With the last turkey sandwich eaten and the needles beginning to fall from the tree, there’s no time to reflect on the past 12 months if you’re a television fan; now is the time to look forward to a new year of TV.
And 2026 promises to be a bumper feast of fun for students of the small screen, with a Game of Thrones spin-off, a new series from the creators of Stranger Things, some serious literary adaptations alongside intriguing original dramas and daring comedy.
So, what will you be watching this year? Here’s our critic’s rundown of the best new shows to look forward to from the terrestrial broadcasters and the streamers.
Mia McKenna-Bruce (How to Have Sex, Persuasion) leads the cast of Broadchurch and Doctor Who writer Chris Chibnall’s three-part adaptation of this Agatha Christie classic. It’s set in 1925 in a country house, where it’s up to an unlikely sleuth, Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent (McKenna-Bruce), to solve the mystery of what appeared to be a practical joke at a lavish party gone wrong. Co-starring Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman.
Released: January 15
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Sky/Now)
The third television show based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire franchise after Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, this latest Westeros-based adventure is set roughly 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It follows the fortunes of a lowborn Ser Duncan the Tall (known as “Dunk’’) and his squire, Egg, a young man who is secretly Aegon Targaryen, the future king of the land.
Released: January 18
Steal (Prime Video)
Sophie Turner as Zara
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
Sophie Turner stars as office worker Zara who, with her friend and colleague Luke (Archie Madekwe), is forced to carry out the demands of a violent gang after they storm the building. But what’s really going on and who can we trust? Everything becomes much more complicated as this tense action thriller unfolds across six episodes.
Released: January 21
The Reluctant Vampire (BBC)
This star-studded British comedy tells the story of Val (Lenny Rush), whose world is torn apart when he realises he’s not the vampire he thought he was. Written by Alan Partridge scribes Rob and Neil Gibbons, it has a cast including Tom Davis (Wonka, King Gary), Sian Clifford (Fleabag), Charlie Cooper (This Country), Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing), Joe Wilkinson (After Life, The Celebrity Traitors), Kiell Smith-Bynoe (Ghosts), Bill Bailey (Black Books) and Ross Noble.
Expected early 2026
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (Netflix)
Created and written by Derry Girls’ Lisa McGee, this eight-part comedy mystery mash-up stars Roísín Gallagher as Saoirse, Sinéad Keenan as Robyn, and Caoilfhionn Dunne as Dara, a group of thirtysomething friends in a story of what happens when life doesn’t deliver what you expected. When they find out their mutual childhood friend has died, they go on an adventure across Ireland and try to piece together the story of their past.
Released: February
• The TV quiz of the year — how many can you get right?
Shuggie Bain (BBC1)
Set in working-class 1980s Glasgow, this is a story of a relationship between a mother and son. Based on Douglas Stuart’s 2020 Booker prizewinning novel, the main narrative centres on the story of an effeminate boy who struggles to fit in and whose world revolves around his mother, Agnes, whose dreams and aspirations are crippled by her fight with alcohol. This promises to be a moving story about love, family, sexuality and addiction.
Expected 2026
Under Salt Marsh (Sky/Now)
Written for screen by Claire Oakley and starring Kelly Reilly, Rafe Spall and Jonathan Pryce, this tense thriller is set in the fictional Welsh town of Morfa Halen. It’s a tight-knit community nestled between towering mountains and the crashing waves that threaten its very existence. But when a huge storm washes up the body of a boy on the shores, old ghosts come back to haunt the town.
Expected 2026
Pride and Prejudice (Netflix)
The cast of Pride and Prejudice
NETFLIX
This latest adaptation of the Jane Austen novel comes from Dolly Alderton and stars Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet, Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy, Olivia Colman as Mrs Bennet and Rufus Sewell as Mr Bennet. It promises to “hew closely to the original text, reuniting existing fans with the timeless 1813 novel, while also introducing a new generation to Austen”.
