The year ahead is set to be another blockbusting 12 months for television. Whether it’s a repeat visit to George RR Martin’s Westeros or the return of the star-making teen drama Euphoria, there’s lots to look forward to on the small screen. Buckle up for the definitive guide to can’t-miss telly in 2026.

The Night Manager series twoBBC One, New Year’s DayThe Night Manager: Tom Hiddleston. Photograph: Des Willie/Ink Factory/BBCThe Night Manager: Tom Hiddleston. Photograph: Des Willie/Ink Factory/BBC

Tom Hiddleston was the perfect blank cipher in the BBC’s 2016 adaptation of the John le Carré bestseller, which returns after almost a decade for a second season that begins on New Year’s Day and then continues on Sundays. This time the action takes place in Colombia, where Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine is drawn into a deadly game of deception – and a conspiracy that leads all the way to the top of MI6. The series is going off piste in that, although the characters are based on le Carré’s work, the story is new. Can they honour the legacy of a master of the espionage genre? Come New Year’s Day, we’ll have our answer.

Dancing with the Stars IrelandRTÉ One, Sunday, January 4thDancing with the Stars 2026: judges Brian Redmond, Karen Byrne, Arthur Gourounlian and Oti Mabuse with presenters Laura Fox and Jennifer Zamparelli. Photograph: RTÉDancing with the Stars 2026: judges Brian Redmond, Karen Byrne, Arthur Gourounlian and Oti Mabuse with presenters Laura Fox and Jennifer Zamparelli. Photograph: RTÉ

Oti Mabuse, from Strictly Come Dancing on the BBC, takes over from Loraine Barry as a judge as Dancing with the Stars returns for a ninth series that also sees the former contestant Laura Fox stand in for Doireann Garrihy (on maternity leave) to present the show with Jennifer Zamparelli. The class of 2025 includes the Traitors Ireland breakout star Paudie Moloney. The Paudfather says that “all the glitter, the fake tan and the sequins are going to be very new”, but fans will hope that he and the other celebs will bring some much-needed sparkle to the new year. Mabuse will undoubtedly bring a different energy: Barry was supportive of the dancers but didn’t pull her punches; going by her Strictly track record, Mabuse, one of the series’ former professional partners, is set to be more upbeat.

IndustryHBO, January 11th; BBC later in 2026Industry season four: Kit Harington as Sir Henry Muck. Photograph: Simon Ridgway/HBOIndustry season four: Kit Harington as Sir Henry Muck. Photograph: Simon Ridgway/HBO

Anticipation is high ahead of the fourth series of this funny, scathing satire of London high finance. Having skewered the horrible world of investment banking in previous series, the new run will see an unpleasant universe of fintech, with the Game of Thrones star Kit Harington back as a toxic tech bro. Written by the former investment bankers Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, Industry is deliciously nasty, although quibbles persist: the script has a tendency to prioritise zinging banter over plausible character development, for example. And how predictable that the token Irish protagonist (Conor MacNeill) is a raving alcoholic.

Hijack series twoApple TV+, January 14thHijack: Idris Elba. Photograph: Apple TVHijack: Idris Elba. Photograph: Apple TV

Idris Elba is back in another stand-off with terrorists. Last time he was trapped on a plane; this time he’s on a Berlin U-Bahn line seized by heavily armed villains. Good luck, Idris – and try to be more careful with your transport decisions next time.

A Knight of the Seven KingdomsHBO/Sky Atlantic, January 19thA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Peter Claffey with, as Egg, Dexter Sol Ansell. Photograph: Sky/HBOA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Peter Claffey with, as Egg, Dexter Sol Ansell. Photograph: Sky/HBO

The former Connacht rugby pro Peter Claffey swaps scrums for swords as he plays the humble Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight of low birth who roves the Seven Kingdoms, having adventures with his squire Egg (a secret Targaryen royal) in a much-anticipated adaptation of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones spin-off. With the original books having a lighter tone than GoT, this is expected to be a more easygoing visit to Westeros than previous ones. Indeed, judging by the trailers, the vibe will be classic 1980s fantasy. Think Dragonslayer or Krull, which, as anyone who loves the genre will tell you, was a high-water mark for all things swords-and-sorcery-adjacent.

