December 2022 brings the premieres of 34 Euro TV series and films from 10 countries to the US and beyond, and there’s more besides, too!
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.
As an affiliate of Amazon & other cos, affiliate links on this blog allow us to earn income from qualifying actions (at no extra cost to you).
NATIONAL PREMIERES
Agatha Christie’s Hjerson (Sweden)
Johan Rheborg (Partisan, Kamikaze, Kieler Street) and Hanna Alström (“Kingsman” films, The Sandhamn Murders, Real Humans) star in this first-ever adaptation based on a fictional character created by a fictional character — that is, a real-life TV series about Scandinavian detective Sven Hjerson, a character created by detective fiction author Ariadne Oliver, a character created by the Queen of Mystery, Agatha Christie.
Sven Hjerson (Johan Rheborg) is a once-renowned criminal profiler who suddenly chose to retire from the spotlight — and, as far as trash TV producer Klara Sandberg (Hanna Alström) is concerned, her ticket to a better career. Her idea: Get Hjerson to star in a true-crime show. No matter that she doesn’t know him; she tracks him down and even gets on the same ferry when he’s forced to return to his hometown in the Åland Islands following his mother’s death. It’s on the ferry that the two meet — and become a whodunit-solving duo after a young journalist is murdered.
Agatha Christie’s Hjerson premieres in the US and Canada with three episodes on Thursday, December 1, exclusively on Topic and its digital channels, including Topic on Amazon. New episodes of the eight-part series will debut weekly.
Bosé (Spain)
This biopic series stars José Pastor (La otra mirada) and Iván Sánchez (You Cannot Hide) as legendary Spanish singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé at different moments of his life. From the time of his birth, Miguel Bosé was destined for greatness, despite the rigid conventions imposed by Spain in the 1960s. He was blessed with the strong character of his father, a traditional and prominent figure in Spanish bullfighting; the beauty of his mother, a sophisticated and modern Italian movie star; and the rebelliousness and elegance of both parents. When their tumultuous relationship ended after thirteen years in 1968, Bosé was just 11 years old, and the divorce had a huge impact on him — serving as a catalyst to transform him into the disruptive artist the world would meet a decade later.
The cast includes Nacho Fresneda (The Ministry of Time) as Bosé’s father, Luis Miguel Dominguín; Valeria Solarino (Rocco Schiavone) as Bosé’s mother, Lucía Bosé; Alicia Borrachero (Morocco: Love in Times of War) as La Tata, a pivotal figure in Miguel Bosé’s life; Ana Jara (Días mejores) as the singer’s best friend; José Sospedra (Velvet Colección) as Pablo Alborch; Miguel Ángel Muñoz (Presumed Guilty) as singer Julio Iglesias; and Mariela Garriga (The Alligator) as Facio.
Bosé, a Paramount+ Original, premieres in the US on Thursday, December 1, exclusively on Paramount+ and its digital channels, including Paramount+ on Amazon. All six episodes of the biopic series will be available to stream in Spanish and dubbed in English at launch.
Dead End (Pewnego razu na krajowej jedynce) (Poland)
In this crime comedy-drama, a group of people sharing a ride accidentally switches cars with a bank robber, who then pursues them to retrieve the stolen money he left in the trunk.
Starring Juliusz Chrząstowski (The Thaw), Łukasz Garlicki (High Water), and Anna Ilczuk (The Defence), Dead End, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Thursday, December 1, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Troll (Norway)
The troll in this fantasy action film is a gigantic monster that awakens deep inside the mountain of Dovre, where it has been trapped for a thousand years. Folks thought trolls only existed in Norwegian folklore. Hah! No, this one is real. And now that it is conscious (and apparently quite unhappy), it is destroying everything in its path — and it is fast approaching Norway’s capital of Oslo…
The cast includes Ine Marie Wilmann (Furia, Exit, Bloodride), Kim Falck-Jørgensen (Ammo, Hva Hvis?, Good Night Darling), Mads Sjøgård Pettersen (Wisting, State of Happiness, Home for Christmas), and Gard Eidsvold (Witch Hunt, Wisting, Aber Bergen).
