New British TV Series for 2025: BBC, Netflix, ITV, Channel 4, Disney+, Prime Video, Sky

British TV hit the ground running in 2025 with Missing You, the latest instalment of Netflix’s now-traditional New Year’s Day Harlan Coben thrillers. That’s followed by crime dramas Patience and Prime Target, historical action series A Thousand Blows, 1980s reboot Bergerac, and many, many more still waiting for an air date to be announced.

Browse the list below to see which new British TV dramas are in development and production for the rest of 2025 and beyond. With scripts from the UK’s finest established screenwriters from Jack Thorne to Sarah Phelps, James Graham to Sally Wainwright, plus new writers making their debuts, and as-yet-untitled dramas from Jimmy McGovern and Guy Ritchie, there’s no shortage of new British drama arriving this year.

Our round-up of 2025’s best returning British TV series is on its way, and we’ll keep both lists updated as release dates and more details are announced.

JANUARY

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 star alongside Rosalind Eleazar, Jessica Plummer, Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, Sir Lenny Henry, Steve Pemberton, Samantha Spiro, Lisa Faulkner, Mary Malone and more. All episodes arrived on Jan 1, 2025.

Lockerbie: A Search for Truth

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. This five-part drama comes adapted from the book The Lockerbie Bombing: A Father’s Search for Justice by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph, and stars Colin Firth as Swire. It arrives on Sky Atlantic on January 2, 2025, and is the first of two Lockerbie-based dramas arriving in 2025, the other a co-production between the BBC and Netflix (see below).

Playing Nice

Happy Valley star James Norton and Malpractice’s Niamh Algar 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 from January 5, 2025.

Patience

Fans of CBBC’s A Kind of Spark should look out for actor Ella Maisy Purvis’ new, adult lead role in Channel 4 detective drama Patience. It’s a crime show about a self-taught criminologist with autism (the titular Patience, played by Purvis), whose excellent instincts make her a boon to crime scene investigations. It starts on Channel 4 on January 8, 2025.

Video Nasty

This horror-comedy sounds right up Den of Geek‘s street. It’s set in 1985 during the home video revolution, and tells the story of three teens who undertake an epic quest to complete a cult horror VHS collection but who instead get tangled up in a murder investigation. It was filmed in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and stars Justin Daniels Anene, Cal O’Driscoll and Leia Murphy. All episodes arrive on BBC iPlayer on January 8, 2025.

An T-Eilean (The Island)

This murder mystery is being billed as “the UK’s first-ever high-end Gaelic drama series”, and will tell the Gaelic/English dialogue story of Kat Crichton, a young Family Liaison Officer who returns to the island of Lewis and Harris after a decade away, and is assigned to support the relatives of a brutally murdered woman. Sagar Radia, Iain Macrae and Elspeth Turner also star in the crime drama, which will come to BBC Alba, BBC iPlayer and BBC Four from January 14.

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. It’s due to air from January 22nd, 2025.

FEBRUARY

A Thousand Blows

From Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, comes this 12-part Disney+ historical drama series starring Stephen Graham, Daniel Mays, Ned Dennehy, Erin Doherty and more. It’s set at the turn of the 20th century in the brutal world of East End London boxing, and tells a story inspired by the real-life all-female shoplifting gang “The Forty Elephants”. It’s due to arrive on Disney+ on February 21, 2025.

Bergerac

Damien Moloney fills Jim Nettles’ shoes in the title role of Jersey detective Bergerac in this remake of the 1980s detective favourite, written by Being Human, Doctor Who and The Red King‘s Toby Whithouse. It’s a six-part series coming to U and U&Drama, and introduces the classic car-driving sleuth as a single dad after the death of his wife. When a wealthy Jersey local is murdered, Bergerac returns from compassionate leave to solve the case. It’s due to arrive in February.

