seasons

Summer, and all the vacation days and potential travel that implies, is upon us. And whether flying internationally or taking time off at home, you can’t beat a good British crime drama as the ultimate self-soother (especially in summer when the U.K.’s inevitable drizzly city streets and windswept moors can provide at least visual relief from the heat). The genre is varied, the casts inevitably fine and justice almost always prevails. So here are 15 shows, new and old, to watch. (And if that’s not enough, you can find 15 more here.)

‘Young Sherlock’ (Prime Video)

Will we ever tire of reimagining Sherlock Holmes? Not anytime soon, apparently. Created by Matthew Parkhill and developed by Guy Ritchie (who directed two episodes), this version gives us a college-aged Sherlock (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) banished to the role of Oxford University porter by his fed-up older brother, Mycroft (Max Irons), who hopes to put the arrogant young rip on a steadier path. Alas, before you can say “Sir Bucephalus Hodge” (the Oxford bigwig played by Colin Firth), young Sherlock is up to his flat cap in murder and mystery, which he is determined to solve with the aid of his new best bud — wait for it — James Moriarty (Dónal Finn). An over-the-top romp that proves, if nothing else, the near-miraculous elasticity of Arthur Conan Doyle’s iconic creation.

Mark Gatiss stars as Gabriel Book in “Bookish.”

(PBS)

‘Bookish’ (PBS)

Speaking of Holmes, “Sherlock” co-creator and co-star Mark Gatiss is up to it again, this time in the leading role. In post-World War II London, Gabriel Book (Gatiss) runs a secondhand bookshop, above which he and his beloved wife, Trottie (Polly Walker), live. But all is not what it seems, as Jack (Connor Finch), the young orphan ex-con they take under their wing, soon discovers. Gabriel apparently did something so important during the war that he is now the neighborhood’s go-to crime solver (with a letter from Winston Churchill to ensure VIP access). He also has a personal stake in Jack’s reclamation, which gives the series a fascinating and pathos-filled LGBTQ-history subtext.

Rishi Nair as Alphy Kottaram, left, and Robson Green as Geordie Keating in the 11th and final season of “Grantchester.”

(PBS)

‘Grantchester’ (PBS)

The sacred meets the secular in this long-running pairing of a young vicar with a worldly police detective in the titular idyllic Cambridgeshire village during the 1950s and ‘60s. In Seasons 1-4, that vicar is Sidney Chambers (James Norton), a jazz enthusiast plagued by memories of WWII who offers unsolicited insights to gruff and initially ungrateful Det. Inspector Geordie Keating (Robson Green). Friendship inevitably blooms, and when Sidney leaves the scene (and Norton the series) at the end of Season 4, many hearts (including Geordie’s) are broken. But subsequent replacement vicars — Will Davenport (Tom Brittney) in Seasons 5-9 and Alphy Kotteram (Rishi Nair) in Seasons 9-11 — each find their way to Geordie’s side, bringing their own charms, detectival insights and personal woes. The final season premieres June 14.

‘Touching Evil’ (BritBox)

DI Dave Creegan (a young Robson Green) is brought in to help DI Susan Taylor (an even younger Nicola Walker) of the Organized and Serial Crime Unit solve a series of abductions that Creegan comes to believe have been committed by a serial killer. The relationship sticks and the pair goes on to track down all manner of nasty killers with a combination of unconventional techniques and good police work. Green’s Creegan gets top billing, and a deeply resonant personal story, but seeing Walker (who would go on to star in so many fine series, including the terrific crime dramas “River” and “Unforgotten”) play a finely tuned second fiddle is great fun too.

‘Karen Pirie’ (BritBox)

For fans of Scottish crime drama (see also “Case Histories,” “Shetland” and “Dept. Q”), Det. Inspector Karen Pirie (“Outlander’s” Lauren Lyle) is a refreshing historic cases hero. Smart, ambitious and dogged, she is not burdened by a dark past or traumatic pain or the generally dour outlook that plague so many of her peers. Based on the books of Val McDermid, the series is set on the Scottish peninsula of Fife (the first season involves the picturesque town of St. Andrews) and all the gloriously broody scenery that implies. Murder mystery plus vicarious international mini-break.