Euphoria season threeHBO, date to be announced

How striking that the zeitgeist-defining stars Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney and Hunter Schafer all had their big breaks in Sam Levinson’s hyperexplicit teen drama, which takes a fever-dream approach to the high-school coming-of-age genre. After years of delays, their megastars’ schedules have finally aligned – but can series three live down the criticism that Levinson is more interested in the vicarious thrills of adolescent sex and drug-taking than in saying anything meaningful or realistic about growing up? It will also be interesting to see how the show deals with the death of the Irish-American actor Angus Cloud, who played the lovable drug dealer Fezco; he died of an overdose in 2023, at the age of 25.

Blade Runner 2099Prime Video, to be announced

Ridley Scott’s original cyberpunk masterpiece was considered a flop at the time, as was Denis Villeneuve’s 2017 sequel, Blade Runner 2049. But both were critically acclaimed and, in the case of the Scott film, hugely influential. That’s presumably why Prime Video has bankrolled a return to the world of replicants with feelings, CGI girlfriends, and constant rains in a future-shock Los Angeles.

Blade Runner 2099 was initially scheduled to be shot in Belfast, but after production was delayed by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, Prime relocated to Prague – having presumably found the North insufficiently dystopian. The eight-part series will star Michelle Yeoh as an artificial replicant coming to the end of her lifespan. All going well, her performance is less robotic than the one she delivered for Wicked. Hunter Schafer and Tom Burke also star.

Something Very Bad Is Going to HappenNetflix, to be announced

Coming off five series (and 10 years) of Stranger Things, Matt and Ross Duffer will be eager to try something new – as they do in this horror-dramedy about a bride-and-groom-to-be navigating a series of unfortunate events in the week leading up to their wedding. The young lovers are played by Camila Morrone (Daisy Jones & the Six) and Adam DiMarco (The White Lotus series two); the cast also includes Jennifer Jason Leigh. The show’s runner, Haley Z Boston, wrote Brand New Cherry Flavour, the well-regarded Netflix horror from 2021; the Duffer brothers are executive producers. Trapped in a pocket universe of 1980s references, Stranger Things ended up going around in circles. Fingers crossed this new series marks the start of something genuinely new for the Duffers.

House of the Dragon series threeHBO, to be announced

The Game of Thrones prequel signed off with a damp-squib season finale in 2023. Having promised to end with a climactic battle between the warring houses of the great Targaryen dynasty, the credits rolled hours before the battle. Viewers felt they had been strung along – meaning they had been burned twice following the atrocious conclusion to Game of Thrones in 2019. Now House of the Dragon has a chance to redeem itself as we catch up with the opposing “Black” and “Green” armies as they prepare to tangle. As ever, the real reason for watching will be to luxuriate in Matt Smith’s fantastically camp turn as the megabaddie Daemon Targaryen.

EllePrime Video, to be announced

Reese Witherspoon is the executive producer of this high-school origin story of her Legally Blonde character, Elle Woods. Given that Elle arrived at Harvard in head-to-toe pink, it’s hard to see how a prequel can do much in the way of character development: we know how the story ends. But Witherspoon is a good judge of material – she helped shepherd the designer kitchen-murder drama Big Little Lies to the screen – so fans of the original will give this a chance, especially as it’s timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the film.

Alice and SteveDisney+, to be announced

Nicola Walker (Unforgotten) and Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) play middle-aged best pals whose friendship is strained when Steve (Clement) starts dating the teenage daughter of Alice (Walker). Awkward is the word we’re looking for. Described as an “anti-romcom”, Alice and Steve will be new territory for Walker, best known for playing downbeat cops in dour police dramas. Its creator, Sophie Goodheart, previously worked on Rivals and Sex Education – neither a classic, though with luck the strong cast will be enough to get Alice and Steve over the line.

VladimirNetflix, to be announced

After an underwhelming second series of Bad Sisters, on Apple TV+, the Irish actor, writer and producer Sharon Horgan teams up with Netflix to adapt Julia May Jonas’s bestselling 2022 novel about a college professor (Rachel Weisz) who, blindsided by her husband’s sex scandal, embarks on a relationship with the younger Vladimir (Leo Woodall, the go-to for onscreen totty since he starred in Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy).

Tip ToeChannel 4, to be announcedTip Toe: Alan Cumming and David Morrisey. Photograph: Ben Blackall/Channel 4Tip Toe: Alan Cumming and David Morrisey. Photograph: Ben Blackall/Channel 4

Having failed to turn Doctor Who into a Disney+ blockbuster, producer Russell T Davies returns to his favourite setting of Manchester’s gay subculture with this scorching tale of a feud between a bar owner (Alan Cumming) and his neighbour (David Morrissey). Davies’s previous Channel 4 mini series, It’s a Sin, was a heartbreaking look back at the devastation wrought by Aids. Indications are that Tip Toe will be somewhat cheerier.

