New to Acorn TV in November
November 8, 2020 
2 Comments
Seachange: Paradise Reclaimed, the belated sequel to a popular TV3 series in its heyday, will stream exclusively on Acorn TV from November 23.
And although it won’t be in HD, Acorn’s also picked up the outstanding Alan Ayckbourn classic, The Norman Conquests (November 23).
The Seachange reunion revolves around Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton) returning to Pearl Bay to reconnect with her daughter, Miranda (Brooke Satchwell).
She finds her pregnant with an unplanned and unwanted baby, rising tides and coastal erosion as looming threats, and Bob Jelly, fresh from a jail sentence after running a Ponzi scheme, preparing to destroy the bay’s mangroves with a medium-density housing development.
“The revived Seachange is, well, quite nice, in a mild, well-mannered, diet soda sort of way,” The Guardian said.
It’s hard to fault a show that’s so affable (despite the sense that the script could use a few more drafts to make every little bit of it shine; perhaps it’s lacking Andrew Knight’s spirited presence). But Seachange without that off-kilter warmth isn’t Seachange.
Even so, the show’s premiere on Nine 15 months ago was at that time the highest rating drama of 2019 (although it has yet to be renewed).
Another NZ premiere is The South Westerlies (November 9), about a Norwegian energy executive who goes undercover with her 18-year-old son in a small Irish village where the locals oppose the company’s wind farm plans.
“Co-produced by RTE and Norway’s TV2, the six-parter is a classic financial hook-up between European broadcasters, and at no point are we allowed to forget it,” The Times said.
The story — a convoluted tale of green politics and florid romance — has been painstakingly concocted toreflect the hybrid shape of its funding model. The action alternates between the boardrooms of Oslo and the beaches of west Cork. From early on, the heavy-handedness of these contrivances becomes an active obstacle to enjoyment.
Other November newcomers include The Cry, Inspector Morse S1-3, Murdoch Mysteries S8 and:
- The Silence (November 9)
- Lewis S1-3 (November 9)
- A Mother’s Son (November 9)
- Sisters of War (November 16)
- Jamaica Inn (November 16)
- Endeavour S3-5 (November 16)
- Vera S3-4 (November 16)
- Heartbeat S1-2 (November 16)
- Manhunt (November 23)
- Grantchester S4 (November 23)
- Shetland S3-4 (November 23)
- Prime Suspect S1-3 (November 30)
- London Kills S1 (November 30)
- Fingersmith (November 30)
- Arthur & George (November 30).
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November 9, 2020 at 1:06 am
I did wonder if someone would pick up Seachange here but then it slipped my mind at the time. Remember enjoying it in the early 2000s but guessing the NZ networks didn’t see value in the revival.
I imagine so, Clint. It took even the Nine Network six attempts to reboot the series — and then only with government funding. The premiere rated strongly but I presume the rest of the season petered out given there’s still no word on a renewal.