New British TV Series for 2024: BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Netflix, Disney, Prime Video, Sky

A feast for the eyeballs! That’s what the UK’s new TV drama (British shows returning for another series this year are here) output looks like for 2024 – a year of thrills, chills and laughs, from supernatural escapism to immersive historical dramas, true stories brought to life, and plenty to feed Britain’s crime mystery obsession.

Here’s a flavour of what 2024 holds for your TV: book adaptations include a new imagining of Ian Rankin’s Rebus detective stories coming to the BBC, a scandalous adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s iconic novel Rivals (starring David Tennant), Jack Thorne’s take on Lord of the Flies, and much much more. 

There’s high-stakes action in thrillers like Red Eye, Black Doves and Nightsleeper, and you can transport yourself back in time to discover the lives of a notorious eighties jewel thief in Joan, sinister Jacobean power play in Mary and George, or Tudor-set murder mystery Shardlake.

Or escape reality entirely with Neil Gaiman’s folklore fantasy Anansi Boys, zombie comedy Generation Z, Michael Sheen-directed dystopian drama The Way, or watch Jeff Goldblum making an appearance as Zeus in modern mythology drama KAOS. And all that’s only scratching the surface of this year’s British TV drama delights.

Bookmark this list to revisit throughout the year, as we’ll be updating it with new British shows and release dates as they’re announced.

JANUARY

Fool Me Once

The latest Harlan Coben adaptation for Netflix, which relocates the action from the US to the north-west of England. Michelle Keegan (Our Girl) plays a woman coming to terms with the brutal murder of her husband (Richard Armitage, The Stranger) only to get the shock of her life when she spots him seemingly alive and well on her daughter’s nanny cam. Sweet Tooth‘s Adeel Akhtar plays the lead detective on Joe’s murder (with secrets of his own, of course) and national treasure Joanna Lumley (Absolutely Fabulous) plays Joe’s protective mother. Filming took place in Manchester and the series is on Netflix now. If you’ve binged the lot and still have questions, we pick apart the ending here (spoilers!).

Mr Bates Vs the Post Office

This true crime drama depicts one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in British history: the hundreds of postal workers who were wrongly accused of theft due to a faulty IT system, some of whom were even imprisoned, and the ten-year battle for exoneration. Mr Bates Vs The Post Office has an impressive cast including Toby Jones (The Long Shadow), Julie Hesmondhalgh (The Pact) and Will Mellor (No Offence). It aired in the first week of January 2024.

Truelove

This six-part Channel 4 drama has a heap of veteran screen talent, including Clarke Peters, Peter Egan, Sue Johnston and Phil Davis. Truelove initially cast Julie Walters in the lead, but due to a back injury she had to withdraw from production, and was being replaced by Lindsay Duncan (Doctor Who). The series is about a group of friends in the sixties and seventies who reunite at a wake and make a drunken pact to help each other die with dignity. Things go, as one might expect in a darkly comic thriller, awry. It’s written by Humans screenwriter Iain Weatherby and co-created by The End of the F***ing World‘s Charlie Covell, and aired on Channel 4 in January 2024.

Criminal Record

Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi unites with Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife) in this Apple TV+ crime thriller about a weathered DI and a rookie DS who are forced to team up on a cold case after receiving a mysterious anonymous phone call. Criminal Record also stars BAFTA-winning Cathy Tyson (Help) as a mother trying to clear the name of her son (Tom Moutchi, Famalam) plus Aysha Kala (The Undeclared War) and Holby City’s Chizzy Akudolu. This eight-part series streamed on Apple TV in January and February.

Joan

The fascinating true-life story of notorious jewel thief Joan Hannington is the inspiration for this new six-part ITV drama, with Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner in the lead role, depicting Hannington’s exhilarating but emotional journey from escaping a violent marriage with her daughter to becoming a criminal mastermind nicknamed “the Godmother”. The cast also includes Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent) as antiques dealer Boisie, Gershwyn Eustache Jnr (Top Boy) as one of Boisie’s old acquaintances, and J Curtis (Harlots) as Joan’s sister Nancy. The series arrived on ITVX on January 24.

Domino Day

This BBC Three drama is a supernatural thriller with a twist – a witch story blended with a take on today’s dating scene. It stars Bafta-nominated Siena Kelly (Adult Material) as Domino, a young woman using all the dating apps, but she isn’t swiping to find her soulmate – she’s a powerful young witch hunting for people on whose energy she can feed. Domino is also searching for a community to help her find out who she is, but there’s a powerful coven of witches tracking her every move, convinced that Domino’s powers need to be stopped before they destroy everything around her. The series also stars Alisha Bailey (Call The Midwife), Molly Harris (Industry) and Babirye Bukilwa (We Hunt Together) and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Read our review here.

FEBRUARY

One Day

David Nicholls’ bestselling romance novel was adapted into a 2011 feature film starring Anne Hathaway that, it’s fair to say, failed to set the world alight. This Netflix series is a much better bet. The lead cast includes This is Going to Hurt‘s Ambika Mod and White Lotus‘ Leo Woodall as Emma and Dexter, two young people who hook up at university on St Swithin’s day and whose lives we follow in elliptical chunks every July 15th since. Prepare to get attached. Streaming now on Netflix.

Breathtaking

Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio is the producer behind this thought-provoking Covid-19 drama, based on the real-life experiences of front-line doctor and bestselling author Rachel Clarke, who co-wrote the series. Golden Globe winner Joanne Froggatt (Liar) stars as a hospital consultant caught in the eye of the storm in the early days of the pandemic. The three-part series was filmed in Northern Ireland earlier in 2023 and aired in February on ITV. Read our review here.

The Way

Good Omen‘s Michael Sheen has once again worked with Quiz writer James Graham, this time on a bold new BBC drama imagining a civil uprising which starts in a small Welsh industrial town. It centres on the Driscoll family, who are forced to flee their home in the unrest, and try to start their lives afresh while battling with the ghosts of the past. It’s got an impressive cast of names: as well as directing, Sheen cameos as one of the Driscoll family, alongside Steffan Rhodri (Gavin & Stacey), Mali Harries (Hinterland), Sophie Melville (The Pact) and It’s a Sin‘s Callum Scott Howells. Read our review here.

MARCH

Mary And George

This historical psychodrama is based on the unbelievable true story of Mary Villiers, who moulded her beautiful and charismatic son George to seduce King James I and become his all-powerful lover, making them one of the most powerful families in the English court. The excellent cast stars the Oscar-winning Julianne Moore (Still Alice) alongside Cinderella’s Nicholas Galitzine and Mayflies’ Tony Curran, plus Unforgotten‘s Nicola Walker and Malpractice‘s Niamh Algar. Filming took place in 2023 and Mary & George premiered on Sky Atlantic and NOW in the UK on March 5.

The Marlow Murder Club

Death in Paradise creator Robert Thorogood has adapted his own cosy crime novel, The Marlow Murder Club, into a mystery series for the Drama channel and UKTV Play. The series stars Downton Abbey‘s Samantha Bond as Judith Potts, a retired archaeologist whose quiet life in the idyllic town of Marlow, writing crosswords for the local newspaper, is shattered when she hears gunshots in a neighbouring garden and fears a murder has taken place. When the police are doubtful about her story, she teams up with a local dogwalker, Suzie (Doctor Who‘s Jo Martin) and the vicar’s wife, Becks (Cara Horgan, The Sandman) to start an investigation of her own. The Marlow Murder Club aired on Drama and UKTV Play in March, and will arrive on PBS Masterpiece in the US later in the year.

The Gentlemen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyEOwHrpZH4

This Netflix series is a follow-up (but not strictly a sequel) to Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, which saw Matthew McConaughey play American gangster Michael Pearson, who was trying to sell off his highly sought-after marijuana empire. This subsequent series stars Theo James (Divergent) as ex-soldier Eddir Horniman, who inherits his posh father’s sprawling estate only to find he’s sitting atop Pearson’s infamous weed farm. This makes him a target for some very nasty characters indeed, and he has to play Britain’s criminal masterminds at their own dangerous games. Also starring Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner), Daniel Ings (I Hate Suzie) and Vinnie Jones, The Gentlemen is available to stream now on Netflix.

