Last year in October, HBO made it clear that the company plans to enter the lucrative and ever expanding streaming TV market by rolling out its own standalone streaming service at some point in 2015. Quite predictably, the market was abuzz with all sorts of speculations within hours – with some even going to the extent that this could well be the end of cable television as we know it.

Adding more to these speculations, CBS announced only a day later that it too was preparing to join the bandwagon by launching a proprietary streaming service. Similar announcement came from Showtime, CBS’s flagship entertainment channel.

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Penny Dreadful is a scary psychological thriller that includes the classic horror tales in a new drama for adults. This show claimed some of the most terrifying characters in literature, including Dr. Frankenstein and his creature, continuing with Dorian Gray, as well as famous characters from the novel Dracula, lurking from the darkest corners of Victorian era in London, and became one of the most-watched and appreciated tv shows amongst the fans all over the world.

The first season filled with excellent acting of the main characters, and all controversies that followed them, the encounters with demons, vampires and other dark creatures, all of course accompanied with a lot of blood, left us waiting and impatient for the start of a second season and follow up to the next adventures.

Until now, as the blood appears to be moving once again, considering the fact that Showtime announces the first official picture from Penny Dreadful season two, along with a teasing that the two show stars, Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and the ever haunting Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) are closer than friends.

“This season, Vanessa and Ethan face new challenges, and old enemies, and turn to each other for solace,” Penny Dreadful creator John Logan said. “Their intimacy grows as they are forced to confront their demons together.” John Logan, series creator and executive producer, says.

“We wanted the ‘Penny Dreadful’ action sequences to be appropriate to the piece, so our fights are barroom brawls; they’re really ugly and violent — it has the feeling of savagery,” added Logan.

Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) and the ever haunting Vanessa Ives (Eva Green)

This season, Vanessa and Ethan develop a deeper bond as the team, including Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), and Sembene (Danny Sapani), join forces to chase away the evil forces that threaten to ruin them.
At the same time, Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), the Monster (Rory Kinnear) and Brona (Billie Piper) are all fighting battles of their own. Patti LuPone will guest star as a mystical character of an amazing importance in Vanessa’s past.

Helen McCrory returns as Evelyn Poole (a.k.a. Madame Kali), the provocative spiritualist who will pose a unique threat to our protagonists this season, along with Simon Russell Beale, who back as eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle. Additional guest stars include Douglas Hodge as a Scotland Yard detective; Sarah Greene as Poole’s mighty daughter, Hecate; and Johnny Beauchamp as a man with a singular past.

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Like any major premium cable network, Showtime will do whatever they can to retain their most prized original content, and right now have moved to secure their leading shows Homeland and The Affair into the schedule for another year each.

Network president David Nevins claimed that Homeland in particular deserves the renewal on account of having ‘brilliantly reinvented itself’ in its ongoing fourth season, whilst newcoming drama series The Affair has performed strongly in ratings as the Sunday night lead-out to the Claire Danes-led drama.

The longer-running show, which focuses on a bipolar CIA agent, is set to broadcast a a 12-episode-length 5th season in 2015, whilst The Affair is to show a 2nd season of ten episodes long.

Nevins said of the currently more-popular of their recommissions: “In its fourth season, Homeland has brilliantly reinvented itself. It continues to capture the attention of a devoted fan base, and has provided an enviable platform for the successful launch of The Affair. With thought-provoking, relevant and addictive storylines, both series have been embraced, dissected and much debated week after week. We’re excited to see more from these complex shows in 2015.”

Just how long Homeland will continue for looks set to be in the hands of the producers at their current rate, but will their first-ever renewal be the springboard that the creators of The Affair need to be able to step out of the former’s shadow and claim likewise one day?

Many classic TV shows are chosen for a reboot, remake, or continuation, and the latest to be added to that list is cult mystery drama Twin Peaks.

The show, which had been on ABC for 2 seasons and 30 episodes between 1990-1991 (and a series prequel/epilogue movie spin-off known as Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, in 1992), will now be making a continuation a quarter-century on, with a 9-episode third season now scheduled to air on Showtime in 2016.

This return is confirmed as being a present-day continuation of the story in real time as opposed to a remake. The premium cable network will have their new big draw written by original series creators David Lynch and Mark Frost, and Lynch also serving as director.

Having teased the comeback late last week on Twitter with tweets referencing the show, Lynch then made a post yesterday linking to a special ‘teaser video’, stating: “Dear Twitter Friends… it is happening again.”

Frost noted that the show will retain a number of classic characters from the show, but not to expect everyone given the time lapse and that there are no confirmations of casting just yet, citing that it is “far too early to talk specifics” on actors this far from production.

The YouTube video release by Showtime noted on the series: “The groundbreaking television phenomenon, Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winner Twin Peaks will return as a new limited series on Showtime in 2016. Series creators and executive producers David Lynch and Mark Frost will write and produce all nine episodes of the limited series.”

Twin Peaks originally saw Kyle MacLachlan star as “Dale Cooper”, an FBI special agent tasked with a job in the fictional small and mysterious town of Twin Peaks, Washington (USA), the investigation of the murder of the town’s homecoming queen “Laura Palmer” (Sheryl Lee).

Considered one of the biggest cult series of all time, fans and critics enjoyed the show for its offbeat humour and surrealist themes, so will what the creators made in the early 90’s be able to continue into the mid-10’s? The new teaser of the show can be seen below:

Though the gap for a show like Twin Peaks has been considered ‘filled’ at various stages in its hiatus, with a show on Disney XD often considered by reviewers to be a spiritual successor:

Further to announcements that a proposed Sony-based internet TV service is picking up speed in terms of rights arrangements, it has been revealed by an executive of the Japanese company that they plan to have the platform released to American viewers before the year 2015, and for non-Americans… probably within 2015.

Likely to me made as compatible with a range of official Sony hardware such as the PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Sony Bravia smart TV sets and Sony Xperia mobile devices, the potential for coverage is certainly there for Sony with their plans to move into the TV industry, so all they really need as a defining factor over their success should be content, which for the time being includes Viacom (who will bring a wide selection from their owned networks and studios including Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount, and Spike), and in the future could be joined by companies including Disney, Showtime, and Time Warner, according to rumors.

Andrew House, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, claimed in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that Sony remain in discussion with a variety of potential content partners to offer licensed programming on the upcoming service, and will roll it out by the end of 2014.

House stated: “A streaming-based approach needs to have a very wide funnel of devices, and that inherently means a broad and manufacturer-agnostic approach.”

Will the Sony TV brand manage to go ahead as planned by the end of the year with the strongest start possible?

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