Troll, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Thursday, December 1, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it at www.netflix.com/troll.)
Hot Skull (Sicak Kafa) (Turkey)
Based on the novel Sıcak Kafa by Afşin Kum, Hot Skull is set in a world that has been shaken by “jabbering,” an epidemic of madness spread through language and speech, going from one person’s mind to the next and the next and so on and infecting them.
The one person who has remained mysteriously unaffected by the jabbering disease is Murat (Osman Sonant, Leyla and Mecnun, Rise of Empires: Ottoman), a former linguist who had studied the disease. In order to hide his condition from everyone, he took refuge at his mother’s home and became a recluse. But then he’s found out and the ruthless Anti-Epidemic Institution goes after him, forcing him to leave the safe zone and flee into the ruins of Istanbul, where he searches for the secret of his “hot skull” — a lasting mark of the disease.
Hot Skull, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Friday, December 2, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Love and Sacrifice (Sacrificio d’amore) (Italy)
Set in the days leading up to World War One, against the backdrop of the Carrara marble quarries, this period drama tells the stories of love, power, and ideals amongst members of the Corradi family and those in their midst.
The owner of the marble quarries is Corrado Corradi (Giorgio Lupano, Paradise), a man tied to the traditions imposed on him. His wife is Silvia (Francesca Valtorta, Anti-Mafia Squad), a beautiful and emancipated woman. Just arrived at the quarries is Brando Prizzi (Francesco Arca, The Promised Life), a young quarrier who fights for the rights of his fellow workers — and whose shared passion with Silvia turns the Corradi family’s world upside down. Then there is the love between housemaid Maddalena Prizzi (Desirèe Noferini, Detective Montalbano) and tutor Tommaso Fabiani (Rocco Giusti, Paradise) — a love that will be tested by the greed and ambitions of the Corradis’ housekeeper, Miss Maffei (Sara D’Amario, Bulletproof Heart).
Other threads include the family’s arrogant, power-thirsty patriarch, Leopoldo Corradi (Paolo Malco, Full Disclosure); Corrado’s older brother Alberto (Ruben Rigillo, Bulletproof Heart), husband of ambitious aristocrat Guendalina Volpi (Gaia Messerklinger, The Alligator) and disappointment to Leopoldo; and Alessandro Lucchesi (Luca Bastianello, Paradise), a determined and outspoken young doctor at the Santa Corona Hospital, who is in constant conflict with Sister Agnese (Antonella Fattori, Don Matteo), the cold, unscrupulous, power-hungry woman who manages the hospital.
Love and Sacrifice premieres in the US and Canada on Friday, December 2, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and the Walter Presents digital channels.
Top Notch (Toppen) (Sweden)
Set during an election year in Sweden, this six-episode, political satire comedy series see the ruling socialist party, Demokratiska Samlingspartiet (DSP), struggling in the opinion polls as voter support is falling. With only six months left until election day, they are fighting hard to maintain their hold on power. So the party’s spin doctor, the hard-nosed election general Kaminsky (Robert Gustafsson, The Truth Will Out), gives ambitious press secretary Lisa (Klara Hodell, Knutby) an impossible request: get her self-absorbed boss, Roxanne (Sissela Benn, Wallander), from being the country’s Welfare Minister to Sweden’s new prime minister.
Costarring Eric Stern (Bonus Family), Daniel Hallberg (Clark), Christopher Wollter (Modus), and Leif Andrée (Real Humans), and featuring Dag Malmberg (The Bridge), Top Notch, an Amazon Original, premieres globally on Friday, December 2, exclusively on Prime Video. (You can add it to your watchlist now.)
Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games (Les petits meurtres d’Agatha Christie) (France)
Christmas comes early as we’re treated to a bonus episode of this popular series of French-ified adaptations of Agatha Christie‘s mystery stories. Set in the 1950s, they star Samuel Labarthe (Notre-Dame on Fire) as Chief Inspector Swan Laurence, Blandine Bellavoir (Maison close) as journalist Alice Avril, and Elodie Frenck (Captain Marleau) as Swan’s loyal secretary, Marlène. (Video is from Season 4)
The bonus episode of Agatha Christie’s Criminal Games premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 6, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
Delivery by Christmas (Jeszcze przed swietami) (Poland)
In this holiday romantic comedy, a spiteful coworker sabotages a courier’s deliveries, so she and a helpful customer must race to return Christmas presents to their intended recipients. Starring Monika Frajczyk (Prime Time), Piotr Pacek (Family Secrets), and Franciszek Krupowicz, Delivery by Christmas, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Tuesday, December 6, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Inspector LaBrea (Kommissar LaBréa) (Germany)
This crime drama stars Francis Fulton-Smith (Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood) as Inspector Maurice LaBrea, a detective who moves from Marseille to Paris with his twelve-year-old daughter (Leonie Brill, Blood Red Sky) after the death of his wife. In the series opener, LaBréa hunts for a serial killer who has been terrifying the Bastille district, only for him and his daughter to become the next targets.
Inspector LaBrea premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 6, 2022 MHz Choice Germany
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie: Season 2 (Les petits meurtres d’Agatha Christie) (France)
Another series of French adaptations of Agatha Christie whodunits is this 1930s-set mystery series starring Antoine Duléry (The Bonfire of Destiny) as Superintendent Larosière, whose passion for beautiful women is matched only by his love of solving puzzling crimes, and Marius Colucci (Capitain Marleau) as Larosière’s sidekick, Inspector Lampion, whose modern sensibilities sometimes clash with those of a less-enlightened age. Episodes in this season include an adaptation of the Hercule Poirot story Lord Edgeware Dies and the Miss Marple story Sleeping Murder.
The Little Murders of Agatha Christie: Season 2 premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 6, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
I Hate Christmas (Odio Il Natale) (Italy)
In this remake of the Norwegian series Home for Christmas, this romantic comedy is Netflix’s first Italian Christmas series. It stars Pilar Fogliati (Cuori, Lockout, Dark Forest) as Gianna, a single nurse whose family never tires of asking about her love life during the holidays. This year, though, is different. This year she tells them she will bring her boyfriend to Christmas dinner. Except Gianna doesn’t actually have one, so she sets about finding one by Christmas — and has just 24 days to do it.
Costarring Beatrice Arnera (Detective Montalbano), Fiorenza Pieri (Don Matteo) and Nicolas Maupas (Under the Amalfi Sun), I Hate Christmas, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 7, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Smiley (Spain)
In this romantic comedy series, two men and their friends in Barcelona navigate hesitations, hangups, and missed connections as they search for the true love they’ve been missing.
Starring Miki Esparbé (A Man of Action), Carlos Cuevas (Merlí. Sapere Aude), and Pepón Nieto (30 Coins), Smiley, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 7, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
The Bad Guy (Italy)
This dark comedy-crime series follows the story of Nino Scotellaro (Luigi Lo Cascio, The Best of Youth), a Sicilian public prosecutor who has dedicated his entire life to fighting the mafia. When he is suddenly accused of and condemned for being a mafioso himself, and with nothing left to lose, Nino decides to carry out a Machiavellian plan of revenge, becoming the bad guy he’s accused of being.
The Bad Guy, an Amazon Original, premieres globally on Thursday, December 8, exclusively on Prime Video. (You can add it to your watchlist now.)
God’s Crooked Lines (Los renglones torcidos de Dios) (Spain)
Based on the best-selling novel Los renglones torcidos de Dios by Torcuato Luca de Tena, this thriller stars Bárbara Lennie (The Mess You Leave Behind) as a private detective who claims to be suffering from paranoia in order to check into a psychiatric hospital, so she can investigate the mysterious death another patient.
Costarring Eduard Fernández (30 Coins), Loreto Mauleón (Patria), Javier Beltrán (The Innocent), and Pablo Derqui (If I Hadn’t Met You), God’s Crooked Lines, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Friday, December 9, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
La Otra Mirada: Season 2 (Spain)
Following the events in Season 1 of this drama set in 1920s Seville, the second and final season sees girls’ boarding school teacher Teresa (Patricia López Arnaiz, Intimacy) declared innocent of murder and released from prison. But the whole ordeal, including spending four months behind bars, has left her weak and exhausted. Still, she returns to teaching, and also enrolls Inés (Dariam Coco, Welcome to Eden), a young hustler living on the street, so the girl can get an education.
