TV News: Abbott, Who, Oliver, Austen, Spirits

Abbott Elementary
Quinta Brunson’s mockumentary school sitcom “Abbott Elementary” has been renewed for Season 5 at ABC, the renewal coming as the fourth season is currently airing and recently hit a viewership peak with 8.05 million people tuning in to its winter premiere. [Source: Variety]

Doctor Who
Jordan Adene and Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE have both been set in the second season of Ncuti Gatwa’s run in “Doctor Who,” which returns to screens this year. Adene will play a character named Tunde Adebayo, Rose’s role is unknown but a key one in what showrunner Russell T. Davies calls “one of the most frightening episodes we’ve ever made”.

The new season sees The Doctor meeting Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) and trying to get her back to Earth. – but a mysterious force is stopping their return and the time-traveling TARDIS team must face great dangers. [Source: TV Zone]

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
HBO has announced a February 16th 2025, premiere date for the upcoming twelfth season of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver”. The season premiere will also be available for streaming on Max. The series itself has been renewed through at least Season 13 in 2026. [Source: HBO]

Miss Austen
The BBC has released a trailer for its four-episode limited drama series Keeley Hawes-led period drama series “Miss Austen,” which will launch on the British network in the UK on February 2nd before heading to Masterpiece on PBS from Sunday, May 4th. Rose Leslie, Patsy Ferran and Synnøve Karlsen co-star.

Adapted from Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel by BAFTA-winning writer Andrea Gibb, it takes the mystery of Cassandra Austen notoriously burning her famous late sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love.

School Spirits
Paramount+ has released the trailer for the second season of its hit supernatural coming-of-age series, School Spirits, starring Peyton List. The show will return to the streamer on January 30th.

In the new run, Maddie Nears is still stuck in the afterlife, but now she knows what happened to her. She must unite her friends in the spectral and living worlds to reclaim her stolen life.

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