Forthcoming telly roundup

The first series of Timewasters was set in the 1920s.

So, what's got a vintage setting and is coming to (or already on) the tellybox here in the UK?


A couple of shows I tried but couldn't really get into are back. Canadian 20s-set detective show Frankie Drake Mysteries series 2 is already showing on Alibi at 9pm on Tuesdays. ITV2's time-travelling comedy Timewasters is returning in March, and this time the young Londoners find themselves in the 1950s.

The BBC's about to start filming a new mini-series of Dracula. It's in collaboration with Netflix (who'll be broadcasting it in territories outside the UK) and one of the scriptwriters is Mark Gatiss, so my hopes are high for that one.

Another BBC production that looks interesting, and is well into filming, is World On Fire, a seven-episode series telling the story of the first year of the Second World War (September 1930 to the Battle of Britain) as experienced by ordinary people across a number of countries.

Going rather older than vintage, ITV's commissioned a six-part adaptation of Julian Fellowes' 1840s-set novel Belgravia. The frocks should be good, if nothing else.

But first on the list of interesting things is Channel 4's series Traitors – originally announced under the title Jerusalem – which starts on 17 February. Yup, this Sunday. It's a spy story set in 1945, with a young British woman spying for the Americans, trying to uncover a Russian spy in the British government. I love a good spy story, so will be tuning in for that one.