Love Rat

This four-part psychological thriller starring Sally Lindsay (The Madame Blanc Mysteries) and Neil Morrissey (The Good Karma Hospital) is about a recently divorced woman having a holiday romance when she realises that her paramour is a scam artist. Enter: the ex husband (Morrissey) to team up with her and try to get the stolen money back. Filming took place in Cyprus, and the miniseries aired on Channel 5 in March.

Coma

Jason Watkins (Line of Duty) starred in a new four-part thriller for Channel 5 about a man pushed to breaking point when his family is terrorised by a group of teenage boys. Alongside Watkins as Simon, Outnumbered star Claire Skinner played Simon’s wife, and newcomer Joe Barber played Jordan, the ringleader of the teens. Desperate to protect his young daughter, Simon will eventually make a split-second decision that changes everything, sending his life spiralling out of control. The series aired on Channel 5 on consecutive nights in March.

Passenger

BAFTA-winning Wunmi Mosaku (Damilola, Our Loved Boy) stars in Passenger, a darkly comic thriller for ITV that is also a debut screenwriting job for Better‘s Andrew Buchan. Set in the small northern village of Chadder Vale, the six-part drama will see Former Met Police Detective Riya Ajunwa (Mosaku) begin to investigate a series of horrific crimes in the village, while trying to convince the villagers that all is not as it seems, as she finds herself drawn into a universe unlike anything she has ever seen. Other cast include The Bay‘s Daniel Ryan, Hubert Hanowicz (This Is Going To Hurt) and Gentleman Jack‘s Natalie Gavin. Passenger premiered on ITVX on Sunday March 24 and all eps are available to stream on ITVX. The series will also be available internationally on BritBox.

Big Mood

Derry Girls‘ Nicola Coughlan and It’s a Sin‘s Lydia West star in new Channel 4 comedy-drama Big Mood, about two women navigating their friendship now their twenties are behind them, facing career hardships and mental health struggles. The six-episode series also features Sally Phillips (Taskmaster), Niamh Cusack (The Virtues) and Eamon Farren (The Witcher) and it began airing on Thursday March 28 on Channel 4, and in Australia on Stan the day after.

Renegade Nell

Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright created this historical adventure series set in 1705, about a gutsy young girl called Nell (Louisa Harland, Derry Girls) who finds herself framed for murder and on the run with her sisters, transforming into a notorious highway robber to survive. Then she meets a plucky young folkloric spirit called Billy Blind, (Nick Mohammed, Ted Lasso) and discovers fate has brought her on the run to defeat a magical plot against the Queen. The cast also includes Adrian Lester (Trigger Point) as the scheming Earl of Poynton trying to bring Nell down, and Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent) as Nell’s charming but dangerous friend and adversary Charles Devereux. Renegade Nell arrived on Disney+ on March 29.

This Town

The man never stops! Not only has Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight got a second series of SAS: Rogue Heroes and a Peaky feature film on the way, he’s also behind an original six-part drama on the world of ska and two-tone music in the 1970s and 1980s. Set in Coventry and Birmingham, This Town stars Nicholas Pinnock (Marcella), Michelle Dockery and David Dawson, and features original songs written by poet and musician Kae Tempest with producer Dan Carey. The series arrived on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Sunday March 31 at 9 p.m.

APRIL

Ripley

This eight-episode psychological thriller is a new adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s famously slippery master forger and conman character Tom Ripley, previously played by multiple actors including Matt Damon in Anthony Minghella’s feature film adaptation The Talented Mr Ripley. This time, Ripley is played by Sherlock and Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott, alongside Lovesick’s Johnny Flynn, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Dakota Fanning. This one’s been eagerly anticipated for a while now  – it was originally set for Sky Atlantic in the UK and Showtime in the US, and filming took place in Italy in 2021, but Ripley finally arrived on Netflix on April 4. Read our review here.

SCOOP

One-off docudrama Scoop tells the story behind Emily Maitlis’ Newsnight interview with Prince Andrew (as will A Very Royal Scandal, coming to Prime Video and actually produced by Maitlis). Gillian Anderson stars as Maitlis, with Rufus Sewell as the royal prince, and Billie Piper as Sam McAlister, the Newsnight booker on whose memoir the film is based. Read our review here.

The Cuckoo

Four-part thriller The Cuckoo follows Sian (Jill Halfpenny, The Long Shadow), a new lodger for married couple Nick and Jessica (Crossfire‘s Lee Ingleby and The Bay‘s Claire Goose) after they fall on hard times, but they soon realise that Sian is there to cause dark, twisted trouble. Filming began in October 2023 in Ireland and the series aired on consecutive nights on Channel 5 from Monday April 8 to Thursday April 11.

Baby Reindeer

Richard Gadd adapted his hit 2019 one-man stage show about his female stalker into an eight-part Netflix series that’s caused a real storm concerning compliance and dramatized depictions of real people since its April release. Baby Reindeer tells the compelling true story of the bizarre relationship Gadd developed with his stalker, and the effect it has on him as it forces him to confront a deep, long-buried trauma within himself. Gadd plays himself, with Jessica Gunning (What Remains) playing his stalker Martha. The series arrived on Netflix on April 11 and has stayed at the top of the streamer’s chart ever since.

Red Eye

Described as a “high-octane thriller”, ITV’s new six-part drama Red Eye is an adrenaline-fuelled ride split between an all-night plane flight from London to Beijing and the corridors of power. It stars Jing Lusi (Crazy Rich Asians), Richard Armitage (Obsession) and Lesley Sharp (Before We Die) and is produced by Bad Wolf. We rate it as a twist-filled thriller that lands smoothly after a bumpy take-off – read our review here. It started on ITV1 on Sunday April 21 and all episodes are available to stream now on ITVX.

The Red King

A twisty police investigation combines with chilling folk horror in this new six-part mystery thriller for Alibi, written by Being Human creator Toby Whithouse. When a successful police officer, Grace Narayan (Anjli Mohindra, The Lazarus Project) is forced into a ‘punishment posting’ on the antiquated island of St. Jory, she begins investigating a cold case about a missing teenage boy. Her investigation leads her to discover extraordinary local characters and the island’s eerie past devotion to a pagan God called the Red King. The series has an impressive cast, including Adjoa Andoh (Bridgerton), Jill Halfpenny (EastEnders) and Marc Warren (Van Der Valk). The series began airing on April 24 on Alibi.

MAY

Shardlake

Based on CJ Sansom’s Tudor mystery novel series of the same name, Shardlake is an eerie whodunnit set during the dissolution of the monasteries. When a commissioner is murdered while gathering evidence to close a monastery, Cromwell (Sean Bean, Marriage) orders the sheltered lawyer Shardlake (Arthur Hughes, Help) to find the killer, and makes it clear failure is not an option. He also sends along the cocky young Jack Barak (Anthony Boyle, Derry Girls) to help, although Shardlake can’t tell if he’s an assistant or a spy. And as soon as they arrive at the remote monastery, it’s clear the monks will stop at nothing to preserve their order. The series arrives on Disney+ on May 1 and is well worth a binge-watch. Read our review here.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Heather Morris’ bestselling novel, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, is being adapted into a new TV series for Sky (UK) and Peacock (US). It tells the hard-hitting real-life story of Lale Sokolov, a Jewish prisoner at Auschwitz in the Second World War, who is tasked with tattooing his fellow prisoners’ arms with their ID numbers, and falls in love with one of the women he tattoos. It stars both Oscar-nominated Harvey Keitel (The Irishman) and World on Fire‘s Jonah Hauer-King as Lale, and Baptiste‘s Anna Próchniak as Gita. Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) will play the novel’s author Heather Morris. The series started airing on Sky Atlantic in the UK on May 2.

