‘BOOKISH’: A NEW DROP TO AIR ON PBS

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One of the quieter releases to drop on PBS, Bookish is another dramedy that falls in their typical “wheelhouse” of content, and it has a pretty good cast, too.

Bookish (2026) TV Show Review

Selling books is the business that Gabriel Book (Mark Gatiss) is in. He’s knowledgeable in this work and runs a shop called Book’s. Into his shop one day walks Jack (Connor Finch), a man who is looking for work and is interested in taking the job that Book is advertising, only he thought the job was something else entirely. Having this conversation with Book confuses Jack and for a split second he considers walking out.

But he stays.

Thus begins a curious casebook that is Gabriel Book. What Jack doesn’t know is that he needs someone to watch the shop because his side hobby takes him away from the shop to solve a curious case or two.

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‘BOOKISH’: A NEW DROP TO AIR ON PBS. Review of the new mystery drama #Bookish featuring #MarkGatiss. Share on X

This isn’t a drama I heard much about until basically the day of its PBS debut (which was this past week). Having now (finally) watched the debut, I can say that Bookish is very much a great show that fits what you can find on PBS. The story is great fun and presents us again with another sleuth in Gabriel Book who is, well, interesting to hang out with. Familiar to many of us who have watched so many period dramas is Polly Walker who also appears. Mark Gatiss is an actor we also know from roles like Sherlock or Sense and Sensibility (the miniseries), so seeing them in something more recent is fabulous.

All this to say, the cast is impressive and full of familiar and talented actors. If you like the dramas that air on PBS, I think you will find much to like in Bookish. The show is set to have six episodes and is three two-part mysteries. It’s a good format because it gives a bit more time to each mystery without one mystery dragging out through the entire season, which can sometimes feel a little too much.

Catch Bookish airing Sundays on PBS; or find the first two episodes, ‘Slightly Foxed’ part one now on PBS MASTERPIECE* Prime Channel addon.

*This show is streaming on the PBS Masterpiece Prime addon but is not part of the Masterpiece titles.

Photos: UKTV | Video: WPBS via Youtube

Content: The show implies, at least in the first episode, there are secrets in the lives of Trottie and Gabriel. The kind that means they live separate lives in many ways. There are images of bones and dead bodies; the show starts with someone dragging a body across the floor. There is other innuendo and most of the conversation revolves around murder. This has a TV-14 rating.

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