BBC Studios and ITV have announced the BritBox March 2021 titles, which include everything from new BritBox Originals to classic British fare. BritBox is the biggest collection of streaming British television in North America.
The BritBox March 2021 titles include hit BritBox Original co-production The Mallorca Files, which makes its highly-anticipated return with an action-packed second season.
By popular demand, BritBox will also be releasing the latest installation of late British director Michael Apted’s groundbreaking Up documentary series, 63 Up. Heartbreaking, moving and uplifting, this iconic film series continues to present an incredible living social history of modern Britain as it checks in with the same subjects every seven years.
In addition, the service will be releasing an impressive lineup of Lifestyle, Home and Gardening programs, showcasing the streamer’s commitment to bringing the best of British programming to North America. Led by the return of the wildly popular Gardeners’ World with Monty Don, exclusive to BritBox, the collection will be filled with everything from gardening tips to inspiration for home improvement and design.
With the increasing interest in gardening, the service will also be premiering the Scottish horticulture program Beechgrove Garden, for all those DIY fans. Also included in the collection is Grand Designs, which follows ambitious self-build projects as people work towards creating their dream homes, and returning this year, Escape to the Country is back with all new episodes of the popular home buying show.
BRITBOX MARCH 2021 SCHEDULE
March 2, 2021: The Mallorca Files S2 | BritBox Original, North American Premiere, Exclusive | 6 X 45
DC Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys, Ordinary Lies) and DC Max Winter (Julian Looman, Nightlife) may be a mismatched pair, but their partnership is a proven recipe for success. The stylish crime-busting duo are back, and Miranda is finally starting to put down roots, and just in time too, because there’s no shortage of murky cases waiting to be cracked.
With even more dramatic landscapes and a host of special guest stars including Phil Daniels (Outlaws), Kacey Ainsworth (Grantchester), Graeme Hawley (Peaky Blinders) and Craig Kelly (Waking the Dead), it’s a sizzling return for this exhilarating detective drama.
March 5, 2021: Agatha Christie’s Sparkling Cyanide | New to BritBox | 1 X 100
Welcome to the glamorous world of wealth, politics and sport. Starring Pauline Collins (Bleak House, Dickensian) and Oliver Ford Davies (Star Wars, A Royal Scandal), this film is a spectacular modern day adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery. An elderly husband and wife are unlikely looking secret agents brought in to investigate the murder of a powerful soccer club manager’s beautiful trophy wife at a glitzy champagne event.
As the case progresses, it transpires that the dead woman was having a secret affair with a high profile government minister, and with the list of suspects ever growing, it’s a race against time to find the killer before they strike again.
March 9, 2021: 63 Up | New to BritBox, Exclusive | 1 X 138
From the groundbreaking, award-winning Up documentary series from legendary director Michael Apted, 63 Up is the latest installment. Since its first installment in 1964, the celebrated series has traced the fortunes of a group of British children from a variety of backgrounds and different parts of the country, returning at seven-year intervals to take snapshots of their lives. Taking the Jesuit maxim ‘Give me a boy until he is seven, and I will give you the man,’ the original 7 Up film posed the question of whether the prospects of those taking part were determined by the class into which they were born.
Across the decades, Michael Apted has watched his subjects grow up and grow old and, along the way, taken a snapshot of British society, exploring issues of family and politics, religion and mental health. Now the subjects are 63, and we find out how life has treated them and their families since the last time we caught up with them.
March 12, 2021: Open All Hours S1-4 | New to BritBox, Exclusive | 25 X 30
Brown-coated, stuttering and penny-pinching Arkwright (Ronnie Barker, Porridge) keeps his corner-shop open as long as the law will permit. But he still finds time for his passions – parting unsuspecting customers from their hard-earned cash, keeping his day-dreaming nephew Granville (David Jason, A Touch of Frost) in line, and tirelessly pursuing buxom nurse Gladys Emmanuel.
March 23, 2021: New Tricks S7-12 | New to BritBox | 60 X 50
A team of retired former detectives with over 80 years service between them and three very distinct personalities are recruited to re-examine unsolved crimes. The squad is headed up by Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman, Pericles Prince of Tyre) – a detective in disgrace after bungling a hostage situation. The team soon discovers that things are not what they seem and a trail of corruption, altered statements and dubious witnesses emerges.
Adapting to the new touchy-feely 21st-century police strategies – not to mention working under a tough woman with her future on the line – isn’t easy, as the three discover with plenty of comic results.
March 26, 2021: Escape to the Country S28 | North American Premiere| 53 X 60
Ever wanted to move from the city into an idyllic rural retreat? Surrounded by concrete and noisy traffic, most city people are tempted to quit the rat race for the peace of the countryside. Experts and realtors help people to achieve that dream, finding a suitable property and guiding prospective buyers through every aspect of buying, selling and moving. Each episode follows one move, and includes everything from snug, chocolate-box cottages to rambling castles. Will they fall in love with the properties that are shown, or has their search been in vain?
March 26, 2021: Grand Designs S16-18 | New to BritBox / S18 US Premiere, Exclusive | 19 X 60
Join architecture enthusiast Kevin McCloud as we watch Britain’s most spectacular and ambitious self-build projects unfold, and meet the daring people behind them. With over 18 seasons, as well as various spin-offs, the world has watched the highs and lows, triumphs and the tragedies of intrepid individuals and families who often risk everything to build their extraordinary dream homes.
Viewers are treated to weird and wonderful contemporary architecture, often focusing on sustainability, responding to individual needs or in stunning, unique settings. But it is the human drama and real-life budget worries, disappointments and moments of glory that make this series the perfect blend of sophisticated reality show, design showcase and lifestyle program loved by millions.
March 26, 2021: Life in a Cottage Garden | New to BritBox | 6 X 30
Embrace the cozy cottage lifestyle with Life in a Cottage Garden as Carol Klein (Gardeners’ World) guides us through a year in the life of her own garden at Glebe Cottage in Devon. From the hidden secrets of winter, the first shoots of spring and the fecundity of summer right through to autumn, the series is a beautiful documentation of how a garden flourishes, dies and is reborn.
March 26, 2021: Edible Gardens | New to BritBox | 6 X 30
On a mission to show that growing and cooking your own produce can be rewarding, cost-effective and life enhancing, urbanite and Gardeners’ World presenter Alys Fowler is transforming her garden to become self-sufficient in vegetables for a year. With each episode focusing on a different food group, Alys shows how to grow and create your very own tasty produce. Follow her journey and draw inspiration for your own garden in this stylish series.
March 2021: Gardeners’ World | North American Premiere, Exclusive | NOW
The popular BBC flagship gardening program returns and is packed with good ideas and tips from experts, as well timely reminders to get the most of your garden, whatever its size or type. Hosted by gardening master Monty Don, this BBC lifestyle institution is full of down-to-earth advice from experts and surprise guests such as Mary Berry.
March 2021: Beechgrove Garden | New to BritBox | 51 X 30 | NOW
Celebrate Scottish horticulture and growing conditions with this popular gardening series. A topical series, Beechgrove Garden deals with the challenges that face gardeners in a practical, down to earth, get-your-hands-dirty manner, all set in Scotland’s challenging conditions. Success is celebrated, but there’s also a lot to be learned from the failures experienced by the show’s gardening team. If a stunning garden can be grown on a 2.5-acre inhospitable sloping site, then anyone can have a go anywhere.