Our autumn TV special: Drama, sci-fi & fantasy, entertainment and so much more that is coming to our screens soon
- Weekend magazine has rounded up a selection of autumn’s best TV shows
- They have rounded up 60 of the top shows across genres such as sci-fi & drama
- Shows to look forward to include Strictly Come Dancing, Wednesday and I Am…
ENTERTAINMENT
1. STRICTLY COME DANCING
BBC1, Coming soon
Craig Revel Horwood (pictured) has been on Strictly Come Dancing since its launch and will return to the show’s next series, which is coming soon
2. I’M A CELEBRITY… GET ME OUT OF HERE!
ITV, November
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here is returning to ITV in November, marking the show’s 20th anniversary
The 20th anniversary of the show marks a return to its Australian jungle home, with Ant and Dec hosting as usual and 12 fresh celebs. Among the names in the frame are Richard Madeley, who left the Welsh camp early last year, and Danny Dyer.
3. BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT: MAGIC SPECIAL
ITV, coming soon
This one-off special will showcase the best magicians to have appeared on BGT, such as semi-finalist Marc Spelmann and former winner Richard Jones, with a magical prize of £50,000 up for grabs for the act voted the finest of them all.
4. BBC 100
ACROSS THE BBC, OCTOBER
A comedy special featuring Paul Whitehouse and Harry Enfield, an irreverent look at the BBC’s history by the Horrible Histories team, and special episodes of Strictly, Top Gear and Antiques Roadshow are all promised as part of the BBC’s celebration of its 100th birthday next month.
5. RIDDICULOUS
ITV, OCTOBER
Ranvir Singh fronts this series that mixes general knowledge with an ability to solve fiendish riddles. The more brain-bending teasers the teams solve, the more money they bank.
6. CHALLENGE ANNEKA
CHANNEL 5, coming soon
This four-part series is a reboot of the show which ran on BBC1 between 1989 and 1995, and saw Anneka Rice persuade big brands and volunteers to help with projects such as building children’s playgrounds and providing a pool for orphaned seals. The new series will stick to the original format, with Anneka once more travelling around in a lorry and a beach buggy as she co-ordinates the projects.
7. THE MASKED SINGER – I’M A CELEBRITY SPECIAL
ITV, coming soon
ITV is celebrating the return of I’m A Celebrity to Australia with this mash-up with another of its hits. In this one-off special, masked celebrities will be wearing costumes commemorating the best of Australia and I’m A Celeb – from kangaroos to grubs and snakes – and the usual panel will be joined by some special guests paying homage.
8. THE TRAITORS
BBC1, coming soon
No one loves a murder-mystery more than the British, so this whodunnit game show should be a surefire hit. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman and filmed in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, players must work together to complete physical and mental challenges and win a large cash prize, but at the start some of them are secretly selected to be ‘Traitors’ and will betray their team-mates.
DRAMA
9. THIS ENGLAND
Sky Atlantic, 28 September
Weekend magazine has rounded up a selection of autumns best TV shows. They have rounded up 60 of the top shows across genres such as sci-fi & drama, including new show This England starring Sir Kenneth Branagh as Boris Johnson
10. THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET
CHANNEL 5, NOVEMBER
Harry Potter and Happy Valley star Shirley Henderson turns in a disturbing performance as lonely single mother Claudia, a woman fixated on the disappearance of young child Emily Winter. As Emily’s parents agonise over her fate and continue their public campaign to find their daughter, Claudia lurks in the shadows, refusing to reveal what she may or may not know about the girl’s whereabouts.
11. SOMEWHERE BOY
CHANNEL 4, OCTOBER
This tells the story of 18-year-old Danny, who’s spent all his life in an isolated house, convinced by his dad that the outside world is ‘full of monsters’ after a breakdown following his wife’s death. But when the police arrive one day, Danny (Lewis Gribben) tries to find out who killed his mother.
