New to SoHo in January

Sky’s premium drama channel SoHo will launch the new year with a rejuvenated slate that includes sci-fi newcomer The Last of Us and season two of Your Honor.

Some of the premieres already have streamed on Neon or will debut on the digital platform the same day but others will be exclusive to SoHo.

The Last of Us (8.30 Mondays from January 16) is based on the PlayStation game set 20 years after civilisation has been destroyed. Reads the blurb:

Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the U.S. and depend on each other for survival.

Melanie Lynskey, Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Merle Dandridge, Gabriel Luna, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman star.

Your Honor (9.30 Tuesdays from January 17) has Bryan Cranston reprising his role as a principled judge who’s compromised by his son’s role in the hit-and-run death of a mobster’s son.

Teases Showtime about S2’s developments: “Some will seek salvation in response to the tremendous loss they suffered, while others will seek revenge and they will all be pursued by their enemies at every turn. Ultimately, the question remains: How far are you willing to go to protect what matters most to you?”

Also returning will be Random Acts of Flyness (S2, 8.30 Thursdays from January 12) and I Hate Suzie Too (S2, 8.00 Thursdays from January 26).

There also will be a raft of new documentaries and docuseries, including HBO’s Unveiled: Surviving La Luz del Mundo (9.30 Thursdays from January 5), which exposes decades of sex crimes by the notorious inner circle of the cult-like La Luz del Mundo (the Light of the World Church) and its unbelievable takedown by a formidable group of Latinx women.

“Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Unveiled … involves the machine-like way that the abuse was allegedly conducted, with secretaries identifying girls, some as young as 14, before bringing them to the Apostle and turning them into ‘sex slaves,'” CNN reviewer Brian Lowry says.

“The project also points a finger at the media for being slow to cover the story, largely ignoring allegations that emerged in the late 1990s. The family, meanwhile, indulged in a lavish lifestyle that included yachts, cars and ranches, revelations that haven’t shaken the church leadership’s stance of professing faith in the Apostle’s innocence.”

Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty (9.30 Saturdays from January 7) is a three-part investigation into the legacy of a family whose century-long powerful influence over the legal system in South Carolina’s lowcountry unravels amid accusations of fraud, deception, and murder. Reads the blurb:

Hailing from a long line of powerful legal figures, Alex Murdaugh along with his wife Maggie and sons, Buster and Paul, enjoyed unparalleled sway over authorities, until Paul’s involvement in a tragic boating accident thrust a level of scrutiny on the family’s actions and legacy, revealing a bizarre – and deadly – chain of events. Intense and full of shocking twists, Low Country: The Murdaugh Dynasty questions the unchecked power of privilege – and the trail of death and destruction left in one family’s wake.

Call Me Miss Cleo (January 4, 9.30) documents the real story and scandal behind televised ’90s psychic sensation Miss Cleo, who invited viewers to read their fortunes, resulting in over $1 billion of telephone charges, while Mama’s Boy (January 26, 9.40) has screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk) exploring his childhood roots, gay identity and close relationship with his mother, who overcame childhood polio, abusive marriages, and Mormon dogma to inspire his activism.