Upcoming 2023 PBS Mystery Programs

PBS Mystery Programs this Spring/Summer. Stay tuned for more. All dates subject to change. Check your local PBS listings.

VIENNA BLOOD,  Season 3 

Jan. 8-Feb. 12, 2023, 10 p.m. ET 

Vienna Blood returns for a third season with new cases for Dr. Max Liebermann and Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt. The drama is set in 1900s Vienna — a hotbed of philosophy, science and art, where cultures clash and ideas collide in the city’s grand cafes and opera houses. Season 3 finds Max and Oskar once again thrust into the dark underbelly of glittering Viennese society, with episodes set in a luxury fashion house, the Chinese antiquities trade and the budding world of cinema.  

DI RAY, Season 1 
February 20 on PBS Passport; July for regular broadcast

Di Ray, a new police procedural, debuted on ITV in May 2022. Created and written by Maya Sondhi (Line of Duty), the series stars Parminder Nagra (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) in the title role working for a fictitious Birmingham-based police force. Nagra's co-stars include Gemma Whelan (Killing Eve) and Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica) as her superiors. All four episodes arrive as a PBS Passport binge on February 20, 2023, ahead of broadcast in July. 

RIDLEY

June 18

Ridley stars Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty) in the lead in his own police procedural series.
This series comes from Paul Matthew Thompson, best known for writing Vera and Father Brown. Ridley will debut as broadcast on Sunday, June 18, 2023, at 8 p.m. ET. Hopefully all four episodes will also debut on PBS Passport that same day. More info to come.

Grantchester: Series 5 on Masterpiece Mystery!

Grantchester Series 5 starts June 14 on PBS Masterpiece Mystery!

Where we left off (from PBS website with spoilers!)
Last season:
Grantchester bid fond farewell to Sidney Chambers (James Norton) and his Sidney Bechet albums when he packed up and left for America, and welcomed newest vicar Will Davenport (Tom Brittney)—and his motorbike and cappuccino machine. Mrs. C and Leonard finally made up after their heartbreaking falling out, when Mrs. C discovered the truth of Leonard’s sexuality. Cathy, with the help of Mrs. C, dispatched of her predatory boss, Mr. Hobbs, and found peace at her job—as well as peace with Geordie. After tragedy struck Will’s family at the end of the season, Will had to face the dilemma of being the man his family expected, or following his own calling. 

Coming up: 
It’s 1957, and Will has finally settled into his role as the vicar of Grantchester, preaching to a packed and adoring congregation. His best friend, Detective Inspector Geordie Keating, has come to accept his wife Cathy’s commitment to her job – well, just about. Mrs C. happily (and deftly) juggles her roles as the vicarage housekeeper and as a well-to-do married woman. And after a trip to Marrakech, even Leonard has managed to carve out some happiness with Daniel, in secret. 

“The main theme that goes through the season is this idea of ‘Eden’,” said Grantchester star Tom Brittney. “Harold Macmillan [British Prime Minister, 1957-1963] was saying at that time in the fifties that Britain had never had it so good. But in actual truth, underneath, there is always this dark side bubbling, and no more than in the village of Grantchester.” 

From a student’s misadventure at one of the local colleges, a hit-and-run that leads them to a secret garden, a murder in a cinema, a death at a controversial drug trial and more, crime never truly stops in Grantchester. As the season goes on, Will’s faith and Geordie’s patience will be thoroughly tested as they are reminded once more that there’s always darkness lurking in their little corner of  Cambridgeshire.'

 

Lewis Returns to PBS Mystery!

Inspector Lewis, Series II, begins this week (Sunday, August 30) on PBS Masterpiece Mystery! for a total of 7 weeks.

Although I was saddened by the demise of Morse and even sadder by the real demise of actor John Thaw, I was able to enjoy the first Lewis series last year. Now, Lewis is back, and I thought the first two episodes were great. Very solid. Although I liked the Wallendar productions, some people were bothered by the camera action, difficulty of following the story, etc. I wasn't, but if you like a more traditional mystery, you'll like Lewis. The scenery of Oxford is, of course, beautiful, the acting superb, and the detecting solid.

Kevin Whately is Inspector Lewis and there are seven 90 minute episodes. Lucky us! Lewis teams with his cool cerebral partner DS Hathaway (called 'dishy' in this first episode of the series) played by Laurence Fox. Lewis is Morse's former sidekick and just as their relationship was an integral part of each mystery, so is that of Lewis and Hathaway. As the episodes progress, we learn more about each of them personally.

First episode: "And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea." Brush up on your Romantic Poets

This series runs through October 18. Don't want to wait or set the DVR, you can watch the full episodes online. Now that's exciting!