James R | On 12, Feb 2019

Counterpart has been cancelled by STARZ after two seasons.

The sci-fi series, created by Justin Marks, is an espionage thriller about a mysterious world hidden beneath the surface of our everyday existence. J.K. Simmons stars as Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons), a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency, The Office of Interchange, where those who have high enough access safeguard a crossing into a parallel dimension not unlike our own. And if their world is like ours, who are we over there? Are we better? Are we different?

Season 1 and 2 chart the escalation of a cold war between the two worlds, with Howard living out the collision between two versions of himself. Simmons leads an impressive cast that includes Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), Harry Lloyd (The Theory of Everything) and Nicholas Pinnock (Marcella).

“The best TV show of 2018 you haven’t seen” is how we described the show in our five-star review of Season 1. That, alas, has turned out to be true. The two seasons were given a straight-to-series order by STARZ from producer MRC, but the programme has struggled to build a big audience, with an average of under 500,000 viewers in the USA. In the UK, the show is only available through streaming service STARZPLAY, which is available on Virgin Media and Amazon Prime Video Channels.

Now, as Season 2’s finale looms, STARZ has decided not to pick the programme up for a third season. The decision arrives as STARZ CEO Chris Albrecht steps down, as the cable broadcaster’s leadership is increasingly steered by Lionsgate. Indeed, more Lionsgate-produced content is on the cards for STARZ in the future, in contrast to Counterpart, which is licenced from an outside studio.

Marks announced the news on Twitter, saying it had been “an absolute dream”.

“We got to make exactly the show we wanted to … perfect cast, perfect crew on two continents … and we’re so grateful to our network for the time we had,” he said. “Thank you to everyone who made this journey so special for us. Your tweets, podcasts and intricate conspiracy theories have made it all worthwhile. Fingers crossed that our wonderful studio, MRC, can find a way to keep the dream alive!”

“Justin, Jordan, J.K. and the entire cast and crew delivered a beautifully executed series. It was a pleasure working with this team on two seasons of expert storytelling brought to life by best-in-class performances across the board,” Carmi Zlotnik, president of programming at STARZ, told THR.

You can still stream Season 1 and 2 on STARZPLAY, with the Season 2 finale arriving on Sunday 17th February.

 
Counterpart is available to watch online in the UK on STARZPLAY, a streaming service that costs £4.99 a month. The platform is available on Virgin Media On Demand or through Amazon Prime Video, both as an add-on subscription to your existing account.

 

Trailer: Counterpart returns for Season 2 this December

16th October 2018

Counterpart will return for a second season this December, and STARZPLAY has released a trailer giving us our first look.

Produced by MRC and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, Counterpart was created by Justin Marks (The Jungle Book) who also serves as executive producer. The reality-spanning drama is an espionage series about a mysterious world hidden beneath the surface of our everyday existence.

J.K. Simmons stars as Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons), a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency, The Office of Interchange, where those who have high enough access safeguard a crossing into a parallel dimension not unlike our own. And if their world is like ours, who are we over there? Are we better? Are we different? Season 2 finds Howard living out these questions, following the events of Season 1 – all while a cold war escalates between worlds, deepening a fickle divide.

Also returning in Season 2 are series regulars Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense), Harry Lloyd (The Theory of Everything), Nicholas Pinnock (Marcella), Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland) and Sara Serraiocco (Salvo). They are joined by new series regular Betty Gabriel (Get Out) as well as Emmy-winning actor James Cromwell (American Horror Story: Asylum) in a recurring role.

The show returns after a critically acclaimed first season, with 10 episodes ordered by Starz. The show will once again be released directly on STARZPLAY in the UK. The standalone streaming channel is available via Amazon Prime Video Channels, for a monthly subscription of £4.99. STARZPLAY offers Prime members who subscribe to the channel its growing selection of future STARZ Originals exclusively on the same day they launch in the US, as well as a range of STARZ series, such as Sweetbitter and Vida, plus hit movies including The Hunger Games, Gone Girl, and Birdman in the UK.

Season 2 will premiere on STARZPLAY at 8am on 9th December, with episodes arriving weekly on the same day as their US broadcast. Here’s a trailer – or read on below for the enjoyably retro poster.

 

 

JK Simmons to star in Counterpart on STARZPLAY

23rd August 2018

JK Simmons will star in new sci-fi drama Counterpart, premiering exclusively on STARZPLAY this September.

Created by Justin Marks and led by the Whiplash and Juno star, the reality-spanning drama is an espionage series about a mysterious world hidden beneath the surface of our everyday existence.

Produced by MRC and distributed by Sony Pictures Television, the 10-episode series follows Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons), a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency. When Howard discovers that his organization safeguards the secret of a crossing into a parallel dimension, he is thrust into a shadow world of intrigue, danger, and double cross… where the only man he can trust is his near-identical counterpart from this parallel world. The show explores themes of identity, fate and lost love, posing the eternal question: what if our lives could have been different?

The series co-stars Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, An Education) and is executive produced by Gary Gilbert (La La Land) with Gilbert Films, Jordan Horowitz (La La Land), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game), as well as Keith Redmon (The Revenant) and Bard Dorros (Spotlight) with Anonymous Content. Amy Berg also served as Executive Producer on the first season.

Season 1 will premiere exclusively on STARZPLAY in the UK on Friday 28th September, available via Amazon Prime Video Channels as a monthly subscription of £4.99. STARZPLAY offers Prime members who subscribe to the channel its growing selection of future STARZ Originals exclusively on the same day they launch in the US, as well as a range of STARZ series, such as Sweetbitter and Vida, plus hit movies including The Hunger Games, Gone Girl, and Birdman in the UK.

Other shows on STARZPLAY include Season 2 of Mr. Mercedes, the critically acclaimed drama from David E. Kelly and Stephen King, which premieres day and date with the US from 23rd August. For more information, click here.

 

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