12. TULSA KING
PARAMOUNT+, 14 NOVEMBER
This is a real coup for Paramount+, Sylvester Stallone playing the lead in a TV series. After more than 40 years making movies, Sly says he was blown away by a script in which he plays a former New York gangster trying to rebuild his crime career after 25 years in jail. Exiled by his boss to Oklahoma to set up a new criminal network, he faces challenges both tragic and comic.
13. RALPH AND KATIE
BBC1, OCTOBER
A six-part spin-off from the acclaimed BBC1 drama The A Word about a family dealing with an autistic child, this is the continuing story of Ralph and Katie Wilson (Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy), newlyweds who also have Down’s syndrome. Each of the six episodes looks at a fresh domestic challenge facing the couple, and writer Peter Bowker says, ‘It’s a natural step forwards from The A Word to increase representation and diversity both on and off screen. The scripts are full of joy, humour and authenticity.’
14. I AM…
CHANNEL 4, COMING SOON
This brilliant anthology series has already allowed stars such as Suranne Jones, Lesley Manville, Vicky McClure and Samantha Morton to explore personal issues through fictional stories, and next it’s the turn of Oscar winner Kate Winslet. She agreed to star in a feature-length special to open the third series of dramas written by Dominic Savage. Each episode is developed in partnership with the lead actors, and uses semi-improvised dialogue. Kate will be starring with her daughter Mia Threapleton, so the show is likely to be something of an insight into their family dynamics.
15. RICHES
ITV, COMING SOON
Riches has been billed as the black British version of Succession. Sarah Niles (pictured) plays Claudia
Billed as a black British version of Succession, this certainly has all the ingredients – extreme wealth, a dysfunctional family and a battle over who’ll succeed ailing patriarch Stephen Richards in his cosmetics business. But the six-part series is also about what happens when a man’s first and second families (including Stephen’s current wife Claudia, played by Sarah Niles) collide.
16. THE PACT
BBC1, COMING SOON
A second series for a hit drama that aired last year on BBC1, although this one has a totally different cast and storyline. Series one saw workers at a Welsh beer factory trying to cover up the death of their boss. This new story is family-based, as siblings make a pact to counter the threat posed by a stranger who arrives in town claiming a dangerous connection to them that nobody could have imagined.
17. BEFORE WEDIE
CHANNEL 4, COMING SOON
This crime thriller took inspiration from a Swedish TV drama for its first series, but plots its own course in this second season. Detective Hannah Laing (Lesley Sharp), who fought to protect her wayward son from a crime syndicate, is now moving towards the source of her problems by confronting the head of the organisation.
18. INDUSTRY
BBC1, COMING SOON
This sexy, fast-paced drama set in London’s financial district was such a hit in 2020 the BBC said yes to this second series. But how many of the budding young bankers from series one have made the grade at Pierpoint & Co? The answer is most of them. But one’s now in rehab… and another has morphed into a bully.
Based on the hit novel Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, this charming, witty series is steeped in nostalgia. Set in 1964, it stars former Bond Girl Gemma Arterton as Barbara Parker (pictured)
19. FUNNY WOMAN
SKY MAX, OCTOBER
Based on the hit novel Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, this charming, witty series is steeped in nostalgia. Set in 1964, it stars former Bond Girl Gemma Arterton as Barbara Parker, a Blackpool beauty queen who not only wants a taste of Swinging London but is also determined to become the UK’s answer to Lucille Ball by breaking into the male-dominated world of comedy. The six-episode series, co-written by comedian Morwenna Banks, takes in the seismic culture changes of the 60s and doesn’t shy away from unsavoury elements like the casting couch. The show begins with Barbara winning Miss Blackpool and heading for London. While working in a department store she meets a theatrical agent (Rupert Everett) who gets her an audition for a BBC sitcom pilot about a pair of newlyweds. In the mid-60s the rules of the sitcom were being rewritten, and this series is partly inspired by Galton and Simpson who wrote Steptoe & Son. ‘In the 50s not many people had TVs, but in the 60s suddenly everyone had one,’ says Nick. ‘There were all these clever people doing good things in TV, and there were only two channels. No one watched BBC2, so if you won a slot on BBC1 you had the whole country watching.’
