Shows coming to Singapore in August 2019: Killing Eve, When The Devil Calls Your Name, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and more
Every month, we’ll tell you about new comedies and dramas to hit terrestrial and cable channels, as well as streaming sites in Singapore. We’ll also highlight the television shows that you’ve got to be home (or on your phone) to catch every month.
Overview of August's shows
August is a quiet month, which gives you time to catch up on the third season of Stranger Things. The Korean melodrama front remains strong though, with two highly anticipated dramas coming out across multiple platforms — When The Devil Calls Your Name and Welcome 2 Life — both of which are surprisingly low concept. Fans of the 1982 cult hit movie The Dark Crystal will be delighted to know that the prequel series, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, is also debuting on Netflix. And if you like action, there’s award-winning spy drama Killing Eve, which hits BBC channels this month.
Killing Eve (Season 1: 1 Aug, Season 2: 16 Aug)
BBC First (Starhub Ch 502)
BBC Player
Based on the novellas by Luke Jennings and written by the multi-award winning Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Killing Eve centres on two women; Eve (Sandra Oh) is a bored, whip-smart, pay-grade MI5 security officer whose desk-bound job doesn’t fulfil her fantasies of being a spy. Villanelle (Jodie Comer) is a mercurial, talented killer who clings to the luxuries her violent job affords her. Killing Eve topples the typical spy-action thriller as these two fiercely intelligent women, equally obsessed with each other, go head to head in an epic game of cat and mouse.
When both leads have won multiple awards for their performances, you know that a series is worth watching. Spy drama Killing Eve won Sandra Oh a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and Jodie Comer two British Academy Television Awards. The only flaw is that since you know the series is running across multiple seasons (it got renewed for a third season), it means that Eve never quite catches Villanelle — or does she?
When The Devil Calls Your Name (tvN Asia: 1 Aug, Thursdays and Fridays 9.45pm; Viu: 1 Aug)
tvN Asia (Singtel TV Channel 518/Channel 619, StarHub TV Channel 824)
Viu
Popular songwriter Ha Rib (Jung Kyoung-Ho) seems to have it all – wealth, fame, prestige — but how does he do it? It turns out that the secret of his success is a deal with the devil in the form of Mo Tae-Kang (Park Sung-Woong), one of the world's top actors. But Ha Rib soon discovers that his success originally came from Lee Kyung (Lee Seol), who has been drained of talent and life. As Ha Rib struggles to put things right, he discovers the true meaning of life.
While you can smell the inevitable romance coming a mile away (Ha Rib and Lee Kyung will fall in love for sure), you can also see that it's a doomed romance. After all, there's literally a deal with the devil. which means someone is going to make the ultimate sacrifice. The music element looks like it'll set this drama apart from other Korean fare, even if it's Faustian premise doesn't.
Welcome 2 Life (Oh!K: 6 Aug, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 7.50pm; Viu: 6 Aug)
Oh!K (Singtel TV channels 525/611 and StarHub TV channel 816)
Viu
Self-centred top legal eagle Lee Jae-Sang (Rain) has everything he could want in life. But a mysterious car accident sends him into an alternate universe where he works as an upright prosecutor. In this parallel world, Jae-Sang is married to Ra Shi-On (Lim Ji-Yeon), an old flame who broke up with him ten years ago and became a detective in his original dimension. Now that he has a second chance in life, will Jae-Sang make the most of it?
Parallel dimensions are a fun trope — who hasn't thought of all the diverse paths their lives could have taken? Welcome 2 Life (the "2" stands for a second chance or a double life) also stars Rain (yes, that Rain), who last appeared in crime drama Sketch. Will this be the role that propels him back into the public eye?
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (30 Aug)
Netflix
This 3D-animated series is a prequel to The Dark Crystal. It takes place on the world of Thra and follows the adventures of three Gelflings — Rian (Taron Edgerton), Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy), and Deet (Nathalie Emmanuel). When they meet Aughra (Donna Kimball) the embodiment of the planet and discover a terrible secret, they start a rebellion against the evil Skeksis.
If you've watched The Dark Crystal, you kind of already know that the bad guys of the series, the Skeksis, survive — so there's precious little dramatic tension for that conflict. However, it'll be fun to see how the live-action world of Thra (in The Dark Crystal, the characters were brought to life through puppet technology by director Jim Henson, who later created the Muppets) is translated into animation in this series.
Terrestrial
Suria
Seribu Rindu (4 Aug, Sundays 9.30pm)
Cable
BBC First (Starhub Ch 502)
Killing Eve (on demand, Season 1: 1 Aug, Season 2: 16 Aug)
tvN Asia (Singtel TV Channel 518 (HD) / Channel 619 (HD), StarHub TV Channel 824 (HD)
When The Devil Calls Your Name (1 Aug, Thursdays and Fridays 9.45pm)
Oh!K (Singtel TV channels 525/611 and StarHub TV channel 816)
Welcome 2 Life (6 Aug, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 7.50pm)
Iron Daughters-In-Law (16 Aug, Tuesdays to Fridays 9pm)
Cartoon Network (StarHub TV Ch. 316 and Singtel TV Ch. 226)
We Bare Bears (special) (9 Aug, Friday 9am)
Victor and Valentino (25 Aug, Sundays 6.30pm)
Summer Camp Island (23 Aug, Friday 7pm)
Steven Universe (special) (18 Aug, Sundays 11am)
Streaming
Netflix
Dear White People (Volume 3) (2 Aug)
Otherhood (movie) (2 Aug)
The Naked Director (8 Aug)
Wu Assassins (8 Aug)
Sextuplets (movie) (16 Aug)
The Little Switzerland (movie) (16 Aug)
Mindhunter (Season 2) (16 Aug)
Glow (Season 3) (22 Aug)
Love Alarm (22 Aug)
Falling Inn Love (movie) (29 Aug)
La Grande Classe (movie) (30 Aug)
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (30 Aug)
Viu
Welcome 2 Life (6 Aug)
I Wanna Hear Your Song (6 Aug)
When The Devil Calls Your Name (1 Aug)
BBC Player
Killing Eve (Season 1: 1 Aug, Season 2: 16 Aug)
Marcus Goh is a television scriptwriter who writes for “Crimewatch”, as well as popular shows like “Lion Mums”, “Code of Law”, “Incredible Tales”, and “Police & Thief”. He’s also a Transformers enthusiast and avid pop culture scholar. You can find him on social media as Optimarcus and on his site. The views expressed are his own.
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