Meanwhile, Manuela (Macarena García, The Ministry of Time) has to give into a group of new investors in order to get funding for the school, and accepts that they’ve hired an old friend and classmate, Carmen (Melina Matthews, The Girls at the Back), as the new administrator at the school. Given its financial situation, Carmen wastes no time in implementing drastic changes in how the school is run.
La Otra Mirada: Season 2 has its SVOD streaming premiere on Friday, December 9, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and the Walter Presents digital channels.
Don Matteo: Season 12 (Italy)
Yay! Terence Hill will be back as the soul-saving, mystery-solving Catholic priest in a new season of this hugely-popular, long-running whodunit series. (Video is from Season 11)
Don Matteo: Season 12 premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 13, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
Masantonio (Italy)
Alessandro Preziosi (Detective De Luca, The Lying Life of Adults, My Brother, My Sister) stars in this mystery-crime drama series as Elio Masantonio, a mysterious, lone-wolf cop with a complicated past, who leads the missing persons task force in Genoa.
Costarring Davide Iacopini (Thou Shalt Not Kill), Claudia Pandolfi (Baby), and Bebo Storti (Rocco Schiavone), Masantonio premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 13, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
Glitter (Brokat) (Poland)
Set in 1976 Sopot, Poland, this drama follows three determined women who navigate social and political changes as they strive to find independence, financial freedom and love. Starring Magdalena Popławska (Prime Time), Wiktoria Filus (The Woods), and Matylda Giegżno (The Defence), Glitter, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 14, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
The Spectacular (Netherlands)
Set in the 1980s and based on a true story, this four-part crime thriller stars Hadewych Minis (Van der Valk, Borgman) as Detective Jeanine Maes, who is recruited to be the team leader for the criminal investigation into violent IRA attacks on British soldiers stationed in the Dutch region of Limburg. Her hunt for the culprits soon brings her face-to-face with her main suspect, the ruthless and extremely dangerous Fiona Hughes, the only female member of the IRA cell responsible for the attacks.
Meanwhile, in Northern Ireland, British security service MI5 coerces IRA volunteer Patrick Lynch to infiltrate the inner circle of legendary bomber Declan Moore, who, encouraged by his older brother-in-arms Corey O’Keefe (Ian Beattie, Game of Thrones, Gangs of London), is expected to lead a cell in mainland Europe.
Will Jeanine risk disrupting the peace process between Britain and Northern Ireland with her obsessive pursuit of Fiona? And will Declan’s rift with Corey mean it’s down to him to show that the IRA are still as powerful as they were ten years ago?
Costars in the multilingual series include Aoibhinn McGinnity (Smother, Love/Hate) as Fiona Hughes, Kerr Logan (C.B. Strike, Dead Still) as Patrick Lynch, Declan Conlon (The Tudors, Proof) as Declan Moore, and Ian Beattie (Game of Thrones, Gangs of London) as Corey O’Keefe. Additional cast members include Michel Sluysmans (The Adulterer), Jochum ten Haaf (Commandos), Jacob Derwig (The Blood Pact), and Porgy Franssen (Women of the Night).
The Spectacular premieres in the US and Canada in its entirety on Thursday, December 15, exclusively on Topic and its digital channels, including Topic on Amazon.
Private Lesson (Türkiye)
In this romantic comedy, Azra poses as a private tutor and secretly coaches students on achieving their goals in life and love — but not without a few bumps in the road.
Starring Bensu Soral (Money Trap), Halit Özgür Sarı (The Protector), and Helin Kandemir (The Protector), Private Lesson, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Friday, December 16, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Le pupille (Italy)
Set in wartime Italy, this delightful and original holiday tale by multi-award-winning director Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders, Corpo Celeste, Happy as Lazzaro) follows the girls of a Catholic boarding school. Rohrwacher herself stars as the nun in charge of the boarding school, where rebellion, fantasy, and surprises of all kinds happen in the days before Christmas.
