A Thousand Blows, Disney+, from Feb

You know you’re in for a treat with Peaky Blinders‘ Steven Knight at the helm, but throw in Stephen Graham (whose acting talent knows no bounds), Erin Doherty and Malachi Kirby and you’re onto a certifiable knockout of a watch! Set in London during the 1880s, A Thousand Blows centres on two best friends who find themselves thrust into the brutal underworld of illegal boxing (yikes). Caught between an all-female, pick-pocketing gang, and a notorious boxer and criminal kingpin, it’s a fight for survival in every sense of the word. Gritty, tense and unbelievably compulsive (if a bit violent) viewing.

Miss Austen, BBC One, from Feb

Here’s something for the period drama gals and fans of a certain Miss Austen; a sterling four-parter to honour the author’s 250th birthday this year. Set after Austen’s death, this witty, heart-breaker explores the bond she had with her sister, Cassandra – yes she of letter burning infamy. Written by Andrea Gibb, based on Gill Hornby’s best-selling novel and starring Keeley Hawes, Rose Leslie, Synnove Karlsen, Patsy Ferran, Phyllis Logan and Max Irons, this lavish series is quite the birthday pressie indeed.

Playdate, Disney+, TBC

Adapted from Alex Dahl’s bestselling novel of the same name, Playdate sees every parent’s worst nightmare come to life when a child is abducted from a sleepover. Yep, dark and terrifying stuff but with Denise Gough, Holliday Grainger, Ambika Mod, Jim Sturgess, Bronagh Waugh and Michael Workeye starring, we’ll grin and bear it, and probably love it!

Dope Girls, BBC, TBC

Dubbed the female Peaky Blinders, our hopes could not be higher for Dope Girls, a gritty, historical drama brought to you by the same production company as Industry and I Hate Suzie. Based on Marek Kohn’s book, Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground, the series follows a newly-empowered generation of female gangs responsible for the birth of the modern nightlife industry. Starring Nabhaan Rizwan, Fiona Button, Eliza Scanlen, Dustin Demri-Burns, Geraldine James and Julianne Nicholson, this looks an absolute riot!

1944, Paramount+, TBC

Taylor Sheridan’s original Yellowstone may have ended, but the prequels show no sign of slowing down with 1944 marking the third to be released. It will join 1883 and 1923, and will explore what the Dutton dynasty were up to during the 1940s. Though at present details are scarce, we imagine America’s involvement in World War II will play a big role in the narrative. Cast wise all we have heard is it will be the strangest yet. Curious.

The Studio, Apple TV+, Wed 26 Mar

Cor blimey! If this trailer is anything to go by, Seth Rogan’s latest comedy will be a total smash. He plays a newly appointed studio exec staring the imminent demise of his industry in the face (expectation is it’s funnier than it sounds!). Featuring a cracking core cast which includes Catherine O’Hara and Katherine Hahn, as well as too many cameos to count (we see you Charlize Theron, Zoë Kravitz, Olivia Wilde, Zac Efron, Martin Scorsese and Brian Cranston), we’ll race you To The Studio.

Adolescence, Netflix, TBC

We’ve said it time and again, if Stephen Graham is in it, we’re watching! In Adolescence he’s teamed up with Top Boy Ashley Walters (above), and writer Jack Thorne, for this atmospheric, psychological drama which explores the fallout when a teenage boy is arrested for the murder of a fellow student. Like Graham’s Boiling Point, each episode is filmed in one continuous shot offering an unflinching look into those directly affected by the tragic events. Wowza.

What It Feels Like For A Girl, BBC, TBC

For the heady nostalgia of Y2K we’re eagerly awaiting What It Feels Like For A Girl, an upcoming BBC adaptation of Paris Lees electrifying memoir. It follows Byron, a teenager stuck in a small postindustrial town who yearns for more, finding it in Nottingham’s, seedy, drug-fuelled club scene of the early Noughties. With Lees writing and producing and Back to Life‘s Chris Sweeney on directing duties, this should be blimmin’ fantastic.