DATES TBC

Adolescence

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 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

A modern-set story incorporating characters from West African myth, Anansi Boys is the tale of Charlie Nancy and his brother Spider, both played by Malachi Kirby, and the aftermath of their deity father’s death. Filming wrapped in Scotland back in May 2022, but no release date has yet been announced, which was originally due to this story’s intense post-production, but is now almost certainly also due to allegations of sexual misconduct made against creator Neil Gaiman, which have resulted in his exit from the final instalment of Good Omens. Several screen adaptations of Gaiman titles have been paused by production companies and streamers while the allegations are investigated.

Babies

From writer-director Stefan Golazewski, the creator of Him & Her, Mum, and Marriage, comes a six-part BBC One drama about a young couple trying to become parents. The Lazarus Project and I May Destroy You‘s Paapa Essiedu stars with Bodkin and Obituary‘s Siobhán Cullen, alongside Jack Bannon and Charlotte Riley. The series will follow the pain and grief of pregnancy loss, as well as the joys of hope, humour and love. Filming only began in November 2024, so don’t expect to see this one until late 2025.

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 Maggie

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.

Catch You Later

Another four-part crime thriller is coming to Channel 5, this one starring Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies) as a retired police detective haunted by an unsolved crime the answer to which appears to have moved in next door to him… Ex-officer Huw Miller’s suspicions are raised when his new neighbour fits the profile of a local stalker and murderer who escaped justice. Robson Green (Grantchester) plays that neighbour, with Ackley Bridge‘s Sunetra Sarker also in the cast. This one was only announced in October 2024, so don’t expect it to air too soon.

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 began in September 2024 and the cast includes Charlotte Ritchie and Andrew Buchan.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 extremely promising.

Fear

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.

First Day on Earth

The industry has hotly anticipated Michaela Coel’s next drama after critical hit I May Destroy You, and now it’s here. Coel has signed up for another 10-episode BBC-HBO co-production, this time with Succession creator Jesse Armstrong as executive producer. First Day on Earth will be the story of British novelist Henry (Coel) who travels to her parents’ homeland in Ghana for work and attempts to reconnect with her estranged father. Filming is scheduled to begin in 2025, so don’t expect to see this one in the near future.

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 returned in style in late 2024) and will cover the story from multiple perspectives, including victims, survivors, the firefighters on duty that night and the wider community. The inquiry’s final report was published in September 2024, and Kosminsky is understood to be including the response to that in his scripts, so don’t expect this one to arrive too soon.

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.

Half Man

Remember Netflix stalking comedy-drama Baby Reindeer? Of course you do, people talked of very little else a few months back. Well, creator Richard Gadd is back with newly announced project Half Man (formerly known as Lions) starring him and Jamie Bell (All of Us Strangers, TURN: Washington’s Spies). It’s a BBC-HBO co-production and will follow the reunion of estranged friends Niall and Ruben, and span a period of 40 years exploring their relationship from teenagers to adults, their masculinity, and all the messiness that’s passed between them.  

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’”. Sign us up! 

How to Kill Your Family

Bella Mackie’s darkly comic modern thriller take on Kind Hearts and Coronets was a big hit in the publishing world, making a screen adaptation a dead cert. Now that Netflix has snapped it up, with Furiosa and Dune actor Anya Taylor-Joy attached to the lead role of Grace Bernard, fingers crossed that it’ll enjoy the same success on TV. Grace is an anti-hero speaking to us from a prison cell after she’s implicated in a shock death. Is she guilty? And is that all she’s guilty of? Extraordinary‘s Emma Moran is adapting this one, so expect thrills and dark humour.

In Flight

A new thriller starring Katherine Kelly (Mr Bates vs. the Post Office, The Long Shadow) is coming to Channel 4, and will tell the story of a flight attendant blackmailed into drug smuggling after her son is arrested and sent to prison in Bulgaria. It was written by Mike Walden (Whitstable Pearl, Marcella) and Adam Randall (Slow Horses, iBoy) and is being directed by Tin Star‘s Chris Baugh. Filming began in November 2024 and will cross global locations from Bangkok to Istanbul. This six-part drama won’t arrive for a good while yet, but keep an eye out for it when it does.