TrinityNetflix, to be announced

Cameras will shortly roll in Belfast on a new season of Jed Mercurio’s Line of Duty, although it isn’t expected to air until 2027. As the world counts down to further helpings of Adrian Dunbar making up “Irish” aphorisms to dazzle the British, Mercurio fans can meanwhile occupy themselves with the underwater drama Trinity. Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays the second in command on a US nuclear submarine who is dragged into a conspiracy involving the charismatic US secretary of defence. He’s played by Richard Madden, who was the star of Mercurio’s The Bodyguard, a bonkers potboiler with plot holes so big you could steer a nuclear submarine through them. Fingers crossed the storyline for this one is more coherent.

I Will Find YouNetflix, to be announcedI Will Find You: Sam Worthington during filming. Photograph: Christos Kalohoridis/NetflixI Will Find You: Sam Worthington during filming. Photograph: Christos Kalohoridis/Netflix

Harlan Coben has been cranking out hits for Netflix faster than The Wolf Tones coming out of retirement. This one is his first adaptation to be set in his native United States, with Sam Worthington playing a man imprisoned for killing his three-year-old son. The jury is out on Coben’s crime dramas: they’re twisty as anything, but, like a Happy Meal for the eyes, can leave you unsatisfied and in need of something more nourishing.

Lord of the FliesBBC One, to be announcedLord of the Flies: David McKenna as Piggy and Winston Sawyers as Ralph. Photograph: J Redza/Eleven/BBCLord of the Flies: David McKenna as Piggy and Winston Sawyers as Ralph. Photograph: J Redza/Eleven/BBC

After delving into the dark and seemingly violent psyche of the modern teenager with his Emmy-winning Adolescence, the writer Jack Thorne circles a similar theme with this adaptation of William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies, consisting of four episodes named after the main characters: Ralph, Piggy, Simon and Jack.

The great unknown, of course, is whether the series will have the same impact as Adolescence, which sparked a debate about the dangers of letting our children near social media and the toxic influence of the manosphere.

With Lord of the Flies’ four-episode structure the same as that of Adolescence, it feels likely that Thorne hopes to achieve similar results. One big difference is that the violence in Adolescence is offscreen, whereas, when it gets going, Lord of the Flies is as gory as anything. Can Thorne bring the same cool dispassion to his take on Golding?

Pride and PrejudiceNetflix, to be announcedPride and Prejudice: Emma Corrin, Freya Mavor, Oliva Colman, Hopey Parish and Hollie Avery. Photograph: Ludovic Robert/NetflixPride and Prejudice: Emma Corrin, Freya Mavor, Oliva Colman, Hopey Parish and Hollie Avery. Photograph: Ludovic Robert/Netflix

With anticipation approaching fever pitch for Emerald Fennell’s new film version of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, 2026 looks to be the year costume drama comes roaring back. So it’s the perfect moment for a fresh tilt at Pride and Prejudice, with The Crown’s Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and the Slow Horses actor Jack Lowden as Mr Darcy. The big question is whether Lowden will be as iconic as Colin Firth splashing around in that pond, the enduring image from the BBC’s mid-1990s take on Austen.

Half ManBBC One, to be announcedHalf Man: Jamie Bell and Richard Gadd. Photograph: Anne Binckebanck/Mam Tor/BBCHalf Man: Jamie Bell and Richard Gadd. Photograph: Anne Binckebanck/Mam Tor/BBC

In his first series since the Emmy-winning success of Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd stars with Jamie Bell as estranged brothers in Scotland who meet after years without contact – with violent consequences neither could have predicted.

Grown UpsNetflix, to be announced

Marian Keyes fans will hope Netflix’s take on Grown Ups, her 2020 novel, is an improvement on RTÉ’s adaptation of her Walsh Sisters stories. The indications are promising: Aisling Bea, Sarah Greene, Adrian Dunbar and Robert Sheehan star in this tale of the lives, loves and losses of a well-to-do family in south Co Dublin. It’s familiar territory. Can Netflix sprinkle some magic on it?

NeuromancerApple TV+, to be announced

William Gibson’s hugely influential 1984 novel was a foundational text for the cyberpunk genre and an influence on everything from the Matrix to the internet itself. Can this much-anticipated adaptation do it justice? The cast includes Callum Turner, Briana Middleton, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Laird and Max Irons.