BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The first two seasons of “The Bletchley Circle” aired on PBS in 2013-14 but for season three the series moves to subscription streaming service Britbox where “The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco” is now streaming.
The original series followed a group of Bletchley Park women who deciphered German military codes for the British in World War II and then used those same skills in 1952 to solve a series of murders.
The third season follows two of the women, Millie (Rachael Stirling) and Jean (Julie Graham), as they travel to California to investigate a murder similar to one that claimed a colleague during the war. In San Francisco they meet up with two American cryptographers and embark on a new investigation.
Showrunner Michael MacMallen said the idea to revive the series came from a Vancouver-based production company (Vancouver doubles as San Francisco in the new season). From there producers had to decide which characters from the original series to bring back.
“Both Millie and Jean didn’t have families but had a bond,” Mr. MacMallen said.
In the new eight-episode season, each case is explored over two episodes.
“Not every one of these is a serial killer otherwise San Francisco is having a really rotten year,” he said. “Sometimes it’s literally cryptography and code [that helps them solve the case]; sometimes it’s their ability to see patterns where others don’t.”
The new Discovery
With the merger of Discovery and Scripps Network the following cable networks are all part of the same Discovery, Inc., “real-life entertainment” umbrella: Discovery Channel, HGTV, Food Network, TLC, ID, OWN, Animal Planet, Velocity (soon-to-be-renamed Motortrend), Travel Channel, Science Channel, DIY and Cooking Channel along with smaller channels Discovery Family, American Heroes Channel, Destination America, Discovery Life and Great American Country.
Discovery, Inc., CEO David Zaslav sang the praises of “skinny bundles” and spoke of plans to at some point launch an OTT direct-to-consumers service that would sell for between $5 and $8 per month.
Discovery Channel has abandoned its brief foray into scripted series that resulted in limited series “Klondike,” “Harley and the Davidsons” and “Manifesto: Unabomber.”
“We decided to do what we do best and focus on non-fiction programming,” said Discovery executive Nancy Daniels. “There’s a lot of scripted content out there and it’s really hard to break through.”
Mr. Zaslav said he sees the media business as two areas, scripted series and movies versus everything else with Discovery focused on the “everything else” part of the media ecosystem.
ID goes to ‘Sugar Town’
True crime channel Investigation Discovery is largely filled with black and white programs about good cops and bad criminals but the network also does some higher brow programming that looks at more gray areas.
The network’s latest, “Sugar Town” (8 p.m. Aug. 6), explores the 2014 death of 22-year-old African-American man, Victor White III, while in police custody. Police officers claim Mr. White shot himself in the chest – while his hands were handcuffed behind his back in the back of a police car.
“Sugar Town” chronicles the White family’s search for justice while uncovering corruption and racial injustice in New Iberia, La.
Post-Gazette TV writer Rob Owen is attending the Television Critics Association summer press tour. Follow RobOwenTV at Twitter or on Facebook. You can reach Rob at 412-263-2582 or rowen@post-gazette.com.
First Published: July 26, 2018, 11:43 p.m.