Haven, Prime Video, TBC

We’re loving Sophie Turner’s screen queen renaissance. Last year we were treated to her Eighties fashion as a jewellery thief in Joan (above) and now a new heist thriller, Haven (working title apparently) is in the works where she will play a pension fund investor caught up in the UK’s biggest robbery. Ouch. Details are scarce but we’re super excited already about this and her alleged star turn as Lara Croft in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s long-awaited Tomb Raider series, also in the works. Exciting times ahead.

Prime Target, Apple TV+, Wed 22 Jan

Leo Woodall (now we have your attention), cuts his action movie teeth in this slick thriller, offering a nice change of pace from his previous lead, love interest roles. In Prime Target he plays a maths whizz on the verge of a huge breakthrough that could unwittingly put the kibosh on global security systems. Naturally this is of interest to many self-serving parties resulting in a dangerous game of cat and mouse. Gripping stuff.

This City Is Ours, BBC, TBC

This crime drama from writer Stephen Butchard is already being touted as “epic” and with Sean Bean cast in the lead role we’re inclined to agree! This City Is Ours tells the story of Michael (Bean), an organised criminal and gang leader, who falls in love which finally gives him something good to live for. Joining Bean is James Nelson-Joyce, Hannah Onslow, Jack McMullen, Julie Graham and Saoirse-Monica Jackson. Sounds tip top to us.

The Residence, Netflix, Thu 20 Mar

Though it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting our bustles jostled with a new season of Bridgerton anytime soon (sob) Shonda Rhimes has been busy working on more telly gold in the form of The Residence. Dubbed a screwball, crime comedy caper, it sees Uzo Aduba’s eccentric detective, Cordelia Cupp, investigate a murder at the White House. With a cracking supporting cast – Randall Park, Giancarlo Esposito, Al Franken and Edwina Findley – and said to have drawn inspiration from the Audrey Hepburn and Carey Grant classic, Charade, it sounds an absolute hoot.

Trespasses, Channel 4, TBC

Another exciting book adaptation to look forward to, Louise Kennedy’s 2022 debut novel, Trespasses. Published to high acclaim it tells the story of a dangerous affair between a Protestant and a Catholic set against the backdrop of the Troubles. Adapted for screen by Bad Sisters‘ Ailbhe Keogan, produced by BAFTA award-winning and double Oscar-nominated Wildgaze Films (Brooklyn, An Education) and starring Gillian Anderson, Tom Cullen and Lola Petticrew – we’re sold!

Your Friends and Neighbours, Apple TV+, Fri 11 Apr

Prepare to swoon as Jon Hamm is channelling some serious Don Draper energy in glossy, con-man thriller, Your Friends and Neighbours. He plays Andrew “Coop” Cooper, a hedge fund manager fired in disgrace and drowning in bills and alimony. His solution? Steal from all his old banking bros and fellow country club members – what could go wrong? The fact this has already been renewed for a second season is only a good sign.

Get Millie Black, Channel 4, TBC

Marlon James’ whodunnit, Get Millie Black, is already a hit across the pond and has totted up a 100% Rotten Toms rating so we’re eagerly awaiting its release over here. After being forced out of Scotland Yard, Detective Mille Black (Tamara Lawrence), returns home to Jamaica only to become embroiled in a missing person case which forces her to confront her tumultuous past. Gulp. Gershwyn Eustache Jnr, Joe Dempsie, Chyna McQueen and Nestor Aaron Absera complete the cast.

Too Much, Netflix TBC

Where are the Girls fans at? Lena Dunham has *finally* penned another series and it sounds brilliant! A rom-com about an American woman (Megan Stalter) who, post-break-up, moves to London to start over, and it’s here she meets Felix (Will Sharpe) who has been described as a Rhys Ifans type from Notting Hill (ahhhh-mazing). If that wasn’t enough, Richard E Grant, Emily Ratajkowski, Andrew Rannells, Stephen Fry, Rita Wilson and Adwoa Aboah all star.