Expected 2026
Small Prophets (BBC)
Written by Mackenzie Smith (The Detectorists), this six-part BBC comedy is based in Manchester. We meet Pearce Quigley’s Michael Sleep, a man whose girlfriend disappeared seven years ago, and is given a new chance to track her down after discovering a potion that can foretell the future. The series also features Crook and Michael Palin.
Expected 2026
Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen (Netflix)
With Stranger Things now finally over, its creators, the Duffer brothers, embark on their next project with this horror series that follows the events leading up to a doomed wedding. The show stars Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones & the Six, The Night Manager) and Adam DiMarco (The White Lotus, Overcompensating) as the bride and groom.
Expected 2026
A Tale of Two Cities (BBC)
Kit Harington, François Civil and Mirren Mack lead the cast of this BBC/MGM+ co-production, a new take on the classic Dickens story. The four-part series follows the story of two lovers, Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette, in London and Paris during the French Revolution.
Expected 2026
Betrayal (ITV)
Shaun Evans (Until I Kill You, Endeavour, Vigil) and Romola Garai (The Years, The Hour) star in an MI5 thriller that promises to explore the fragile relationships that exist in a world of deception. The series focuses on mid-level secret service agent John Hughes (Evans), whose life is changed, and he ends up under internal investigation after meeting a British-Iranian man with intelligence on a plot planned on UK soil.
Expected 2026
The Miniature Wife (Sky/ Now)
Starring Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, The Hunger Games) and Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) this comedy series sounds a bit like the TV successor to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. After a technological accident shrinks Banks’s character, the mismatched married couple embark on a battle for power in their home.
Expected 2026
Twenty Twenty Six (BBC)
Hugh Skinner and Hugh Bonneville star in Twenty Twenty Six
BBC/EXPECTATION ENTERTAINMENT/JACK BARNES
First there was Twenty Twelve lampooning the London Olympic organising committee and then there was W1A satirising the management of the BBC. Now Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) is back as the Director of Integrity in Miami as the USA, Mexico and Canada prepare to host the World Cup. What could possibly go wrong?
Expected spring 2026
Half Man (BBC1)
Jamie Bell and Richard Gadd in Half Man
BBC/MAM TOR PRODUCTIONS/ANNE BINCKEBANCK
The new project by Richard Gadd, the Emmy-winning creator and star of Baby Reindeer, promises to be another hard-hitting, talked-about drama. Starring Gadd as Ruben opposite Jamie Bell as his estranged brother Niall, the ambitious series will explore 40 years of their shared and turbulent history from the early 1980s to the present day.
Expected 2026
Death in Benidorm (C5)
Could Channel 5 have found a worthy opponent to take on the Death in Paradise cinematic universe? Well, they’re having a go with this show that stars John Hannah as a former copper who gives it all up to run a bar in Spain. But can you ever really stop? In this case, it seems not as he’s drawn back into crime fighting in the sun.
Expected 2026
The Wanted Man (Apple TV+)
Apple splashes the cash on some big names in this eight-part crime drama starring Hugh Laurie, Thandiwe Newton and Stephen Dillane. When an ageing incarcerated crime boss realises he’s been betrayed, he seeks to break out of prison and bring down those who betrayed him and save his criminal empire.
Expected 2026
Secret Service (ITV)
Gemma Arterton in Secret Service
ITV
Based on the novel by the ITV news anchor Tom Bradby, the five-part series stars Gemma Arterton as Kate Henderson, the head of the Russia desk of the British Secret Intelligence Service. When she learns a senior British politician could be a potential Russian asset, a gripping espionage thriller begins to unwind.
Expected 2026
The Elephant Man (BBC1)
John Hurt played John Merrick in the 1980 film, but in this latest adaptation of the story the Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton has been cast in the lead role. It’s a powerful drama about Merrick, born to a working-class family in Leicestershire, who is treated badly due to his appearance and forced to tour the music halls and freak shows of the Victorian world. Across two feature-length parts, the programme explores his life and friendship with Dr Frederick Treves.