The Gathering

Coming to Channel 4 from Tuesday May 14 is this six-part whodunnit from writer-director Helen Walsh about a violent assault on a teenage girl at a rave in Merseyside, and the cast of characters who might have carried out the attack. It stars newcomers Eva Morgan and Sadie Soverall as teenagers Kelly and Jessica, alongside Vinette Robinson (The Lazarus Project) as Jessica’s mother Natalie and Warren Brown (The Responder) as Kelly’s dad. It’s described as taking in themes of class, teenage life, social media and parenting, all wrapped in a thrilling drama.

Rebus

After almost 15 years off-screen, it was announced in 2023 that Ian Rankin’s Scottish detective is back for a six-part TV series. Originally planned for new streamer Viaplay and now coming to the BBC, the series will see Richard Rankin (Trust Me) as Rebus in his thirties, recently divorced and demoted from Inspector to Detective Sergeant following a tricky case. The new take on the character – previously played on the small screen by John Hannah and Ken Stott – deals with personal and professional challenges against a backdrop of contemporary Edinburgh. It arrived on BBC Scotland and BBC iPlayer on Friday May 17, before a BBC One airing the next day.

Insomnia

Line of Duty star Vicky McClure (Trigger Point) stars in new Paramount+ drama Insomnia, based on the novel by Sarah Pinborough, about a woman called Emma whose dream life begins unravelling when she develops insomnia just before her 40th birthday. The cast also includes Corinna Marlowe (Hysteria) who plays Emma’s mother, who had a breakdown at a similar age and has always predicted Emma will have the same fate, and Tom Cullen (The Gold) as Emma’s husband Robert. Dominic Tighe (Suspicion) and Lyndsey Marshal (Inside Man) also star as Emma’s close friends. It’s due to arrive on Paramount+ UK on May 23.

Eric

This tense, twisty and weird thriller about a missing boy in 1980s Manhattan will arrive on Netflix courtesy of The Split screenwriter Abi Morgan. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch (pictured in Doctor Strange above) as the missing boy’s father, a puppeteer on a children’s TV show who finds solace in his friendship with the titular Eric, a monster who lives under his son’s bed. Eric also stars Gaby Hoffmann (Transparent) and McKinley Belcher III (Ozark) and will arrive on Netflix on May 30.

JUNE

Lost Boys & Fairies

The BBC kicks off Pride month with this emotional three-part drama following the journey of Gabe and Andy, a gay couple hoping to become parents through adoption. The debut drama by Welsh screenwriter and multidisciplinary artist Daf James, it’s an autobiographically inspired bilingual Welsh-English miniseries that explores the highs and lows of adoption for two gay men. It’s airing weekly on BBC One from June 3, and all three episodes are currently available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

Queenie

Candice Carty-Williams’s bestselling novel Queenie is being adapted for TV by Channel 4. It stars Dionne Brown (Criminal Record) as Queenie Jenkins, a twenty-five-year-old Jamaican-British woman, who goes through a messy breakup and has to confront her past before she can rebuild. Other cast members include Jon Pointing (Big Boys), Sally Phillips (Bridget Jones) and You‘s Tilly Keeper. Filming took place in South London and the series started airing on Tuesday June 4 at 10pm on Channel 4, as well as streaming as a box-set on channel4.com and on Hulu in the US from June 7.

Lost Boys And Fairies 

This powerful new BBC drama will follow couple Gabriel and Andy on their journey to adopt their first child, a story inspired by the personal experience of its writer, Daf James. Lost Boys and Fairies will star Sion Daniel Young (Deceit) and Fra Fee (Les Miserables) in the lead roles of Gabriel and Andy, alongside Elizabeth Berrington (The Pact), Sharon D. Clarke (Doctor Who) and Outlander‘s Maria Doyle Kennedy. Filming took place in Cardiff in 2023 and the series aired on BBC One in June 2024.

Supacell

This Black, British superhero fantasy series is coming to Netflix courtesy of rapper and director Rapman, and boasts a strong cast. Doctor Who‘s Tosin Cole is in the lead as Michael, who has to bring together a group of fellow South Londoners who’ve all mysteriously developed superpowers, in order to save the woman he loves. Appearing alongside Cole are Nadine Mills, Eric Kofi Abrefa, Calvin Demba, Josh Tedeku and The Responder‘s breakout star Adelayo Adedayo. Supacell arrived on Netflix on June 27.

Douglas Is Cancelled

This on ITV1 and ITVX four-part drama is written by Steven Moffat (former Doctor Who showrunner and the creator of Inside Man, Sherlock, Jekyll, Coupling and Press Gang). Starring Downton Abbey‘s Hugh Bonneville and Doctor Who‘s Karen Gillan as news broadcasters Douglas and Madeleine, it’s a story about cancel culture. When Douglas is overheard telling a sexist joke at a wedding, his public reputation and work relationships come under fire.

JULY

A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder

Red Rose screenwriter Poppy Hogan has adapted Holly Jackson’s bestselling novel into a six-part drama for the BBC. The teen thriller tells the story of Pippa Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers, Wednesday), a smart and slightly square heroine on a mission to uncover the killer of schoolgirl Andie Bell. Everyone believes Andie was killed by her boyfriend Sal Singh, but Pip believes the real killer is still out there, so she teams up with Sal’s younger brother Ravi (newcomer Zain Iqbal) to investigate. Anna Maxwell Martin (Line of Duty), and Gary Beadle (Rye Lane) will play Pip’s parents, and Ghosts‘ Mathew Baynton also stars. It’s streaming now on BBC iPlayer.

The Jetty

Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman will lead a new four-part BBC thriller as Detective Ember Manning, who must investigate how a devastating fire in a Lancashire holiday home is connected to a podcaster looking into a missing persons cold case and a sinister “love” triangle between a man and two underage girls. The Jetty has been created by Harlots writer Cat Jones and also stars Matthew McNulty (Deadwater Fell), Peter Sullivan (Poldark) and Happy Valley’s Rick Warden. It arrived on BBC iPlayer on July 15.

Mr Bigstuff

This new six-part comedy stars Danny Dyer (EastEnders) and Ryan Sampson (Plebs) as Glen and Lee, estranged brothers whose reunion blows up Glen’s quiet life. Dyer plays Lee, a drug-addict alpha male who’s on the run from a dodgy past, and Sampson plays his highly strung and conformist younger brother Glen, whose kleptomaniac fiancée Kirsty is played by Big Boys and I May Destroy You‘s Harriet Webb. It came to Sky Max on July 17.

AUGUST

Kidnapped

This true-crime drama will tell the real-life story of Chloe Ayling, a British model who was abducted in Italy in 2017, but then found herself in the centre of a media storm after being accused of faking her kidnapping. Killing Eve‘s Georgia Lester has written the six-part series using detailed research and interviews – and with the full support of Ayling herself – and the series will explore her kidnap, the court case that had her captors jailed, and Ayling’s experience of being blamed for her kidnappers’ crimes and disbelieved by the press. Tania Parkes (The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself) will star as Chloe Ayling, alongside Adrian Edmondson (Rain Dogs), Nigel Lindsay (The Capture) and Christine Tremarco (The Responder). It comes to BBC iPlayer and BBC Three on Wednesday August 14.

KAOS

The eight-part genre-straddling fantasy series series puts a modern twist on Greek and Roman mythology, and comes from The End of the F***ing World‘s Charlie Covell. Starring Jeff Goldblum as an all-powerful but insecure Zeus, KAOS will see six human strangers on Earth discover they’re part of an ancient prophecy, and it’s up to them to save the world from the apocalypse. After first being announced in 2021, the series arrives on Netflix on August 29.

Stags

A new British six-part drama is coming to streamer Paramount+ UK, and it’s one that’ll make you think twice about planning that overseas stag do. Nico Mirallegro (Passenger) plays groom-to-be Stu, whose South American stag holiday goes from hedonism to horror after he and his pals are sent to a lawless prison island. This Country‘s Charlie Cooper and SAS: Rogue Heroes‘ Corin Silva play Stu’s pals, alongside Paul Forman, Sophie Lenglinger and Asim Chaudhry. It’s coming to the streamer in August 2024.

