THE END OF AN ERA

After ten years, eight series and seventy-three episodes Game of Thrones has come to an end. The HBO series finished on Sunday night in the US and Monday evening for the UK. While the conclusion has left several people unsatisfied and disgruntled, but you can’t deny the impact the show has had, and how it has redefined the media industry forever. It leaves behind a void similar to shows like Breaking bad, The Sopranos and The Wire. Which means we now have to search for the next show to binge (at least until the prequel airs).

Firstly, following the rise of Game of Thrones Sci-Fi/fantasy shows have become the fashion, with them accumulating steadily, and with even more in production currently. The apparent replacement of who will continue the fantasy legacy is the Game of Thrones prequel. The untitled project begins shooting in the summer with Oscar-nominated Naomi Watts attached. The project is set five thousand years before the current series and will only feature one familiar character, the Night King. HBO has stated that the narrative will be “the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend”. However, while we wait there are other shows to engage with. The television adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials which just released it’s first trailer. The HBO and BBC co-production is set in an alternate world, where one’s soul is held within a shape-shifting animal. The plot features an orphan who goes in search of a kidnapped friend which then takes her on a terrifying journey. This show emulates the Game of Thrones ethos because of its sharp dialogue and complex plot twists. In the coming months, there are many shows to fill the fantasy market with Amazon’s Lord of the Rings prequel, Apple’s For all Mankind and Disney’s The Mandalorian.

Now Game of Thrones has finished the world will be in search for the next ground-breaking show. Stranger Things is a pop culture contender with the third season coming to Netflix on July 4th. There is already a cult fascination with Stranger Things due to the mystical elements and innovative performances emulating the original mystique of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Set in the small town of Hawkins Indiana, a young boy goes missing suddenly; so his friends begin to investigate the peculiar secrets and mysterious goings-on of their hometown. Similarly, HBO and Foxtel’s Big Little Lies returns for season two in June after critical and viewer acclaim. The show has an innovative take on female’s role in society taking a darkly comic stance on ex-husbands, second wives, schoolyard scandal and the dangerous things we tell ourselves. With stars like Nicole Kidman and Reece Witherspoon starring, it has the potential to become a cultural phenomenon. In the production line, Ryan Murphy’s The Politician could prove as popular as his previous hits. Ryan Murphy has become one of the most powerful men in television after creating cult shows such as Glee, American Horror Story, American Crime Story and Pose. The Politician is based on a boy who decides he is destined to be president with every season following another campaign he runs throughout his life. It is a comedy told in the style of Boyhood whilst featuring a young diverse cast, it has all the ingredients to gain a cult viewership.

If none of these take your fancy here are our recommendations from the Searchlight office:

• Amy- Glow (Netflix), American Crime Story (Netflix) and Dead to Me (Netflix)

• Victoria- The Stairway Killer (Netflix), Tin Star (Sky), Bird Box (Netflix) and any of the Marvel shows on Netflix

• Trinity- Titans (Netflix), Westworld (Sky), Queen Sugar (Hulu) and Black Monday (Netflix)

• Daniel- Sopranos (Now TV), Flowers (Netflix), Utopia (Amazon) and True Detective (Amazon)

• Flora- Altered Carbon (Netflix), A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix), Lucifer (Netflix), Derry Girls (4OD), Peaky Blinders (BBC Iplayer) and Line of Duty (Netflix)