‘Sister Boniface Mysteries’ (BritBox)

This cheeky spinoff of the iconic “Father Brown” puts a sweet-faced Catholic nun (Lorna Watson) at the center of all manner of murder in the fictional 1960s Cotswolds town of Great Slaughter. Sister Boniface is, of course, not just any nun. Having served as a codebreaker at Bletchley Park during WWII before entering the convent, she holds a PhD in chemistry, which makes her the perfect, if most unlikely, forensic specialist. (She also rides a red Vespa and serves as the convent’s vintner.) Unflappably brilliant and sincere in her vocation, she proves that faith in action can be both serious and great fun to watch.

‘The Bletchley Circle’ (BritBox)

Like Sister Boniface, Susan Grey (Anna Maxwell Martin) served her country as a codebreaker, but she is finding post-WWII life a bit more, well, boring. Forced back into the traditional roles of wife and mother, Susan tries to make do until a series of murders suggests to her a pattern unnoticed by the police. Gathering her former and still formidable colleagues who are also languishing in a sexist world, she creates, for two marvelous seasons, her own private crime unit. (See also, the one-season spinoff, “The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco.”)

‘Sherwood’ (BritBox)

When truculent Gary Jackson (Alun Armstrong) is murdered by an arrow outside his home in Nottinghamshire, near Sherwood Forest, Det. Chief Supt. Ian St. Clair (David Morrissey) is quick to put down any Robin Hood references and look instead at the town’s 30-year-old but still roiling divisions over the U.K.’s 1984-85 miners’ strike. Based on real events, “Sherwood” is both a murder mystery and a contemplation of the damage done by class-based strife and longheld grudges, often based on misinformation. With an incredible cast, including Lesley Manville, Kevin Doyle and Lorraine Ashbourne, it is deeply moving drama that illuminates the personal price of social divisions. Season 3 premieres this year.

Lesley Manville as Susan Ryeland and Timothy McMullan as Atticus Pund in “Magpie Murders.”

(Nick Wall / Eleventh Hour Films / PBS)

‘Magpie Murders’ (PBS)

Season 3 of “Magpie Murders” — titled ”Marble Hall Murders” — is also set to bow this year, so now is a good time to catch up on the previous adaptations of Anthony Horowitz’s Susan Ryeland novels, which both satirize and honor the murder-mystery genre. Ryeland (Lesley Manville) is a book editor whose most famous — and tiresome — author, Alan Conway (Conleth Hill), has just turned in his final murder mystery called “Magpie Murders.” Only the last chapter is missing and Conway has just been found dead at his country home. So it’s up to Ryeland, working with Conway’s literary detective Atticus Pünd (Tim McMullan), to figure out what happened, both in real life and in the book. This mystery-within-a-mystery launches two vivid characters, Ryeland and Pünd, working separately and together to solve crimes, sometimes in two different timelines.

Bill Nighy as headmaster Alan Lockwood, from left, Sharon Small as Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers and Nathaniel Parker as Det. Inspector Thomas Lynley in “The Inspector Lynley Mysteries.”

(Alex Bailey / BBC)

‘The Inspector Lynley Mysteries’ (BritBox)

The many, and voluminous, novels of Elizabeth George are being adapted in “Lynley,” a new series that has its charms. Still, I’m sticking with the older version, which ran from 2001 to 2008. Over six seasons, the unlikely partnership of Det. Inspector Thomas Lynley, eighth earl of Asherton and generally natty guy played by Nathaniel Parker, and his distinctly working-class and perpetually disheveled sergeant, Barbara Havers (Sharon Small), creates a classic odd-couple mix that allows some actual insight into issues of class and gender. But mostly, they make a great detective team, often using their differences to their advantage. The mysteries range far and wide over the U.K., from gritty streets to posh country homes, and 24 90-minute episodes are enough to keep you going all summer long.

Derek Jacobi in the title role of “Cadfael” in 1995.