OCTOBER

Sweetpea

This eight-part dark comedy thriller is coming to Sky Atlantic in October, written by Pure screenwriter Kirstie Swain, and based on the novel of the same name by CJ Skuse. It’s the story of Rhiannon (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), a girl who goes mostly unnoticed and lives an unremarkable life in an unremarkable relationship with an unremarkable job. Until that all changes, of course, when Rhiannon is forced to confront the murderous part of herself that is remarkable… The cast also features Nicôle Lecky (Mood), Calam Lynch (Bridgerton), Jeremy Swift (Ted Lasso) and Slow Horses’ Dustin Demri-Burns.

DATES TBC:

Adolescence (w/t)

Any drama involving writer Jack Thorne (Best Interests, Help, His Dark Materials, The Fades) and the creators of Boiling Point is worth keeping an eye on, so keep your eyes on this new British Netflix commission. Created by Boiling Point‘s Stephen Graham and Philip Barantini, with Jack Thorne, it’s being billed as a four-part ambitious crime drama filmed in real-time and in one continuous shot, telling the story of a schoolboy charged with the murder of a teenage girl. Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and Faye Marsay will star alongside Graham. Filming began in summer 2024.

A Matter Of Blood

Fans of bestselling novelist Sarah Pinborough will be pleased to learn that – as well as an adaptation of her novel Insomnia (see below) – we’re also getting a TV incarnation of her Dog Faced Gods trilogy, a genre-bending supernatural crime series starting with A Matter of Blood. This six-part series from the team behind Death in Paradise is set in a dystopian near-future version of London, where Detective Inspector Cass Jones is on the hunt for the sinister, taunting serial killer known only as the Man of Flies. Further details are yet to be announced – watch this space.

A Very Royal Scandal

So good, they made it twice? Following on from Netflix’s Scoop starring Gillian Anderson, Billie Piper and Rufus Sewell (see above), is a second retelling of the painful Newsnight interview between Emily Maitlis and Prince Andrew about his alleged sexual misconduct. Prime Video is also dramatising the infamous scandal, with Ruth Wilson (The Woman In The Wall) playing Maitlis and Good Omens’ Michael Sheen as Prince Andrew. Maitlis is serving as Executive Producer on the three-part series.

A Yard of Sky

From the production company that brought us factual drama The Salisbury Poisonings comes a new four-part series about a recent real-life episode from UK history. Based on the forthcoming book of the same name by husband and wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe, it tells of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin’s experiences being arrested in Tehran and detained away from her family for six years. The commission was announced in June 2024, and no casting has yet been confirmed, but we’ll keep you posted.

Anansi Boys

Hot on the heels of Good Omens came the news that Prime Video would also be bringing another of Neil Gaiman’s novels, Anansi Boys to the screen. Filming wrapped in Scotland back in May 2022, but this story’s folkloric fantasy elements and twin-leads-played-by-the-same-character conceit mean post-production is intense. A modern-set story incorporating characters from West African myth, it’s the tale of Charlie Nancy and his brother Spider, both played by Malachi Kirby, and the aftermath of their deity father Anansi’s death. Think spectacle, story and surprises when this series arrives in 2024.

Black Doves

Keira Knightley, Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire lead the impressive cast of this new Netflix thriller from The Lazarus Project‘s creator Joe Barton. Set in London at Christmas, Black Doves centres on Helen (Knightley), a politician’s wife who begins a passionate affair that endangers her secret identity as a spy for shadowy organisation The Black Doves. When Helen’s lover Jason is assassinated, her bosses send old friend Sam (Whishaw) to protect Helen and work with her to find the killer – but he has a murky past of his own, and it’s about to catch up with him. Black Doves began filming in October 2023.

Bookish

A new period-set crime drama written by and starring Olivier-winner Mark Gatiss (Sherlock, A Ghost Story for Christmas) is coming to Alibi. Bookish is a six-part (two episodes per story) mystery series starring Gatiss as Gabriel Book, the owner of an antiquarian bookshop who helps the police to solve unusual crimes. Joining Gatiss in the cast are Polly Walker, Blake Harrison, Rosie Cavaliero, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, Ella Bruccoleri and more. Filming began in April 2024 so don’t expect to see this one on screens just yet.

Brian and Margaret

One for politics fans here: acclaimed playwright and screenwriter James Graham (Quiz, Sherwood) is writing a new drama for Channel 4 based on Rob Burley’s memoir of his career in political TV, Why is This Lying Bastard Lying to Me (a quote usually attributed to former Newsnight interviewer Jeremy Paxman). It’s an excellent book that explores the changes in the British political landscape in the period from a landmark 1989 TV interview between Brian Walden and prime minister Margaret Thatcher, through New Labour’s dogged determination to stay on-message on screen, all the way to the Brexit debate and Boris Johnson choosing to hide in a fridge rather than face public questioning during the 2019 General Election. Steve Coogan will play Walden, with Harriet Walter as Thatcher.

Civil Blood

The producers of Peaky Blinders, and The End of the F***ing World director Jonathan Entwistle are collaborating on a new historical drama which Entwistle describes as “history, heart, family and war – all wrapped up in a punk attitude.” Set in 17th century England, Civil Blood is a coming-of-age tale following the adventures of a young woman growing up in a time of war. No further details about casting or filming have been announced yet – we’ll update when we know more.

Code of Silence

EastEnders star and Strictly champion Rose Ayling-Ellis will star in this suspenseful ITV crime drama about a deaf catering worker, Alison, who is recruited by the police to lip read conversations between dangerous criminals, and quickly becomes key to unlocking the perilous investigation. Things become more complicated when Alison becomes attracted to one of the main suspects, Liam. Filming is set to begin soon.

Cold Water

Andrew Lincoln filming a UK TV drama? What is this, 2005? New ITV six-parter Cold Water welcomes The Walking Dead star back home to star alongside Ewen Bremner, Indira Varma and Eve Myles in a twisty thriller. Written by playwright David Ireland, it’s the story of John (Lincoln) whose identity crisis following a traumatic incident prompts him to move his family from London to a remote, rural village. There, he becomes fast pals with the local vicar’s husband, who may not be all he seems.

Coming Undone

Billie Piper (I Hate Suzie) is set to play the lead role in this forthcoming adaptation of writer Terri White’s powerful memoir. White, a journalist and broadcaster and former editor of Empire Magazine, is adapting her own autobiography, which examines how early childhood trauma and abuse resurfaced in adulthood. His Dark Materials producers Bad Wolf are behind this one.

Cordelia Gray

Bestselling novelist PD James’ Cordelia Gray books – An Unsuitable Job for a Woman and The Skull Beneath the Skin – have been picked up by the production company behind Peaky Blinders. The popular detective stories were originally released in the seventies and eighties, but screenwriter Eve Hedderwick Turner (Anne Boleyn) is transporting the stories into a modern day setting. Further details will be announced during the year.

Curfew

A gender-based crime thriller set in a society where men are bound by a strict nightly curfew under “The Women’s Safety Act” is coming to streamer Paramount+. Starring Sarah Parish (Stay Close), Mandip Gill (Doctor Who) and Mitchell Robinson (Mayflies), this six-part original drama is the story of a woman murdered during curfew hours, perhaps as a provocation to the new rules keeping men inside between the hours of 7pm and 7am. Fresh talent Lydia Yeoman is the head writer and filming began in February 2024.

Daughter

From acclaimed screenwriter Sarah Phelps, whose true-crime drama The Sixth Commandment was one of the best series of last year, comes Daughter. This ITV-commissioned series is yet to announce much other than the fact that it’s on the way, but we do know the premise will involve two mothers of two teenage girls, one of whom faces an accusation of bullying. Sarah Phelps is the writer who adapted a series of Agatha Christie novels for the BBC, including Ordeal by Innocence and The Pale Horse, so this will be one to look out for.

