Agatha Christie's Seven Dials is a Netflix period mystery adapted by Chris Chibnall, the creator of Broadchurch and a former Doctor Who showrunner, from Christie's 1929 novel The Seven Dials Mystery. Directed by Chris Sweeney and released in January 2026 as a three-part miniseries, it revives one of the author's lighter, thriller-tinged whodunits with a starry British cast.
Set in 1925, the story follows the spirited Lady Eileen 'Bundle' Brent, played by Mia McKenna-Bruce, who investigates the suspicious death of a Foreign Office colleague and uncovers a shadowy secret society known as the Seven Dials, along with a conspiracy tangled up in her own father's death years earlier. Martin Freeman plays Superintendent Battle, with Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Caterham, Iain Glen as Lord Caterham and Edward Bluemel among the ensemble.
The debut production of the newly formed Orchid Pictures, the series filmed across Bristol, Bath and Ronda in Spain, using the stately Badminton House to stand in for the country estate known as 'The Chimneys.' Reviews were solid, praising the cast and the handsome period trappings. It is streaming on Netflix.
One critic characterized "Breaking Bad's" dark humor as "Thelma and Louise as seen by Dostoyevsky" and that was one of the perkier, more optimistic descriptions. A seven-part AMC series, "Breaking Bad" TV show tells the story of Walt White, high school chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine cooker and dealer. Of course, as Glenn Frye crooned, "The lure of easy money has a very strong appeal," but "Breaking Bad" does not allow for even a split-second of sunshine through the abysmal darkness. In this corner of the universe, crime never-ever pays. Walt, expertly portrayed by Bryan Cranston of "Malcolm in the Middle" fame, is neck-deep in problems, complications, and flat-out ugliness from the minute he lights the Bunsen burner. Although the writers have woven-in some amazingly ironic lines, known in the trade as "comic relief," the characters deliberately deliver their quips in such a super-slow, slack-jawed drawl they seem more tragic than funny. Of course, "Breaking Bad" TV series make some pretense toward allegory of the American middle class struggling through the throes of deep recession, and it scores some hard hits. Most of all, though, "Breaking Bad" shows that even when fine writers, directors, and actors can find humor and pathos in displaced white-collar workers' undignified struggle for dignity, it still looks awfully damned dreary and ugly.
Intensely cerebral, narrated more or less in the style of a Latin American magic-realist novel which shows the conclusion before the story begins, "Damages" TV show strangely fulfills the immanent promise in cable television programming, appealing very strongly to what the poet Milton called "fit audience though few." "Damages" series'unmistakable style, sophistication, and subtle sizzle are spellbinding, and the writers have crafted heroes you love to love and villains you love to hate with a team of attorneys working both sides of the continental divide between good and evil. Unabashedly stealing its premise from the Bernie Madoff case, "Damages" asks and answers, "What if you were Madoff's antagonist?" Glenn Close plays Patty Hewes, the high-powered and equally high-priced attorney determined to bring down ponzi-schemer Louis Tobin, portrayed by Len Cariou. The word "perfect" appears in most critics' discussions of their performances. A New York Times reviewer aptly summarized, "It's impossible to overestimate how delicious Ms. Close is as this fiercely driven, mercurial and manipulative woman. " In a stroke of casting genius, the producers chose Lily Tomlin to quicken the character of Mrs. Tobin, long-suffering wife of the arch-villain; the audience remains in suspense about her true colors and motives, suspecting she may be "Damages'" answer to Lady Macbeth. Martin Short also stars as Tobin's family attorney.
"24" TV show premiered in November, 2001, amidst much critical acclaim and a great deal of audience perplexity, because it purported to show events as if in real time, and it attempt to show some events happening simultaneously. Despite its mind-bending qualities, "24" TV series became an instant sensation, and it remained a ratings dominator through its final episode on May 24, 2010. Running for a total of 192 episodes, "Twenty-Four" series went into the record books as television's longest-running spy-themed series, eclipsing legends "The Avengers" and "Mission: Impossible." Kiefer Sutherland starred as Jack Bauer, counter-terrorism expert supreme. Bauer is the only character that recurred through all eight seasons, because different terrorist plots required radically different villains and a variety of corrupt government officials. In eight 24-hour stories, Bauer thwarted assassination of a Presidential candidate, prevented terrorists' destruction of Los Angeles, stopped a crazed drug-dealer from releasing a deadly virus in LA, getting fired from and being reinstated at his job"”just in time to bring down a corrupt President, and escaping from Chinese kidnappers in order to stop a string of terrorist attacks on major American cities.
Lisa Jane Smith, author of a whole library-shelf full of Vampire Diaries for literate tweens, has every right to feel like a Shakespearean monarch whose throne is usurped in a tragedy's first act. She pioneered the genre, took a little sabbatical, and came back to find her world dominated by Harry Potter and all those "Twilight People." In 2008, The Vampire Diaries were reprinted in cool new covers and fonts, and L.J. Smith returned to writing full time. In the fall of 2009, "The Vampire Diaries TV Show" came to the CW, developed and produced by Kevin Williamson of "Dawson's Creek" fame. To his everlasting credit, Williamson expertly preserves the goodness and sweetness of Smith's characters and situations. Although the vampires naturally want to seduce the sensitive young heroines into their dark world, the pretty little women always bring the flesh-hungry bad boys back into the light. Of course, the show's production values allow lots of room for good music and teen-aged angst"”there is no shortage of fog, but it also has plenty of attitude. In addition to foretelling evil events, the show's prophet can predict fashion trends. The story turns on a tween's eternal dilemma: wistful good girl falls in love with the good vampire brother but is constantly tempted by bad-boy vampire other-brother. What is a girl to do?
