Due to fallout from the cable TV wars, many consumers have lost the BBC America channel. Others have had to give up their premium channel packages to balance the household budget, or else their cable provider never carried BBCA to begin with. Luckily, Amazon Instant Video has made many of BBC America’s fantastic programs available to those who don’t get the cable channel.
Luther (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $6.99 to buy the entire first seasons, $3.99 to buy the entire second season, and the first season is currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to watch) – If you want to see how the Brits do gritty, crime drama, this is the show to watch.
DCI John Luther returns to work after a spell of leave following the traumatic arrest of the serial killer Henry Madsen. Luther’s first case is investigating the murder of the parents of child genius, Alice Morgan. He quickly deduces that Alice is responsible for the deaths, but the seemingly perfect crime leaves no evidence with which to convict her.
Primeval (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $10.99 to buy all 6 episodes in the first season, $12.99 to buy all 7 episodes in the second season, $18.99 to buy all 10 episodes in the third season, $12.99 to buy all 7 episodes in the fourth season, and seasons 1-4 are currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to watch) – Fans of Stargate, Jurassic Park, cancelled network series Terra Nova, and sci fi in general will enjoy this show. From IMDB:
When strange anomalies in time start to appear all over England, Professor Cutter and his team have to help track down and capture all sorts of dangerous prehistoric creatures from Earth’s distant past.
The Fades (4.75/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $9.99 to buy all 6 episodes in the season, and currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to watch) – If you love The Sixth Sense, Supernatural or ghost stories in general, check this one out.
A teenage boy named Paul is haunted by apocalyptic dreams that nobody can explain. As if that weren’t terrifying enough, he begins to see spirits of the dead, known as The Fades, all around him. The Fades can’t be seen, smelt, heard or touched by other humans. When an embittered and vengeful Fade, Polus, finds a way to be human again, it’s up to Paul to stop him – and all of the dead – from breaking back into the world and destroying the human race. – Written by BBC Publicity
House of Anubis (4.75/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $27.99 to buy all 27 episodes in the first season—note that this ‘season’ actually covers what originally ran as seasons 1-3 on cable —, $15.99 to buy all 10 episodes seasons 4 and 5, and $15.99 to buy all 10 episodes in the sixth season) – This show has run on Nickelodeon, and is age-appropriate for teens. Fans of Harry Potter and Scooby Doo are the prime audience for this show.
Anubis House is a building dating from the 1890s, currently serving as a home for young people under the watch of the boarding school’s strict caretaker. As an American girl named Nina moves into Anubis House in England, another resident, Joy, suddenly disappears without a warning and the school staff eliminate all trace of Joy’s existence from the school. Joy’s best friend accuses Nina of being involved with her disappearance. Forced to spend a night in the attic, Nina makes a bizarre discovery: the recorded diary of a young girl who had lived in the house long ago. On the tapes, it is revealed the house has a secret history, a mystery that nobody knows anything about. Given an Eye of Horus-shaped necklace with mysterious powers, Nina decides to investigate the house’s mystery alongside her new friends. They form a secret group called “Sibuna”, (Anubis backwards). There are also people who live there that are oblivious to the mystery… – from Wikipedia
Copper (4.75/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $16.99 to buy all 10 episodes in the first season) – This is historical crime drama that gives a peek into the world of law enforcement and the beginnings of forensic science in 1800’s New York City. Fans of the recent Sherlock Holmes movies, Deadwood, or the Jack the Ripper drama From Hell are sure to like this one. From The Huffington Post:
Created by Tom Fontana (“Oz,” “Homicide: Life on the Street“) and Will Rokos (“Southland“) “Copper” follows Detective Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones), an Irish-immigrant cop doing his best to keep the peace in the rough Five Points neighborhood while seeking answers to a case that’s hit too close to home.
Speaking of Jack the Ripper, there’s also Whitechapel (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $1.99 per episode to buy, $2.99 to buy the entire first season and currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to watch) – In modern-day Whitechapel, a Jack the Ripper copycat killer seems to be at work…from Amazon:
Ambitious DI Joseph Chandler is assigned an open-and-shut case, the killing of a woman in the East End of London. Get a quick result, he is told, and you will get the promotion you have been waiting for. Unfortunately for him, however, things don’t turn out to be so straightforward. The investigation quickly runs out of suspects until Edward Buchan, a renowned Ripperologist, draws the police’s attention to the similarities between the Jack the Ripper killings in 1888 and the modern-day murder that Chandler is investigating. The race begins to catch the copycat killer before he strikes again.
Zen (4.5/5 stars, currently priced at $4.99 per episode to buy or $9.99 to buy the entire season, currently FREE for Amazon Prime members to watch) – This slick, smart, political crime drama stars Rufus Sewell, and would be a likely pick for fans of Homeland or The Sopranos. From Amazon:
Detective Zen is sent to a remote village to re-investigate a murder, which may spark a political scandal. Zen is under pressure from the politicians and the Chief of Police, but he would rather be spending time with Tania, the Chief’s beautiful assistant. Meanwhile, a gangster is after Zen, seeking revenge.
Click here to view the full catalog of BBC America offerings in the Amazon Instant Video store.