20. INSIDE MAN
BBC1, COMING SOON
Sherlock creator Steven Moffat is a master of redefining genres. His latest how Inside Man is coming soon to BBC1
Sherlock creator Steven Moffat is a master of redefining genres, and this is a whodunnit with a twist. ‘It’s more like a “who’ll do it?”,’ he says of this intriguing four-part thriller. It stars David Tennant as a smalltown vicar, Dolly Wells as a maths teacher trapped in a cellar, Lydia West as an investigative journalist and Stanley Tucci as a convicted murderer. The fun is in finding out how they’re connected.
21. MAXINE
CHANNEL 5, COMING SOON
Catherine Cawood (pictured) is returning to Happy Valley
This three-part true-crime drama looks at the shocking double murder of ten-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002 in Soham, Cambridgeshire. It focuses on school assistant Maxine Carr, her tumultuous relationship with killer caretaker Ian Huntley, why she helped him cover up the murders, and the media frenzy surrounding the biggest manhunt in British history. Newcomer Jemma Carlton takes the lead role in a show that is likely to provoke much discussion.
22. HAPPY VALLEY
BBC1, COMING SOON
This chilling crime drama set in West Yorkshire’s scenic but drug-ravaged Calder Valley made a star of James Norton as vicious murderer Tommy Lee Royce, and won plaudits for Sarah Lancashire, his policewoman nemesis Catherine Cawood, when the show began in 2014. This is the final instalment in the trilogy with Sergeant Cawood contemplating retirement. But an investigation into a gangland murder unwittingly leads her back to Tommy, while over the six-part series we will also see her grandson Ryan wanting to know more about his father, the criminal who raped Catherine’s daughter.
23. CROSSFIRE
BBC1, COMING SOON
A dream break becomes a nightmare when terrorists attack a family resort in a nail-biting new BBC thriller Crossfire starring Keeley Hawes (pictured)
24. WITHOUT SIN
ITV, NOVEMBER
Line Of Duty’s Vicky McClure must have had enough of Johnny Harris. He played her abusive father in This Is England, and here he’s cast as Charles Stone, the man convicted of murdering her character Stella Tomlinson’s 14-year-old daughter Maisy. Filmed in Vicky’s home city of Nottingham, this powerful four-part thriller sees Stella trying to move on in her life, when Stone says he wants to atone for what he did. But face-to-face with her daughter’s killer, nothing can prepare Stella for what Stone has to say next.
25. SHANTARAM
APPLE TV+, 14 OCTOBER
This eagerly anticipated adaptation of the best-selling novel by Gregory David Roberts is a love story with a difference. British Sons Of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam plays a fugitive called Lin Ford who’s hoping to get lost in vibrant and chaotic 1980s Bombay. But when he falls for an enigmatic beauty named Karla, he’s forced to make some difficult choices and the tension mounts thrillingly over 12 episodes.
26. THE OLD MAN
DISNEY+, 28 SEPTEMBER
Cheating death is the name of the game for disgraced CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges, above) in this new fast-paced seven-part thriller
Cheating death is the name of the game for disgraced CIA agent Dan Chase (Jeff Bridges) in this fast-paced seven-part thriller. He’s on the run to avoid assassination by his former employers, and Hollywood veteran Bridges has some real-life experience of narrowly escaping death. The 72-year-old fell critically ill with Covid at the same time as he was receiving chemotherapy for lymphoma in 2020, and was only well enough to complete the role of Chase two years after he filmed his first scene.