Dead and Buried

Humans‘ Colin Morgan and The Split‘s Annabel Scholey will star together in new BBC Northern Ireland drama Dead and Buried, written by Murphy’s Law and Divorcing Jack screenwriter Colin Bateman. Scholey plays Cathy, a woman who has a chance encounter with Michael (Morgan) the man who, 20 years ago, was convicted for her brother’s murder. Now released from prison and living under a new identity, Morgan’s life is about to be turned upside down. Filming began on the four-part series in January 2024.

Dear England

Like Quiz before it, James Graham’s stage play Dear England is being adapted for television, and this time it’s taking lead actor Joseph Fiennes (The Handmaid’s Tale) with it. Fiennes reprises his role as England former football manager Gareth Southgate as he remoulds the national team in this fictionalised look at a country struggling to square its self-image with a fast-changing world. Dear England is coming to BBC One.

Death Valley

Another new Welsh drama is on its way to the BBC, this one starring Timothy Spall (The Sixth Commandment), and created by Paul Doolan, the writer of Mammoth and Trollied. It’s an odd-couple crime comedy about two detectives Janie and John – one a bonafide Welsh officer of the law (Gwyneth Keyworth), the other an actor famous for having played a fictional detective on TV (Spall). When a murder happens close to home, Janie and John investigate over six 45-minute episodes.

Department Q

Matthew Goode fans rejoice, because the A Discovery of Witches star is back in a new Netflix crime thriller. Adapted from the novels by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, Department Q is the story of DCI Carl Morck (Goode), an Edinburgh detective working a cold case while processing his guilt over a violent past attack. Goode is joined by some of Scotland’s finest, including Kelly Macdonald, Chloe Pirrie, Shirley Henderson, Kate Dickie and Guilt‘s Jamie Sives and Mark Bonnar.

Dope Girls

A forgotten but fascinating time in history will be the focus for Dope Girls, telling the story of the female gangs running Soho’s clubs, drugs and moonshine after the losses of World War One. This Bad World production stars Julianne Nicholson (Mare of Easttown) as Kate, a nightclub owner trying to provide for her daughter, and Eliza Scanlen (Little Women) as fresh Met Police offer Violet who leads an undercover investigation into this thrilling, audacious criminal world. Filming is currently underway. 

Down Cemetery Road

Fans of Slow Horses, adapted from the acerbic spy thriller novel series by Mick Herron, will want to look out for Down Cemetery Road, also adapted from a Herron thriller and coming to Apple TV+. This one’s not about spooks, but an Oxford-based private eye (played by Emma Thompson) engaged by a woman (played by Ruth Wilson) who’s obsessed with the whereabouts of a missing child after an explosion. Funny Woman and Slow Horses writer and producer Morwenna Banks is running this one, which looks promising in the extreme.

Fear

This one isn’t arriving until 2025 but as an early heads-up, Fear is a three-part psychological thriller starring Line of Duty‘s Martin Compston, Vigil‘s Anjli Mohindra, and Game of Thrones‘ Daniel Portman. It’s about a family of four who relocate from London to Glasgow, where they’re subjected to a campaign of harassment by a neighbour that gets seriously out of hand and leads to every parent’s worst nightmare. Coming to Prime Video, Fear began filming in Glasgow in March 2024.

Film Club

Sex Education‘s Aimee Lou Wood and SAS Rogue Heroes‘ Ralph Davis have written this six-part comedy-drama for the BBC. It’s about Evie and Tom, two friends who share an elaborately themed weekly film club, and a ticking clock that means Evie only has six more club nights, and six more films, to tell Tom how she feels about him. More details to come.

Generation Z

There’s an impressive cast behind Channel 4’s new comedy horror series, which will see a sleepy town suddenly become an apocalyptic dystopia when a chemical leak from an army convoy outside a care home causes its residents to become bloodthirsty zombies. Among the town’s elder residents is Sue Johnston (The Royle Family), Robert Lindsay (My Family) and Eastenders legend (and recent Doctor Who recruit) Anita Dobson, plus Johnny Vegas (Benidorm) and Paul Benthall (The World’s End). Starring among the teens who are left to fight the zombies are Jay Lycurgo (The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself), Buket Komur (Our House) Lewis Gribben (Somewhere Boy), and Viola Prettejohn (The Nevers) who will star as Charlie, Kelly, Steff and Finn respectively. The series is filming in Wales and will arrive on Channel 4 soon.

Grenfell

Six years after the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that claimed 72 lives, the BBC confirmed their plans to air a three-part factual drama drawing on extensive research, telling the story of the events leading up to, during and after the devastating tragedy. It’s being written and directed by BAFTA-winning Peter Kosminsky (Wolf Hall, which is also returning in 2024) and will cover the story from multiple perspectives, including victims, survivors, the firefighters on duty that night and the wider community. Following some controversy over the announcement last year, casting and filming details have not been confirmed, but we’ll update when we hear more.

Grown-Ups

It’s about time somebody did a proper job and brought Marian Keyes’ work to the screen. The Irish novelist’s weighty Grown-Ups is an excellent tale about an extended family whose lies, secrets and rivalries tumble out in the aftermath of an impromptu truth-telling session caused by a concussion. The book is warm, funny and wise, and now the makers of Heartstopper are adapting it for Netflix. Done well, this could be huge.

House of Guinness

Steven Knight never stops! The Peaky Blinders creator (fresh from The Veil, This Town, new SAS: Rogue Heroes and the in-development Peaky Blinders feature film) is behind a new Netflix family saga following the real-life historical Guinness family. When patriarch and brewing empire-founder Benjamin Guinness dies, his four adult children vie over the company’s future. We may as well start calling it the Irish Succession now.

How to Get to Heaven From Belfast

Here’s one we’ve been waiting for – the brilliant Lisa McGee’s follow-up to Derry Girls has been announced and it’s a comedy thriller called How to Get to Heaven From Belfast, coming to Channel 4. It’s the story of three women in their late thirties, who’ve been friends since their schooldays, and who reunite to attend a friend’s wake, which leads them into a dark and twisted mystery. “Not so much a ‘whodunit’,” says he press release, “as a ‘what the hell happened'”. Cast and release schedule is all still to be confirmed, but sign us up! 

King and Conqueror

Happy Valley’s James Norton will star in this eight-part BBC historical drama about the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Norton plays Harold, Earl of Wessex, alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) as William, Duke of Normandy, and the series is penned by Michael Robert Johnson, the screenwriter behind Sherlock Holmes and The Frankenstein Chronicles. Filming is taking place in Iceland this year.

Little Disasters

Fans of Netflix’s Anatomy of a Scandal should keep an eye out for new six-part drama Little Disasters, another adaptation of a Sarah Vaughan novel. This one’s also a psychological thriller, but instead of focusing on power play and sexual assault in the political world, it’s about female friendship, motherhood, suspicion and loyalty. Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds), Jo Joyner (Shakespeare & Hathaway), Shelley Conn (Bridgerton) and Emily Taaffe (The Rising) play Jess, Liz, Charlotte and Mel, four women whose friendship began a decade ago when they all expected babies around the same due date. When a child is injured, accusations fly and rifts are exposed. Expect to see this one on Paramount+ UK & Ireland.

Lions

Richard Gadd (see Baby Reindeer, above) is behind this new six-part BBC drama about a pair of estranged brothers who have a violent reunion at a wedding. Using flashbacks to far back in the siblings’ lives, it tells a story of a relationship fraught by rivalry and pressure while looking at what it means to be a man in a fast-changing world. More details, including cast, to follow.

Lockerbie

In 1988, a bomb exploded on Pan Am Flight 103 as it flew over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people and becoming the deadliest terror attack on British soil. The BBC and Netflix have joined forces to create a new six-part factual drama telling the story of this infamous tragedy, and the subsequent combined Scottish-US police investigation on both sides of the Atlantic, taking us right up to the most recent developments in 2022. Lockerbie will be written by novelist Jonathan Lee and produced by World Productions (who were also behind factual dramas United and Anne), with filming taking place in Scotland, Malta and Toronto with Connor Swindells, Tony Curran, Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan and more.

