We’ve already had lots of contenders for the best TV of 2025, but the beginning of the colder months and the welcoming of autumn always brings with it some exciting new TV drama.
From a BBC reboot of a beloved literary detective to a fresh new Harlan Coben story, there’s so much still to watch out for in 2025. Let us talk you through the series, both new and returning, that you’ll want to add to your watch list this autumn.
Ben Blackall//BBC
Film Club
Written by and starring Aimee Lou Wood, Film Club tells the story of two friends called Evie and Noa – who might just be more than friends – that share a love of movies.
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Joining Wood as part of the cast for this new BBC drama are Nabhaan Rizwan, Suranne Jones, Adam Long (Happy Valley) and Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen).
Photographer://BBC
The Ridge
The BBC’s new psychological thriller, which is expected in 2025, is a co-production between BBC Scotland and Sky New Zealand Originals, starring Karen Pirie’s Lauren Lyle as the character of Mia. She travels to her estranged sister’s wedding in New Zealand, only to find her sibling dead…
The synopsis adds: “Caught up in grief and pulled by a dark attraction to her late sister’s fiancé Ewan, played by New Zealand star Jay Ryan, Mia soon finds that familiarity among a small community breeds secrets and tensions, endangering the brittle fabric of the town itself.”
BBC
Riot Women
Marking Happy Valley boss Sally Wainwright’s return to the BBC, Riot Women follows five women who band together to channel some punk rock.
The synopsis describes how their band “becomes a catalyst for change in their lives”, with the drama serving as “a testament to the power of friendship, music, and the resilience of women who refuse to be silenced by age or expectation.”
Its brilliant ensemble cast is made up of Lorraine Ashbourne (Sherwood), Joanna Scanlan (Slow Horses), Rosalie Craig (1899), Amelia Bullmore (The Jetty) and Tamsin Greig (Friday Night Dinner).
BBC
Lynley
This brand new BBC reboot of the classic Inspector Lynley mysteries will see a new roster of actors taking on the roles, with Leo Suter starring as the titular character of Detective Lynley. His professional partner DS Barbara Havers will be played by Sofia Barclay, and Line of Duty star Daniel Mays is also part of the cast.
The synopsis teases: “With seemingly nothing in common and against all odds, the mismatched duo of Lynley and Havers become a formidable team, bonded by their desire to see justice done.”
ITV
The Hack
ITV’s upcoming phone hacking scandal drama will be led by David Tennant and Toby Jones, with other cast members including Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones), Steve Pemberton (Inside No. 9), Adrian Lester (Trigger Point), Eve Myles (The Crow Girl) and Katherine Kelly (In Flight).
The Hack has been written by Jack Thorne, whose most recent TV credits also include Netflix’s breakout hit Adolescence, as well as Toxic Town.
ITV
Coldwater
This starry Scotland-set thriller, starring Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead) and Eve Myles (Broadchurch), is about a “repressed” man named John (played by Lincoln) who secretly rages at his life as a stay-at-home dad.
The synopsis teases: “When his failure to intervene in a violent confrontation in a playground brings his identity crisis to a head, John ups and moves his family to the rural idyll of Coldwater, as far away from London as possible…”
Channel 4
Trespasses
Described by Channel 4 as a “forbidden love story set against the backdrop of the Troubles”, this new drama is an adaptation (from Bad Sisters’ Ailbhe Keogan) of Louise Kennedy’s breakout debut novel of the same name.
The cast includes Lola Petticrew (Bloodlands, Say Nothing), Tom Cullen (The Gold) and Gillian Anderson (Sex Education).
The book on which it’s based was a number one bestseller (The Times) and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2023. It was presented as “the most beautiful, devastating love story you’ll read this year” on Amazon.
Matt Towers/Apple TV+
Down Cemetery Road
Based on Mick Herron’s novel of the same name, and coming to Apple TV+, Down Cemetery Road is an Oxford-set thriller starring Ruth Wilson and Emma Thompson.
The synopsis reads: “When a house explodes in a quiet Oxford suburb and a girl disappears in the aftermath, neighbour Sarah Tucker (Wilson) becomes obsessed with finding her and enlists the help of private investigator Zoë Boehm (Thompson)…”
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Lazarus
Harlan Coben’s next TV drama is due to arrive on Prime Video this autumn, and it’s different from his previous streaming hits because this one has been written especially for television.
Starring Sam Claflin, Lazarus, as the synopsis explains, “follows a man who returns home after his father’s death and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained.
“He quickly becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.”