27. KAREN PIRIE
ITV, SEPTEMBER
Lauren Lyle stars as DS Karen Pirie in new ITV drama
Even if it does start like so many police dramas with the death of a young woman, this new series feels like a breath of fresh air. Based on a book by ‘Tartan Noir’ crime novelist Val McDermid, it’s a very modern tale with podcasts, social media and positive discrimination all playing a part in the case. Vigil’s Lauren Lyle stars as DS Karen Pirie, who finally gets the promotion she’s been hoping for, but is it a poisoned chalice?
28. LITVINENKO
ITV, COMING SOON
Nearly 16 years after his murder, the poisoning of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko with polonium-210 remains one of the most shocking political assassinations to take place on British soil. And after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, this new four-part drama, starring David Tennant as the former spy, couldn’t be more timely. Litvinenko, a prominent Putin critic, fell ill on 1 November 2006 after taking tea with two former Russian agents at the Millennium Hotel in London. He was admitted to University College Hospital, and the drama starts with two police officers interviewing him there after he claimed he’d been poisoned on the direct orders of Putin. Litvinenko knew where he’d been poisoned and who’d done it, but doctors and detectives faced a race against time to discover what he’d been poisoned with. The series then follows the tireless fight of his wife Marina (Margarita Levieva) to publicly name her husband’s killers and have the role of the Russian state acknowledged in his murder. As well as working with Marina, the show has been produced with the help of some of those involved in the investigation, including Scotland Yard officers Clive Timmons and Brent Hyatt (played by Mark Bonnar and Neil Maskell).
29. THE CROWN
NETFLIX, NOVEMBER
It’s all change cast-wise for the royal drama’s fifth and penultimate series with Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki in the role of Princess Diana (pictured)
It’s all change cast-wise for the royal drama’s fifth and penultimate series, with Imelda Staunton stepping into Claire Foy and Olivia Colman’s shoes as Her Majesty, Jonathan Pryce cast as Prince Philip, Dominic West as Prince Charles (with his son Senan playing Prince William) and Australian actress Elizabeth Debicki in the role of Princess Diana.
This series will cover the 1990s, including the year the Queen called her ‘annus horribilis’, 1992, when three of her children’s marriages collapsed and fire nearly destroyed Windsor Castle. This was the year when the dysfunctionality at the heart of the family became clear to everyone. The toe-sucking scandal involving Fergie (Emma Laird Craig) put her marriage to Prince Andrew (James Murray) onto the front pages, and we’ll see Diana cheat on Charles as Andrew Morton’s book Diana, Her True Story was released and the Wales’s marriage spiralled towards its end.
As ever, the stories will focus not only on problems within the family but also the political and social upheaval both in Britain and across the world. One episode will centre on the ending of the Cold War, symbolised by the Queen’s first (and only) state visit to Russia, where many of her aristocratic relatives were murdered.
While stories about the royals continue to fascinate, The Crown’s creator Peter Morgan insists the sixth series will be the last. ‘I have in my head a 20-year rule,’ he says. ‘That’s enough time and distance to really understand something, to understand its role, its position, its relevance.’ So we won’t get his take on Meghan Markle then…
30. SAS: ROGUE HEROES
BBC1, COMING SOON
This six-part series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight offers a dramatised account of the early days of the SAS, revealing how British Army officer David Stirling (Sex Education’s Connor Swindells) hatched a plan for a group of expertly trained soldiers to cause mayhem
They described themselves as a band of oddities, a varied mix of gentlemen and pirates, but what they had in common was a cool nerve and bags of military expertise. Those were essential attributes for the founder members of the Special Air Service, one of the most revered fighting units in the world. Set in Egypt in 1941, this six-part series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight offers a dramatised account of the early days of the SAS, revealing how British Army officer David Stirling (Sex Education’s Connor Swindells) hatched a plan for a group of expertly trained soldiers to cause mayhem behind enemy lines during the Second World War. With dark humour and explosive action, think Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds meets Band Of Brothers.
