James R | On 31, Jul 2020

Summer may be a time for navigating your way back into the outside, but Sky is serving up some compelling reasons to stay indoors. Three big hitters are on the way this August: Billie Piper’s long-awaited I Hate Suzie, new adult drama Little Birds, starring Juno Temple and Hugh Skinner, and HBO’s Lovecraft Country.

Don’t have Sky? You can stream all of the above live and on-demand through NOW, Sky’s contract-free VOD service, which costs £8.99 a month for an Entertainment Membership. For more information, click here.

Sky Cinema, meanwhile, boasts some of the most notable films of the past year, from box office smashes Joker and Jumanji: The Next Level to powerful, pertinent drama The Assistant.

Again, if you don’t have Sky, you can stream all of Sky Cinema live and on-demand through NOW, for £11.99 a month. For more information on that, click here. For sports, you can also sign up to NOW’s Sky Sports Pass on a contract-free basis. For more information, click here.

All of these you can stream in HD by adding a NOW Boost to your account, which costs an additional £3 a month. For more information, click here.

Here’s your guide to what’s coming soon in August 2020:
 

Entertainment

The Beverley Allitt Tapes (9pm, Sky Crime) – 2nd August

This three-part true crime series documents the 1991 case of Beverley Allitt – a young and unassuming nurse who was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three others, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six in the space of 59 days while working at the Grantham and Kesthevan Hospital in Lincolnshire in 1991. All episodes arrive at once as a box set.

Volcano (8pm, Sky Nature) – 2nd August

Volcanoes are the portal to the earth’s fiery magma heart; one might imagine that life above ground would avoid living nearby. But a surprising number of animals survive and thrive alongside them. Right now, in any 24-hour period, some 30 volcanoes are erupting on our planet. This film will uncover the varied activity – both human and natural – that occurs on the slopes of active volcanoes.

Exhibition on Screen (7pm, Sky Arts) – 3rd August

Sky Arts takes us inside and behind-the-scenes of prominent art exhibitions, beginning with David Hockney’s blockbuster exhibitions at the Royal Academy in 2012 and 2016, followed by a showcase of work by Edvard Munch.

Little Birds: Season 1 (9pm, Sky Atlantic) – 4th August

Playfully inspired by Anaïs Nin’s infamous collection of erotic short stories, Little Birds weaves tales of love and desire together with personal drama and political intrigue. This Sky original stars Juno Temple as troubled American debutante Lucy Savage alongside Yumna Marwan and Hugh Skinner. All episodes arrive at once as a box set.

Ancient Superstructures (9pm, Sky History) – 4th August

They are the most studied and scrutinised monuments in the world, and yet still they remain shrouded in mystery. This groundbreaking series takes a unique approach in delving into the engineering mysteries behind the world’s most famous ancient structures – by observing the from different perspectives of scale.

The Kingmaker (9pm, Sky Documentaries) – 8th August

An extraordinary look into the controversial political career of Imelda Marcos. As the former first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos is best known for her opulent lifestyle, but it was her behind-the-scenes influence of her husband’s presidency that rocketed her to the global political forefront. A journey through the Marcos family’s long history of corruption, extravagance and brutality, this documentary tells a cautionary tale of a powerful female leader whose questionable sense of reality divided a nation.

Equator (9pm, Sky Nature) – 9th August

The Equator is not only the line that divides the Earth in two; it is also the climatic and evolutionary powerhouse of the world. Here the pace of evolution quickens, where the sun burns at its most intense. The Equator covers only five percent of the Earth’s surface but is home to 50 percent of its animal and plant species. This remarkable series will take us to the most extreme and diverse locations on the planet.

Stockton on my Mind (9pm, Sky Documentaries) – 10th August

At age 26, on the same day Donald Trump was elected in 2016, Michael Tubbs became the first African American mayor of his beleaguered hometown of Stockton, California, as well as the youngest mayor of a major American city. This documentary from filmmaker Marc Levin follows Tubbs’ personal and political journey, exploring how growing up amid poverty and violence shaped his vision for innovative change.

Ancient Aliens: Season 12 (10pm, Sky History) – 11th August

From the age of the dinosaurs to ancient Egypt, from early cave drawings to continued mass sightings in the US, Ancient Aliens returns to give historic depth to the questions, speculations, provocative controversies, first-hand accounts and grounded theories surrounding this age old debate.

The DNA of Murder with Paul Holes: Season 1 (9pm, Sky Crime) – 13th August

Best known as being instrumental in identifying the suspect in the Golden State Killer case, Paul Holes is a scientist, a seasoned cold case investigator and a leading expert on unsolved murder cases. This series follows Paul as he dives into cases of violent crimes and examines the physical and emotional “DNA” left behind with his unique forensic and behavioural skillset.

We’re Here: Season 1 (9pm, Sky One) – 14th August

Entertaining, inspiring and serving plenty of realness, We’re Here is a new unscripted series featuring three of America’s top drag entertainers, Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara and Shangela Laquifa Wadley as they travel to small cities and towns across the country, transforming locals into fierce drag queens. All episodes arrive at once as a box set.

Outcry (9pm, Sky Crime) – 16th August

A five-part documentary series examining the gripping story of high school football star Greg Kelley and a quest for truth and justice.

The Longest War (9pm, Sky Documentaries) – 15th August

The Emmy and Peabody winning creators and executive producers of Homeland, Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon, team up with Emmy-winning director Greg Barker for this documentary feature, which unpacks the human stories and drama behind America’s involvement in Afghanistan, now the longest war in US history.

