With the summer sunshine fading in the rear-view mirror of autumn, one silver lining is that the broadcasters and streamers really up their game at this time of the year. With darker evenings and dreary weekends ahead, we are looking for some seriously good small-screen entertainment — and luckily there’s plenty to choose from in 2025.
Our critics have combed the upcoming schedules for the best new and returning shows that we think you should look out for in the coming months. From the final chapter of the Stranger Things story to Sally Wainwright’s new female-led drama Riot Women about a punk rock band and The Celebrity Traitors to the return of Alan Partridge, there’s something for every taste.
What are you looking forward to watching this autumn? Let us know in the comments below…
• Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews
The Morning Show — September 17, Apple TV+
One of Apple’s flagship dramas returns for a fourth season with Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston joined by series newbies including The Good Place’s William Jackson Harper as the head of sport and Jeremy Irons as Alex’s father. We left the newsroom drama with things still very tense after the big merger and Bradley in serious trouble after lying to protect her brother. Catch up quick if you’ve not seen the show before.
Read our review of season three
Black Rabbit — September 18, Netflix
Black Rabbit with Jason Bateman as Vince and Jude Law as Jake
COURTESY OF NETFLIX
Jason Bateman and Jude Law star as brothers in this thrilling drama about the New York City nightlife scene. Jake Friedkin (Law) is the charismatic and cool owner of the Black Rabbit, a restaurant and VIP lounge in the Big Apple, poised to become one of the hottest places in the city, whose life is upended when his brother Vince (Bateman) returns. Do business, family and hospitality business mix? Viewers of The Bear can probably guess what’s coming next…
Slow Horses — September 24, Apple TV+
Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman reprise their roles for series 5 of Slow Horses
The fast release schedule of Apple’s sublime spy drama shows no sign of slowing down as the fifth series since 2022 arrives on our screens, with series six already filmed. The latest run is based on Mick Herron’s novel London Rules and promises to see a return of the main cast, including Gary Oldman as the brilliantly slobbish Jackson Lamb. “In season five of Slow Horses, everyone is suspicious when resident tech nerd Roddy Ho has a glamorous new girlfriend. When a series of increasingly bizarre events occur across the city, it falls to the Slow Horses to work out how everything is connected,” the teaser to the show says.
Read our review of season four
House of Guinness — September 25, Netflix
Louis Partridge pouring a perfect pint in House of Guinness
BEN BLACKALL/NETFLIX
Fans of Succession will be eager to dive into this gripping new drama from Steven Knight, the mastermind behind Peaky Blinders. This time Knight trades Birmingham’s smoky streets for Dublin’s frothy pints. Set in the 1860s, the series delves into the turbulent early days of the Guinness dynasty, beginning with the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man who turned beer into a global empire. His demise triggers a battle of wills as his four adult children wrestle with the fortune, the brewery and each other. Starring James Norton and Louis Partridge, this promises to be as rich, dark and dramatic as a freshly poured pint.
• Who’s who in the modern House of Guinness?
Riot Women — October, BBC1
Lorraine Ashbourne, Rosalie Craig and Tamsin Greig in Riot Women
HELEN WILLIAMS/BBC/DRAMA REPUBLIC
The Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright is back with another drama featuring a cast of strong female characters. Following the fortunes of five women juggling family life, jobs and absent husbands, the six-part show featuring Joanna Scanlan and Tamsin Greig among an ensemble cast explores friendship, music and resilience as the women start a punk rock band as an outlet for their frustrations. Is the music enough to keep the band together when secrets of the past come knocking?
The Celebrity Traitors — October, BBC1
Claudia Winkelman welcomes another bunch of Traitors
BBC
Cue the dramatic music and Claudia Winkleman — we’re heading back to Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands for a star-studded edition of the hit game of deception and betrayal. This time 19 celebrities will go head-to-head in a high-stakes battle to outwit and outlast, all in the name of charity, with £100,000 on the line for a cause of their choice. Among the players are the actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, the Olympic champion Tom Daley, the TV presenter Jonathan Ross and the acclaimed actress Celia Imrie. The question is: when the contestants know each other, does it make spotting a traitor easier — or does it deepen the deception?
How Are You? It’s Alan Partridge’s — October, BBC1
It’s been a long four years for Partridge fans since the second series of the One Show spoof This Time aired on BBC1 — having to survive on just books and podcasts. But this autumn Steve Coogan’s bumbling broadcaster is back for a new six-part series exploring the characters’ reintegration into British society after spending a year living and working in Saudi Arabia. Lovely stuff.
The Iris Affair — expected October, Sky Atlantic
Tom Hollander as Cameron and Niamh Algar as Iris in The Iris Affair
SKY UK
Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander star in this tense chase thriller that pits two brilliant minds against each other in a deadly game of hide and seek that sees them travel across Italy in pursuit of top secret technology. Created by Neil Cross, the mastermind behind Luther, this high-octane drama set against the beautiful backdrop of Italian cities and the countryside looks likely to deliver an autumn shot in the arm for television thrill-seekers.
Film Club — expected October, BBC1
Film Club with Nabhaan Rizwan and Aimee Lou Wood
BBC/GAUMONT/BEN BLACKALL
Fresh off her standout performance in The White Lotus, Aimee Lou Wood makes her screenwriting debut alongside Ralph Davis with this romantic comedy-drama film. Lou Wood plays Evie, a young woman who finds solace in a weekly film club she shares with her best friend, Noa, played by Nabhaan Rizwan. But when Noa is offered a dream job on the other side of the country, their routine and close-knit bond are thrown into turmoil.