31. THE ENGLISH
BBC2, 10 NOVEMBER
In this imaginative take on America’s Wild West, Emily Blunt stars as English aristocrat Lady Cornelia Locke, a woman determined to take revenge on the person she holds responsible for the death of her son. The action takes place in the 1890s where Lady Cornelia strikes up a friendship with Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), a Native American scout. Together they head to a town in Wyoming where sheriff Robert Marshall (Stephen Rea) is investigating a series of murders that could provide vital information for the intrepid aristo.
32. DANGEROUS LIAISONS
AMAZON VIA STARZPLAY, 6 NOVEMBER
Sex, intrigue, scheming and ridiculous wigs… it’s little wonder filmmakers keep going back to Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel about sexual manipulation in 18th-century Paris. The film starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich won three Oscars, and this eightpart series with Alice Englert and Nicholas Denton is the ‘origin’ story telling how the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont met as passionate young lovers on the eve of revolution.
33. THE LARKINS
ITV, COMING SOON
The new adaptation of the HE Bates novels about life in the 1950s Kent countryside won an army of fans last year, with Bradley Walsh and Joanna Scanlan heading the lovable family, which includes voluptuous eldest daughter Mariette. She was played in the first series by Bridgerton’s Sabrina Bartlett, but has been replaced by Joelle Rae after Sabrina left due to scheduling issues. Series two sees a handsome new vicar move to the village, as well as the Jerebohm family, who cause more chaos for the Larkins.
34. A SPY AMONG FRIENDS
ITV, NOVMBER
Kim Philby was the treacherous real-life spy who betrayed not only his country but his life-long best friend during the Cold War. Based on the novel of the same name by Ben Macintyre, this absorbing thriller is a forensic examination of the relationship between Philby (Guy Pearce), the British intelligence officer who passed secrets to the Soviets, and Nicholas Elliott (Damian Lewis), with whom he worked at MI6. Told in six parts, the series will also examine how Philby’s career as a double agent had ramifications for Anglo/Soviet relations that are still felt today.
SCI-FI & FANTASY
35. ANDOR
DISNEY+, 21 SEPTEMBER
Andor is the latest in a constant stream of Star Wars spin-offs going both backwards and forwards in time in recent years
Andor is the latest in a constant stream of Star Wars spin-offs going both backwards and forwards in time in recent years. A 12-part prequel about the life of Cassian Andor, the thief turned rebel spy from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, this series is set during the time a Rebel Alliance is forming in opposition to the Galactic Empire. It will be the first of two series, with Diego Luna reprising his role as Andor and Forest Whitaker returning as rebel fighter Saw Gerrera.
36. WILLOW
DISNEY+, 30 NOVEMBER
Discussions about a sequel to the cult 1988 fantasy movie of the same name started as early as 2005, and Warwick Davis made it clear then that he was keen to reprise his role as farmer and aspiring sorcerer Willow Ufgood. Filming on this much anticipated eight-part series finally got underway in Wales in June last year, with brave Willow taking centre stage yet again as a key member of an unlikely band of heroes embarking on a dangerous quest to save the world. British actress Joanne Whalley also returns as Sorsha the warrior, the part she played in the original film.
37. WEDNESDAY
NETFLIX, NOVEMBER
Catherine Zeta-Jones oozes gothic glamour in Wednesday, the latest spooky comedy series based on the creepy Addams Family. Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia with Luis Guzmán as Gomez, left. Pictured right: Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams in Wednesday
38. THE DEVIL’S HOUR
AMAZON, COMING SOON
Peter Capaldi plays creepy Gideon in Steven Moffat’s new The Devil’s Hour, coming soon to Amaon
Sherlock creator Steven Moffat has written this deliciously scary horror story, which stars Jessica Raine as a woman named Lucy who’s woken up every night by terrifying visions at exactly 3.33am – known as the devil’s hour. Meanwhile outside there’s a series of brutal murders, and Lucy becomes connected to them alongside Peter Capaldi’s creepy Gideon, a man Capaldi says ‘belongs to the night’. Is he friend or foe? You’ll have to watch to find out.