Lovecraft Country (2am/9pm, Sky Atlantic) – 17th August

Based on Matt Ruff ’s novel of the same name, HBO drama Lovecraft Country follows Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors) as he joins his friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett) and his Uncle George (Courtney B. Vance) on a road trip across 1950s Jim Crow America in search of his missing father (Michael Kenneth Williams). This begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white America and the terrifying ancient monsters ripped from the twisted mind of H.P Lovecraft. Episodes are simulcast with their US broadcast every week.

A.P. Bio: Season 2 (9.30pm, Sky Comedy) – 17th August

School is back in session in the second season of the flat-out funny comedy – recently renewed for a third season by popular demand – as Glenn Howerton and Patton Oswalt return as slightly sociopathic philosophy teacher and his long-suffering principal Durbin.

The Mark of a Killer: Season 2 (9pm, Sky Crime) – 18th August

Mark of a killer returns to examine some of the most disturbing serial killer cases and the heinous acts they committed before capture.

A League of Their Own: Season 15 (9pm, Sky One) – 20th August

The League of Their Own boys are back again – well, the ones who weren’t busy anyway – as Jamie Redknapp, Freddie Flintoff and Romesh Ranganathan take the helm for the fifteenth season of sports-based trivia, challenges and laughs.

I Hate Suzie (Sky Atlantic) – 27th August

Billie Piper stars in a bold, bracing, Sky original drama about the moment in life when the mask slips, asking if any of us can survive being well and truly ‘known’. Suzie Pickles (Piper), has her life upended when she is hacked and a photo of her emerges in an extremely compromising position. Episode by episode we follow her through the stages of shock, denial, fear, shame, bargaining, guilt, anger and acceptance as Suzie and her best friend and manager Naomi (Leila Farzad) try to hold her life, career and marriage to Cob (Daniel Ings) together.

Transhood – Date TBC

Filmed over five years in Kansas City, Transhood follows four transgender kids – beginning at ages 4, 7, 12, and 15 – as they redefine “coming of age.” As the cameras watch their lives unfold, dealing with typical growing pains like acne, sibling rivalry, parental divorce, crushes and breakups along the way, they unmask the intimate realities of how gender fluidity is re-shaping the family next door, especially in America’s heartland.

 

Sky Cinema

Joker – 7th August

Joaquin Phoenix portrays Arthur Fleck, a forgotten outcast on the bottom rung of Gotham’s increasingly fractured society with dreams of cracking the stand-up comedy circuit. But after one bad day, events unfold and escalate… and for the first time in his life the joke won’t be on him.

The Assistant – 8th August

Julia Garner gives a powerhouse performance in this searing critique of workplace harassment and systemic oppression.

The Man Who Killed Don Quixote – 9th August

This long-gestating labour of love for Terry Gilliam sees Adam Driver in the role of Toby, a cynical advertising director who is forced to return to the location of a film he shot in his idealistic youth which bore tragic repercussions. Encountering the film’s star, an outrageously deluded Spanish shoe-maker who believes himself to be Cervantes’ classic hero Don Quixote, Toby sets out to make amends and try fix the damage his film inadvertently caused the small Spanish village in which it was set.

Jumanji: The Next Level – 14th August

The gang is back, but the game has changed. When original player Spencer finds real life isn’t everything he hoped it would be, he is tempted back into Jumanji and the rest of his buddies reluctantly follow to try and save him – along with a couple of unexpected new players.

Zombieland: Double Tap – 21st August

Ten years after the cult hit Zombieland, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone are reunited for more comic mayhem that stretches from the White House all through the American heartland. If the zombies and the human survivors don’t sink their teeth into them, their own backbiting, snarky family unit will.

The Informer – 22nd August

Honorably discharged Special Ops soldier Pete Koslow’s (Joel Kinnaman) world is turned upsidedown when he is jailed after a fight to protect his wife. He’s given a chance for early release by becoming an informant for the and using his covert skills in an operation to take down The General, the most powerful crime boss in New York. But when the FBI sting meant to finally earn Koslow his freedom results in the death of an undercover NYPD cop, Koslow finds himself caught in the crossfire between the mob and the FBI.

Abominable – 28th August

A teenage girl and her friends leave Shanghai and embark on a crazy journey to reunite a magical yeti with his family.

Blue Story – 30th August

This powerful British drama about the conflict between rival gangs follows best friends Timmy (Stephen Odubola) and Marco (Micheal Ward), who go to the same high school in Peckham but live in neighbouring London boroughs. When Marco is attacked by one of Timmy’s primary school friends the two boys wind up on rival sides of a never-ending cycle of postcode gang war in which there are no winners.

Ready or Not – 29th August

New blushing bride Grace (Samara Weaving) joins her new husband’s rich, eccentric family for a get together at their estate, as they embark upon a time-honoured tradition: a game of hide and seek. However, there’s a deadly twist – Grace is the one hiding, and she needs to survive the night while the rest of the family hunt her down. There’s a theme of class warfare running through this extremely black and bloody satire, but you’ll be too busy either laughing out loud or peering through your fingers to pay it too much mind.

 

Other movies coming soon to Sky Cinema in August 2020:

1st August
StarDog and TurboCat

2nd August
A Guide to Second Date Sex

3rd August
The Fanatic

4th August
Waiting for Anya

5th August
We Summon the Darkness

10th August
My Friend the Dolphin

11th August
Hell on the Border

12th August
The Shed

13th August
The Kill Team

15th August
Go Fish

16th August
Ordinary Love

17th August
Behind You

18th August
Proximity

19th August
Run with the Hunted

23rd August
Swallow

24th August
Return to Oz (2019)

25th August
Kill Ben Lyk

26th August
The Final Wish

27th August
The Last Man (2019)

31st August
Snow White and the Red Shoes

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