Lord of the Flies

For the first time ever, William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of The Flies is being adapted for television, becoming a four-part series for the BBC. National Treasure‘s Jack Thorne will be writing the screenplay, telling the famous story about a group of young boys who find themselves stranded on a tropical island, and their disastrous attempts to govern themselves. The series will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Ludwig

Upstart Crow‘s David Mitchell will star in a genre-bending comedy detective drama for the BBC about a solitary luddite who goes on a quest to find his missing twin brother. Mitchell plays John, a man who enjoys living alone and designing puzzles for a living under the pseudonym ‘Ludwig’, but when his twin brother James – a successful DCI in major crimes – goes missing, John must assume his identity to track him down. Filming on the six hour-long episodes is currently taking place.

Marlow

This original BritBox drama was commissioned in mid-2021 and is still in development, with The Crown‘s Claire Foy (pictured above) attached to star as the lead. Foy will play Evie Wyatt, whose family has long been at war with the Marlows, a rival clan in the “Edgelands” of the Thames Estuary, for centuries. It’s a revenge, succession-warring story tinged with myth and tragedy that’s described as “a modern epic” in the official press announcement, and comes from Southcliffe and Red Riding’s Tony Grisoni, so has a strong storytelling pedigree.

Mint

Filmmaker Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, about a young girl whose absent and feckless father suddenly re-enters her life, was one of 2023’s low-key British gems. Now, Regan is behind a new eight-episode series for the BBC about being a member of a criminal family as experienced from the perspective of the children and grandmother. Think Boy Swallows Universe, perhaps? We’ll bring you more details including cast, when they’re confirmed.

Missing You

Bingeing a Harlan Coben thriller on Netflix on New Year’s Day is fast becoming a festive tradition as fixed as overeating and losing the Sellotape. After recent entries in this glossy, twist-filled series of blockbuster book adaptations Stay Close and Fool Me Once, comes Missing You. It’s the story of a detective whose missing fiancé suddenly pops up on a dating app over a decade after he disappeared. As she investigates this weird event, she also digs up long-buried secrets abut her father’s murder and her own past. In other words: the perfect viewing for a post-indulgence sofa bank holiday. Top Boy‘s Ashley Walters and Stay Close‘s James Nesbitt will star alongside Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Plummer, Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton, Samantha Spiro, Lisa Faulkner, Mary Malone and more. Filming began in June 2024.

Mr Loverman

Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo’s 2013 novel Mr Loverman is being adapted into an eight-part BBC drama starring The Walking Dead and Save Me‘s Lennie James. He’ll play the exuberant Barrington Jedidiah Walker – Barry to his friends – a 70-year-old snappy-dressing Hackney personality whose wife of 50 years, Carmel, suspects he’s been cheating on her. As Evaristo’s groundbreaking exploration of Britain’s older Caribbean community uncovers, the reality is he’s been having a decades-long passionate affair with his best friend and soulmate, Morris. The series will explore parenthood, regrets and social expectations about sexual orientation and love – filming took place at the end of 2023, and more details will be announced soon.

Nightsleeper

The BBC is producing this real-time thriller set on a sleeper train travelling from Glasgow to London, in which a government agency desperately tries to intervene in the rapidly-escalating events onboard. The six-part drama will star Alexandra Roach (The Light in the Hall) and Joe Cole (Gangs of London) as two strangers – one on the train, one not – who are working to save the lives of everyone on board. Filming took place in Glasgow and the series will air in early 2024 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Outrageous

The national obsession with the Mitford sisters is about to be re-sparked by a new six-episode drama series about the aristocrat family for BritBox International and UKTV. Bridgerton‘s Bessie Carter will play novelist Nancy Mitford, with Joanna Vanderham, Shannon Watson, Zoe Brough, Orla Hill and Isobel Jesper Jones as, respectively, Diana (wife of British Union of Fascist leader Oswald Mosley), Unity (a personal friend of Adolf Hitler), Jessica, Deborah and Pamela. It’s based on Mary Lovell’s excellent biography The Mitford Girls and written by Small Island and The Long Song‘s Sarah Williams. Filming began in June 2024, for an expected 2025 debut.

Out There

Martin Clunes is once again teaming up with the team behind the true-crime drama Manhunt (in which he starred back in 2019), this time on a new six-part series Out There, about a widowed farmer who discovers his teenage son has become involved in county lines drug dealing, an increasingly dangerous problem in the UK. The series also stars Mark Lewis Jones (Gangs of London) and Gerran Howell (1917). Filming took place in Wales, and the series will arrive soon on ITV1 and ITVX.

Penance

Based on Eliza Clarke’s crime novel of the same name, Penance is being adapted for TV by bestselling author and Doctor Who podcaster Juno Dawson. The story centres on the brutal murder of a North Yorkshire teenager by three of her school friends on the eve of Brexit, and the events that led up to it, covering social media wars, obsessions with the occult and long-held rivalries. More details will be announced soon.

Playdate

Alex Dahl’s bestselling thriller novel Playdate is being adapted into a twisty five-part series for Disney+. It centres on every parents’ worst nightmare: mum Elisa lets her daughter Lucia go on a sleepover at a new friend’s house, but when she goes to collect her the next day, she discovers the house was a holiday rental and discovers Lucia, her friend Josie and Josie’s mother have vanished. In the urgent manhunt that follows, Elisa and her husband Fred find themselves under public scrutiny, and secrets about their past come to light, which explain the reason Lucia was taken. The cast includes  Denise Gough (Andor), Holliday Grainger  (The Capture), Ambika Mod (This Is Going to Hurt), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas) and The Suspect’s Bronagh Waugh.

Playing Nice

Happy Valley star James Norton and Malpractice’s Niamh Algar will lead the cast of this nightmarish psychological thriller – based on JP Delaney’s novel of the same name – about two couples who discover their toddlers were switched at birth. The four-part series will see the couples make the horrifying decision about whether to reclaim their biological child or continue to raise the child they know and love. Playing Nice will air on ITV. 

Prime Target

Apple TV+ has lined up a top cast for this eight-part conspiracy thriller from Sherlock and Vienna Blood‘s Steve Thompson. It’s the story of a brilliant maths mind on the brink of an enormous breakthrough that would give him the key to every computer in the world, and the enemy trying to stop him in his tracks. Playing the young genius is One Day and White Lotus‘ Leo Woodall, who’s joined by Quintessa Swindell, Stephen Rea, David Morrissey, Martha Plimpton, Sidse Babbett Knudsen, Jason Flemyng and more. Think twists, action and scary tech.

Protection

Happy Valley‘s Siobhan Finneran and Black Ops‘ Katherine Kelly will star in new six-part ITV thriller Protection, about the dark and murky truth on witness protection, which often involves the morally-grey aspect of protecting criminals as well as innocent witnesses. Based on the experiences of a real long-serving witness protection officer, the drama will see police officer DI Liz Nyles (Finneran) find herself at the heart of a breach in the system, fighting to uncover the corruption in her unit while protecting people who don’t always deserve her help. The series will also star Trigger Point‘s Nadine Marshall, with filming beginning in Liverpool shortly, and a planned release on ITV and ITVX in 2024.

Return To Paradise

ANOTHER Death in Paradise spin-off? Okay then! After Caribbean-set crime series Death in Paradise spawned Cornwall-based spin-off Beyond Paradise last year, Return To Paradise will transport us to the beachside hamlet of Dolphin Cove in Australia. There, Australian ex-pat Mackenzie Clarke will reluctantly return from London’s Met Police to her hometown to solve a murder after getting a reputation for cracking impossible cases. The six-part series will begin filming this year – casting is yet to be announced.

Reunion

Deaf screenwriter William Mager is behind this four-part BBC One series about a deaf ex-con who reunites with his estranged daughter upon his release from prison. Set and filmed around Sheffield and Doncaster, it’s billed as an emotional thriller themed around redemption and vengeance, as well as a crime mystery about why the lead character was sent to prison in the first place. Anne-Marie Duff stars.

