Oil drama heads the pack of new shows

A look at the new shows premiering on OSN.

Philip Winchester as Alex King and Wesley Snipes as Johnson in The Player. Gregory Peters / NBC / OSN

Blood and Oil

Can oil and "soap" successfully mix? It worked back in the 1980s when Dallas and Dynasty were at their peak but the TV landscape is very different now.

We will find out when new ABC soap opera Blood and Oil takes viewers to the heart of North Dakota's shale-oil boom.

It follows the fortunes, or otherwise, of young, working-class ­couple Billy and Cody Lefever (Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford and Red Band Society's Rebecca Rittenhouse) as they face off against the filthy-rich oil tycoon Hap Briggs (Miami Vice and Nash Bridges star Don Johnson) in a quest to strike it rich.

Johnson insists the show is not a Dallas rip-off: "The only thing we have in common, tangentially, is oil is part of it. Blood & Oil is about a boom town and a big family and the seven deadly sins at play."

Regardless, expect a no-holds-barred gusher of soap suds.

• Blood and Oil begins at 10pm on Tuesday, September 29 on OSN First HD

THE PLAYER

How much cash would you wager on whether a crime could be prevented? Wesley Snipes (Blade, The Expendables 3) rolls the comeback dice on this NBC thriller from the executive producers of The Blacklist, one of last year's most popular new shows.

Set in Las Vegas, Snipes stars as mysterious pit boss Mr Johnson, alongside Charity Wakefield as Cassandra King, the dealer of a high-stakes game in which a group of wealthy individuals gamble on the ability of former military operative turned security expert Philip Winchester (Strike Back, Fringe) to prevent some of the biggest crimes imaginable from playing out. Staying true to his movie roots, Snipes promises lots of action on the show: "No reason to do the role if I'm not going to do some action and martial arts," he says. "We're going to bring all of that to the table."

• The Player begins at midnight on Saturday, September 26 on OSN First HD

INSIDE NO 9

Talk about a creepy concept – a dark and macabre look behind the front doors of sinister houses with the number 9. This six-episode British anthology of darkly comic tales, each hour a stand-alone story, is written by and starring The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton (Whitechapel) and Reece Shearsmith (Psychoville).

“Each episode is unpredictable, inventive and chilling, and will have you on the edge of your seat,” the BBC say.

• Inside No 9 begins on October 10 at 10.30pm on BBC Entertainment