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 took place in Iceland in 2024.

Legends

One of the UK’s finest screenwriters Neil Forsyth (Guilt and The Gold) is behind this new six-part Netflix series, from the same producers as true-crime drama The Gold (of which there’s also going to be a second series). It’s another drama inspired by a real-life investigation in which a group of British customs workers were sent to infiltrate some of the UK’s most dangerous criminal drug gangs. Casting is still tba, but Forsyth’s presence alone makes this Netflix show one to keep an eye out for.

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.

Lockerbie

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. Written by novelist Jonathan Lee and produced by World Productions (who were also behind factual dramas United and Anne), Lockerbie stars Connor Swindells, Tony Curran, Peter Mullan, Eddie Marsan and more. This is the second drama based on the bombing arriving this year, the other coming to Sky Atlantic on January 2, 2025, and starring Colin Firth (see above).

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.

Make That Movie

Attention, Taskmaster fans! Australian comic Sam Campbell has been given his own six-part comedy series, coming to Channel 4. Make That Movie will tell the story of a director who scours the UK for everyday people with ideas for feature films. Once found, the team make that person’s movie in a three-day turnaround. Think, the speed of a DIY makeover show but dedicated to the creative imagination. Campbell stars alongside fellow comedians Lara Ricote, Aaron Chen, Helen Bauer and David Hargreaves.

Man Vs Baby

Rowan Atkinson is returning to Netflix and following up slapstick comedy Man vs Bee with Man vs Baby. The synopsis reveals that after the disastrous housesitting experience of the first series, Atkinson’s character Trevor is now tasked with looking after a luxurious London penthouse which comes with all mod cons, plus an unexpected guest. It’ll be short and sweet at four half-hour episodes, and comes directed by David Kerr.

Marlow

This original BritBox drama was commissioned in mid-2021 and is still apparently in development, with The Crown‘s Claire Foy 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.

Open Water

Caleb Azumah Nelson’s debut novel made a huge splash (forgive the pun) in the publishing world, so it’s no surprise to see a screen adaptation on the way. An eight-part series will come to BBC One, with Azumah Nelson writing and directing. It’s the story of Marcus, Effie, and Effie’s boyfriend Samuel, and the complicated personal attachments between them. The cast and further details are yet to be announced, but expect great things.

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 debut this year.

Out of the Dust

This six-part Netflix psychological thriller stars Sex Education‘s Asa Butterfield, Happy Valley‘s Siobhan Finneran, Doctor Who‘s Christopher Eccleston, and Three Girls‘ Molly Windsor. It’s the story of a cloistered Christian community into which an escaped prisoner arrives, which reveals its limitations and restraints. Windsor plays Rosie, a young woman torn between her husband and daughter, and the thrilling opportunities offered by a dark stranger.

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.

Pride and Prejudice

This one hasn’t yet been officially greenlit, but Deadline reports that author and screenwriter Dolly Alderton (Everything I Know About Love) has written a new series adaptation of Jane Austen classic romantic comedy Pride and Prejudice for Netflix. As this one is in such early stages, there’s little to report other than that. You almost certainly know the story, either from the novel or from one of several existing screen versions from the beloved 1995 BBC version by Andrew Davies, to Joe Wright’s 2005 film version starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen.

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 early 2025.

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.

A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story

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 ITVX and BritBox internationally. 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.

Shifters

Fans of Netflix series Supacell should look out for the planned TV adaptation of stage show Shifters, starring Tosin Cole and The Power‘s Heather Ageypong. It’s a first love story about the eventful and emotional relationship between two young Black characters who first meet in a philosophy class, and it’s currently transferring to the West End stage. The TV adaptation, says Variety, is planned to be an expansion of the theatre production and intended as a returning series.

