On average, you can watch one new Euro TV series or season every three days in August, as ten of them make their stateside debuts.
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 below are shown in their original language with English subtitles, except where noted. Some trailers might not have English subtitles, but you should still be able to get a sense of the story through the combination of the description and visuals.
NATIONAL PREMIERES
Cocaine Coast (Fariña) (Spain)
Spanning the decade between 1981 and 1990, this crime drama chronicles the rise of the illegal drug trafficking trade in Galicia, Spain.
The ten-episode drama opens when real-life drug smuggler Sito Miñanco, played by Javier Rey (Velvet, Velvet Collection), is a young, debt-laden fisherman in Galicia who uses his speedboating skills to smuggle tobacco for Vicente Otero Pérez, aka “Terito” (Manuel Lourenzo, Mareas vivas), the head of the mob clans in the Ría de Arousa area.
But smuggling this contraband for Terito is chump change, so Miñanco sets up his own smuggling ring, gets involved with Latin American drug cartels, and establishes Galicia as their entryway to get cocaine into Europe.
Based on Nacho Carretero’s nonfiction book Fariña, the slang word for cocaine in the Galician language, and costarring Tristán Ulloa (La catedral del mar, The Time in Between), Cocaine Coast, a Netflix Original series, premieres in the US on Friday, August 3, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Homicide Unit Istanbul: Season 3 (Mordkommission Istanbul) (Germany)
Erol Sander (Flemming, Pompeii, Snowden) returns as Inspector Mehmet Özakin, the nattily suited and booted by-the-book cop, in several new feature-length episodes of this popular German mystery-crime drama series.
In them Mehmet and his trusted sidekick, Mustafa Tombul (Oscar Ortega Sánchez, Commissario Brunetti), investigate the murders of a museum guard, the double for a soap opera star, and a real estate scammer, amongst others.
(The video below is from Season 2.)
Costarring Idil Üner (Mostly Martha) as Mehmet’s wife Sevim, Homicide Unit Istanbul: Season 3 premieres in the US on Tuesday, August 7, exclusively on MHz Choice and the MHz Choice channel on Amazon.
The Court: Season 2 (Réttur) (Iceland)
The second season of this fabulous legal-crime drama series picks up where the Season 1 cliffhanger left off. All I’ll say is Logi Traustason (Magnús Jónsson, Case, Cover Story) is as incorrigible as ever, and he lives to regret it. He’ll probably wish he hadn’t defended a disgusting criminal (in the Season 2 opener), either.
Meanwhile, Logi’s former colleague, Magnús (Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Cover Story), does some investigative work for one of Brynhildur’s (Jóhanna Vigdís Arnardóttir, Case, Every Color of the Sea is Cold) cases. What he learns does wonders for her client, but leaves Brynhildur and Kári (Sveinn Geirsson, The Lava Field), her detective boyfriend and baby daddy, as targets of a hardened criminal with a serious grudge.
And things are looking up for Hörður (Víkingur Kristjánsson, Prisoners, World’s End), the third partner at the firm. He has a new woman in his life, and Anna (Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir, Trapped) is spoiling him big time. The thing is, you just know there’s an equally big price attached…
(The video below is from Season 1.)
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The Court: Season 2 premieres in the US on Thursday, August 9, exclusively on Walter Presents and the Walter Presents channel on Amazon.
The Mafia Only Kills in Summer (La mafia uccide solo d’estate) (Italy)
Inspired by the film of the same name, this quirky The Wonder Years-meets-Forrest Gump comedy-drama series tells the story of the Giammaresi family — father Lorenzo (Claudio Gioè, Anti-Mafia Sqaud), mother Pia (Anna Foglietta, La squadra), daughter Angela (Angela Curri, Mussolini’s Daughter), and son Salvatore (newcomer Edoardo Buscetta) — who live in Palermo in the late 1970s against a backdrop of Mafia violence.
Featuring Pif, the multiple award-winning creator of the film and series, doing the voiceover as the adult Salvatore, the series costars Francesco Scianna (Maltese: The Mafia Detective), Valentina D’Agostino (Borgia), and Alessandro Piavani (Medici: Masters of Florence).
The Mafia Only Kills in Summer premieres in the US on Tuesday, August 14, exclusively on MHz Choice and the MHz Choice channel on Amazon.
