Good Lord! Where’s Bird?

Sky TV has yet to schedule one of the most acclaimed drama series of the year, The Good Lord Bird.

The irreverent Civil War abolitionist saga was to have screened on SoHo2 and streamed on Neon back in February before the Covid-19 outbreak disrupted postproduction.

It debuted to outstanding reviews over the weekend in the US and started streaming on Australia’s Stan.

But Sky’s still to find room for the Ethan Hawke vehicle — despite both of its SoHo channels being short on new content.

The Sydney Morning Herald dubbed it “a wild ride you’ll want to get on” while The Hollywood Reporter said Hawke “gives a towering turn” as abolitionist John Brown in the seven-part Showtime series:

Much of the joy of The Good Lord Bird — the title refers to the ivory-billed woodpecker, whose feathers Brown believes bring good luck — comes from watching everybody’s wheels spinning, on-screen and behind-the-scenes, trying to figure out how to approach John Brown’s place in this tragicomic history. Brown is the stuff of tall tales, Paul Bunyan wielding Bible quotes instead of an axe.

THR also praised the “frequently stunning widescreen Western scope” while Variety thought it “a rollicking slice of American history” and TV Guide “boldly entertaining and ultimately moving”.