(ITV)

‘Cadfael’ (BritBox)

Though the oldest series on this list (1994-1998), “Cadfael,” based on the books of Ellis Peters, remains a classic and constant recommendation. The great Derek Jacobi plays the titular 12th century monk who was once a soldier of the Crusades. Now a botanist and apothecary, Cadfael aids the local sheriff in solving all manner of crimes committed in and near Shrewsbury Abbey during England’s 15-year civil war known now as the Anarchy. Though the series does not delve as deeply into the politics of the time as the novels do, it creates an uncertain world in which violence runs rampant. Mercifully, there is a monk who knows his stuff, and if Jacobi isn’t enough reason to watch, the costumes and landscape are pretty great too.

‘No Offence’ (BritBox)

Joanna Scanlan was punk rock long before her turn in “Riot Women,” especially as the wildly frank, slightly raunchy, take-no-prisoners DI Viv Deering in this blackly funny depiction of the wayward Friday Street division of the Manchester Police. They are not misfits exactly — Deering knows what she’s doing as does her team, including the ambitious Det. Constable Dinah Kowalski (Elaine Cassidy), the self-doubting Det. Sgt. Joy Freers (Alexandra Roach) and Paul Ritter’s wise-cracking Randolph Miller (OK, maybe he is a misfit) — but they are much more recognizably human than most TV coppers. We know they’ll get their man, but it will take some time, and more than a few hilarious and heartbreaking misfires.

‘Inspector George Gently’ (Acorn TV)

After the murder of his wife, Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw) leaves London’s Metropolitan police force in search of a more peaceful life in 1960s Northumberland. But as anyone who has seen “Vera” could tell him, Newcastle Upon Tyne is far from peaceful. Still brokenhearted, Gently finds himself solving crimes, and trying to teach his sergeant John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) to be an honorable man in a time of shifting social mores and political upset.

‘Whitechapel’ (Hulu)

Come for the Jack the Ripper overtones, stay for the always great character actor Phil Davis (“Trying,” “Vera Drake”). He plays old-school Det. Sgt. Ray Miles, a member of an East End squad that is less than thrilled by their new guy, opposite the smooth and ambitious Det. Inspector Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones), who shows up to his first crime scene in a tux and doesn’t appear to understand that this is the East End. But with what seems like a Ripper copycat on the loose, everyone needs to put aside their preconceived notions and figure out what’s going on. The series is wildly atmospheric with plenty of gallows humor and more than a few truly loopy plotlines, but great fun with Davis managing, as ever, to sell even the most preposterous scene.

James Norton as Henry Alveston, from left, Matthew Rhys as Darcy and Matthew Goode as Wickham in “Death Comes to Pemberley.”

(Robert Viglasky / PBS)

Death Comes to Pemberley (PBS)

This adaptation of P.D. James’ sequel to “Pride and Prejudice” is a miniseries, and just three episodes long, so this might be a bit of a cheat. But if you haven’t seen it, you should. Elizabeth Darcy (nee Bennet) (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Fitzwilliam Darcy (Matthew Rhys) are happily married and planning a ball. Sure, a couple of servants see a ghost in the woods (where Elizabeth encounters a suspicious woman), and Col. Fitzwilliam (Tom Ward) clearly wants to marry Georgiana (Eleanor Tomlinson), who doesn’t seem too keen, but what of it? Then Elizabeth’s sister Lydia (Jenna Coleman) shows up uninvited and hysterical; her still-caddish husband, George Wickham (Matthew Goode), had an argument with his friend Capt. Denny (Tom Canton), and the two vanished into the woods where shots were subsequently heard. Once again, Mr. Darcy must do what he can to protect the dreaded Wickham, and in doing so all manner of secrets are revealed. Jane Austen meets Agatha Christie with a cast either writer would kill for.

Anyone who has been a new parent knows it’s not easy to do on your own — it really does take a village. And in the latest season of “The Four Seasons,” which returned to Netflix last week, Ginny, played by Erika Henningsen, finds her village as she navigates single parenthood after the sudden death of Nick, played by Steve Carell. While that may sound gloomy — no, terrifying — the comedy series created by Tina Fey, Lang Fisher and Tracey Wigfield keeps the laughs coming, whether they involve the central friend group spreading Nick’s ashes — morbid, I know, but I promise you’ll laugh — a malfunctioning breast pump or making friends with someone who loves to dig really big holes in the sand at the beach. Henningsen dropped by Guest Spot to talk about her character and what she hopes comes next if the show gets a third season.