Le pupille premieres in the US on Friday, December 16, exclusively on Disney+.
A Storm for Christmas (Norway)
This drama series revolves around various individuals who arrive at Oslo airport — some to welcome their loved ones, some to travel home to their families, and some to fly away and escape Christmas. However, in one way or another, their Christmas mission goes awry. They are all stranded at the airport and the clock is ticking. It’s just 24 hours until Christmas. What will they do?
The cast includes Jan Gunnar Røise (Mammon), Ida Elise Broch (Home for Christmas), Jon Øigarden (Norsemen), Dennis Storhøi (Nobel), Maibritt Saerens (The Sommerdahl Murders), Alexandra Rapaport (The Sandhamn Murders), Hanna Ardéhn (Quicksand), Line Verndal (Ragnarok), Valter Skarsgård (The Playlist), Thea Sofie Loch Næss (Wisting), Ghita Nørby (The Kingdom), Oscar Jean (The Third Eye), Sus Wilkins (Below the Surface), Ibrahim Faal (The Days the Flowers Bloom), Ravdeep Sing Bajwa (Witch Hunt), Talia Lorentzen (Julestjerna), and Evelyn Rasmussen Osazuwa (Wisting).
A Storm For Christmas, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Friday, December 16, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Summer Job (Italy)
In this reality competition series, ten Gen Z participants go on what they think is their dream vacation, but in order for them to have a shot at staying in a luxury villa — and to win €100,000 — they have to work real jobs.
Summer Job, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Friday, December 16, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Mismatch: Season 1 (Face à Face) (France)
Set in Strasbourg, this crime comedy stars Claire Borotra (Perfect Murders, Antigone 34) as judge Justine Rameau, and Constance Gay (Unit 42, Spiral) as investigator Vanessa Tancelin. These women, different in practically every way imaginable, don’t know each other until they learn they are half-sisters after the death of their father. Regardless of how much Justine and Vanessa may be polar opposites to each other, they will have to live under the same roof and work together to bring criminals to justice.
Mismatch premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 20, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
Perfect Murders: Season 2 (Crimes parfaits) (France)
This mystery series returns with eight episodes featuring quirky investigators teaming up to solve crimes committed by culprits whose identities are known by viewers from the off. (Video is from Season 1)
Perfect Murders: Season 2 premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 20, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
The Head: Season 2 (Spain)
The new season of this mystery thriller moves the action from a research station at the South Pole, where a bunch of grisly murders were committed in Season 1, to an ocean freighter on a scientific mission. John Lynch (The Fall) and Katharine O’Donnelly (Mary Queen of Scots) reprise their roles as biologist Arthur Wilde and Dr. Maggie Mitchell, with Hovik Keuchkerian (Money Heist), Moe Dunford (The Dry), Josefin Neldén (The Restaurant), and Olivia Morris (Hotel Portofino) joining the cast.
The Head: Season 2, a Max Original, premieres in the US on Thursday, December 22, exclusively on HBO Max.
Munch: Season 2 (France)
In Season 2 of this legal drama, powerhouse lawyer Gabrielle Munchowski (Isabelle Nanty, Big Bug, Amélie, Resistance), punchy and offbeat as ever, might have to take a legal detour in order to help a man accused of murder. The thing is, the new Attorney General, Jérôme Tillier (Nicolas Carpentier, Dime Quién Soy: Mistress of War), isn’t going to let anything slide. In other matters, Munch convinces her associate, Hubert Bellanger (Lucien Jean-Baptiste, He Even Has Your Eyes), to come back from New York to help keep an eye on the younger members of the team. (Video is from Season 1)
Munch: Season 2 premieres in the US and Canada on Friday, December 23, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and the Walter Presents digital channels.
The Witcher: Blood Origin (US-Poland)
Set in an elven world 1200 years before the events of The Witcher, this prequel series tells a story of seven outcasts who unite against an unstoppable power that took everything from them. Their blood quest gives rise to a prototype Witcher in a conflict that brings about the “conjunction of the spheres,” when the worlds of monsters, men, and elves merged to become one.