Ultraviolet (Poland)
Inspired by the book The Skeleton Crew by Deborah Halber, this crime drama series follows 30-year-old Ola Serafin (Marta Nieradkiewicz, The Pact), who meets a group of quirky amateur detectives through the Internet and joins forces with them to solve criminal cases using high- and low-tech methods.
Featuring Marek Kalita (Wataha / The Border), Agata Kulesza (Ida), and Bartlomiej Topa (Wataha), Ultraviolet, a Netflix Original series, premieres in the US on Friday, August 17, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Johan Falk: Season 3 (Final) (Sweden)
Jakob Eklund returns for the third and final season of this action-filled crime thriller as the eponymous special operations officer in Gothenburg.
Consisting of five feature-length episodes, this season finds Sophie Nordh (Meliz Karlge, Fallet) taking over for Patrik Agrell (Mikael Tornving, SNN News) as the head of GSI, gang leader Seth Rydell (Jens Hultén, Inspector Winter) running weapons, and members of the Eastern European mafia threatening Johan’s family.
Returning cast members include Marie Richardson (Before We Die, Blue Eyes), Mårten Svedberg (Beck), Zeljko Santrac (The Lawyer), and Johan Hedenberg (Before We Die). Guest stars this season include Björn Bengtsson (Thicker than Water), Alexander Karim (Arne Dahl), Daniel Larsson (Blue Eyes), Henrik Lundström (The Bridge), Henrik Norlén (Modus), Aliette Opheim (Thicker than Water), Malgorzata Pieczynska (Blue Eyes), and Alexandra Rapaport (The Sandhamn Murders).
Johan Falk: Season 3 premieres in the US on Tuesday, August 21, exclusively on MHz Choice and the MHz Choice channel on Amazon.
Deadwind (Karppi) (Finland)
Pihla Viitala (Arctic Circle, Black Widows, Hellfjord) leads the cast of this Nordic noir mystery-crime drama as Sofia Karppi, a thirty-something detective trying to pull herself together while still mourning the loss of her husband months after his death.
Upon returning to work, Karppi’s first case is the murder of a young woman whose body was found at a construction site in Helsinki, and her investigation triggers a chain of events that threatens to destroy her life again.
The twelve-episode Finnish-German drama features Lauri Tilkanen (Hooked, Nymphs), Jani Volanen (Easy Living), Tommi Korpela (The Protectors), Riku Nieminen (Roba), Jonna Järnefelt (Thicker than Water), Raimo Grönberg (Look of a Killer), Mikko Nousiainen (Black Widows), Marjaana Maijala (Hooked), Tobias Zilliacus (Beck), August Wittgenstein (The Crown), and Vera Kiiskinen (Bordertown).
Deadwind, a Netflix Original series, premieres in the US on Thursday, August 23, exclusively on Netflix. (You can add it to your queue now.)
Manon: 5 Years On (Manon 20 ans) (France)
In this follow-up miniseries to one of my favorite new Euro TV shows of 2016, Manon (Alba Gaïa Bellugi, The Bureau) is now 20 years old. She is a certified mechanic, but despite her skills and qualifications, the owner of a garage hires her as a receptionist.
But while Manon’s life has been on an upward trajectory and she’s formed a few new meaningful relationships, it isn’t long before she begins to spiral downward again.
Featuring Déborah François (Cezanne et Moi), Théo Cholbi (Witnesses), Yoann Blanc (Station Horizon), and Charlie Nelson (A French Village), Manon: 5 Years On premieres in the US on Thursday, August 23, exclusively on Walter Presents and the Walter Presents channel on Amazon.
Tangled Lies (Scomparsa) (Italy)
Nora Telese (Vanessa Incontrada, Don Matteo) is a single mum and the director of the children’s psychiatric clinic in the seaside resort of San Benedetto del Tronto. On one fateful day, Nora’s life goes from comfortable to anguished when she realizes her only child, her 16-year-old daughter Camilla (Eleonora Gaggero, Alex & Co.), hasn’t returned home from a party the night before, didn’t spend the night with a friend, and has disappeared.
The plot thickens when someone with a vendetta from Nora’s past resurfaces and a body is discovered by the river. As the search continues, secrets and lies are forced into the open.
Featuring Giuseppe Zeno (The Ladies’ Paradise), Fiorenza Tessari (Suburra: Blood on Rome), Luigi Di Fiore (Inspector Nardone), and Fabio Camilli (The Homicide Squad), the six-episode Tangled Lies premieres in the US on Monday, August 27, exclusively on Acorn TV and the Acorn TV channel on Amazon.
