By Rick Gables
HBO Films and BBC Studios will premiere Brexit, starring Benedict Cumberbatch on HBO Saturday, Jan. 19, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The result of the Brexit referendum in summer 2016 caused a political earthquake that laid waste to the normally stable British establishment and sent political tremors around the world. Cumberbatch portrays Dominic Cummings, who spearheaded the Vote Leave campaign. Rory Kinnear plays Craig Oliver, Prime Minister David Cameron’s director of communications and head of the Remain campaign. This provocative feature-length drama goes behind the scenes, revealing the personalities, strategies and feuds of the Leave and Remain campaigns. The tactics employed by Vote Leave during the data-driven campaign swayed a historically silent voting block that would ultimately decide the outcome of the referendum, as well as affecting future elections around the world.
The Magicians season four will premiere Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy. Based on the best-selling novels by Lev Grossman, Syfy’s version centers on Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph) and his 20-something friends as they discover their magical abilities and ward off evil creatures who threaten to destroy the magical world they’ve come to know. This past season, the core group embarked on an epic quest for the seven keys to restore magic after it was turned off. The series also stars Stella Maeve, Olivia Taylor Dudley, Hale Appleman, Arjun Gupta, Summer Bishil, Rick Worthy, Jade Tailor, Brittany Curran and Trevor Einhorn.
The action-packed Cinemax drama series Strike Back will kick off its sixth season Friday, Jan. 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Starring Warren Brown, Daniel MacPherson, Alin Sumarwata, Jamie Bamber and Yasemin Kay Allen, the show follows the explosive escapades of Section 20, an elite, multinational, covert special ops team, as it spans the globe fighting a vast web of interconnected criminal and terrorist activity.
PBS will air NOVA’s Kilauea: Hawaii on Fire Wednesday, Jan. 23, at 9 p.m. ET/PT. In May 2018, the Kilauea volcano erupted, obliterating neighborhoods with devastating force and uprooting thousands of local residents. It is Hawaii’s most destructive volcanic eruption in generations. On the ground in the early days of the eruption, NOVA joins scientists and residents alike on a breathtaking journey to investigate Kilauea’s recent spike in activity.