The fantasy action-adventure drama stars Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once), Lenny Henry (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Laurence O’Fuarain (Rebellion), Sophia Brown (Marcella), Mirren Mack (The Nest), Lizzie Annis (Night Growler), Francesca Mills (Harlots), Zach Wyatt (Karen Pirie), and Huw Novelli (The Capture), with Minnie Driver (Starstruck) in a guest role.
The Witcher: Blood Origin, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Sunday, December 25, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Living a Lie: Season 3 (Byw Celwydd) (Wales)
In the third season of this drama set in and around a fictional Welsh parliament, Rhiannon Roberts (Ffion Dafis, Hidden), the Leader of the Nationalists, is now the Prime Minister of Wales. After deciding to meddle in Megan Ashford’s (Rebecca Harries, Keeping Faith) progressive plans, Rhiannon, with her plate overflowing, must focus on the crisis of Wales’s Health Service. (Video is from Season 2)
Costarring Catherine Ayers (The Light in the Hall), Eiry Thomas (The Pact), and Matthew Gravelle (Broadchurch), Living a Lie: Season 3 premieres in the US and Canada on Tuesday, December 27, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
7 Women and a Murder (7 donne e un mistero) (Italy)
Set in the 1930s, this crime comedy sees seven women meeting at the family villa to celebrate Christmas Eve together with the patriarch. But when he is found stabbed to death, the women — each with a motive for killing him, each now a suspect — are forced to reveal their secrets in order to solve the mystery of who is the murderer.
7 Women and a Murder, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 28, exclusively on Netflix.
A Night at the Kindergarten (Noc w przedszkolu) (Poland)
In this comedy, a young man crashes a school play rehearsal to prevent a group of teachers and eccentric parents from expelling his girlfriend’s son. A Night at the Kindergarten, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 28, exclusively on Netflix.
Stuck with You (Happy nous year) (France)
In this romantic comedy, two strangers are on their way to a New Year’s Eve party when they get stuck in an elevator together and find themselves connecting in unexpected ways. Starring Kev Adams (The Spy Who Dumped Me) and Camille Lellouche (Love at Second Sight), Stuck with You, a Netflix Film, premieres globally on Wednesday, December 28, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
Rise of Empires: Ottoman: Season 2 (US-Türkiye)
In the new season of this docudrama series, Sultan Mehmed II consolidates power years after conquering Constantinople, but a merciless ruler in Wallachia threatens to bring down his empire.
Rise of Empires: Ottoman: Season 2, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Thursday, December 29, exclusively on Netflix.
Alpha Males (Machos Alfa) (Spain)
This comedy series centers on four friends — Pedro, Luis, Raúl and Santi — each of whom feels a bit lost in the new world of empowered women and tries to adjust in his own haphazard way. The ten-episode series stars Fernando Gil (Bosé), María Hervás (The Cook of Castamar), Raúl Tejón (The Girl in the Mirror), Kira Miró (Broken Embraces), Gorka Otxoa (A Private Affair), Paula Gallego (Vis a Vis: Oasis), Fele Martínez (Bad Education), Raquel Guerrero (The Countryside), and Virginia Rodríguez (Paquita Salas). Alpha Males, a Netflix Series, premieres globally on Friday, December 30, exclusively on Netflix. (You can set a reminder for it now.)
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS DEBUTING ON LINEAR TV
The Tailor’s Wife (La moglie del sarto) (Italy)
Set in a seaside village in Calabria in 1960, this drama centers on Rosetta (Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Il Postino), a proud Sicilian woman who finds herself and her twenty-year-old daughter, Sofia (Marta Gastini, Borgia), abandoned by everyone after the sudden death of her husband, a well-respected tailor. Amidst the prejudice and malicious gossip of the villagers, as well as harassment from a local politician, Rosetta fights to defend her dignity and the family’s tailoring business. Meanwhile, Sofia falls for and marries Salvatore (Alessio Vassallo, The Young Montalbano), a young traveling artist with a gypsy charm. The villagers begin casting aspersions on these two, as well, while continuing to slander Rosetta.
