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MY BRILLIANT FRIEND S4

First on Showmax 

Binge from Monday, 2 December

Two lives. Forever intertwined.

The fourth and final season of My Brilliant Friend brings us The Story of the Lost Child, the concluding chapter in Elena Ferrante’s best-selling Neapolitan Novels series, which follows the coming-of-age story of two young women growing up on the outskirts of Naples during the latter half of the 20th century.

Season 4 delves into the adult lives of Elena (Italian Golden Globe and Venice Film Festival Award winner Alba Rohrwacher) and Lila (Irene Maiorino), who find themselves entangled in the turmoil of Italy in the late 1980s. Amid motherhood, career demands, betrayals, threats, disappearances, and natural disasters, the two lifelong friends once again find themselves living in the same neighbourhood.

The first foreign-language series ever to premiere on HBO, My Brilliant Friend has a 97 percent overall critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been nominated for two Critics Choice Awards, including Best Foreign Language Series.

BBC.com hails the series as “one of the best shows on TV… as complex, gripping and immersive as the novels, while also being one of the best-looking series on television,” while The New York Times calls S4 “a brilliant conclusion… [that] completes one of the best portraits of a lifelong relationship ever made for TV.”

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BASED ON A TRUE STORY S2 

First on Showmax

Binge from Tuesday, 3 December

Season 2 of Based on a True Story finds new parents Ava and Nathan Bartlett three months into parenthood. Focused on taking care of her family, Ava is determined to resist her true crime obsession and return to work as a real estate agent, while Nathan trains private tennis clients.

But a series of new murders pulls her back in. Is Matt behind the slayings? Is Tory, now entangled in a relationship with Matt, in danger?

For a while, life is good – Ava’s TikTok habit and her new friend, Drew (Melissa Fumero from Brooklyn Nine-Nine), provide a welcome distraction, and Nathan’s all in on reigniting his tennis career as well as his friendship with Matt – until danger comes knocking, literally.

Three-time Emmy nominee Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant, The Big Bang Theory) stars as Ava, with Critics Choice nominee Chris Messina (The Mindy Project) and Tom Bateman (Death on the Nile) as Nathan and Matt respectively.

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30 ROCK S1-7

Binge from Thursday, 5 December

Emmy winner Tina Fey stars as Liz Lemon, head writer of the fictional sketch-comedy show “TGS with Tracy Jordan”, who has to deal with an arrogant boss and a crazy star while trying to run a successful television show – without losing her mind.

Emmy winner Alec Baldwin co-stars as network executive Jack Donaghy, with Emmy nominees Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski as TGS’ unpredictable star Tracy Jordan and his co-star Jenna Maroney.

During its 2006-2013 run, 30 Rock won 100 awards, including 16 Emmys – three for Outstanding Comedy Series. Look out for guest appearances from the likes of Jennifer Aniston, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Buscemi, Steve Martin, Tom Hanks and many, many more.

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EMPEROR OF OCEAN PARK S1 

First on Showmax

Binge from Friday, 6 December

Set between the worlds of politics, Ivy League academia, and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, Emperor of Ocean Park centres on Talcott Garland (Grantham Coleman from Power Book III: Raising Kanan and Lawmen: Bass Reeves), an Ivy League law professor whose quiet life is shattered when his father, Judge Oliver Garland (Oscar winner Forest Whitaker), dies of an apparent heart attack.

The judge was a failed Black nominee to the Supreme Court, and Tal’s sister (Tiffany Mack from Jessica Jones) believes his death was foul play – although she’s a former journalist who’s now a conspiracy theorist,

Emperor of Ocean Park is based on Stephen L Carter’s New York Times best-selling first novel in the Elm Harbor series.

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CHICAGO MED S9

Binge from Wednesday, 11 December

The third instalment in Emmy winner Dick Wolf’s hit One Chicago franchise, Chicago Med returns to our screens with some new faces joining the dedicated staff of the Gaffney Chicago Medical Centre as they confront the city’s most critical medical cases and challenging ethical dilemmas with courage, compassion and state-of-the-art treatment.

Though Nick Gehlfuss will be sorely missed following Dr Halstead’s move to Seattle, the ER welcomes a new doctor as Australian actor Luke Mitchell (Blindspot, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) joins the cast as Mitchell Ripley, an ED Attending Physician who has a troubled history … and a connection to Dr Charles.

Season 9 picks up six months later, with a promising new development in Dr Archer’s transplant storyline, and the arrival of new first-year resident Dr Zola Ahmad (Sophia Ali from Grey’s Anatomy), who is ready to challenge hospital protocol to do right by her patients.