STARZ / YouTube Emma Greenwell stars in "The Rook," STARZ's new paranormal espionage series premiering tonight at 8 p.m.
In the new Starz series The Rook, Myfanwy Thomas wakes up with no memory of who she is and no explanation for the circle of dead bodies around her. When Myfanwy discovers she’s a high ranking official in Britain’s secret service for people with paranormal abilities, she’ll have to navigate the dangerous and complex world of the agency to uncover who wiped her memory and why.
The series premieres Sunday, June 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. If you don’t have cable or Starz, you can watch episodes of The Rook either live or on demand on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for one of the following live-TV streaming services:
If you have Amazon Prime or want to start a free 30-day trial of Amazon Prime, you can watch live and on-demand Starz content through the Starz Amazon Channel, which also comes with a free 7-day trial.
Once you’re signed up for both Amazon Prime and the Starz channel, you can then watch The Rook episodes live as they air on your computer via the Amazon website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 or another streaming device via the Amazon Video app.
If you don’t watch live, the Amazon Starz Channel also comes with Starz’s complete on-demand library, which will include The Rook episodes as soon as they first air live.
Whether you already have a Sling TV account or you want to start a free trial of Sling TV, Starz is available as an add-on to either the “Sling Orange” or “Sling Blue” package.
Once signed up, you can watch episodes of The Rook live as they air on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you don’t watch live, the Sling Starz Channel also comes with Starz’s complete on-demand library, which will include The Rook episodes as soon as they first air live.
‘The Rook’ Series Premiere Preview
Starz’s new series will combine espionage elements with the paranormal as Myfanwy Thomas attempts to crack why she woke up beside London’s Millennium Bridge with a slew of dead bodies and no memory of who she is. Welcome to The Rook, adapted from the novel by Daniel O’Malley and co-produced by playwrights and screenwriters Sam Holcroft and Al Muriel.
Emma Greenwell stars as the series’ protagonist, a high-ranking official in the Checquy, Britain’s “last truly secret service for people with paranormal abilities.” Myfanwy will have to traverse dangerous territory as she attempts to reclaim her life, but the seedy world of the agency stands in her way as she attempts to figure out who wiped her memory and why she’s a target. The show’s first season is set to air eight episodes.
Co-starring in The Rook are Joely Richardson, Olivia Munn, Adrian Lester, Ronan Rafter, Catherine Steadman, Jon Fletcher, Shelley Conn, and James D’Arcy. Munn, who plays Monica Reed, a U.S. agent who works with the British secret service, teased Indiewire with a bit of insider knowledge. “Being a part of the U.S. division, it’s not normal for [Monica] to just pop over to the British side. It’s uninvited, but she has a very personal drive to figure out what’s going on with something related to someone she loves very much, but that opens up Pandora’s Box to all the other corruption and collusion,” Munn said.
“What’s fun about this show is these are things I think people can learn to enhance within themselves,” Munn continued. “We think that our limits go to a certain level because that’s what we’ve allowed ourselves to go to as human beings, but there are a lot of people who have pushed themselves further.”
Though she adapted the book to series, Twilight creator and author Stephenie Meyer exited the project last year after some pesky ol’ creative differences sprouted up between her and producers. Lisa Zwerling (Betrayal) and Karyn Usher (Bones) stepped into the spy thriller to hold down the fort as the series’ new showrunners.
Reviews have already begun flooding in. “The Rook is a very slick series with some solid action and very rich style,” wrote Merrill Barr for Forbes. “It also has enough of a sense of pacing to not feel overdone – which feels like the biggest sticking point for a lot of high-end premium cable series these days.”