Riot Women

Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright has a new BBC drama on the way, hooray! Once again set in Yorkshire, Riot Women (formerly Hot Flush) will centre on five women “of a certain age” who form a punk rock band to enter a talent contest, only to discover that this gives them a new-found voice and a platform to express themselves. But the band leaders Kitty and Beth have a long-buried secret that threatens to tear them apart. The series will be produced by the team behind Doctor Foster, with more details on the way soon.

Rivals

Jilly Cooper’s iconic novel Rivals is being adapted into an eight-part drama by Disney+, and the cast list is incredible. Set in the 1980s, the dramatic storyline focuses on a bitter upper-class battle for a TV franchise between two rivals, with Alex Hassell (The Boys) playing charismatic Tory MP Rupert Cambell-Black and Doctor Who‘s David Tennant taking on the role of the dastardly Lord Tony Baddingham. Other lead cast members include Poldark‘s Aidan Turner as TV presenter Declan O’Hara, Black Lightning‘s Nafessa Wiliams as TV exec Cameron Cook, The IT Crowd‘s Katherin Parkinson as novelist Lizzie Vereker and EastEnders star Danny Dyer as electronics millionaire Freddie Jones. Production has begun, with filming taking place in the UK, and the series will arrive on Disney+ in 2024.

Ruth

Miss Potter star Lucy Boynton will portray Ruth Ellis, the last woman in England to be hanged in 1955, in this compelling new drama for ITV. Told over two parallel timelines, the four-part drama will reveal secrets that have been hidden for decades concerning Ruth Ellis’ murder of her abusive lover David Blakely (played by Mary and George‘s Laurie Davidson), telling the story of her arrest, conviction and the fight to save her from execution. Other cast members confirmed include Toby Jones (The Long Shadow) as Ellis’ solicitor John Bickford, Arthur Darvill (Doctor Who) as Victor Mishcon, Juliet Stevenson (Wolf) as Dr Charity Taylor, plus Happy Valley‘s Joe Armstrong and Mark Stanley. Filming took place in 2023 and the series arrives on ITV this year.

Shuggie Bain

Douglas Stuart is adapting his own Booker Prize-winning novel for this BBC drama, which tells the autobiographically inspired story of young Shuggie and his siblings growing up against a backdrop of poverty and alcohol addiction in 1980s Glasgow. It promises to be a powerful and emotional drama, and was due to film in Scotland during 2023, but casting and release details have yet to be announced.

Stags

A stag do gone wrong is the focus for this tense six-part thriller, which sees a group of friends accidentally end up on a lawless prison island run by two warring siblings, with their friendships tested to the limit as they try to make it home alive. The series stars Nico Mirallegro (Passenger) as groom-to-be Stu, alongside the likes of Corin Silva (SAS: Rogue Heroes), Charlie Cooper (This Country) and Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing). The series will go into production shortly and will air on Paramount+.

Summerwater

Another hit novel adaptation here – adapted by John Donnelly from Sarah Moss’ book of the same name, this six-part drama is set on a loch-side Scottish holiday park. The story unfurls as tensions simmer among a group of holidaymakers over the course of a single rainy day. Casting is still tba, but expect a solid ensemble for this character-rich story.

Suspect: The Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

Stan & Ollie writer Jeff Pope is working with Disney+ to create a true crime drama about the tragic death of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian national shot dead by police in London after being mistaken for a suspect in the 2005 London terrorist bombings. It’s a highly controversial case, prompting an inquest, IPCC investigations, and the resignation of the Met Police Commissioner, and importantly the Menezes family are serving as consultants for the series. Disney announced the series began filming in October 2023 so we shouldn’t have too long to wait for this one.

Tall Pines

Canadian comedian, Taskmaster contestant and creator of Channel 4 comedy Feel Good Mae Martin is writing and starring in an eight-part thriller, Tall Pines, for Netflix. This intergenerational drama will examine the complex and sometimes twisted relationship between teenagers and adults. Filming has yet to begin. 

The Choice

Netflix excels at this kind of glossy political thriller starring chic women in expensive suits who probably smell of Jo Malone fragrances not even bought in the sale. Its latest is The Choice, starring Suranne Jones as the British prime minister, and Julie Delpy as the French President. There’s blackmail, there’s rivalry, there are lives hanging in the balance and a plot threatening more than just their respective political careers… Created by Vigil‘s Isabelle Sieb and Bridge of Lies‘ Matt Charman, it sounds like fun.

The Crow Girl

Erik Axl Sund’s The Crow Girl trilogy is coming to streamer Paramount+, with stars Eve Myles (Torchwood) and Katherine Kelly (The Long Shadow) in the lead roles of a police detective and a psychotherapist hunting a killer. It’s a story of historic abuse and a shocking conspiracy with the ticking clock of a murderer getting closer by the day. Dougray Scott also stars.

The Death of Bunny Munroe

Matt Smith (pictured above in Doctor Who) will star in six-part Sky series The Death of Bunny Munroe, based on Nick Cave’s 2009 novel of the same name, about a sleazy lothario and door-to-door salesman who suddenly finds himself the sole carer for his young son after his wife’s suicide. Smith – who will also executive produce – described the series as an “exploration of love, grief, and chaos”. Filming begins this spring.

The Dream Lands

If you didn’t watch Kayleigh Llewellyn’s excellent comedy-drama In My Skin, about a Welsh teenager struggling to keep up the illusion of living a normal, healthy life while caring for her bipolar mother and abusive father, then get thee to BBC iPlayer and enjoy a powerful story very well told. The Dream Lands is Llewellyn’s next BBC TV series, adapted from the book Dreamland by Rosa Rankin-Gee (and slightly retitled presumably to avoid confusion with Sky’s recent Lily Allen-starring drama of the same name). Set in a dystopian near future, it’s about a young woman struggling for love and survival while the world falls apart around her. More details to follow.

The Feud

A new domestic thriller is coming to Channel 5, starring Jill Halfpenny and Rupert Penry-Jones. Though the premise doesn’t exactly sound thrilling – a couple face objection by neighbours to their planned kitchen extension – we’re sure there’s more to it than there seems to be on the surface. Halfpenny and Penry-Jones play Emma and John Barnett, a couple living an apparently idyllic life with their teenage daughter in a leafy suburb, where good neighbours become good friends… until planning permission rears its ugly head and things kick off. Derry Girls‘ Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Gavin and Stacey‘s Larry Lamb, Amy Nuttall, James Fleet, Ray Fearon and Tessa Peake-Jones also star.

The Listeners

Here’s an unusual one: from the producers of Normal People and adapted from Jordan Tannahill’s novel, The Listeners stars Rebecca Hall as Claire, an English teacher mystified as to why nobody around her can hear the same low humming sound she can’t escape. Eventually, Claire discovers a student, and then others, who can hear the sound and her life begins to split apart as she realigns with her new co-listeners. Dealing with conspiracy theories, a search for community in a polarised world, and more, The Listeners promises to provide plenty of food for thought. Tannahill adapts the screenplay with Janicza Bravo directing.

The Ministry of Time

Kailane Bradley’s sci-fi novel The Ministry of Time only came out in May 2024, and already the adaptation is in the works at the BBC. It’s a six-part drama about a mysterious new government department which is using time travel to recruit “expats” from across the centuries and placing them with modern-day “bridges”. How will a 19th century naval officer respond to the world as it is now? (Are we right to think of the history report in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure?) Normal People‘s Alice Birch is adapting, with A24 producing.

The Rapture

Doctor Who‘s Ruth Madeley will star in The Rapture, a five-part drama based on Liz Jensen’s bestselling 2009 novel of the same name. It tells the story of forensic psychologist Gabrielle (Madeley), who is recovering from a car accident that left her paralysed, and begins working at a maximum security juvenile detention centre. She meets 16-year-old inmate Bethany Krall, who was found guilty of brutally murdering her mother, and tells Gabrielle that she has psychic powers that have told her a natural disaster is about to take place. It’s up to Gabrielle to work out whether she’s telling the truth or is just a highly manipulative psychopath. The Rapture will air on BBC One.