Expected 2026
Kaleb: Down Under (Prime Video)
The standout star of Clarkson’s Farm has got his own show, and the man with a “borderline unhealthy obsession with Chipping Norton” is travelling as far away as he possibly can from his beloved home. Kaleb will get to know how farming works in Australia and explore the very different environments in which things are done, as well as meeting locals who can hopefully provide him with advice to take home to England.
Expected 2026
• Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews
California Avenue (BBC1)
Bill Nighy, Erin Doherty, Helena Bonham Carter and Tom Burke lead the cast of this six-part drama from the acclaimed Hugo Blick. The show focuses on the exploits of a young woman on the run with her child and what happens when she seeks shelter in a secluded caravan park in the British countryside.
Expected 2026
Kill Jackie (Prime Video)
Catherine Zeta-Jones stars in a drama based on the Nick Harkaway novel The Price You Pay, written under his pseudonym Aidan Truhen. It’s about a wealthy art dealer, Jackie Price, who finds that after a secret from her past is uncovered her life is under threat from a hit squad known as the Seven Dragons.
Expected 2026
First Day on Earth (BBC1)
Created by and starring I May Destroy You’s Michaela Coel, this ten-part co-production with HBO is about a British novelist, Henri (Coel), who is offered the chance to go and work in Ghana, her parents’ homeland. However, when she arrives she soon realises that the job is not what she expected and her relationship with her father isn’t what she hoped as she navigates a world of hypocrisy and danger.
Expected 2026
Untitled Charlie Brooker crime thriller (Netflix)
After the international success of Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker turns his attention to crime thrillers for this four-part series with Paddy Considine, Georgina Campbell and Lena Headey. Described as “profoundly serious”, the show is likely to have more to it than initially meets the eye as a tormented detective goes on the hunt for a ritualistic serial killer between the north and south of England.
Expected 2026
Hunting Alice Bell (C4)
Created by David Baddiel and Peter Bradshaw, this is the tale of a former nurse and lover of a serial killer anaesthetist living under a new identity, called Alice Bell. When Fran De Silva is accused of being Bell, her life implodes and she fights to clear her name, realising that she’s not the only one being targeted. But who is the real Alice Bell, and can everyone be telling the truth? It stars Alex Roach, Amanda Abbington, Emily Barber, Toni O’Rourke, Christina Bennington, Rudi Dharmalingam, Ralf Little and Simon Pegg.
Expected 2026
Lord of the Flies (BBC1)
The cast of Lord of the Flies
BBC/ELEVEN/J REDZA
Jack Thorne adapts this first television version of William Golding’s island classic. There were open castings for this series, and so most of the cast is relatively unknown. Set in the 1950s, the story explores what happened after a plane crash left a group of schoolchildren alone on a deserted island; how they structured their new society, interacted with one another and how trouble arrived in paradise.
Expected 2026
Tip Toe (C4)
Written by the Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies, this five-part drama stars Alan Cumming and David Morrissey as Leo and Clive. They are neighbours who live in Manchester and whose relationship begins to sour into a tense and dangerous rivalry driven by social prejudices and radical ideas.
Expected 2026
The Party (ITV)
Based on the novel by Elizabeth Day, this drama is billed as an exploration of identity, privilege and devotion. Starring Luke Evans, Tom Cullen, Joanna Scanlan and Sarah Solemani, it’s the story of two couples at a dinner party who are forced to explore the secrets of the past and expose the lies and betrayal that come with it.
Expected 2026
The Cage (BBC1)
Written by Tony Schumacher (The Responder), this high-stakes, high-energy drama starring Sheridan Smith and Michael Socha is set within the world of a Liverpool casino. When Leanne (Smith) and Matty (Socha) both realise they’re stealing from the same safe at the casino, their lives become intertwined as a much bigger criminal threat engulfs them.
Expected 2026
Believe Me (ITV)
Written by Jeff Pope, this true crime four-part show tells the stories of three women who were victims of the serial sex attacker John Worboys, known as the “black cab rapist”. Aimée-Ffion Edwards, Miriam Petche and Aasiya Shah play the women he sexually assaulted, and Daniel Mays takes the role of Worboys.