Government Cheese, Apple TV+, Wed 16 Apr

There’s lots of excited chatter about David Oyelowo’s surrealist comedy Government Cheese – Muddy included! It follows Hampton Chambers (Olelowo) who returns home from prison to find his family – wife Astoria (Simone Missick) and kids Harrison (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) and Einstein (Evan Ellison) – completely unrecognisable. The first look snaps show one of the sons pole vaulting in the garden which can only mean one thing – bring on the weirdness!

Riot Women, BBC, TBC

Telly dream incoming! Screenwriting queen, Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack), and a gang of Brit acting legends (Lorraine Ashbourne, Joanna Scanlan, Anne Reid, Sue Johnston, Tamsin Greig) coming together for this drama about five middle-aged women who form a punk band to air their grievances. We have no notes.

House of Guinness, Netflix, TBC

Fancy a deep dive into the Guinness dynasty, the drama, backstabbing, money grabbing, entitlement and all? Only if Stephen Knight creates and James Norton, Jack Gleeson, Niamh McCormack, Anthony Boyle, Emily Fairn, Fionn O’Shea and Dervla Kirwan star. Your wish is our command! Set in Ireland and New York, we’re expecting great things from the House of Guinness.

David Attenborough: Ocean, Disney+, TBC

As long as Sir David Attenborough keeps making nature docs, we’ll keep watching. In his latest, Ocean, the nation’s naturalist takes us on a journey though the most spectacular underwater habitats revealing both the dire states of our oceans and the opportunities we have for marine life to recover to a scale no one alive today, has ever seen before. Dramatic, cinematic while remaining hopeful.

Department Q, Netflix, TBC

Scandi crime fans will want to add Department Q to their watchlists lickety-split. Based on Jussi Adler-Olsen’s book series of the same name, it follows a “brilliant but impossible” cold case detective (Matthew Goode) and his therapist (the amazing Kelly Macdonald). Set in Edinburgh and also starring  Chloe Pirrie, Alexej Manvelov and Leah Byrne. Oh, and it’s made by the creators of The Queen’s Gambit – that’s it, we’re locked in.

Zero Day, Netflix, Thu 20 Feb

Zero Day is a glossy, fast-paced, high-energy political conspiracy thriller about a catastrophic cyberattack, exciting non? If the sound of that doesn’t get your motor running, maybe the dazzling case will – hello Dan Stevens, Angela Bassett, Jesse Plemons, Gaby Hoffmann, Lizzy Caplan and Robert De Niro. Talk about high hopes.

First Day on Earth, BBC One, TBC

We’ve been waiting impatiently since 2020’s I May Destroy You for Michaela Coel to pen our next binge watch and this year we’ll get it! Coel will also take the lead in First Day on Earth as Henri, a British novelist, who moves to Ghana to reconnect with her estranged father, and has described the plot as a “wild odyssey”. To make matters even more exciting, Succession‘s Jesse Armstrong is on executive producing duties. Eek.

Half Man, BBC, TBC

After Baby Reindeer blew our socks off, we expected to be waiting ages for Richard Gadd’s next project but cue excited clapping as he’ll be returning to our screens much sooner than anticipated with Half Man. Another hard-hitting drama which tracks the relationship between two estranged brothers over the course of forty years. Gadd will play one of the brothers and Jamie Bell will play the other. Ahhh-mazing. 

The Death of Bunny Munro, Sky, TBC

Nick Cave’s Noughties novel, The Death of Bunny Munro, has been adapted for telly by none other than Pete Jackson who was behind the astonishing Somewhere Boy, so excitement levels are high for this. Throw in Matt Smith as the titular Bunny – a door-to-door salesman, self-professed lothario with a sex addiction – and we’re watching with bells on.