39. THE PERIPHERAL
Chloe Grace Moretz stars in Amazon’s The Peripheral
AMAZON, 21 OCTOBER
Strap yourself in for a terrifying ride into the future of mankind. Flynne (Chloe Grace Moretz), who lives in smalltown America in the late 21st century, thinks she may have witnessed a murder when she takes on her brother’s security job. Publicist Wilf (former Death In Paradise star Gary Carr) has survived a period of apocalypse called The Jackpot and is now enjoying the high life in 22ndcentury London. This fast-paced eight-part series, based on the 2014 novel of the same name by William Gibson, zig-zags between the two main characters’ often tortured timelines.
40. DOCTOR WHO
BBC1, OCTOBER
It’s the end of the road for Jodie Whittaker after four frantic years as the Doctor
It’s the end of the road for Jodie Whittaker after four frantic years as the Doctor, but a return to the screen for some iconic outfits. This episode, part of the BBC’s 100th birthday celebrations, will feature characters wearing the long colourful scarf made famous by Tom Baker’s Doctor, a replica of the checked trousers sported by Patrick Troughton’s Time Lord and a version of Sylvester McCoy’s tank top adorned with the question marks from the late 80s. The Master (Sacha Dhawan) also returns, as does Bradley Walsh as the Doctor’s loyal friend Graham O’Brien.
41. SLUMBERLAND
NETFLIX, 18 NOVEMBER
Based on a 1905 comic strip, this adventure story for all the family centres on a girl called Nema (Marlow Barkley) who lived in a lighthouse with her dad until he died at sea during a storm. Sent to live with an uncle, she discovers the dreamworld called Slumberland and a half-man, half-monster called Flip (Aquaman’s Jason Momoa, far right) who offers to help her find her late father.
COMEDY
42. MURDER, THEY HOPE
GOLD, COMING SOON
Terry and Gemma (Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson) return as the former coach tour hosts and lovers turned private detectives in Murder, They Hope
Terry and Gemma (Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson) return as the former coach tour hosts and lovers turned private detectives, who have so far solved a bloody trail of Agatha Christie-influenced murders that seemed to drop in their laps wherever they travelled. The second full series of this laugh-out-loud comedy sees the pair facing a new batch of baffling crimes over three hourlong episodes. Watch out for guest stars such as Sandi Toksvig, Vicki Pepperdine, Sally Phillips and Hugh Dennis joining them, with the promise of a wedding, couples therapy and a very aristocratic mystery to solve.
43. THE CHANGE
CHANNEL 4, COMING SOON
‘Shirley Valentine meets Deliverance. With pigs.’ That’s the intriguing description of this show about the menopause, written by and starring comic Bridget Christie. Grateful that she hasn’t got early onset dementia when she forgets what the word for a shoe is, 50-yearold Linda realises it’s just the menopause and vows to make a change in her own life. Frustrated with lazy husband Steve (Omid Djalili), she dusts off her old motorbike and heads to the Forest of Dean where she meets a cast of bizarre characters including the Pig Man (Jerome Flynn), a recluse who lives a solitary life with only a wild boar for company.
44. MAMMALS
AMAZON, COMING SOON
Mammals is James Corden’s first major job since announcing he was leaving The Late Late Show
This is James Corden’s first major job since announcing he was leaving The Late Late Show, a ‘relationship comedy’ written by Jez Butterworth, best known for hit play Jerusalem and Bond film Spectre. But the plot is shrouded in mystery. ‘Everything that happens after the first six minutes is a spoiler,’ says Jez. ‘I’d love to be able to reveal more, but if I did I’d ruin the series. It’s a relationship comedy that doesn’t really discuss relationships. It’s more like a whodunnit. I think most relationships do end up as crime scenes, don’t they?
‘A good marriage is the most magical thing,’ he adds cryptically. ‘In a world of eight billion you’ve found the one who gets you. You’re also never going to have sex with anyone else, ever, and then you’re going to die, and be dead forever.’ Corden, who found success on Gavin & Stacey, is one of the producers and his co-stars include Oscar-nominated actress Sally Hawkins and Belfast star Colin Morgan.