And if you breeze through the second season’s eight episodes, there’s plenty else to watch this weekend. For more laughs, Mindy Kaling’s latest comedy series, “Not Suitable for Work,” premiered this week with three episodes. The TV creator spoke to Times TV writer Yvonne Villarreal about how the series touches on the heightened feelings Kaling experienced living in New York in her 20s, trying to break into comedy writing. But if you are looking for the complete opposite, the first two episodes of the newest iteration of “Cape Fear” are out today on Apple TV (you may remember the 1991 film version directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, or even the 1962 version starring Robert Mitchum). The series, which inserts some modern elements and twists, stars Javier Bardem as the villainous Max Cady and Amy Adams as lawyer Anna Bowden, who our television critic says “is low-key forceful as his primary opponent.”

Also in this week’s Screen Gab, our critics recommend a web short that will give you some background on “Backrooms,” as well as a horror film with a similar vibe, and a new nature documentary series. — Maira Garcia

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Recommendations from the film and TV experts at The Times

Chiwetel Ejiofor in “Backrooms,” which was inspired by Kane Parson’s surrealist web videos.

(A24)

“Backrooms – Presentation” (YouTube), “Buffet Infinity” (VOD)

Last weekend, 20-year-old Kane Parsons became the youngest filmmaker to hit No. 1 at the box office with “Backrooms,” a surrealistic experiment about a furniture salesman (Chiwetel Ejiofor) drawn into a maze of humdrum office space. Peek into the movie’s lore on Parsons’ YouTube channel where his eight and a half minute short, “Presentation,” hints at why Mark Duplass was running around in a lab coat. Or let the feature stand as its own work and watch Simon Glassman’s “Buffet Infinity” instead. Told through snippets of local TV commercials, this morbidly hilarious horror tale is like plopping down on one of the backroom’s couches to channel surf. The bland muzak and cinematography are spot-on, as are the familiar breeds of low-budget pitchmen: the car salesman, the personal injury lawyer, the housewife. But once two neighboring restaurateurs duel over the rights to a special sauce — and one gets defamed and disappeared — these escalating, tense ads reveal a town under siege. Things have gotta be bad when the pawn broker starts rapping about his vast selection of knives. — Amy Nicholson

A pilosaurs in NBC’s “Surviving Earth.”

(NBC)

“Surviving Earth” (NBC, Peacock)

If computer animation is good for anything, it is its ability to bring prehistoric creatures to convincing conjectural life. From Willis O’Brien‘s stop-motion dinosaurs in “The Lost World,” to “Jurassic Park,” to the BBC’s “Walking With Dinosaurs,” we are ever glad to take that trip backward, in increasingly sharp detail. “Surviving Earth,” an eight-part nature documentary cum disaster movie cum action film, adds a thematic twist: extinction. With titles like “When the Earth Burned,” “When the Seas Died” and “When the Forests Collapsed,” it is, on the one hand, a dark tour through a long history of climate crises and population collapse; on the other, per its title, its relatively cheering theme is that life, generally speaking, can handle whatever the planet (or stray asteroid) throws at it. (Humans are not left off the hook; the two episodes out for review each conclude with a visit to our destructive modern world.) As in many nature films, the animals are framed in cute or suspenseful stories that largely involve family and community; territory and travel; and looking for food and not being food. (The more adorable the animal, the more likely it is to escape uneaten, and some of those baby dinos are precious.) It premieres Thursday at 8 p.m. on NBC, and new episodes air weekly, followed by a rebroadcast of “The Americas,” the network’s earlier present-day nature series, and stream on Peacock the next day. — Robert Lloyd

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Kerri Kenney-Silver as Anne and Erika Henningsen as Ginny in Season 2 of “The Four Seasons.”

(Emily V. Aragones/Netflix)

What if you found out you were pregnant? And then your partner died suddenly. Oh, and he hadn’t divorced his wife yet, so there’s no money to support yourself and a new baby. For some people, it would be enough to cause a meltdown and an existential crisis. But in Season 2 of “The Four Seasons,” Ginny takes it all in stride. The character, played by actor Erika Henningsen, forges ahead, has the baby — fathered by the now-deceased Nick — and ends up getting help from the most unexpected person: Anne, her partner’s ex.