Vaugand (France)
This legal drama series stars Globes de Cristal Awards winner Olivier Marchal (Elite Squad, Meurtres en Martinique, The Georges Simenon Mysteries) as criminal defense lawyer Richard Vaugand.
The episode “Irresponsable” (“Irresponsible”) finds Vaugand representing a new client: a mentally-deficient young man named Thierry Moncef (Maxime Dambrin, Nestor Burma), accused of the murder of a young woman but found irresponsible for his actions at the initial hearing.
Vaugand has an uphill battle on his hands on three fronts in defending Moncef — the court of public opinion, which is outraged that Moncef walked free; the public prosecutor, who has appealed the verdict and wants Moncef locked up for his crime; and a rival attorney, who uses the case to gain publicity for himself at Vaugand’s expense.
Vaugand: Irresponsable premieres in the US on Friday, August 31, at 8:30 PM ET, on TV5Monde USA.
ADDED TO PROGRAMMING SCHEDULES
Les Dames (The Ladies, aka Dead Beautiful) (France)
One of my favorite new Euro TV premieres of 2017, this dark and disturbing crime thriller series stars Thierry Godard (Spiral, A French Village) as Martin, the flawed group leader of the Judicial Police in Paris, whose cases involve crimes (read: murders) against women.
In the telefilm “Dame de cendres” (“Lady of Ashes”), Martin’s team member, Jeannette (Valérie Decobert-Koretzky, Caméra café), arrests Paul Vigan (Laurent Maurel, Doctor Who), the suspected serial killer of six women. However, bringing him to justice proves to be a complicated matter when another young woman who matches the profile of the other victims is found stabbed to death while Vigan is in custody.
Les Dames: Dame de cendres begins airing Sunday, August 12, at 11:00 PM ET, on TV5Monde USA.
In “Dame de feu” (“Lady of Fire”), Martin is disallowed from participating in the investigation of the murders of seven people by an anonymous killer aboard a bus during morning commute time in Paris, as one of the victims was his girlfriend. So he conducts his own inquiries, and what he learns leads him to believe the killer will strike again.
Les Dames: Dame de feu begins airing Sunday, August 19, at 11:00 PM ET, on TV5Monde USA.
And in “Dame de glace” (“Lady of Ice”), Marie-Laure Bélier (Sophie-Charlotte Husson, Spin), head of the Forensic Identification Service, is accused of murdering a rapist. Although all evidence points to her, Martin is sure she is innocent. Now he just needs to prove it.
Les Dames: Dame de glace begins airing Sunday, August 26, at 11:00 PM ET, on TV5Monde USA.
Dark Forest (Il bosco) (Italy)
This four-part psychological crime thriller centers on Nina Ferrari (Giulia Michelini, Anti-Mafia Squad), a graduate in psychology who accepts a teaching position at a university campus in her hometown — a town she hasn’t step foot in for 20 years, after her mother abandoned her as a child in the forest and then disappeared.
Soon after Nina’s return, one of her students is found dead in the same woods. This is just one in what will be a series of mysterious deaths, which Nina believes are connected. So she begins to search for the truth — both about what really happened to her student and why her mother abandoned her.
Helping Nina in her personal investigation is Alex Corso (Claudio Gioè, The Mafia Only Kills in Summer), a convicted murderer recently released from prison. Everyone warns Nina to steer clear of Alex, especially Inspector Luca Damiani (Andrea Sartoretti, Romanzo Criminale), who’s been wooing Nina. But she realizes that many aspects of Alex’s history seem to parallel hers, as he, too, is trying to find out the truth behind the murder he was accused of two decades ago.
And before long, Nina and Alex find themselves racing against the clock to reveal the truth about the secret that connects the past with the present in a town that looks more and more to be peaceful and united only on the surface.
Featuring Gianmarco Tognazzi (Good and Evil), Ivano Marescotti (Fog and Crimes), Sandra Ceccarelli (Romanzo Siciliano), Mimmo Mignemi (The Mafia Only Kills in Summer), Augusto Zucchi (Suburra: Blood on Rome), and Paolo Romano (A Case of Conscience), Dark Forest begins airing Tuesday, August 28, at 7 PM ET, on Eurochannel.
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Did you miss any of the new shows and program additions from previous months? Check the Euro TV Viewing Guide 2018 Archives to find out.
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For details about the August 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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