Disney+ unveils slate of UK exclusives and originals
James R | On 23, Jun 2022
Disney+ has unveiled its slate of programming for the coming year, including a line-up of UK originals.
The seven UK series on the way include Wedding Season, a genre-busting action-thriller-romance about two people who shouldn’t be together but who can’t stay away from one another, and new comedy Extraordinary from the production company behind Killing Eve, tells the story of Jen, who lives in a world where everyone has a superpower… except her.
Ben Taylor (Sex Education, Catastrophe) joins as director and executive producer for episodes 1 and 2 of the new swashbuckling action and adventure series The Ballad of Renegade Nell from Sally Wainwright (Gentleman Jack, Happy Valley) and David Beckham will feature on Disney+ as he mentors a struggling young grassroots football side, in the docuseries Save Our Squad.
There’s also the darkly funny series Culprits, about the aftermath of a heist, featuring an ensemble cast including Gemma Arterton, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Niamh Algar, and Eddie Izzard and the new action-adventure series, Nautilus, starring Shazad Latif and Richard E Grant, that will tell the origin story of Jules Verne’s most iconic character, Captain Nemo. The Full Monty will also return as a brand-new limited series from the makers of the original British hit comedy film, almost 25 years on.
More titles set to premiere on the service in the UK & Ireland in 2022-23 include the psychological thriller The Patient starring Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleeson, Fleishman is in Trouble, based on the New York Times bestselling novel and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, Claire Danes, and Adam Brody; and Welcome to Chippendales starring Kumail Nanjiani.
The highly anticipated Welcome to Wrexham, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’ docuseries will arrive on Disney+ on 25th August with more exclusive series premiering over the next 12 months including Mike from the team behind I, Tonya, The Old Man starring Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, and Alia Shawkat and Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. Also joining the line-up over the next 12 months are new seasons of American Horror Stories (Season 2) and Reservation Dogs (Season 2).
New movies making their Disney+ debut this year include The Princess starring Joey King on 1st July, Not Okay on 29th July, Prey, an all-new entry in the Predator franchise on 5th August, and Rosaline, starring Kaitlyn Dever, later this year.
Here’s a full rundown of what’s on the way:
FX series
Welcome to Wrexham is a docuseries tracking the dreams and people of Wrexham as two Hollywood stars (Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds) take ownership of the town’s historic yet struggling football club.
The new drama series The Old Man will land exclusively on Disney+ in Autumn. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Thomas Perry, The Old Man stars Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Amy Brenneman, and Alia Shawkat and centres on Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges), who absconded from the CIA decades ago and has been living off the grid since. When an assassin arrives and tries to take Chase out, the old operative learns that to ensure his future, he now must reconcile his past.
Fleishman is in Trouble is adapted by Taffy Brodesser-Akner from her New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, starring Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan, Claire Danes, and Adam Brody, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks, Battle of the Sexes).
Disney+ will also be the home of the psychological thriller The Patient, about a therapist, Alan Strauss (Steve Carell), who is held prisoner by a patient, and Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson), who reveals himself to be a serial killer. The show is co-written by Executive Producers Joel Fields and Joe Weisberg (The Americans).
The adult animation Little Demon stars Aubrey Plaza as the voice of Laura, who, after being impregnated by Satan (voiced by Danny DeVito), is attempting to live an ordinary life in Delaware with her Antichrist daughter but is constantly thwarted by monstrous forces.
Disney TV Studios
The limited series Mike hails from showrunner Karin Gist, creator/screenwriter Steven Rogers and the team behind I, Tonya. Produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios, the show tells the story of the dynamic and controversial life of boxing icon Mike Tyson, starring Trevante Rhodes.
Produced by 20th Television are the romantic comedy series Maggie, starring Rebecca Rittenhouse, and Welcome to Chippendales, an eight-episode limited series starring Kumail Nanjiani, who plays Somen Steve Banerjee, the Indian-American entrepreneur who started Chippendales. Kumail Nanjiani and Robert Siegel (Pam & Tommy) serve as Executive Producers.
Co-created by Justin Roiland (Rick and Morty) and Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Star Trek: Lower Decks), the third season of Solar Opposites is on its way to Disney+ on 13th July and centres on a team of four aliens who are evenly split on whether Earth is awful or awesome. Korvo (Justin Roiland) and Yumyulack (Sean Giambrone) only see the pollution, crass consumerism, and human frailty, while Terry (Thomas Middleditch) and Jesse (Mary Mack) love TV, junk food, and fun stuff. In Season 3, this alien team strives to be less of a team and more of a family.
National Geographic
New series and documentaries from National Geographic include Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, Dance the World with Derek Hough, Extraordinary Birder with Christian Cooper, and Farming is Life with Indy Srinath. Plus, the new docuseries Science Fair: The Series, based on the Sundance Festival favourite and SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary, follows the agony and ecstasy of the beloved and brainy teenage subculture of competitive science.
20th Century Studios / Searchlight Pictures
In the coming months, Disney+ will welcome a number of movies launching exclusively, including 20th Century Studios’ The Princess on 1st July, starring Joey King as a beautiful, strong-willed princess who refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed, and is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. Searchlight Pictures’ Not Okay launches on 29th July, a satire that follows an aimless aspiring writer (Zoey Deutch) who fakes an Instagram-friendly trip to Paris in the hopes of boosting her social media clout but unwittingly falls into a lie bigger than she ever imagined. Plus, 20th Century Studios’ Prey arrives on 5th August, an all-new entry in the Predator franchise set in the Comanche Nation 300 years ago directed by Dan Trachtenberg (The Boys, 10 Cloverfield Lane).
Also confirmed as coming to Disney+ is Rosaline, a fresh comedic twist on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, with the classic love story now told from the perspective of Juliet’s cousin Rosaline, who also happens to be Romeo’s recent love interest. The film stars Kaitlyn Dever and is directed by Karen Maine.