The comedy series once again follows the close-knit friend group consisting of Jack (Will Forte) and Kate (Tina Fey), Danny (Colman Domingo) and Claude (Marco Calvani), and the new odd couple, Anne (Kerri Kenney-Silver) and Ginny. This season, they take trips to the Catskills, the Jersey Shore and Italy as they try to navigate grief following Nick’s death, supporting Ginny despite the awkwardness of her situation with Anne, and an international move by Danny and Claude after they decide not to have a child.

Henningsen discussed Ginny’s arc this season and how she connects with Anne, who finds purpose in caring for baby Gino (or Eugene, depending on whom you ask), and what it was like juggling multiple projects along with filming “The Four Seasons.” — M.G.

At the end of the first season of “The Four Seasons,” viewers were hit with a big surprise: Ginny is pregnant. And in Season 2, we see her further along and eventually with a baby. What was it like to play Ginny at this stage in her life, navigating single motherhood? Did you look to anyone for inspiration?

I feel like Ginny’s character arc in this season was a tightrope walk that our writers executed flawlessly. Because, let’s be honest, the situation between Anne and Ginny is a bit bizarre. To quote our show, “there is no Beyoncé song” for what to do when your recently deceased ex-husband’s pregnant girlfriend shows up on the group hiking trip! What myself and the writers really tried to highlight, especially in those early spring episodes, is how scared Ginny feels to be entering motherhood without a partner by her side and how that fear and grief become the dominating force behind her actions. She’s just scrambling for some semblance of confidence and security, to feel like she’s going to be “ready” when the baby arrives. But, as any real mom can attest, there is no ‘“ready” when it comes to a baby. You just take it one day at a time and figure it out as you go. I love that Ginny has that realization toward the middle of the season. She may not be the perfect mom to Gino, but she’s his mom, and getting to play the beach scene where Ginny takes one tiny bold step, alone, into motherhood was super special. In terms of inspiration, I was constantly texting two friends of mine who had just had babies for ways to walk, ways to lay down, ways to stretch, etc. Also, our incredible hair department head, JT Franchuk (shoutout, JT!), was on set with me every day, and I was lucky to have her as a confidant and sounding board as she was seven months pregnant when we began shooting Season 2.

You share many great scenes with Kerri Kenney-Silver, who becomes a surrogate mother to Ginny and grandmother to her baby, despite the history between them. How did you two navigate this dynamic, and what was it like working together?

Kerri Kenney-Silver is truly the greatest scene partner an actor could have for a litany of reasons. Kerri comes from an improv background but is also a technical wordsmith. She’s constantly throwing out new line readings and physical comedy to bounce off of, but is also deeply respectful of the words Tina Fey and company have crafted, so she’s equal parts anchor to a scene as well as a playmate. Kerri and I never tried to nail down one exact “right” way to play a scene. We were constantly adjusting the levers with each take, digging into one another versus backing off, casually throwing away a sentimental line versus staring into one another’s eyes. What we did agree on was to never judge these two characters. Some people might look at our character’s choices as debilitating or selfish, but we both found that Anne and Ginny deeply needed and wanted to be there for one another. In their own little “odd couple” way, they were choosing one another to get through the next tenuous, unknown chapter of life. Oh, and working with Kerri? As I’ve said, “if you’re gonna lose a Steve Carrell, just wait til you gain a Kerri-Kenney Silver.” She is obviously so talented, but also one of the warmest and most welcoming humans I have worked with. And she makes me snort-laugh on a regular basis.

You came up in theater and originated the role of Cady Heron in the Broadway production of “Mean Girls,” based on the film by Fey. You were on Broadway in “Just in Time” last year, too. What has it been like to balance your stage work with your TV work lately?

