What To Watch Now: GBH Passport Picks For November

As GBH’s Senior Director of Programming, Ron Bachman oversees programming for the Boston station’s slate of six public television channels.

In a world of seemingly unlimited TV choices, finding the programs that matter to our viewers is what I love most about my job as Senior Programming Manager. Working with GBH’s Senior Director of Programming, we acquire, curate and schedule shows and films across GBH’s channels and for Passport.

November 04, 2021

Updated August 08, 2023

Looking for some great shows to dig into this month? GBH Passport is where you should be looking, and below are some top selections from Ron Bachman, Senior Director of Programming, and Devin Karambelas, Programming Manager. The member benefit that provides you with extended access to an on-demand library of quality public television programming, GBH Passport features current and past seasons of PBS and GBH shows — including drama, science, history and the arts. Watch anytime on GBH.org or on the PBS App.

Flour Power

Streaming now with GBH Passport
This entertaining new series from BBC Scotland pits cake-baking colleagues against each other in the ultimate office competition - the battle to be crowned the best baker in the business. From designers to distillers, teachers to charity workers, amateur bakers from all walks of life come together to craft their best cookies, scones, cakes and brownies. But this is full scale workplace warfare, and they'll need all their skill to prove they can handle the heat. Once the dough has risen and the dust has settled, who will take home the Flour Power trophy? Scratch your Great British Baking Show itch here. —Ron

Wallander

Streaming now with GBH Passport
Remember this one? Kenneth Branagh—whose semi-autobiographical film Belfast hits US movie theaters this month—stars as Kurt Wallander, a detective inspector in the small Swedish town of Ystad, in this adaptation of Henning Mankell’s novels. When the series premiered on Masterpiece Mystery in 2009, one of Wallander’s colleagues was played by a then little-known actor named Tom Hiddleston, whose breakout role as Loki in various Marvel movies came courtesy of the show’s star: Branagh recruited the actor for 2011’s Thor when he directed that film, and the rest, as they say, is cinematic history. This is a terrific (if dark) mystery series, so here’s your chance to see it if you missed it or to revisit it in all its noirish glory. —Ron

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Season 3

Streaming with GBH Passport starting November 18
The third season of this Italian crime series comes to Passport this month, featuring former Miss Italy Miriam Leone as Detective Valeria Ferro. Set in industrial Turin, the series doesn’t trade in the usual Italian stereotypes of sunshine, gorgeous architecture and mouth-watering food. Instead, it delves into the country’s gritty, seamy underbelly. Case in point: When the body of a young woman is found near an apiary with her hands cut off, Ferro learns that the victim’s twin sister committed suicide a few months earlier—or did she? (If the answer is “yes,” there wouldn’t be much of a mystery here, so draw your own conclusions.) —Ron

Yung Punx: A Punk Parable

Streaming now with GBH Passport
The musicians in punk band Color Killer may be between 8 and 12 years old, but that don’t let that fool you—these kids turn it up to eleven. This charming doc follows the bandmates, who hail from Marlborough, Massachusetts, and their supportive manager/roadie/driver parents as they navigate the notoriously punk world of basement practices, dive bars, festival gigs and recording sessions, culminating in an invitation to play The Warped Tour. But can Dylan, Lincoln, Matt and Nate survive internal tension and jealousies to put on the biggest show of their young lives? The road to music stardom is rocky, indeed. Narrated by Chris Parnell. —Devin

Land Girls

Binge all three seasons with GBH Passport starting on November 27
Filmed in and around picture-perfect Warwickshire, this warmhearted series follows an all-women workforce recruited to work as farm laborers, taking over for the men who enlisted to serve during World War II. While there’s no shortage of British wartime dramas, the lives and loves of the Women’s Land Army deliver a welcome female perspective on the war effort. Against the backdrop of the Hoxley Estate, Nancy, Joyce, Esther, Bea and Annie do their best to keep the home front running amid romance, squabbles, rural chores and a German on the loose (!). This Passport-exclusive should resonate with fans of Call the Midwife, The Bletchley Circle and Home Fires. —Devin

Independent Lens: Duty Free

Streaming with GBH Passport starting November 22
For decades, Rebecca Danigelis worked tirelessly as a housekeeper at a Boston hotel to give her two sons every opportunity to succeed. But when she was unexpectedly fired from her job at age 75, she found herself with little by way of savings and job prospects. Rebecca’s son and filmmaker Sian-Pierre Regis, a former contributor to MTV and CNN, documents Rebecca’s story in poignant detail, deciding to repay her sacrifices by taking her on an unforgettable bucket-list journey. Duty Free deftly examines the sobering realities for millions of aging Americans facing economic insecurity, but the love between Rebecca and Sian-Pierre is a joy to observe. —Devin

View more selections for November and beyond in the GBH Passport highlights collection.

GBH Passport is a GBH member benefit that provides you with extended access to an on-demand library of quality public television programming, GBH Passport features current and past seasons of PBS and GBH shows — including drama, science, history and the arts. Watch anytime on GBH.org or on the PBS App.