The Road Trip

Based on Beth O’Leary’s bestselling novel, this six-part drama will see two sisters embark on an eventful and bumpy road trip to a Spanish wedding, forced to share a creaky campervan with one of their ex-boyfriends, his characterful best mate and a complete stranger called Rodney. Emma Appleton (The Killing Kind) and Isabella Laughland (Foundation) are sisters Addie and Deb, Laurie Davidson (Mary & George) will play Addie’s ex Dylan and David Jonsson (Rye Lane) and Angus Imrie (The Crown) play Dylan’s friend Marcus and the mysterious Rodney. Filming has taken place in Gran Canaria and Bristol and the series arrives on Paramount+ later this year.

The Seven Dials Mystery

Broadchurch-creator and former Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has adapted Agatha Christie’s 1929 novel “The Seven Dials Mystery” for Netflix. Due to film in summer 2024, Variety has announced that the series cast will be led by How to Have Sex‘s Mia McKenna-Bruce in the role of Lady Eileen Brent, with Helena Bonham Carter playing Lady Caterham, and Martin Freeman playing police officer Superintendent Battle. It all takes place in the aftermath of a country house party where a prank goes horribly wrong. More details to follow.

The Split-Up

Bereft fans of Abi Morgan’s legal drama The Split can dry their tears now that this spin-off from Ursula Rami Sarma has been announced. With brand new characters and a new Manchester setting, it shares The Split‘s premise of a multi-generational family-run law firm that also practises family law. Instead of Defoe’s, this time it’s Kishan Law, an equally acclaimed firm that has wealthy clients, knotty interpersonal cases and a secret of its own to unpick. Cast and other details are yet to be announced.

The Undertow

The Tourist and Belfast‘s Jamie Dornan will star in a new crime drama in which he’ll perform Tom Hardy’s Kray brothers trick and play a set of identical twins, alongside Terminator and Black Mirror‘s Mackenzie Davis. Adapted from the Norwegian original series Twin, it’s about a love triangle involving Mackenzie’s character Nicola and Dornan’s characters Adam and Lee. It’s due to film in Scotland later this year and will come to Netflix.

The Witness

If you watched Channel 4 drama Deceit starring Niamh Algar, you’ll be familiar with the true-life case that Netflix is dramatising in The Witness. With the involvement of the Hanscombe family, who were tragically bereaved following the brutal murder of Rachel Nickell in 1992, The Witness will focus on the experience of Nickell’s son, who was two years old at the time of his mother’s killing. It’s coming from the production company behind Criminal Record, and no cast has yet been confirmed.

The Wives

This intriguing and twisty domestic thriller is about a family’s dramatic unravelling during a summer holiday in Malta, where three siblings mourning their recently deceased sister Annabelle discover there’s far more to her death than they could have imagined. Casting details are yet to be announced, but the series will be filmed in Malta this spring and is set to air on Channel 5. 

This City is Ours

Missing Gangs of London and Peaky Blinders? This original crime drama from the adaptor of The Lost Kingdom and Shardlake Stephen Butchard might just fit the bill. It’s the Liverpool and Spain-set story of a drug gang crime boss who, inspired by love, wants to go straight but will his family let him? And will his son succeed in his takeover bid? With eight episodes, this one’s being primed for an international market. Filming began in April 2024 and Sean Bean.

Towards Zero

A new Agatha Christie adaptation is coming to the BBC. This three-part murder mystery set in the 1930s stars Oliver Jackson-Cohen (The Haunting of Bly Manor, The Invisible Man) as Nevile, and Ella Lily Hyland (Fifteen-Love) as Audrey – a formerly married couple who, despite the presence of Nevile’s new wife, spend a summer at the coastal estate of Nevile’s aunt Lady Tressilian. In starry news, Lady Tressilian is played by Hollywood royalty Anjelica Huston. We Are Lady Parts‘ Anjana Vasan, The Wire‘s Clarke Peters and more will co-star in the drama, which began filming in Devon and Bristol in June 2024.

Toxic Town

Netflix will depict one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals – the Corby poisonings in the late 1980s – in this new four-part true crime drama, with an all-star cast including Jodie Whittaker (pictured above in Doctor Who), Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty), Amy Lou Wood (Sex Education), Rory Kinnear (James Bond) and Downton Abbey‘s Brendan Coyle. Toxic Town is being produced by Broke & Bones, the production company of Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones, and will centre on three mothers who take on an Erin Brockovich-style fight for justice after toxic waste mismanagement led to a tragically high number of birth defects in the local community of Corby in Northamptonshire. Production began in August 2023.

Train

This popular Korean drama (trailer above) is being remade by Firebird Pictures, a BBC Studios Production label, for the UK. Train tells the story of a detective who investigates a case that leads him to a world divided into two parallel universes, and while his love is dead in one world, she’s very much alive in the other. While tracking down the truth behind his love’s death, he simultaneously tries to protect her in the other, uncovering the connection between the two universes. 

Trespasses

Announced in August 2024, this four-part drama set in 1970s Belfast won’t be on screen for a while, but it sounds worth keeping an eye out for when it arrives. Adapted from Louise Kennedy’s acclaimed novel of the same name, Trespasses stars Gillian Anderson, Tom Cullen and Lola Pettigrew and tells the story of a young Catholic teacher who’s drawn towards an illicit affair with an older Protestant man. Adult Behaviour‘s Dawn Shadforth directs.

Tuva

EastEnders’ Rose Ayling-Ellis will star in a six-part returning crime drama based on Will Dean’s series of novels about deaf investigative journalist Tuva Moodyson. The first series adapt Dean’s novel Dark Pines, where Tuva is working for her hometown newspaper, desperate for a headline-breaking scoop, before discovering a serial killer who has been dormant for 20 years has begun to kill again. The series is produced by the team behind Death In Paradise, and more casting and details will be released in due course 

Virdee

Wolf star Sacha Dhawan was originally slated to lead the BBC’s new detective series Virdee, based on AA Dhand’s bestselling crime novels about Detective Harry Virdee, but he had to pull out and the role has since been recast with Staz Nair. It’s the story of a Bradford cop who has to investigate the kidnap of a local MP’s daughter. The case will force him to reunite with certain unsavoury members of his estranged family in order to save his kidnapping victim, putting him at great personal risk, with some very difficult choices to make. Filming began in Bradford in February 2024.

Wahala

Coming to the BBC, this one’s being billed as “Big Little Lies meets Girlfriends meets Peckham“. It’s adapted from Nikki May’s debut novel of the same name, which tells the story of Simi, Ronke and Boo, three London-based thirtysomething Anglo-Nigerian women whose lives are rocked by the arrival of the mysterious Isobel…

We Go Again

This six-part comedy drama about a family of young siblings trying to keep things going after a serious loss is coming to BBC Three. Created by screenwriter and playwright Janice Okoh (Sanditon), it’s inspired by her stage play Three Birds and is being billed as “…a celebration of black joy; of council estates and corner shops. Of working class living and working class dreams.” We Go Again is the working title, and the cast has been announced as including newcomers Chenée Taylor, Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie and Akins Subair, alongside appearances from Romola Garai, Sam Buchanan, Ivanno Jeremiah, Jamelia, Talitha Wing and Jennifer Metcalfe.

What It Feels Like For a Girl

Paris Lees‘ acclaimed memoir is being adapted into an eight-part drama for BBC Three, telling the story of how – as a disenfranchised teenager – she managed to escape a dead-end town in the Midlands into Nottingham’s kinetic underworld, befriending podium dancer Lady Die and being adopted into her makeshift family of chaotic troublemakers, “The Fallen Divas”. Their rollercoaster hedonist lifestyle takes Lees on a journey of self-discovery that will change her life forever. The Tourist‘s Chris Sweeney will direct and filming is only due to begin this year, so we’ve got a while to wait for this one.