---

THE BIG RETURNS…

The White Lotus, Sky Atlantic, Mon 17 Feb

Mike White’s satirical tour de force, The White Lotus, returns early 2025 with a swanky new resort, this time in Thailand, and with an enticing new cast – hello Aimee Lou Wood, Walton Goggins, Carrie Coon, Jason Isaacs, Michelle Monaghan and Patrick “just as ripped as his dad” Schwarzenegger. Though Jennifer Coolidge will not be returning (sob) this season looks set to be darker, steamier and funnier than ever. Here’s everything else we know about season three so far.

Stranger Things, Netflix, TBC

Arguably the show which put Netflix on the map, made stars out of Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaten et al, rekindled our love for Winona Ryder and made Gen Z aware of the icon Kate Bush – we have a lot to thank Stranger Things for. 2025 marks the thrilling conclusion of the supernatural drama. As it closed in 2022, the dam between the Upside Down and the real world had been broken, so we’re anticipating a battle of epic proportions, said with a heavy heart as surely not all our favourite characters will survive. Gulp.

Euphoria, Sky Atlantic, TBC

The production of Sam Levinson’s neon-soaked, ridiculously addictive, teen drama, Euphoria, has had more drama attached to it than the plot itself! It can’t be helped when your cast’s careers have blown up since season two wrapped in 2022. But, 2025 *should* mark the year we finally see Zendaya, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Hunter Schafer, Colman Domingo, Maude Apatow, Alexa Demie, Storm Reid et al resume their roles. Fingers crossed everyone.

Wednesday, Netflix, TBC

Jenna Ortega continues her goth era as Wednesday Addams in Tim Burton’s Netflix serial which returns this year we’re assuming somewhere around spooky season. Details are few and far between at present however cast favourites Emma Myers, Joy Sunday, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán are set to return alongside a new and star-spangled support courtesy of Billie Piper, Steve Buscemi, Joanna Lumley, Thandie Newton, and Haley Joel Osment. Other than that we are told to expect Wednesday’s journey at Nevermore Academy to become darker, kookier and more complex than ever.

The Night Manager, BBC, TBC

It’s been a loooong eight years since the John le Carré adaptation stole our hearts (or rather, Tom Hiddleston did) but last year we had the great news that season two and three of The Night Manager had been green lit, and 2025 marks the year we’ll finally get to see it. Eek. Details are scarce, but Hiddleston and Olivia Colman have both been confirmed as returning, while Alistair Petrie, Douglas Hodge, Michael Nardone and Noah Jupe are also among the cast. Here’s what else we know so far.

Black Mirror, Netflix, TBC

This year also sees the return of Black Mirror. Yes it’s in it’s seventh season, and, yep, Charlie Brooker’s dark dystopian anthology never fails to scare us silly, but while the cast is this good – Paul Giamatti, Rashida Jones, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Harriet Walter and Chris O’Dowd – we’ll keep watching.

The Last of Us, Sky, from April

The first season of The Last of Us made us give a hoot about video game adaptations (and Pedro Pascal) so we’re super excited that the wait for season two is soon to be over. We return to the post-apocalyptic world, where a fungal infection and its zombie-like hosts have wiped out the population, five years after the first season to find Ellie (Bella Ramsay) and Joel (Pascal) in conflict with one another while the world continues to be a perilous place. Gulp.

Gen V, Prime Video, TBC

As The Boys fans wait patiently for the fifth and final season, they still have something else to look forward to in the meantime – the second season of spin-off Gen V. The popular, alternative superhero series has had a bumpy road, mainly the tragic death of cast member Chance Perdomo, but they have persevered and we shouldn’t have too long to wait for its return. Picking up right after season one’s cliffhanger we’re told to expect a complete evolution for the show, divided loyalties and more cameos from The Boys. Hurrah!

Want more, more, more? Here’s the movies we’re most excited about for 2025