If you've only ever seen Perry Mason as the Raymond Burr legal eagle version that was popular on TV in the far-distant time of the 1980s, the new series, which comes from HBO, is aiming to change all that. Matthew Rhys plays the younger version of the character, back when he was a scrappy, cynical "busybody" – or private investigator, and there's a new trailer online via Sky Atlantic.
This new adaptation of the character birthed in Eric Stanley Gardner's novels is set in 1930s Los Angeles. While the rest of the country recovers from the Great Depression, this city is booming. Oil! Olympic Games! Talking Pictures! Evangelical Fervor! And a child kidnapping gone very, very wrong! At this time in his life, Mason is living paycheque to paycheque as a low-rent PI. When the case of the decade breaks down his door, Mason’s relentless pursuit of the truth reveals a fractured city and just maybe, a pathway to redemption for himself.
Tatiana Maslany, John Lithgow, Stephen Root and Robert Patrick all feature in the cast for the show, which will launch across the pond on HBO on 21 June, followed by its UK Sky Atlantic debut on 22 June.