Honestly? It’s been a lot! I say that with 98% gratitude and 2% “so tired when is vacation?” exhaustion. Last year, I was doing press for “The Four Seasons” while opening a brand-new original Broadway show, while also recording Season 3 of the hit animated series I currently star in, “Hazbin Hotel” [Prime Video]. My days were spent doing interviews in the morning, rushing to Circle in the Square theater for “Just in Time” preview rehearsals in the afternoon, recording episodes of “Hazbin Hotel” on my dinner break, all before heading back to the theater for an 8 p.m. curtain. I remember there was one night I did a SAG panel with Tina, Kerry and Marco on 55th and Broadway that ended at 7:45, and I was in pincurls and fake eyelashes, ready to go onstage opposite Jonathan Groff at 8:15. It is definitely a balancing act, and one I would not be able to navigate without my team and my husband. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love how each discipline has started to inform the other: I’ve taken my spontaneity in the voice-over booth onto set, I’ve taken my trust in stillness in front of the camera onto the stage, and I’ve taken my discipline doing eight shows a week into everything. Getting to dip a toe into multiple pools of the entertainment industry is, I think, the only way my brain wants to operate.

If “The Four Seasons” gets a third season, where would you like to see Ginny go?

In a perfect world? I’d love if Danny/Claude planned a fabulous trip to a gay destination like Mykonos that the rest of the group somehow gloms onto. I remember visiting Fire Island for the first time a few summers ago at Tina’s recommendation and loving it so much. I texted her that I never wanted to leave and she basically wrote back, “Yup. Always follow the gays.” So, maybe we will do exactly that in Season 3. Also, on a very specific Ginny note, I will hopefully have a toddler in Season 3 as opposed to a baby (our babies on set were under 6 months old so they definitely fell into the “handle with care” category!), and my dream is to be able to hold one the way Diane Keaton holds her toddler in “Baby Boom.” It’s a perfect moment of physical comedy, and I aspire to re-create it.

What have you watched recently that you are recommending to everyone you know?

“Beef” Season 2 and the recent Rafael Nadal documentary, “Rafa.” Both Netflix. What can I say? I’m loyal. The entire cast in “Beef” is spectacular, and I love the genre-bending the showrunner weaves throughout. You never quite know where you stand, but the twists feel earned and character-driven as opposed to gimmicky. There’s one quasi-bottle episode set in an ER that felt perfectly surreal, claustrophobic and exactly what it feels like to be in the ER on bad health insurance (speaking from 21-year-old experience). “Rafa” is just … no words. I love a sports doc (“The Last Dance” [Netflix], “Prefontaine” [VOD], “The Endless Summer” [Tubi] — you name it), probably because, in my heart of hearts, I just want to be an athlete.

What’s your go-to comfort watch, the movie or TV show you go back to again and again?

I will never tire of watching “The Parent Trap” [Disney+]. It’s perfect. Chessy is a queer icon, Meredith Blake is the “villain” but also get that vineyard honey, one of Lindsay Lohan’s best performances, and what I wouldn’t give to have an ounce of the class that was Natasha Richardson. Every scene is perfect, there’s not a single “skip” on the soundtrack. Also a flawless Maggie Wheeler cameo! Nancy Jane Meyers: You outdid yourself.

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The number of high school baseball and softball teams in Southern California not wanting to participate in the regional playoffs next week continues to grow. The question is: Next season, when there are state championships held in the two sports, will there be fewer opt outs?

“I would think so,” said Brian Seymour, associate executive director of the CIF.

The City Section Open Division baseball champion, Birmingham, and runner-up, El Camino Real, both passed on the regional playoffs. Three of the four Division 1 semifinalists — Norco, Harvard-Westlake and Sherman Oaks Notre Dame — also opted out. In Southern Section softball, the two Division 1 finalists, JSerra and La Mirada, are ending their seasons on Friday.

Travel ball begins in June, and that’s the big roadblock for softball, with many coaches and players participating. Next season, the state championships would be held the first weekend of June, the same dates as this year’s regional finals, so solving the softball dilemma remains uncertain.

“We’ve heard the comment from a number of different coaches [that] once we go to a state tournament, they were more inclined to make it work,” Seymour said. “Softball may take a little longer to come around. The power of representing your community and school is a little bit more than playing for your fifth travel team.”

But players invest thousands of dollars in club softball and coaches make good summer money in travel ball.

Seymour said multiple sites are under consideration in Southern California and Northern California to host the state championships.

He’s hopeful both will catch on like swimming did when the CIF first had state championships.

“We have everybody in swimming now, where the first year was hit and miss,” he said.

This is a daily look at the positive happenings in high school sports. To submit any news, please email eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.

A crime drama that has had fans gripped for decades is apparently going to be back

The future of an “addictive” long-running series has apparently been confirmed.

