SoHo2 Adds Firepower

SoHo2 has had to pull its launch of Beecham House from next month’s schedule and replace it with the premiere of BBC thriller Summer of Rockets.

The ITV period drama, set in 18th century India, is expected to resurface in July.

It’s been delayed because ITV has still to schedule its premiere in the UK, and invariably British series can’t screen here before their domestic runs.

Summer of Rockets is another period piece, albeit more modern. Reads the blurb:

Set in Britain, 1958. Relations with Russia are charged with suspicion and fear. As a Russian émigré, businessman Samuel Petrukin is determined to integrate his young family into the establishment.

So when Samuel meets the captivating Kathleen Shaw and her husband Richard – a war hero and member of Parliament – he’s dazzled by their upper-class glamour. But are his new friends all they seem?

Toby Stephens (Lost In Space), Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty), Linus Roache (Vikings), Timothy Spall (The Enfield Haunting), Lily Sacofsky (Banecraft), Lucy Cohu (Broadchurch), Gary Beadle (Grantchester), Mark Bonnar (Catastrophe), Ronald Pickip (Darkest Hour) and Greg Austin (Mr Selfridge) star.

“This cold-war drama has Stephen Poliakoff’s trademark stilted dialogue, odd acting and overload of posh houses – but this time, I want to watch more,” said The Guardian of its weekend debut.

“That is not often the case with a Poliakoff drama. Usually the characters are too chilly, too unsettling, with his strange, stilted dialogue in their mouths. But the Petrukhins seem warmer, and more engaging, than usual.”

Summer of Rockets will screen 8.30 Wednesdays from June 12.