PBS viewers should send thanks to our neighbors across the Atlantic for sending over more originals in July. The U.K. has been supplying PBS with some of its best dramas for decades, and that’s a trend that happily continues this month with the third seasons of both Cobra and Hotel Portofino. Those series take up two slots on our list of the three PBS shows that you should watch in July. Our third pick is Gods of Tennis, which is a look back at the legends of the game who redefined what a tennis player could be for men and women all over the world.
These are just a few of the new shows on PBS in July. There’s a lot to watch, especially if you want to go back and revisit the great PBS shows to watch in June as well. Remember, PBS is free. All you have to do is make time for it.
Gods of Tennis
The tennis superstars of the 1970s and ’80s cast long shadows over the sport that remain to this day. John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Arthur Ashe, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and more are widely considered to be among the greatest players to ever take up the game. Gods of Tennis revisits this era and some of its most famous and infamous moments.
The Wimbledon grand slam tournament will also be featured throughout this show, as many of the tennis luminaries listed above share an oral history about their personal experiences and their contributions to the sport as well.
Watch Gods of Tennis on PBS on Tuesday, July 23.
Cobra
Prime Minister Robert Sutherland (Robert Carlyle) is back in the third season of Cobra, and the show is going in an odd direction. Robert’s daughter, Ellie (Holly Cattle), has gotten wrapped up with a fringe environmental group that’s making life difficult for her father politically and personally.
Robert’s grip on the office was already starting to slip even before events converge into a deadly disaster. But it’s only going to get worse when a destructive weapon is stolen. And the thieves plan to use it if Robert doesn’t step down from his position of power.
Watch Cobra on PBS on Thursday, July 25.
Hotel Portofino
Hotel Portofino may be set in Italy during the 1920s, but this is a British drama at heart. Two years after the events of season 2, Bella Ainsworth (Natascha McElhone) is still running her hotel and living a separate life from her husband, Cecil Ainsworth (Mark Umbers). Bella has even found new love with Marco Bonacini (Giorgio Marchesi) while awaiting the arrival of her father and sister for a visit.
Unfortunately for Bella, Cecil’s return is only the beginning of the bad times for her. Cecil wants a divorce, but both he and Bella stand to lose everything they own as the stock market crash of 1929 wipes away their investments. Meanwhile, Italy falls further and further under the control of the fascists as Signor Vincenzo Danioni (Pasquale Esposito) schemes to take the hotel away from Bella.
Watch Hotel Portofino on PBS on Sunday, July 28.