Expected 2026
Alley Cats (Netflix)
Ricky Gervais’s latest comedy rounds up some of his favourite collaborators, including Diane Morgan, Tom Basden, Kerry Godliman and David Earl, to voice animated cats in what’s being billed as a “slacker comedy”. Gervais will play the lead cat, Gus, in the series that promises heart and social commentary across six 15-minute episodes.
Expected 2026
Dear England (BBC1)
Joseph Fiennes as Gareth Southgate
BBC/DAN FEARNAN
Written by James Graham and based on his hit National Theatre play, this four-part drama is about Gareth Southgate and the England men’s national football team. Starring Joseph Fiennes as the manager, the drama explores the challenge that Southgate inherits and his relationship with the players at a time when English football’s fortunes were at an all-time low, and fan expectations were still sky high.
Expected 2026
Maya (C4)
Written by Back to Life and Boat Story star Daisy Haggard, this six-part drama is about a mother and daughter who are forced to give up their lives and move into witness protection. Leaving their old life in London behind, Anna (Haggard) and her teenage daughter May must try to adapt to a new life in a rural community while attempting to come to terms with the traumas of their near past.
Expected 2026
The Rapture (BBC1)
A psychological thriller based on the book of the same name by Liz Jensen, the series stars Ruth Madeley. It’s the story of a forensic psychologist working in a high-security unit who becomes intrigued by a juvenile patient.
Expected 2026
Pierre (C4)
David Harewood stars in the title role as London solicitor Pierre, a glamorous, charming and funny character juggling his professional and personal life in the legal drama. But when Pierre challenges the police over the suspicious death of a young black client, he unravels a chilling web of institutional corruption that threatens to cost Pierre everything if he fights to expose it.
Expected 2026
Margot’s Got Money Troubles (Apple TV+)
Michelle Pfeiffer and Elle Fanning in Margo’s Got Money Troubles
Based on the novel by Rufi Thorpe, this glossy adaptation stars Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer and Nick Offerman, and is brought to TV by Big Little Lies’ David E Kelly. Margo Millet (Fanning) is the daughter of a Hooters waitress and an ex-professional wrestler who, after falling pregnant by her junior college English professor, turns to OnlyFans to make a living.
Expected 2026
Deadpoint (C4)
Michael Socha, Callum Scott Howells, Annes Elwy and Emmy-nominated Christine Tremarco star in this nerve-jangling story of a group of climbers who are beset by tragedy. However, when they find a far-right group plotting a violent act in their local mountains in Wales, everything changes again for the friends.
Expected 2026
Ann Droid (BBC)
Sue (Sue Johnston) is a widower in need of company. Enter the social humanoid AI-powered Ann Droid (Diane Morgan), who is dead set on the task of helping Sue. A six-part comedy with the zeitgeist firmly in its grasp, it also asks some fairly fundamental questions about what humans want and need going forward.
Expected 2026
Being Gordon Ramsay (Netflix)
Netflix has gone to town on biographies of big-name Brits in recent years, with the Beckhams, Robbie Williams and Prince Harry all in the frame. This time the camera focuses on the fascinating life and career of chef, restaurateur and television superstar Gordon Ramsay. Expect swearing from the start.
Expected 2026
Once Upon a Time in the Middle East (BBC)
The Once Upon … series is one of the best documentary strands right now, having already explored Iraq, Northern Ireland and space, it turns its attention to the long history of conflicts in the Middle East. The series promises to take a long-term look at the Israel and Palestinian conflict and, across five-parts, explore the roots of the war in Gaza.
Expected 2026
The Trip to the Northern Lights (Sky/Now)
They’ve done impressions and dined in England, Italy, Spain and Greece — and now Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan’s hyper-real versions of themselves are off to Scandinavia to enjoy another extended banter session. From sculptural Swedish hotels to remote Norwegian fishing huts, there’ll be plenty of beautiful backdrops to this fabulous comedy.
Expected 2026