Law & Order – which started in 1990 and is now in its 25th season – is set to be renewed for a 26th run, Deadline has reported. While final details are apparently being worked out, it is thought that official word on the future of the police procedural is expected soon.

The news will thrill fans of the series, which has become hugely popular with viewers. Set and filmed in New York, the programme follows detectives of New York City Police Department’s fictional 27th precinct as they investigate crimes.

Its cast has included several huge stars over the years, with Sam Waterston, Jerry Orbach and Mariska Hargitay all being part of the show, while famous guest stars have included Viola Davis, Bradley Cooper and Ellen Pompeo. The current cast of the programme includes Maura Tierney, who starred as Abby Lockhart on the medical drama ER, and Tony Goldwyn from Scandal.

Law & Order originally aired from 1990 to 2010, then in 2021 it was announced that it was being brought back after an 11 year break.

It has also sparked several spin-offs, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Trial by Jury.

It has been a hit with viewers, with one posting on reviews website Rotten Tomatoes: “The best ever, realistic, true to life portraits seen in any movie or TV series.”

“Excellent,” said someone else, calling the show “completely addictive”.

“It’s like watching two shows, a police investigation series for the first half hour, and a legal series for the next half an hour,” another fan remarked.

“Great performances, lots of mystery and drama, very realistic.” Someone else praised the show’s “pitch perfect pacing”.

Another said: “Law & Order is one of my go-to shows to watch while sitting on the couch and vegging out. I’ve seen every episode multiple times, but I find the show comforting. That’s what Law & Order is – comfort food.”

NBC has been contacted for comment.

Law & Order airs on NBC in the US.

Former WNBA MVP Tina Charles has retired after 14 seasons in the league.

“Today, I officially announce my retirement from basketball,” the eight-time All Star wrote in a post shared across her social media accounts Tuesday. “This game gave me everything and I’ll miss it deeply.”

The veteran center — the No. 1 overall draft pick selected by the Connecticut Sun in 2010 — played for six WNBA franchises over the course of her career, including a lengthy stint with the New York Liberty. Named the league MVP during her 2012 campaign, Charles is the WNBA’s leader in career rebounds (4,262), double-doubles (201) and made field goals (3,364), as well as second on the list for career points (8,396) behind Diana Taurasi.

“I’ve experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows, and I’m thankful for all of it,” Charles wrote, reflecting on her professional career and “lifetime of love for this game.” “Growing up in Queens, New York, basketball wasn’t just a game, it was a language, a rhythm, its survival, its expression. It pulled me in early, and I gave myself fully to it. It shaped me into the woman I am today and for that, I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Charles is an expected future Hall of Famer. While a WNBA championship eluded her, her career includes three Olympic gold medals with Team USA, two NCAA championships with the UConn Huskies and a number of titles in leagues overseas. Her individual accolades also include being named to the All-WNBA team nine times, most recently in 2021, and to the league’s All-Defensive team four times. (Charles did not play in the 2020 and 2023 WNBA seasons.)

In a July episode of Sue Bird’s “Bird’s Eye View” podcast, Charles spoke candidly about her thoughts around retiring.

“I thought I was done in 2023 when I didn’t play,” she said. “Then [I] came back, found the joy, love for the game again. But here, I probably think about it every day. … Going in, playing, at this age, in the 30-minute range. Just how you feel physically, and then it’s more games.”

Charles returned to play with the Sun for the 2025 season, starting 42 of 44 games while averaging 16.3 points and 5.8 rebounds. She received the Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for the second time during her final season, for her work with Hopey’s Heart Foundation. Charles founded the nonprofit in 2013 in honor of her late aunt, Maureen “Hopey” Vaz, to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and provide automated external defibrillators to schools and recreation centers that need them.

According to the New York Times, Charles is currently pursuing a master’s degree in sports management at UConn and is eyeing the possibility of working in a front office of a WNBA, NBA or college team in the future while continuing her Hopey’s Heart Foundation efforts. She also has plans to get into the beer business.

“There are still dreams in my heart that are waiting to be lived, and I can’t wait to share that journey with you all,” Charles said in her social media post.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Joel Quenneville took over the long-suffering Ducks nearly a year ago, the veteran head coach cautiously said he hoped to get his new team into contention this season for its first playoff spot since 2018.