The Tailor’s Wife has its US linear debut on Saturday, December 24, at 8:30 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
Appointment with Death (Waidmannsdank) (Austria)
Set in the Austrian countryside, this crime drama opens with the death of a hunter in a small mountain community, initially believed by officers Georg Treichel (Peter Raffalt, Tatort) and Martina Schober (Jutta Fastian, Murder by the Lake) to be an unfortunate accident until a piece of evidence points to murder and suspicion falls on the man who found the victim. Then a farmer is attacked; he survives but Treichel is seriously injured and falls into a coma. To support Schober with the investigation, Chief Inspector Acham, a stressed-out working mother from Klagenfurt, is transferred to the village, where everyone suspects everyone else — and a murderer is amongst them…
Appointment with Death has its US linear debut on Friday, December 30, at 9 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
The Ultimate Game (Reverso) (Spain)
In this thriller, brothers Alex (Iván Hermés, Isabel) and Marcos (Raúl Mérida, Cable Girls) were raised in an orphanage, where they first began to compete against each other in dangerous games; they gave each other gruesome challenges and paid the price if they failed. Their toxic rivalry continued into adulthood, and the games became even more challenging and dangerous. One left Alex in a coma, and since then he has rebuilt his life with Marta (Elena Ballesteros, Apaches). Just after the death of Marta’s father, Alex decides to settle the score with Marcos, to put an end to all of this. They decide to play one final game — a game of life or death.
The Ultimate Game has its US linear debut on Saturday, December 31, at 8:30 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS BEING ADDED TO STREAMING SERVICES
Solo (Italy)
Marco Bocci (Made in Italy, Anti-Mafia Squad) stars in this crime drama as Marco Pagani, an undercover cop who has infiltrated the Italian Mafia in Rome. Code-named Solo, Marco gets in with the vicious mafioso Bruno Corona (Peppino Mazzotta, Detective Montalbano) after the latter’s deal with a Ukrainian arms dealer goes south and Marco gets Bruno our alive. Things get rather complicated when Interpol agents ask Marco for help with information about a deal between a capo in the US and Bruno’s father — but especially after someone discovers his true identity…
Solo begins streaming Friday, December 16, exclusively on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel and the Walter Presents digital channels.
The Frozen Dead (Glacé) (France)
Based on the eponymous novel by Bernard Minier, this mystery-crime thriller opens with the discovery of a headless horse’s corpse hanging from a cable car 6500 feet up the edge of a mountain in the French Pyrenees. Handling the case in the small Pyrenean town of Saint-Martin-de-Comminges are Captain Martin Servaz (Charles Berling, Trepalium) of the regional police in Toulouse, Irène Ziegler (Julia Piaton, Family Business) of the National Gendarmerie.
Their investigation leads to the discovery of human DNA at the crime scene — DNA belonging to serial killer Julian Alois Hirtmann (Pascal Greggory, La Vie en Rose), who Servaz arrested years ago. The thing is, Hirtmann is imprisoned in the town’s high-security mental asylum, where young psychiatrist Diane Berg (Nina Meurisse, Camille) is starting to conduct psychotherapy sessions with Hirtmann…
The Frozen Dead begins streaming Tuesday, December 20, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
Alter Ego (Double je) (France)
This mystery-crime drama series revolves around the investigations of Captain Déa Versini (Carole Weyers, Parlement) and her partner, Jimmy (François Vincentelli, Make Love Not Kids). They make a great crime-solving team, except Jimmy is actually Déa’s imaginary friend, and their partnership gets shaken up by the arrival of the very real and very charming Lieutenant Matthieu Delcourt (Ambroise Michel, Nina).
Alter Ego begins streaming Tuesday, December 27, exclusively on MHz Choice and its digital channels, including MHz Choice on Amazon.
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Header photo credits: Top row (L-R): Agatha Christie’s Hjerson courtesy of Topic; The Bad Guy (photo © Amazon Studios) courtesy of Prime Video | Inspector LaBrea courtesy of MHz Choice; Stuck with You courtesy of Netflix
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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 December premieres of shows from the UK, Canada, and Ireland, visit The British TV Place. For info about the debuts of programs from Australia and New Zealand, visit The Down Under TV Place. For that of a select list of titles from other countries, visit The Global TV Place.
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