Is BBC America planning to ...
Question: Is BBC America planning to drop good U.K. mysteries like
Wire in the Blood, Murphy's Law,
Silent Witness,
Waking the Dead and
Rebus in favor of more reality shows, as A&E did a few years ago? I have been watching the BBC America mysteries for more than six years and have liked most of the ones they air. Have you heard or read any news about BBC America's plans for the future? Most of the summer they aired reruns of
Murphy's Law. It looked like they would air a new season in the fall after airing the reruns of previous seasons. However,
Top Gear now is airing in the time slot that until recently was BBC America Mystery Mondays. Any information would be appreciated.
Answer: Mysteries are always going to be part of the BBC America menu, but they may not necessarily be scheduled on a dedicated night. The way it was explained to me by an insider is that BBCA is looking to build more of its schedule around longer-running series for the sake of consistency, which is why the popular
Top Gear has taken over the Monday slot. But
MI-5, which qualifies as a mystery thriller, has done well on Tuesdays, I'm told — although there's still no word about who is ever going to air Season 5, or when. And the new
Ultimate Force series (starting this Tuesday), about an elite undercover Special Forces team, sounds like it's cut from the same military-action cloth. Plus, I've learned BBCA is coproducing the next series of the terrific
Wire in the Blood, including a special episode filmed in Texas, so keep an eye out for that. And the channel will continue to import compelling mystery movies, including the upcoming
Low Winter Sun (starring
The Long Firm's Mark Strong) on Oct. 7. So it's not a lost cause. You just may need to be more vigilant.