Prime Video
The Girlfriend
The Girlfriend, coming to Prime Video, has been described as a “gripping and twisted psychological thriller”, and it will explore the “complicated dynamic” between a mother and her son’s new girlfriend.
Its cast includes Robin Wright, Olivia Cooke (Slow Horses), Tanya Moodie (Motherland) and Shalom Brune-Franklin (The Assassin).
According to the synopsis, “Laura (Wright) wants for nothing. She has a glittering career, a loving husband, Howard (Zuaiter), and, above all, she has Daniel (Davidson), her precious only son.
“But Laura’s seemingly perfect life is blown apart when Daniel brings home Cherry (Cooke), the girlfriend who changes everything…”
Apple TV+/Jack English
Slow Horses, season 5
Fans of the beloved and award-winning spy series, based on Mick Herron’s books, will finally be able to tune in for more episodes in September, as season five arrives on Apple TV+.
Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) and his band of down-on-their-luck spies will return to Slough House for the next instalment that adapts Herron’s 2018 novel London Rules.
The synopsis for season five reveals the Slow Horses will become suspicious after Roddy Ho reveals that he’s got a glamorous new girlfriend, and when a “series of increasingly bizarre events” begin occurring across London, it’s up to Lamb and his team to connect the dots.
Netflix
Nobody Wants This, season 2
The Netflix rom-com will be back for its second season, and fans will be desperate to pick up with Noah (Adam Brody) and Joanne’s (Kristen Bell) romance.
The first season became a hit with audiences, and introduced us to the rabbi and the podcaster as they ended up falling in love. But with so many differences, and chaotic family members and friends, do they have a future together?
Netflix
Stranger Things, season 5
Yes, we’re finally on the verge of getting brand new Stranger Things, after more than three years since the last instalment.
Netflix’s flagship series is also coming to an end, with season five’s three-part drop acting as its epic conclusion. That means a final showdown between the Hawkins crew and Vecna, after Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and the gang were unable to stop him from opening the portal between the Upside Down and Hawkins.
Netflix
Black Rabbit
This New York-set limited series stars Jason Bateman (Ozark) and Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) as two brothers who only have one thing in common: the Manhattan restaurant, Black Rabbit, that they share.
The show has been described by Netflix as a “propulsive thrill ride” and a “character examination about the way an unbreakable bond between two brothers can shatter their world and everything in its orbit”.
Sky
The Iris Affair
This new thriller series, which stars The Night Manager’s Tom Hollander and The Virtues’ Niamh Algar, comes from the boss of Luther, Neil Cross.
The Iris Affair, coming to Sky, has been revealed to be “a tense and cinematic chase thriller that pits two brilliant minds against each other in a deadly game of hide and seek across Italy”.
“When enigmatic genius Iris Nixon cracks a string of complex online puzzles, she’s led to a piazza in Florence where she meets charismatic entrepreneur Cameron Beck (Hollander),” the synopsis adds.
HBO
Task
A new HBO detective drama from the creator of the phenomenal Mare of Easttown? Sign us up immediately.
Task stars Mark Ruffalo, playing an FBI agent who “heads a Task Force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspecting family man”, as per the synopsis.
We’ve had a trailer for the gritty crime drama, and it looks like a must-watch for fans of the genre.
Euan Cherry
Celebrity Traitors
As much as we’re getting excited about all of these brilliant dramas, we couldn’t ignore the highly-anticipated arrival of Celebrity Traitors – also due this autumn.
After much rumour and anticipation, a star-studded version of the BBC’s hit reality format awaits us. With a cast that boasts the likes of comedian and Taskmaster star Joe Wilkinson, Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed, actor and QI presenter Stephen Fry and The Thursday Murder Club and Bridget Jones actor Celia Imrie, it’s surely one not to miss.
“I’d love to say we’ll take it easy on them and they’ll just wander round the castle and eat toast for a couple of weeks but that would be a lie,” host Claudia Winkleman, who is returning to her post at the castle, has said.
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TV Editor, Digital Spy Laura has been watching television for over 30 years and professionally writing about entertainment for almost 10 of those. Previously at LOOK and now heading up the TV desk at the UK’s biggest TV and movies site Digital Spy, Laura has helped steer conversations around some of the most popular shows on the box. Laura has appeared on Channel 5 News and radio to talk viewing habits and TV recommendations. As well as putting her nerd-level Buffy knowledge to good use during an IRL meet with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laura also once had afternoon tea with One Direction, has sat around the fire pit of the Love Island villa, spoken to Sir David Attenborough about the world’s oceans and even interviewed Rylan from inside the Big Brother house (housemate status, forever pending).