Watch out for the best of British drama and thriller set in the times of British history with 11 popular classic shows to be aired at Zee Café, in collaboration with BBC First. Akanksha Soni travels to Mumbai to bring you a report
From getting the best of international TV shows to Indian viewers after editing all the nudity, offensive language and violence, to scrapping channels airing them due to a lack of viewership, the Indian English GEC segment has had its ups and downs.
Amidst all the turbulence, Zee Café, which ranks on top in the English GEC market followed by Colors Infinity and Comedy Central, is leaving no stone unturned to bring something new for its viewers.
After airing popular international shows like Gotham, Criminal Minds, Castle, The Big Bang Theory, Pretty little liars, lethal Weapon and many others, Zee Café, now in collaboration with BBC First, brings to you a bouquet of The Best of British Drama that will air classic shows set in the times of World War II, and spies. The 11 exclusive shows from different genres have been handpicked by Aparna Bhosle Business Cluster Head for ZEE's Premium & FTA GEC Channels.
“Zee focuses on fulfilling the popular demand for Western content by providing the best shows on one platform. We believe in providing good variety and quality content. That’s why we are on top of the GEC market,” says Punit Mishra, CEO, Domestic Broadcast Business, Zee Entertainment Enterprises limited.
Starting from June 26, the channel will air popular British drama like War & Peace, Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond, Class, SS-GB, Maigret, Doctor Foster, Top of the lake, The Kettering Incident, New Blood, From Darkness and Thirteen, among others.
War & Peace, based on a novel by leo Tolstoy, will take you to the era of Russia’s war with Napoleon and narrate the story of three young people who experience life, love and loss. Fleming: The Man who would be Bond, featuring Dominic Cooper, will tell the real story of Ian Fleming, the writer who created the popular spy character James Bond.
Rowan Atkinson, best known for his acting in Mr Bean, will be seen as a detective in Maigret which is set in 1950 Paris after the War and is on a mission to catch the killer of ‘a lady of the night’ before he kills again.
Be it Doctor Foster, a perfect wife, mother, daughter and doctor who slowly loses her mind in the quest of finding who her husband is having an affair with, Class, a show loosely based on Doctor Who, tells a group of teenage students facing their own teen woes to save the universe from an alien shadow invasion. Alternate reality is captured in the SS-GB Show narrating how the world would be if Britain hadn’t survived World War II. The stark horror and sorrow will keep you spellbound.
The shows will play out one episode a day at 10 pm. With them, Zee Cafe proposes to give you the taste of a different show every night. Tune in to watch War and Peace every Monday, Fleming... every Tuesday, Class every Wednesday, SS-GB every Thursday and Maigret every Friday at 10 pm.