Thirteen new Euro TV series and seasons premiere in the US in May, while three others have their linear TV debuts and two more get added to streaming services.
To see the complete list of Euro TV shows available in the US and UK, see the Euro TV Shows by Language section. Viewers in the US can check the ongoing updates of titles released throughout each month on the Euro TV Viewing Guide page.
All programs listed here are shown in their original language with English subtitles, except where noted. The trailers below, which may or may not have English subtitles, might not be suitable for all audiences; viewer discretion is advised.
Programs and dates are subject to change without prior notice.
NATIONAL PREMIERES
35 Days: Season 4 (aka 35 Hours / 35 Awr) (Wales)
In this new mystery series (more of a follow-up to 35 Days than a new season, really), a jury retires to deliberate and consider the evidence in a murder case. Little do they know that, within 35 hours, one of them will be dead at the hands of one of the other jurors.
35 Days: Season 4 / 35 Hours premieres in North America on Friday, May 1, exclusively on BritBox and its digital channels, including BritBox on Amazon.
Into the Night (Dans la nuit) (Belgium)
In this new sci-fi thriller series, the sun inexplicably starts killing everything in its path, and the passengers on an overnight flight out of Brussels attempt to fly west into the safety of the dark night. These multinational and multilingual travelers of different ages and from various backgrounds have one thing in common: a desire to survive the sun — and each other — by any means necessary.
The international cast from Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, and Turkey includes Pauline Etienne (Public Enemy), Laurent Capelluto (Black Spot), Nabil Mallat (Professor T,), Stéfano Cassetti (Thou Shalt Not Kill), Jan Bijvoet (Peaky Blinders), Astrid Whettnall (Baron noir), Vincent Londez (Missions), Regina Bikkinina (Glukhar 2. Prodolzhenie), Alba Gaïa Bellugi (Three Times Manon), Babetida Sadjo (Esprits de famille), Mehmet Kurtulus (Cenk Batu), and Ksawery Szlenkier (Jack Strong).
Into the Night, a Netflix Original series, premieres globally on Friday, May 1, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Arde Madrid: Burn Madrid Burn (Spain)
In this multiple award-winning, critically-acclaimed comedy-drama miniseries set in the early 1960s, Inma Cuesta (The Mess You Left Behind, Criminal: Spain) stars as Ana Mari, an uptight Franco loyalist ordered to spy on A-list American actress Ava Gardner (Debi Mazar, Younger, Entourage) for the government. So Ana Mari poses as a domestic and as the wife of Manolo (Paco León, The House of Flowers , The Plague), a happy-go-lucky hustler and fellow spy who gets a gig as the Hollywood star’s chauffeur. The lifestyles and moral codes of both Manolo and Ava being antithetical to Ana Mari’s, the latter is in for the ride of her life.
Costarring Anna Castillo (Paquita Salas), Julián Villagrán (The Ministry of Time), and Ken Appledorn (The Refugees), Arde Madrid: Burn Madrid Burn premieres in the US on Tuesday, May 5, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
The Eddy (France-UK)
Set in the vibrant multicultural neighborhoods of modern-day Paris, this musical drama series tells the stories of the owner of a struggling jazz club, the members of its house band, and the dangers they face from the chaotic city that surrounds them.
The multilingual (French, English, Arabic) series is written by BAFTA winner Jack Thorne (National Treasure) and co-directed by Oscar® winner Damien Chazelle (La La Land), both of whom also serve as executive directors. It stars André Holland (Moonlight), Joanna Kulig (The Crime), Amandla Stenberg (The Hunger Games), Tahar Rahim (The Last Panthers), and Leïla Bekhti (Midnight Sun).
The Eddy, a Netflix Original series, premieres globally on Friday, May 8, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
The Teacher: Season 2 (Belfer) (Poland)
Opening directly after the events in the Season 1 finale, the second season of this mystery-crime drama finds Pawel Zawadzki (Maciej Stuhr, Walesa: Man of Hope), having chosen the lesser of two undesirable options: working for the Central Bureau of Investigation at a high school in Wroclaw to find out what happened to several students who mysteriously disappeared. Soon after he arrives, Pawel is forced to investigate an additional case: a shooting at the school.
The Teacher: Season 2 premieres in the US on Friday, May 8, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Prime Video and the Walter Presents digital channels.
Valeria (Spain)
Based on the popular “Valeria” novels by Elísabet Benavent, this new contemporary dramedy series follows Valeria (Diana Gómez, 45 rpm, I Know Who You Are), a writer in a creative crisis and an emotionally-distant marriage. In her search for inspiration as well as support, she turns to her three best friends — Carmen (Paula Malia, If I Hadn’t Met You), Lola (Silma López, Cosas de la vida), and Nerea (Teresa Riott, Barcelona Summer Night) — as all four of them are immersed in a whirlwind of emotions about love, friendship, jealousy, infidelity, doubts, secrets, work, worries, joys, and dreams about the future.
