In celebration of great TV and guilt-free binging, BritBox will host its first BritBoxing Week, a week-long holiday event with a new exclusive premiere every day from December 26 – 30. Time to tuck-in to all your British TV favorites – revisit some old, experience some new, and join in the Great British Binge-off.
The week kicks off with two original Christmas Specials from fan-favorite franchises – The Cleaner and Death in Paradise on December 26. Watch Greg Davies’ shenanigans as Wicky the Cleaner and keep an eye out for Derry Girl‘s Siobhan McSweeney guest-starring in the Death in Paradise Christmas Special.
Pop some popcorn and spill the tea to get in the mood for BritBoxing Week’s next premiere: Channel 4’s Wagatha: A Courtroom Drama based on the highly publicized “Wagatha Christie” scandal. From feuding footballers wives and girlfriends to WhatsApp leaks, this unique series dramatizes one of the biggest and most bizarre celebrity court cases in a generation. Michael Sheen (Good Omens), Chanel Cresswell (This is England), and Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones) bring this courtroom football fall-out to life.
On December 28, sink your teeth into Scottish thriller, The Control Room, starring Iain De Caestecker (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.). It follows an ambulance dispatcher forced to make life-altering decisions when the caller on the other end of the line seems to know him but won’t reveal their identity.
It wouldn’t be a BritBox event without a new mystery, and sleuthing fans won’t want to miss Deadline. James D’Arcy (Agent Carter, Broadchurch) stars as a disgraced investigative journalist determined to get to the truth of whether society woman Natalie Varga (Charlie Murphy, Peaky Blinders) murdered her husband.
Last but not least, BritBoxing Week concludes with a popular BritBox genre: British True Crime. Chilling True crime drama Maxine examines the twisted relationship between a killer and his girlfriend who would do anything to protect him.
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BritBoxing Week Full Schedule
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- December 26, 2022: The Cleaner Christmas Special 2022 | BritBox Original, North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 6 X 30
Laugh alongside BAFTA-nominee Greg Davies (The Inbetweeners) this holiday season with The Cleaner Christmas Special! Wicky (Davies) is a state-certified cleaning technician responsible for the removal of any signs of death from the scenes of ghastly crimes. When the detectives are done, he moves in, armed with his bleach, scrubbing brushes and cleaning rags. He’s a thoroughly decent everyman who always gets the dirty jobs. Those jobs bring him into contact with the strangest people: those who knew the victims, and sometimes even the killers themselves. But because he’s a chatty man, Wicky tends to gossip more than he cleans. With every crime scene there’s a new topical theme or moral question to debate – with whoever he finds himself talking to.
- December 26, 2022: Death in Paradise Christmas 2022 |North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 1 X 90
Bask in the Caribbean sunshine this holiday season with the Death in Paradise Christmas Special guest-starring Siobhan McSweeney (Derry Girls, Redemption). A lighthearted whodunit set on a sun-drenched Caribbean island where a team of police use unconventional methods to catch the killers of some of the most impossible crimes, see familiar faces and some special appearances with this special!
- December 27, 2022: Wagatha: A Courtroom Drama | North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 2 X 45
Michael Sheen (Good Omens), Chanel Cresswell (This is England) and Natalia Tena (Game of Thrones) star in this unique TV event, Wagatha: A Courtroom Drama, originally commissioned by the U.K.’s Channel 4 as Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama. Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, the wives of high-profile British footballers, face off in a courtroom, each trying to protect their reputation over leaked Instagram stories. Using intense dramatizations from court transcripts and full digital recreations of Coleen’s extensive Instagram sleuthing that first exposed Vardy and helped coin the iconic term – Wagatha Christie. Wagatha: A Courtroom Drama dramatizes one of the biggest and most bizarre celebrity court cases in a generation and explores its impact on society.
- December 28, 2022: The Control Room | North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 3 X 60
A gripping new thriller set in Glasgow, The Control Room tells the story of Gabe (Iain De Caestecker, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), an ordinary man who works as an emergency call handler for the Scottish Ambulance Service in Glasgow. His world is turned upside down when he receives a desperate life-and-death call from a woman who appears to know him. With Gabe under pressure to work out who she is, he makes a decision that threatens to have devastating consequences. This series is written by Nick Leather (Murdered for Being Different, Mother’s Day) and directed by Amy Neil (Call the Midwife).
- December 29, 2022: Deadline | North American Premiere, BritBox Exclusive | 4 X 60
When Natalie Varga (Charlie Murphy, Happy Valley, Peaky Blinders) stands accused of murdering her husband in cold blood, disgraced investigative journalist James Alden (James D’arcy, Agent Carter, Broadchurch) finds himself captivated by the case. The mystery of whether she committed the crime broadens into a darker, stranger narrative as the London setting shifts to Hungarian high society. It’s a crime perfectly designed to cause a press feeding frenzy – the gruesome murder of businessman George Varga in his lavish Chelsea mansion. James used to be an award-winning investigative journalist years ago but his confidence was destroyed by the case he screwed up which allowed a killer to go free. Natalie sees in him the journalist he used to be and offers him redemption: the exclusive interview everyone wants if he finds out who really killed her husband. With the court of public opinion ruling Natalie guilty until proven innocent, can James separate the truth from the fiction?
- December 30, 2022: Maxine | North American Premiere | 3 X 60
The tragic case that shocked the nation – Maxine is a true crime drama that examines the investigation of school assistant Maxine Carr and her fiancé Ian Huntley, who was later imprisoned for the double murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The three-part drama will explore their tumultuous relationship through Maxine’s perspective; why she covered up his crimes and how she became public enemy No.1.
