To stave off possible boredom while at home, every week Marhaba delves in to the wonderful world of popular culture to find the best new TV series, movies, books and music.

BINGE WATCH THIS:

The last time Star Trek put out an animated series was way back in 1973. It’s now time to fire up the transporter and beam yourself over to CBS All Access on Thursday 6 August for the launch of Star Trek: Lower Decks, a new 10-episode series set in one of the world’s most successful space operas. CBS has ordered two seasons, headed up by executive producer Alex Kurtman, capitalising on his other work in the Star Trek franchise, and developed by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites). In a change from the usual format, Star Trek: Lower Decks follows the crew on the ‘lower decks’ of the USS Cerritos, ‘one of Starfleet’s least important ships’. It is set in the year 2380, in the ‘Next Generation’ era, and is in fact named after one of the show’s episodes. And it’s a comedy. Expect all the things we have come to love about Star Trek – and maybe some guest appearances from TNG…


GET THE POPCORN FOR THIS: 

Netflix’s Jurassic World animated series comes out in September, so it seems prudent to relive the beauty of the original trilogy beforehand – and you will be able to watch them all on the streaming service this month. Jurassic Park was released in 1993, The Lost World: Jurassic World in 1997, both directed by Steven Spielberg with music composed by film score legend John Williams, while Jurassic Park III came out in 2001. In the first two movies, palaeontologists Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) team up with mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) after dinosaurs run amok in a theme park; in the third Dr Grant clearly hasn’t learnt his lesson, as he finds himself facing the violent prehistoric creatures again.


SETTLE IN WITH A CUP OF TEA AND READ THIS:

What to Watch, Read and Listen To

Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer is a retelling of Twilight, the first book in the series of the same name that went on to become a global phenomenon. This new book recounts events from the perspective of Edward Cullen instead of Bella Swan. It was a story that Meyer initially began in 2008, with stops and starts along the way, and was read in part by Robert Pattinson while he was filming the movie to allow him to better understand the character. Meyer has gone on record as saying this will be the only book to be written from Edward’s point of view.


CRANK UP THE VOLUME FOR THIS:

What to Watch, Read and Listen To

It has been a remarkable 50 years since the release of Deep Purple’s album Deep Purple in Rock. With three members still in the band half a century later – singer Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover and drummer Ian Paice, the sole original member – new release Whoosh!, their 21st studio album, was recorded in Nashville. The 20th studio album inFinite, released back in 2017, is one of their most successful albums ever, so Whoosh! has a lot to live up to. Early reviews show that the band has more than exceeded expectations and their music is just as relevant today. As the band has been attributed as saying: ‘Deep Purple is putting the Deep back into Purple’.


Author: Sarah Palmer

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