45. THE BEAR
DISNEY+, 5 OCTOBER
The Bear is a new eight-part story that follows young chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto, who returns home to Chicago from the world of fine dining to run his family restaurant
However adrenaline-filled your day, a half-hour episode of The Bear will top it. The eight-part story follows young chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto, who returns home to Chicago from the world of fine dining to run his family restaurant after the tragic suicide of his brother. Set in a kitchen, it focuses on the people trying to create wonderful food while dealing with grief, stress and deadlines. Relentless and dark, it’s already been a huge hit in America.
46. WRECK
BBC3, OCTOBER
You expect fine dining and possibly a game of quoits on a cruise, not mass murder. This entertaining six-part comedy-horror follows Jamie (Ladhood’s Oscar Kennedy), who wants to find out what happened to his sister after she went missing aboard The Sacramentum. Also, why do the crew (including Rosie, played by Miya Ocego) appear to be oblivious to the deaths?
47. CUNK ON EARTH
BBC2, MONDAY
Dim-witted interviewer Philomena Cunk is perhaps Diane Morgan’s most famous comic character. Her unfiltered questions have unnerved many experts over the years, and now she’s back in this spoof series investigating the origins to some of man’s greatest inventions. Hugh Grant and Lisa Kudrow are among those playing fictitious experts who struggle to get a word in edgeways.
48. ROSIEMOLLOY GIVES UP EVERYTHING
SKY COMEDY, COMING SOON
Rosie Molloy (Sheridan Smith) uses life’s vices to cope with her job as a partner in an accountancy firm. It’s led to a life of self-destruction, until an incident at her brother’s wedding changes everything. But if you take away her vices, do you also take away her personality?
49. THE WHITE LOTUS
SKY ATLANTIC, COMING SOON
Set over a week at a luxury Hawaiian resort, dark, satirical and beautifully filmed comedy-drama The White Lotus was originally meant to be a self-contained series, but it proved so popular a sequel was practically demanded. It followed the unearthing of secrets about the guests and staff, and while some themes and the odd cast member return, this is a totally new story. This time, The White Lotus hotel is in picturesque Sicily, and among the new guests is the always brilliant Tom Hollander as Quentin, an English expat travelling with his friends and nephew.
FACTUAL & NATURE
50. HANDLE WITH CARE
ITV, NOVEMBER
Former Holby City star Jimmy Akingbola is living the American dream with a role in hit TV show Bel-Air. But he can’t escape the demons of his past, and in this incredibly emotional and hardhitting documentary he comes home to talk about the UK care system and how it affected him. He also speaks to fellow actor Lennie James and retired Olympian Kriss Akabusi, who also grew up in care, as well as the brother and sister he was separated from and the white family he grew up in.
51. MAKE ME PRIME MINISTER
CHANNEL 4, COMING SOON
After the Conservative Party’s exhaustive search for a new Prime Minister, it’s Channel 4’s turn. The candidates bidding to become C4’s Alternative PM will face prime ministerial-style tasks in this sixpart series as they bid to convince former Downing Street spin doctor Alastair Campbell and former Cabinet minister Baroness Warsi they’ve got what it takes to operate in the cut-throat world of politics.
52. MIRIAM & ALAN: LOST IN SCOTLAND AND BEYOND
CHANNEL 4, COMING SOON
Miriam Margolyes and Alan Cumming are back together exploring Scotland and crossing the pond to the American West Coast
Miriam Margolyes and Alan Cumming proved an instant hit when they travelled round Scotland together last year exploring their roots. For this year’s adventure, they start in Scotland before crossing the pond to the American West Coast where they’ve both lived.
