exclusive acquisition of the rights to the BAFTA: Screenwriters’ Lectures, featuring Richard Curtis, Abi Morgan and more.

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

MotherFatherSon – 2nd July

An eight-part drama written by Tom Rob Smith and starring Richard Gere, Helen McCrory, Billy Howle, and Sarah Lancashire. Max (Richard Gere) owns one of the world’s most influential media empires. Information is his trade: he holds dark secrets and uses his power ruthlessly. His son Caden (Billy Howle) is the youngest ever editor of Max’s prized newspaper, The National Reporter. But Caden is crumbling under the pressure of his father’s expectations, numbing his pain with drugs and excess. When Caden suffers a massive stroke, he’s left like a helpless child, battling to rebuild his life.

BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lectures – 2nd July

The Screenwriters’ Lecture Series exists to celebrate screenwriters’ authorial contribution to film and gives esteemed writers a platform to share highlights and insights from their careers with an audience of film-lovers and their peers. July will feature the lectures from Richard Curtis (Blackadder, Vicar of Dibley), Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey, Belgravia) and Abi Morgan (The Hour), all of whom have written dramas available to stream in full on BritBox.

Made in Chelsea: Season 7 to 11 – 2nd July

In case the first six seasons arriving last month weren’t enough to give you your reality TV fix.

Call the Midwife: Season 1 to 8 – 2nd July

Inspired by the memoirs of Jennifer Worth, Call the Midwife follows the nurses, midwives and nuns from Nonnatus House, who visit the expectant mothers of Poplar, providing the poorest women with the best possible care. Call the Midwife was created and written by Heidi Thomas and stars Jenny Agutter, Judy Parfitt, Stephen McGann, Helen George and Laura Main among the ensemble cast.

Love/Hate: Season 1 to 5 – 9th July

An iconic crime series which delves deep into the heart of darkness that is Dublin’s gangland underworld. Starring Aidan Gillen, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Robert Sheehan and Ruth Negga.

Birdsong – 9th July

Eddie Redmayne and Clémence Poésy star as passionate lovers Stephen and Isabelle brought together by love and torn apart by the First World War, in this adaptation of Sebastian Faulks’ epic love story.

Murder on the Home Front – 16th July

A 90-minute murder mystery loosely based on the memoirs of Molly Lefebure who was secretary to the Home Office Pathologist and pioneer of modern forensics, Keith Simpson during World War II. Set during the London Blitz of 1940, the show sheds a different light on the everyday horrors of living in a city where death can visit at any moment. Starring Patrick Kennedy, Tamzin Merchant and Emerald Fennell.

Any Human Heart – 16th July

William Boyd’s best-selling novel has been adapted as a stunning mini-drama series with an all-star cast. Starring Jim Broadbent, Matthew Macfadyen and Sam Claflin as Logan at different ages, it is a compelling portrait of one person’s journey through history and the 20th Century.

Mr. Selfridge: Season 1 to 4 – 23rd July

In 1909 London, an American retail tycoon arrives at the unfashionable end of Oxford Street to jettison fusty British tradition and open one of the finest department stores the world has ever seen. Three-time Emmy® winner Jeremy Piven stars as Harry Gordon Selfridge, the flamboyant—and troubled—entrepreneur and showman seeking to provide London’s shoppers with the ultimate merchandise and the ultimate thrill. With Amanda Abbington and Katherine Kelly.

Burton & Taylor – 23rd July

Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West star as Hollywood’s most famously volatile couple. Burton & Taylor follows their private and public relationship played out against their ill-fated appearance in a revival of Noel Coward‘s Private Lives.

Gordon, Gino & Fred: Season 2 – 23rd July

This time Gordon Ramsay, Gino D’Acampo and Fred Sirieix are off on an American adventure. After the fun-filled success of their European tour, Gordon is keen to show Gino and Fred the culinary delights of his adopted home from home. For Gordon, the United States is at the forefront of cooking and produce; for him, it is the diversity of people and cultures that creates this unique melting pot. Gino and Fred remain to be convinced.

The Trouble with Maggie Cole – 30th July

Created and written by Mark Brotherhood and starring Dawn French, new comedy-drama The Trouble With Maggie Cole (previously known as Glass Houses) delves into what happens when idle gossip escalates out of control and starts to affect people’s lives. Set in a picturesque fishing village, the series centres on Maggie Cole, the self-appointed oracle of this close-knit community. Maggie makes it her business to know a little bit about everyone’s lives. She certainly doesn’t pay attention to the cautionary adage that ‘those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones’.

Louis Theroux Collection – 30th July

Over 40 episodes of Louis Theroux’s most captivating episodes including his Dark States series, Extreme Love series, When Louis Met series and Weird Weekends Season to 3.

 

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

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