Autumn has well and truly arrived, so what better way to spend it than curled up with a new TV show as the cold, dark nights draw in this October. Luckily, there’s plenty on offer to get stuck into across terrestrial and streaming this month.
Among the highlights are the BBC return of Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright, as well as new shows featuring The White Lotus’ Aimee Lou Wood and The Affair’s Ruth Wilson.
Here, Digital Spy has rounded up 8 must-see series to add to your watchlist.
What to Read NextFrauds
This new ITV thriller pairs up two of TV’s biggest stars in Hostage’s Suranne Jones (who also co-created the series) and Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker.
ITV
Frauds is described as a “complex and addictive story of friendship, deception and survival”, and sees the duo play two conwomen who cross paths again after years apart when Bert (Jones) is released from prison on compassionate grounds.
She draws Sam (Whittaker) back in for a big heist as they assemble a team to steal a painting from a Spanish gallery… though a power struggle between the pair threatens their plans.
Premieres on ITV on 5 October.
BBC
Film Club
Jones is keeping busy this month, as you’ll also be able to catch her in the “smart, sweet and punchy” new BBC drama series Film Club.
Co-created by and starring Aimee Lou Wood, this series follows two friends who are part of a local film club – though when one of them lands a dream job on the other side of the country, they are forced to consider that their bond may be more than platonic.
The show also features performances from Kaos’ Nabhaan Rizwan, Adolescence’s Owen Cooper, The Serpent Queen’s Liv Hill and Happy Valley’s Adam Long.
Premieres on BBC iPlayer on 7 October and BBC One on 8 October.
BBC
Riot Women
Sally Wainwright returns to the BBC following her Disney+ series Renegade Nell with this new drama starring Slow Horses’ Joanna Scanlan, Friday Night Dinner’s Tamsin Greig and Sherwood’s Lorraine Ashbourne.
Riot Women follows a group of “five menopausal women” who form a punk rock band while also balancing the demands of life including children, work and relationships – and they “suddenly find they have a lot more to shout about than they ever imagined”.
Premieres on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this month.
Channel 5
Murder Before Evensong
If cosy murder-mystery is your thing, then the new adaptation of Reverend Richard Coles’s bestselling novel Murder Before Evensong may do the trick.
Set in the 1980s, the story focuses on the Rector of Champton Daniel Clement (Matthew Lewis), whose plan to install a new lavatory in the church divides the community. He is then drawn into a murder case when a dead body turns up in the church.
The series also features Happy Valley’s Amit Shah, EastEnders’ Tamzin Outhwaite and Scoop’s Amanda Redman in supporting roles.
Premieres on 5 on 7 October.
Apple TV+
Down Cemetery Road
Slow Horses fans will want to keep an eye out for Down Cemetery Road, which is adapted from a book by the spy show’s author Mick Herron.
Starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson, the story takes place in a quiet Oxford suburb as an explosion occurs and a girl disappears. This leads a neighbour called Sarah to hire a private investigator called Zoë, before they find themselves at the centre of “a complex conspiracy” involving the dead.
Killing Eve’s Adeel Akhtar, Culprits’ Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Baby Reindeer’s Tom Goodman-Hill are set to co-star, and like Slow Horses, the series will stream on Apple TV+.
Premieres on Apple TV+ on 29 October.
Netflix
Nobody Wants This season 2
This Netflix comedy became an unexpected breakout hit last year, and returns for its anticipated second season later this month.
Nobody Wants This stars Adam Brody and Kristen Bell as rabbi Noah and a podcaster Joanne, who form an unexpected romance, all while facing challenges along the way, with the new run of episodes set to continue their story.
Gossip Girl fans are also in for an exciting reunion, as Leighton Meester has joined former co-star Bell in the cast as Abby, Joanne’s middle-school nemesis who has become a mommy influencer.
Premieres on Netflix on 23 October.
Netflix
The Diplomat season 3
Another returning Netflix hit, the political thriller is back for a third season in the aftermath of that shocking cliffhanger involving the president.
Regulars Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell return as ambassador Kate Wyler and husband Hal, while Allison Janney is back as Grace Penn and David Gyasi returns as British Foreign Secretary Austin Dennison.
Creator Debora Cahn has teased that season 3 “flips the chessboard”, so prepare for the sort of thrills we have come to expect from The Diplomat.
Premieres on Netflix on 16 October.
Prime Video
Lazarus
A new thriller from Harlan Coben, whose works have been adapted into numerous Netflix shows such as Fool Me Once and Missing You, Lazarus will move things to Prime Video and take a new approach in being an original story written for TV.
Co-created by Brassic’s Danny Brocklehurst, the series focuses on a man who returns home after his father’s death, before having “disturbing” experiences and getting entangled in cold-case murders.
Lazarus features a star-studded cast including Peaky Blinders’ Sam Claflin, Living’s Bill Nighy and Killing Eve’s Alexandra Roach.
Premieres on Prime Video on 22 October.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.