53. MICHAEL PALIN: INTO IRAQ
TUESDAY 9PM, CHANNEL 5
Michael Palin (pictured) visits (l-r) Erbil, Babylon and Samarra on his trek. Below left: an armoured vehicle during the liberation of Mosul
54. JOHN & JOE BISHOP: LIFE AFTER DEAF
THURSDAY 9PM, ITV
Comedian John Bishop deftly mixes light with shade in this highly personal and deeply moving documentary examining the severe loss of hearing suffered by his son Joe 12 years ago when he was 15. John sets himself the task of learning sign language with the intention of performing a stand-up routine using it. He also hopes the mutual learning experience will help him relate better to Joe, and vice versa.
55. SOUTH KOREA WITH ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG
CHANNEL 5, COMING SOON
A restaurant where robots serve the meals, a toilet-themed café and a death experience school aimed at cutting down on the shocking number of suicides… welcome to South Korea. Alexander Armstrong (right) follows up last year’s lively, informative and hugely popular series on Iceland with a three-part trip to a country that fascinates him just as much. ‘South Korea is smaller than England and a long way from us,’ he says. ‘But it’s leapt to cultural significance in the last ten years, and yet we still know so little about it. It’s time to find out more.’
56. OPERATION SATANIC: THE SINKING OF THE RAINBOW WARRIOR
BBC2, COMING SOON
A new documentary looks at the relevance of Operation Satanic in a world where governments and protesters continue to lock horns
Thirty-seven years ago the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace ship that was protesting against French nuclear testing on South Pacific islands, was bombed in Auckland Harbour by French secret service agents. One person died and heads rolled in the French government. This superb documentary looks at the relevance of Operation Satanic in a world where governments and protesters continue to lock horns.
57. PREDATORS
SKY NATURE, COMING SOON
This six-part series takes a detailed look at the lives of five powerful predators – polar bears in Canada, wild dogs in Zimbabwe, pumas in Chile
Battles for ultimate power involving cunning, stealth and brute force – it’s Game Of Thrones, but in the animal kingdom. This six-part series takes a detailed look at the lives of five powerful predators – polar bears in Canada, wild dogs in Zimbabwe, pumas in Chile, lions in Botswana and cheetahs in Tanzania – as they try to rule their territories in the face of climate change, incursions by man and battles with rivals. Your admiration for these animals will know no bounds as you watch them switching between the roles of skilled hunters, caring parents and cunning survivors.
58. A YEAR ON PLANET EARTH
ITV, NOVEMBER
Floods, fires, storms and droughts make for dramatic footage, but what impact do they have on the world and its wildlife (right)? Told in six parts, this breathtakingly beautiful documentary series, narrated by the inimitable Stephen Fry, draws on stories from across the globe to explain how animals are affected by extreme natural occurrences and how they react and adapt to shifting habitats and unexpected events. Using footage captured by drones and an army of camera operators, it also seeks to explain how all life on Earth is connected.
59. SUPER/NATURAL
DISNEY+, FROM WEDNESDAY
‘Nothing is what it seems,’ says narrator Benedict Cumberbatch in this remarkable documentary series. ‘There are animals around us that possess superpowers we are only beginning to understand.’ Film-maker James Cameron, the man behind the Oscarwinning film Titanic, turns his attention to the world of nature here with stories that would have been considered other-worldly rather than scientifically proven a generation ago. The six-part series uses the latest technology to show us trees that talk to each other to ward off invasion, bees that work in teams to cook their enemies alive, frogs that make themselves invisible in the jungle and mongooses that are immune to snake venom.
60. PAXMAN: PUTTING UP WITH PARKINSON’S
ITV, OCTOBER
Former Newsnight host Jeremy Paxman revealed his Parkinson’s diagnosis last year. He’s now made a show about the impact the condition has had on him – and will likely have on the one in 37 people in the UK who are expected to be diagnosed with it. Jeremy meets the President of Parkinson’s UK and attends a therapy dance class – although he’s at his best when he’s in full journalist mode, busting myths and confirming truths surrounding the debilitating disease.
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