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.

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 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”.

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 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 Romantic Tragedies of a Teenage Drama King

Even if you don’t yet recognise the name Harry Trevaldwyn, you’d almost certainly recognise his face, as made famous by his series of one-man satirical YouTube sketches released during lockdown, and also seen in the UK adaptation of French series Call My Agent. His first book isn’t even out yet (it’ll be published in 2025) and it’s already being adapted into a TV series, by the makers of Heartstopper.

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 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 filmed in Scotland in 2024 and will come to Netflix.

The Walsh Sisters

Two Marian Keyes adaptations in the same year?! Our cup runneth over. The BBC has acquired The Walsh Sisters, based on Keyes’ most famous literary family, and is making it into a six-episode series. As Keyes’ readers will know, the Walsh sisters are Claire, Margaret, Rachel, Anna and Helen, a group of Irish women whose love lives and work and family lives are filled with drama, revelation, tragedy and joy. The series is being adapted from five of Keyes’ Walsh family novels by Dublin-based screenwriter Stefanie Preissner (Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) and Rivals‘ Kefi Chadwick.

The War Between the Land and the Sea

This Doctor Who spinoff will be a five-part miniseries starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Russell Tovey, alongside returning Doctor Who stars Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient, who play UNIT boss Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and field officer Colonel Ibrahim. It’s about a conflict between underwater creatures known as ‘The Sea Devils’, first seen in Doctor Who in the 1970s, and present-day humanity. It was announced at 2024’s San Diego Comic-Con, filmed in Wales and Bristol last autumn and will air on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and Disney+.

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.

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 is part of the cast.

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 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 

Under Salt Marsh

As reported by Variety, Kelly Reilly, a star of US hit series Yellowstone, will lead a new Welsh-set crime thriller coming to Sky. Under Salt Marsh is about an ex-detective (Reilly), now a teacher, who finds the body of a drowned child. The discovery digs up old wounds in the community and reheats the cold case of a missing child from years earlier. Filming took place in Wales in late 2024 so don’t expect to see this one on screens for a little while yet.

Untitled Guy Ritchie Project

Guy Ritchie has lined up a very decent cast for his as-yet-untitled next project, coming to Paramount+. Joining Tom Hardy and Dame Helen Mirren in the global crime series will be Paddy Considine, Joanne Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Madeep Dhillon and Jasmine Jobson. It’s the story of two warring London-based families whose criminal empires stretch across the globe.

Untitled Jimmy McGovern Drama

Time and Broken creator Jimmy McGovern has written a new feature-length single drama for BBC One. It’s currently without an official title, but will be set in and around Liverpool and tell the story of a family dealing with the aftermath of an act of sexual abuse committed by one of their family members after their release from prison. The cast is led by Anna Friel, who’s joined by Anna Maxwell Martin, David Threlfall, Mark Womack and Bobby Schofield. We’ll bring you more info as it arrives.

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.

Welcome to Glorious Tuga

As reported by Variety in August 2024, this one’s only in its infancy but worth a mention all the same. The production company behind Netflix’s Heartstopper has optioned Francesca Segal’s new novel Welcome to Glorious Tuga for television. It’s about a London-based vet who moves to a remote island to study endangered tortoises, and who begins to piece together a mystery about her own life at the same time. It’s very early days on this one, so no casting or further details are available as yet.

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.

Wild Cherry

From Nicôle Lecky, the creator of 2022 BBC Three drama Mood, comes a new drama for the BBC: Wild Cherry. It’s the story of two wealthy, privileged women living in an upmarket gated community whose dream life is threatened when their teenage daughters become involved in a scandal at their private school. The cast is led by House of the Dragon‘s Eve Best, and True Detective‘s Carmen Ejogo, alongside Sophie Winkleman and Lecky herself. Filming began in October 2024.

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