Why Watch
"Michaela Coel delivers a powerhouse performance in this razor-sharp geopolitical thriller confronting international justice, war crimes, and hidden truth."
AI Critic Analysis
Series Deep Dive:
Hugo Blick directs a sophisticated interrogation of Western intervention and post-colonial prosecution in Black Earth Rising. Michaela Coel stars as legal investigator Kate Ashby, confronting buried trauma linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Featuring sharp support from John Goodman, this completed miniseries refuses simple moral answers, delivering a formidable, complex legal inquiry. Viewers can track episode guides and discover where to stream the full limited drama on BBC Two.
Season: 1
| Watched? | # | Air Date | Episode Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1 | Sep 10, 2018 | In Other News | |
| E2 | Sep 17, 2018 | Looking at the Past | |
| E3 | Sep 24, 2018 | A Ghost in Name | |
| E4 | Oct 01, 2018 | A Bowl of Cornflakes | |
| E5 | Oct 08, 2018 | The Eyes of the Devil | |
| E6 | Oct 15, 2018 | The Game's True Nature | |
| E7 | Oct 22, 2018 | Double Bogey on the Ninth | |
| E8 | Oct 29, 2018 | The Forgiving Earth |
Production Note - Limited Series
Production Type: Limited Series
Black Earth Rising is a standalone Limited Series designed as a completed, finite historical narrative. This high-stakes political thriller was conceived by writer and director Hugo Blick as a comprehensive exploration of international law and the legacy of the Rwandan genocide. The production involved complex filming locations across the United Kingdom, Ghana, and various parts of Europe to capture the global scale of the International Criminal Court's reach. Because the narrative arc was built to resolve the personal and political mysteries surrounding its protagonist, Kate Ashby, the series was structured from its inception to function as a singular, self-contained television event.
The collaboration between the BBC and Netflix allowed for a cinematic approach to the eight-part series, ensuring that every episode contributed to a fixed conclusion. Hugo Blick, known for his distinct auteur style in limited formats, maintained creative control to ensure the story reached its intended finality without the need for subsequent seasons. By focusing on a specific historical and legal window, the production avoided the traditional episodic model in favor of a dense, novelistic structure that definitively closes the chapter on its characters and their journey toward justice.
If you liked Black Earth Rising:
Technical Details
- Network: BBC Two
- Seasons: 1
- Years: 2018 - 2018
- Genre: Drama, Mini-Series, Thriller
- Rating: TV-14