His young, hungry Ducks made it to the playoffs, all right — and they’re clearly not just happy to be here.

After nearly winning the Pacific Division in a surprisingly strong regular season, these Ducks ended the franchise’s eight-year postseason drought — and now they’ve eliminated Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers with a six-game series victory in the first round.

Anaheim finished it off with a 5-2 victory in Game 6 on Thursday night, calmly dispatching its more experienced opponents with the poise and potency that this team has shown for long stretches this season. Quenneville could only applaud as his team took the next step on its journey.

Ducks center Leo Carlsson celebrates with left wing Chris Kreider after scoring an empty net goal during Game 6 of their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday in Anaheim.

(Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)

“It’s a huge win,” Quenneville said. “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for the fans. And now we’ve got a taste of playoff hockey, and I think we can feel at this moment that it’s so much fun playing games that have the meaning, and the building being as loud and excited as it is. It seems to grow from this level on.”

The future has finally arrived in Orange County, and the raucous sellout crowds that have supported this team all season long are loving the return of playoff hockey for the team that won California’s first Stanley Cup in 2007.

The Ducks also had one of the NHL’s best teams while winning five straight division titles through the middle of the 2010s, but those teams twice lost in the Western Conference finals before Anaheim fell into a rut of seven straight years without a playoff berth.

Those years of high draft picks have led to a roster with impressive high-end talent in its young core, and general manager Pat Verbeek added a slate of veteran signees to bolster it. Quenneville was the next huge piece of the puzzle, and the three-time Stanley Cup winner as a head coach has guided the Ducks to a first-round postseason upset.

“We know that (at) our best is a really good team when we’re playing the right way,” said Troy Terry, the longest-serving Ducks player since 2018. “We proved it to ourselves that we can do it consistently in a series, and our group should have a lot of confidence going forward in what makes us a good team.”

After stumbling into a 2-6-2 slump down the stretch and blowing the division lead, the third-place Ducks drew the playoff-tested Oilers in the first round. It looked like a nightmare matchup for an inexperienced team — but the Ducks were ready.

Anaheim stormed to a 3-1 series lead while pumping 20 goals past the Oilers, who looked slower and creakier than the Ducks. Edmonton showed off its postseason poise in Game 5, throttling the Ducks in a 4-1 victory and putting the onus on their inexperienced opponents to finish off the series.

And that’s exactly what the Ducks did: They scored three goals in the first period, jumped to a 4-1 lead after two, and never allowed the Oilers to get up enough momentum to seriously threaten a comeback.

“I’m just proud with the maturity level of that game,” Terry said. “For how inexperienced and young our team is, it’s exciting moving forward.”

Anaheim also got a star-making performance from defenseman Jackson LaCombe, who led the team with nine points while also leading its defensive effort against McDavid and Draisaitl. LaCombe, a late addition to the U.S. Olympic team last winter, led the Ducks with a plus-6 rating while playing 22 1/2 minutes per game and taking just one penalty.

“A lot of us young guys are learning a lot as we go along, and I thought we got better throughout the series,” LaCombe said. “It means a lot for us.”

The Ducks have extended their breakthrough season for at least another couple of weeks, and they’re relatively healthy. Their next opponent will be the Vegas Golden Knights — another experienced playoff team loaded with veterans.

The Ducks and their fans are thrilled to take the next step on this unlikely journey.

“Now we get to experience another round, and I think this is healthy for us,” Quenneville said. “We’ve got a young group that … you don’t know how they’re going to play, but you’re certainly excited what the upside is.”

Beacham writes for the Associated Press.

Billy Donovan has resigned as head coach of the Chicago Bulls, ending his six-season tenure, after missing out on the play-offs.

The Bulls wanted to retain Donovan’s services despite parting company with vice president of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley on 6 April.

Donovan, 66, held an option in his contract for next season but has decided to step down to allow a new coach to rebuild.

“After a series of thoughtful and extensive discussions with ownership regarding the future of the organisation, I have decided to step away as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls, to allow the search process to unfold,” Donovan said.

“I believe it is in the best interest of the Bulls, to allow the new leader to build out the staff as they see fit.”