New to Lightbox in May

Spark’s streaming service Lightbox will debut three exclusives next month and fast-track new episodes of a fourth.

The highlight is the tense Sandi-noir hostages thriller, Below the Surface, about the hijacking of a Danish subway train, which can still be viewed on the BBC iPlayer.

The Times thought it solid rather than spectacular and said it made “a refreshing change from the [genre’s] usual slew of murdered young women”.

It will stream from May 15 and includes Uma Thurman in the cast.

Season one of Rise, a cross between Glee and Friday Night Lights, will stream from May 23.

It stars How I Met Your Mother’s Josh Radnor as an English teacher who rejuvenates his school’s theatre department to galvanise not only students and teachers but also their community.

Reviews were mixed, with Variety encapsulating its merits this way: “For all its flaws — and Rise has a number of them — when these kids open their mouths to sing, the NBC drama is nearly irresistible.”

Also new to Lightbox next month will be:

• season two of Navy SEALS drama Six (which will premiere with a triple-episode on May 31, then stream weekly), and
• Shakespeare Uncovered,  which combines analysis of his plays with interviews with the likes of Jeremy Irons, Ethan Hawk, Morgan Freeman, David Tennant, Kim Cattrall and Hugh Bonneville (both seasons stream from May 7).

Lightbox also is picking up two seasons of the superior whodunit, Unforgotten (from May 21), only the first of which I believe has aired on Prime; Three’s missing teenage drama Thirteen (from May 14); SoHo’s Guerrilla (from May 9); and all three seasons of the charming BBC comedy, Rev (from May 16).

It’s also adding seasons five of Orphan Black (from May 1), Call the Midwife (from May 8) and Ripper Street (from May 15), and seven of The Good Wife (from May 22).

Lastly, there’s absolutely fabulous news for Joanna Lumley fans: her Trans-Siberian Adventure and Japan travelogues will stream from May 7.