Costarring Ibrahim Al Shami (El secreto de puente viejo) as Adrián, Valeria’s husband, and Benjamín Alfonso (Educando a Nina) as the mysterious Victor, Valeria, a Netflix Original series, premieres globally on Friday, May 8, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Bordertown: Season 3 (Final) (Sorjonen) (Finland)
In the third and final season of this award-winning mystery-crime drama, detective Kari Sorjonen (Ville Virtanen, Rebecka Martinsson, Norskov) faces a personal tragedy and juggles concerns about his family’s future with a spate of new crimes, including those committed by an adversary who’s been studying Kari’s past cases.
Costarring Matleena Kuusniemi (Hooked), Anu Sinisalo (Easy Living), Ilkka Villi (Invisible Heroes), and Matti Laine (Look of a Killer), Bordertown: Season 3, a Netflix Original series, premieres in the US on Monday, May 11, exclusively on Netflix.
Inhuman Resources (Dérapages) (France)
Based loosely on Pierre Lemaitre’s novel Inhuman Resources, this thriller series stars Eric Cantona (Looking for Eric) as Alain Delambre, a former HR executive in his late 50s, whose six years of unemployment and demoralizing odd jobs have all but destroyed him — but not the anger and resentment that have been building up within him.
Things seem to be turning around when Alain is called for an interview and chosen as a candidate for a position at corporate giant Exxya, a job for which he is ready and willing to do anything to get — including putting his family in danger. Except nothing is what it seems, especially the company’s role-play exercise of a hostage situation.
Costars include Suzanne Clément (The Forest), Alex Lutz (Baron noir), Gustave Kervern (Mammuth), Alice de Lencquesaing (The Nun), Louise Coldefy (Family Business), and Adama Niane (La Mante).
Inhuman Resources, a Netflix Original series, premieres in the US on Friday, May 15, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Patria (Spain)
Based on the bestselling novel Patria by Fernando Aramburu, this eight-part drama, whose narrative spans three decades, tells a story of Spain’s Basque country, threatened by the terrorism of the leftist separatist group ETA, as seen through the eyes of two families divided by the violent conflict.
On the day ETA announces a ceasefire, Bittori (Elena Irureta, The Time in Between) visits the cemetery where her husband Txato, who was murdered by the terrorists, is buried. She tells him she’s decided to return home to the village where they lived to try and get closure. Bittori’s presence in the village causes chaos — enraging Miren (Ane Gabarain, 800 Bullets), her neighbor, once a close friend, and the mother of Joxe Mari, an imprisoned terrorist and the probable killer of Txato. The rift between the two women and their deeply held convictions make trying to forget impossible. The question is, will they be able to forgive in a community shattered by political fanaticism?
Patria premieres in the US and 61 other countries on Sunday, May 17. In the US, it will screen on HBO Now, HBO Go, HBO On Demand, HBO Latino, and partners’ streaming platforms, including HBO on Prime Video. (It will be available on HBO Europe’s branded services in 21 countries, and be broadcast on HBO and be available on HBO Go in over 40 countries in Latin America.)
Detective Montalbano (Il commissario Montalbano) (Italy)
Our favorite detectives in Sicily are back! Salvo Montalbano (Luca Zingaretti, Paolo Borsellino: The 57 Days), Giuseppe Fazio (Peppino Mazzotta, Mafia Undercover), and Mimì Augello (Cesare Bocci, The Family), with help from Officer Catarella (Angelo Russo, Il capo dei capi), have more cases to solve in two new feature-length episodes.
“Dear Livia” (“Salvo amato, Livia mia“)
Montalbano and co. have two cases to investigate — both of which have links to him. In one, the son of Salvo’s housekeeper is arrested for breaking into a villa. The other concerns the murder of a young woman whose battered and bloodied body is discovered in the offices of the municipal archives. It turns out that she was a close friend of Salvo’s girlfriend, Livia (Sonia Bergamasco, Tutti pazzi per amore).
“The Safety Net” (“La rete di protezione“)
As Vigàta is abuzz with activity from a Swedish TV series being filmed here, Montalbano delves into the mystery of a series of home movies shot in the late ’50s and early ’60s by the father of a local engineer. Meanwhile, two masked individuals descend on the school attended by Augello’s son, wreaking havoc and spreading terror as they deliver a threat.
In the US, “Dear Livia” premieres on Tuesday, May 19, and “The Safety Net” premieres on Tuesday, May 26 — both exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
The Blood Pact: Season 2 (Klem) (Netherlands)
Following that nail-biter of a finale in Season 1, Season 2 of this crime thriller finds Hugo Warmond (Barry Atsma, Bad Banks, The Split), promoted to head of the tax office, getting more involved and going deeper down the rabbit hole with criminal Marius Milner (Jacob Derwig, Black Widow), which causes serious issues with his daughters and new girlfriend. And while Marius is trying to deal with threats from a fellow miscreant, his wife, Kitty (Georgina Verbaan, The Godless), is engaging in her own bit of illegal activity.
Featuring Ellen Parren (Lord & Master), Maarten Heijmans (The Schouwendam 12), and Gijs Scholten van Aschat (The Swell), The Blood Pact: Season 2 premieres in the US on Friday, May 22 May 15, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Prime Video and the Walter Presents digital channels.
