Happy Friday! This week’s “global TV to watch” includes ten TV shows that feature actors named Thomas or some variation thereof.
Why Thomas? Because tomorrow, July 22, is National Thomas Day in the US. So acknowledge the folks in your life named Thomas, Tom, Tommy, Thomasina, and any other variation of the name, and, if you’re so inclined, watch these ten shows with them.
Burning Crimes + Troubled Waters (France)
Actually, it’s eleven shows, not ten, as we’re kicking things off with a two-fer. French actor Thomas Jouannet (Nina, Contact) costars alongside Nicolas Gob (The Art of Crime, A French Village) in these two mystery-crime dramas in which they play the Le Guen brothers — Police Captain Guillaume (Jouannet) and Gendarmerie Captain Damien (Gob). In Burning Crimes, they investigate the death of a person whose charred corpse is found at the wheel of a burned-out 4×4, and in the follow-up Troubled Waters, they search for a relative who goes missing the day after they discover a priceless statuette in a sunken wreck.
Both Burning Crimes and Troubled Waters are currently available for streaming in the US on the recently-launched SVOD channel France Channel (read about it here). Both programs are also available for free on-demand streaming in the US under the titles Rivers of Fire and Medusa’s Mystery.
C.B. Strike (UK)
Based on the “Cormoran Strike” novels by Robert Galbraith (pen name of J. K. Rowling), this top-notch mystery-crime drama series stars British actor Tom Burke (The Musketeers, The Lazarus Project) as Cormoran Strike, a former officer of the British Army’s Royal Military Police, who, after losing part of one leg while in service, now applies the skills he learned to solve complex cases as a private investigator. Working alongside Cormoran is Robin Ellacott (Holliday Grainger, The Capture, The Borgias), initially his office assistant and later his business partner.
The five multi-episode TV adaptations that have been produced to date — “The Cuckoo’s Calling,” “The Silkworm,” “Career of Evil,” “Lethal White,” and “Troubled Blood” — are based on the first five books in the “Cormoran Strike” series, and all of them are currently available for streaming in the US on Max and its digital channels, including Max on Amazon, as well as for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video and Apple TV.
Crossing Lines (Germany, France, Italy, US)
This multinational action-crime thriller follows the cross-border investigations conducted by members of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) (fictional) special crimes unit based in The Hague. It features an ensemble cast, which includes German actor Tom Wlaschiha (Game of Thrones, Das Boot) as Kommissar Sebastian Berger of the Berliner Polizei, and Canadian actor Donald Sutherland (Trust) as the ICC’s Michel Dorn. Of the international cast — which includes Lara Rossi (The Watch), William Fichtner (Mom), Marc Lavoine (Kepler(s)), Gabriella Pession (The Red Door), Richard Flood (Grey’s Anatomy), Elsa Mollien (Poldark), Goran Visnjic (Timeless), Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), and Stuart Martin (Miss Scarlet & The Duke) — only Wlaschiha and Sutherland appeared in all 34 episodes.
All three seasons of Crossing Lines are currently available for free on-demand streaming in the US on Plex. The show is also one of the titles currently available on Ovation TV’s “Mystery Alley” FAST channel, found on the Plex app and the Ovation TV website. One season is currently available for digital purchase in the US on Apple TV.
Da Vinci’s Demons (UK-US)
British actor Tom Riley (The Nevers, The Collection) stars as Leonardo da Vinci in this multi-award-winning action-fantasy-historical drama series that tells the fictionalized story about the Italian polymath’s early life in Renaissance-era Florence. (If you’re a stickler for historical accuracy, you won’t find much of it here, but the show is highly entertaining!) Anyhoo, the series depicts many of Leonardo’s inventions and his work for the Medicis and the Borgias, along with various exploits and adventures, including his affair with Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock, Transformers: The Last Knight), his quest to obtain the mystical Book of Leaves, and his involvement with the Sons of Mithras cult.
All three seasons of Da Vinci’s Demons are currently available for streaming in the US on Starz and its digital channels, including Starz on Amazon, as well as for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video and Apple TV. The complete series is also available for free on-demand streaming in the US on Tubi.