Dancing with the Stars is a spectacular reality competition that focuses on the glamorous and entertaining world of competitive dance. Dancing with the Stars show pairs a number of celebrities with professional ballroom dancers, who each week compete by performing dances. These are then given scores by a panel of judges. Viewers are given a certain amount of time to place votes on their favorite dancers, either by telephone or (in some countries) by the Internet. The couple with the lowest combined score (judges plus viewers) is eliminated, and continue in the next week. This process continues until there are only two or three couples left, at which point one couple is declared the champion.
"There are eight million stories in the city that never sleeps," Gary Sinise's unmistakable tenor voices-over the opening skyline shots for "CSI: New York." Apparently, New York's dedicated crime scene investigators also suffer sleep-deprivation, working tirelessly"”some would say obsessively"”to demystify eight million different ways to die in the Big Apple. Sinise plays Detective Mac Taylor, suitably intense CSI:NY unit leader, complemented well by workaholic assistant Stella Bonasera, expertly portrayed by Melina Kankaredes. Together, the lead detectives manage an appropriately colorful team of streetwise geeks and nerds determined always to make their cases well beyond reasonable doubts. Like the others in Jerry Bruckheimer's crime-drama franchise, "CSI: New York" devotes more attention to sophisticated computer work and uber-cool lab procedures than to the old-fashioned business of talking to people. Mac Taylor quickly reminds, though, "We follow the evidence, because the evidence never lies."
The Celebrity Apprentice 3 (The Apprentice 9) is the reality television show - the ninth installment of the United States version of The Apprentice. The Apprentice show depicted 16 contestants from around the country with various backgrounds competing in an elimination-style competition to become an apprentice to Donald Trump. The winning contestant would have the opportunity to work for Trump as the president of one of his companies for at least one year with an annual salary of $250,000.
Imagine! Once upon a time, Dr. McDreamy, star of "Grey's Anatomy" and a million women's fantasies, was uncomfortably married to Dr. Addison Montgomery (Kate Walsh). Then, Dr. Montgomery proved complicated, compelling, and cute enough to warrant her own TV show"”"Private Practice." For a very little while, "Private Practice" TV series depended on viewers' basic understanding of "Grey's Anatomy," because it showed Dr. Montgomery, probably much better known simply as Addison, leaving Seattle Grace Hospital and joining the staff at Oceanside Wellness, a practice owned and operated by all of her old medical school buddies. A few of the early episodes depended on the good doctor's broken heart and separation anxiety for their drama and poignancy; after all, withdrawal from McDreamy takes its toll on a girl. But as "Private Practice" gained momentum and popularity, plots focused more and more on cases that challenge the doctors' ethics and skills. Despite her genius and surgical prowess, Dr. Montgomery suffers fierce bouts of self-doubt, making her accessible and an object of empathy for the show's predominantly female audience.
Those of us who love a good "who done it" or murder mystery are drawn to television programs like Cold Case because they solve crimes and they prove who was guilty. It might be human nature to want to solve crime, especially those that were previously unsolvable until new technology (such as DNA evidence) answers the questions that were left behind. Even though the Philadelphia Police Department portrayed in Cold Case is a fictional "cop shop" we get caught up in the characters portrayed by writers on the set. The senior detective is Lilly Rush (actress Kathryn Morris). Lieutenant John Stillman (John Finn), Senior Detectives Scotty Valens (Danny Pino) and Nick Vera (Jeremy Ratchford) head up the intrepid team of master sleuths that solve old stale cases that were put back on the shelf, awaiting new evidence or better technology. We get to see how they solve the crimes others gave up on. The background music also plays a significant part in most episodes as it ties in with the year crimes were committed and many big names such as Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, John Lennon, and Frank Sinatra are featured.
"Castle" is the crime drama series premiered in the U.S. March 9, 2009 on ABC channel. "Castle" TV show follows the process of murder investigation conducted by Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic). Unexpectedly she notes the similarity of the crime scene with the same one described by the famous detective writer Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion). Castle becomes a suspect, but upon the investigation completion he proved to be innocent. Using his friendships with some powerful people in the city, he gets the opportunity to attend all investigations conducted by Detective Beckett until he gets enough material for his next book. Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) got the reputation of detective who prefers an unusual cases. She joined the police after her mother was murdered, whose case was never solved. She spent a semester studying in Kiev, where she learned the Russian language. Their sometimes uneasy relationships with the Castle are often ridiculed by other TV show's character: Javier Esposito (Jon Huertas), the Detective and the another member of Beckett's team. He and detective Kevin Ryan (Seamus Dever) constantly mock Beckett, but in fact they are protecting her and treat Beckett as a very crucial part of the team . Next TV show's character is Lani Parish (Tamala Jones), medical examiner, a friend of Beckett, with whom she can talk heart to heart; advises Beckett to develop her relationship with the Castle. "Castle" TV show also features Roy Montgomery (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), Beckett's Boss. He likes Beckett's manner of investigation and her attention to details, but he always keeps his eye close on Beckett activity. He amuses with Beckett and Castle relationship, but he understands that they work well together. Another character is Alexis Rogers (Molly Quinn), teenage daughter of Castle, which much easier communicates with adults than with her peers and often behaves more conscious than her father and March Rogers (Susan Sullivan), Castle's mother, and the former Broadway actress, who dying to find a wealthy unmarried man.