• Aimee Lou Wood: ‘Everyone lost their marbles on The White Lotus’
Squid Game: The Challenge — November 4, Netflix
The hit South Korean drama series may have ended, but the drama lives on — with real people. The second series of the reality show will once again feature 456 contestants taking in various challenges in an attempt to win $4.56 million. While Netflix has yet to confirm the full line-up of games, a teaser trailer revealed that contestants will take on Gonggi, a traditional Korean game involving the throwing and catching of small stones — which also appeared in the second season of the original drama.
Read our review of season one
Landman — November 16, Paramount+
Billy Bob Thornton as Tommy Norris in Landman
EMERSON MILLER/PARAMOUNT+/AP
Billy Bob Thornton steals the show as a tough, gruff but deeply flawed oil landman/fixer working between the wildcat billionaires, his complex family and the roughneck men who play the dangerous game of getting the black gold out of the ground. From the Taylor Sheridan Yellowstone universe, the first series — which also featured Jon Hamm, Ali Larter and Michelle Randolph — didn’t get the attention it deserved in the UK, so if you are new to the show, catch up before the glossy drama returns.
Read our review of season one
The Beatles Anthology — November 26, Disney+
Thirty years after George, Paul and Ringo collaborated on the definitive screen history of the Fab Four and released new music alongside three double albums of rare and unheard content, the Anthology arrives in the streaming age. Remastered by Peter Jackson (who made the excellent 2021 Get Back documentary) along with Giles Martin, who remixed much of the music, the glossy reissue will also feature a new ninth episode with previously unseen footage of the remaining Beatles coming together between 1994 and 1995 to make the original Anthology.
• Read more TV reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews
Stranger Things — November 26, December 25 and 31, Netflix
The end is nigh for Netflix’s global hit sci-fi, but the streamer is in no rush to reveal just how the epic battle between good and evil will resolve in Hawkins as the final chapter is split across three parts and over a month. We’re expecting a deeply emotional and scary journey as the nine-year-long screen odyssey concludes and Vecna and the kids (now mostly twentysomethings or older) face off for the last time.
Read our review of season four
Trespasses — expected November, Channel 4
Based on Louise Kennedy’s debut novel of the same name, Channel 4 brings alive the story of forbidden love set against the dark backdrop of the Troubles in Belfast in the Seventies. The drama stars Lola Petticrew as Cushla, a younger woman from the Catholic community who has an affair with Michael (Tom Cullen), an older Protestant married barrister who is known for defending IRA suspects. There’s also a star turn from Gillian Anderson to look forward to.
Frauds — expected November, ITV
Jodie Whittaker as Sam and Suranne Jones as Bert in Frauds
ITV
There’s nothing quite like a high-stakes heist drama, especially when the thieves have unfinished business. Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker star as a fractured fraudster duo who reunite in Spain after a decade apart for one final, daring job: a million-pound art heist. However, with a toxic relationship, the real challenge might be surviving each other long enough to make it work.
The Death of Bunny Munro — expected November, Sky Atlantic
Based on the 2009 novel by Nick Cave, this series stars Matt Smith as the titular Bunny Munro, a misogynistic middle-aged salesman who takes his son on a road trip around Sussex after the death of his wife by suicide. It also so happens that there’s a serial killer on the loose at the same time. A dark comedy drama with plenty of unexpected twists and turns, the series also features Sarah Greene, Robert Glenister, David Threlfall and Lindsay Duncan.
All Her Fault — expected late 2025, Sky Atlantic
Dakota Fanning as Jenny and Sarah Snook as Marissa Irvine in All Her Fault
PEACOCK
It’s every parent’s worst nightmare: you arrive to collect your son from a playdate, only to find a stranger at the door and your child missing. That chilling premise lies at the heart of this gripping drama, based on the bestselling novel by Andrea Mara. Starring Succession’s Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning, the story unravels in an affluent community where a single disappearance sends shockwaves through the neighbourhood. As panic sets in, blame spirals, gossip spreads and the veneer of suburban security begins to crack.
Lynley — expected late 2025, BBC1
Leo Suter as DI Lynley and Sofia Barclay as DS Barbara Havers
JONATHAN HESSION/BBC
Remember The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, the beloved BBC series based on Elizabeth George’s novels and starring Nathaniel Parker? Well, it’s getting a fresh reboot — this time with theVikings star Leo Suter stepping into the role of the aristocratic detective who often finds himself at odds with his working-class colleagues. Teaming up with the no-nonsense Barbara Havers, played by Sofia Barclay, this unlikely duo must put aside their differences to crack the toughest cases. It’s the kind of show that you will start casually and then find yourself bingeing like you too have a murder to solve.
The Ridge — expected late 2025, BBC iPlayer
Starring Karen Pirie’s Lauren Lyle as Mia, a Scottish doctor who travels to her estranged sister’s wedding in New Zealand only to find she is dead, this new psychological thriller is a co-production between BBC Scotland and Sky in New Zealand. Drawn into a small community filled with tension and dark secrets, Mia finds herself grief-stricken and drawn into a dark attraction to her dead sister’s fiancé, Ewan. Expect tension and misdirection with a beautiful backdrop across six exhilarating episodes.
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