The Expanse (US)
American actor Thomas Jane (Troppo, Hung) is one of the original cast members in this award-winning sci-fi mystery series, which is based on the popular “The Expanse” series of novels by James S. A. Corey. Jane plays Joe Miller, a police detective on the dwarf planet Ceres, who is assigned to find Julie Mao (Florence Faivre, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), a rich girl-turned-political activist who’s gone missing. Miller ends up crossing paths with Chrisjen Avasarala (Shohreh Aghdashloo, The Flight Attendant) of the United Nations Security Council, Rosinante captain James Holden (Steven Strait, Magic City), and Holden’s surviving crew members, and they inadvertently unravel a conspiracy that spans the universe.
All six seasons of The Expanse are currently available for streaming in the US, UK, and other territories exclusively on Prime Video. The complete series is currently available for digital purchase in the US on Apple TV.
Follow the Money (Denmark)
In the first two seasons of this gripping crime thriller, Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen (Entrapped, The Lawyer) plays Mads Justesen, a detective who teams up with financial crimes cop Alf Rybjerg (Darkness: Those Who Kill, The Chestnut Man) to investigate suspected economic crimes, including a sustainable energy company and its CEO (in Season 1) and the practices of one of Denmark’s largest banks (in Season 2).
All three seasons of Follow the Money — both the original Danish version with English subtitles and the English-dubbed version — are currently available for streaming in the US on Topic and its digital channels, including Topic on Amazon. Folks with access to Prime Video can stream at no additional charge the Danish version of Season 1 here and the English-dubbed version of Season 1 here.
The Newsroom (US)
A Golden Globes nominee for Best Television Series – Drama and a Critics Choice Television Awards winner for Most Exciting New Series, this intense drama takes viewers behind the scenes of the (fictional) cable news channel Atlantis Cable News (ACN) and features an ensemble cast that includes Thomas Sadoski (Life in Pieces, The Crowded Room). He plays Don Keefer, a straightforward yet insecure executive producer at ACN who left the about-to-be-revamped “News Night” anchored by Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels, Godless) for the new 10 o’clock news show.
The Newsroom is currently available for streaming in the US on Max and its digital channels, including Max on Amazon, as well as for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video and Apple TV.
Peaky Blinders (UK)
This period crime drama is simply superb, and one of the absolute highlights is the character Alfie Solomons, played by Oscar® nominee Tom Hardy (The Revenant, The Dark Knight Rises). Alfie, introduced in Season 2, is something else. He heads up a Jewish gang, runs an illegal distillery, allies with and double-crosses Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place Part II) on more than one occasion, and gets shot and presumably killed by Tommy — yet still lives to see another day! (Albeit a bit worse for wear and with a nasty scar to show for it.) Still, you can’t help but like Alfie; he possesses his own brand of charisma and has got to be one of the most hilarious villains ever in a dark and violent crime drama.
All six seasons of Peaky Blinders are currently available for streaming in the US on Netflix. Seasons 1-5 are currently available for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video and Apple TV.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (US)
In this spinoff of the awesome fantasy-horror thriller series Penny Dreadful, the setting is moved from Victorian-era England to 1938 Los Angeles, and it stars Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Tudors) as a shape-shifting demon. Infused with Mexican-American folklore, social tension, and espionage actions of the Third Reich, the series costars German actor Thomas Kretschmann (Biohackers, Das Boot) as Richard Goss, a German architect and a Nazi.
Penny Dreadful: City of Angels is currently available for streaming in the US on Sho.com and select Showtime digital channels, including on Fubo. The series is also available for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video (Episode 1 can be streamed for free) and Apple TV.
Totally Completely Fine (Australia)
This brilliant new dark comedy series stars Kiwi actress Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) as Vivian Cunningham, a 20-something young woman whose messy life takes on a new dimension after her late grandfather bequeaths his coastal clifftop house to her. What Vivian quickly learns is that, in addition to being the custodian of the property, she has the duty of helping the people who venture into her backyard and out to the cliff’s edge — a popular suicide jumping spot — to not end their lives, like the runaway bride who ends up moving in with her.
Totally Completely Fine is currently available for streaming in the US on Sundance Now and AMC+ and their digital channels, including Sundance Now on Amazon and AMC+ on Amazon. The series is currently available for digital purchase in the US on Amazon Video.
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