Inspector Falke: Season 2 (Tatort) (Germany)
Wotan Wilke Möhring (Perfume, Hotel Adlon) returns as Inspector Thorsten Falke in the new season of this Hamburg-set series in the long-running Tatort crime drama franchise. The new episodes find Falke and his partner, Julia Grosz (Franziska Weisz, Vienna Crime Squad), investigating murders involving environmentalists, right-wing populists, a burglar, a sniper, a hired assassin, and the two cops themselves.
Inspector Falke: Season 2 premieres in the US on Friday, May 29, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Prime Video and the Walter Presents digital channels.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS DEBUTING ON LINEAR TV
Anatomy of a Murder: Season 4 (Pet mrtvých psu) (Czech Republic)
In the fourth season of this mystery-crime drama, Major Marie Výrová (Klára Melíšková, The Invisibles) and her team investigate the theft of three bears from the zoo and the murder of the zoo’s security guard. Clues point to illegal animal traders as the culprits. Then with the help of a retired police captain, Výrová and co. connect this case to an earlier one involving five dead dogs. What both cases have in common is a local business tycoon.
Costarring Stanislav Majer (The Fury), Tomás Dastlík (Wasteland), Andrei Toader (Internal Affairs), Tereza Voriskova (Borgia), Miroslav Krobot (Burning Bush), and Pavel Simcík (Wasteland), Anatomy of a Murder: Season 4 has its linear TV debut on Tuesday, May 12, at 8:30 PM ET / 9 PM PT, on Eurochannel.
Lifeline (Doktor Kovalchuk) (Ukraine)
This medical drama series follows Oksana Kovalchuk (Anastasia Karpenko, You’re Mine), a hard-working heart surgeon who creates an improved patient treatment model after her father was left to die in a clinic due to incompetence and negligence. Her model is put to the test when Oksana is made the head of Hospital 13, one of the most corrupt in the city. Here, with a group of trusted colleagues and friends, Oksana works to restore the health of the patients as she encounters challenges and enemies within the hospital.
Lifeline has its linear TV debut on Wednesday, May 20, at 9 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
Mute (Rebyonok na million) (Ukraine)
In this suspense thriller series, divorced graphic designer Nastya (Anastasia Panina, White Lie) wants to adopt 7-year-old Yegor and give him a loving home, even though he doesn’t speak a word due to a traumatic experience. The thing is, Yegor’s father is still alive, but in jail, and a couple of criminals are keeping tabs on the boy, as they know that he knows a secret: the hiding place of his dad’s loot, a stash worth millions of euros.
Costarring Andrey Isaenko (The Sniffer), Maxim Boryak (Dr. Kovalchuk), and Sergey Siplivy (Silver Spoon), Mute has its linear TV debut on Thursday, May 21, at 9 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS BEING ADDED TO STREAMING SERVICES
Thicker than Water: Season 2 (Tjockare än vatten) (Sweden)
In the second season of this Kristallen Awards nominee for Best Television Drama, the Waldemar family reunites in Åland to open the B&B for one last Christmas, but much has changed since their tumultuous summer. Oskar (Joel Spira, Conspiracy of Silence) is alone and miserable, as his wife Liv (Jessica Grabowsky, Midnight Sun) still isn’t back from her travels. Jonna (Aliette Opheim, Caliphate) returns from a disastrous acting gig in London to take charge of the preparations, but her grand vision demands more resources than the siblings can muster. And Lasse’s (Björn Bengtsson, Rig 45) criminal past catches up with him as a storm bears down on the island, and his decision on this fateful night will have terrible ramifications for the entire clan.
(The trailer below is in Dutch, but the series is shown in Swedish with English subtitles in the US.)
Thicker Than Water: Season 2 begins streaming Friday, May 1, on the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Prime Video and the Walter Presents digital channels.
Death in Leon (Muerte en León) (Spain)
One of my favorite Euro TV premieres of 2018, this riveting docu-series revolves around the assassination of Isabel Carrasco, the president of the Provisional Government of León when she was killed in cold blood in broad daylight on May 12, 2014. Three women were arrested and charged with Carrasco’s murder: an ex-León government employee who had worked for Carrasco, the woman’s mother, and a policewoman friend of the woman, who turned in the murder weapon.
The four-part program features interviews, archival footage and recordings, and court testimonies that reveal the backstories of the victim and of the three accused women, all of which raises a lot of questions — from who’s telling the truth and who’s lying, to whether evidence was overlooked or suppressed in the case. (Further details are in my original review.)
Death in Leon begins streaming Tuesday, May 12, on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
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Header photo credits: Arde Madrid courtesy of MHz Choice; Bordertown courtesy of Netflix; Partria courtesy of HBO; The Teacher courtesy of PBS Distribution / Walter Presents
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Did you miss any of the new shows and program additions from previous days, weeks, or months? Check the Euro TV Viewing Guide and Archives to find out.
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For details about the May premieres of shows from the UK, Canada, and Ireland, visit The British TV Place. For those about the debuts of programs from Australia and New Zealand, visit The Down Under TV Place.
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