Comedy W1A
John Morton’s satirical broadside across the bows of the mother ship BBC returns for a third series
in hysterical form. Hugh Bonneville’s Head of Values, Jason Watkins’ babbling sycophant and Jessica Hynes’ delirious PR nutter combine to ensure nonsense-speak has never been funnier. BBC2, Sept 18
Drama The Child In Time
Ian McEwan’s heartbreaking novel is adapted as feature- length drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch as a children’s author struggling to cope after his young daughter goes missing. His wife (Kelly Macdonald) has left him, and his life slowly unravels. Harrowing ain’t the half of it. BBC1, late Sept
Cillian Murphy in a new series of Peaky Blinders
Comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm
Pret-ty, pret-ty good news that one of the best comedies of all time is returning for its first outing since 2011 with series nine of the undignified antics of Seinfeld creator Larry David. Lauren Graham of Gilmore Girls fame plays Larry’s love interest. Director Jeff Schaffer describes the new series as ‘the Fort Knox of awkward’. Sounds about right. Sky Atlantic, Oct 2
Drama The Last Post
Period drama from Bafta-winning writer Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice, Silk, The Village) based at a British Army unit in Aden in 1965 and starring Jessie Buckley, Jessica Raine and Ben Miles. The sun is going down on the Empire as the army fights a terrorist insurgency and the wives do their best to support their husbands as the emancipation of the era begins to take hold. BBC1, early Oct
Hot on the heels of Planet Earth II comes this seven-part sequel to the 2001 ocean-going natural-history series, presented by Sir David Attenborough
Drama Gunpowder
Game Of Thrones’ Kit Harington stars in a fast-paced period thriller telling the story of the plot to blow up the Houses Of Parliament and assassinate King James I on November 5, 1605. The dramatisation of history’s most infamous (spoiler alert) failed coup also stars Liv Tyler, Peter Mullan and Mark Gatiss. After the success of Tom Hardy’s Taboo, Gunpowder is similarly scheduled for Saturday nights to put a bang in your autumn viewing. BBC1, late Oct/early Nov
Documentary Blue Planet II
Hot on the heels of Planet Earth II comes this seven-part sequel to the 2001 ocean-going natural-history series, presented by Sir David Attenborough. This journey into the unknown depths discovers never before filmed species such as hairy-chested Hoff crabs (yes, named after David Hasselhoff). Look out for new suction cams attached to the backs of some of the largest creatures of the deep. BBC1, Oct/Nov
Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes in W1A
Last Post: Period drama from Bafta-winning writer Peter Moffat (Criminal Justice, Silk, The Village) based at a British Army unit in Aden in 1965 and starring Jessica Raine (pictured)
Crime Peaky Blinders
It’s back to basics for the Shelby gang when they leave their posh country house behind to fight for survival on the mean streets of Small Heath once again as the Brummie crime drama reaches 1926. Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory and all the regulars return, including Tom Hardy as Jewish gang leader Alfie Solomons, while Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and Aidan Gillen (Game Of Thrones) join the cast. BBC2, Nov
Horror The Walking Dead
They’ve made it alive to the 100th episode: Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and survivors prepare for all-out war against the Saviors led by baseball-bat-wielding Negan, who comes out swinging as the post-apocalyptic drama hits season eight. Fox, Oct 23
Crime The Tunnel: Vengeance
The third and final instalment of the cross-Channel thriller reunites unlikely Anglo-French detective duo Karl and Elise (Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy) as Europe is swamped by a refugee crisis, terrorism and the rise of the far Right. Sky Atlantic, Autumn
Larry David returns in Curb Your Enthusiasm
Comedy Bounty Hunters
Action comedy starring Jack Whitehall and Rosie Perez as an unlikely pairing on the run from London to New York and Mexico. Whitehall is in no way typecast as a posh, uptight British antiques dealer who falls in with a New York bounty-hunter on the run from a Mexican cartel. From the team behind Bad Education (Whitehall and Freddie Syborn), this smacks of an attempt to ape James Corden’s 2013 success with comedy The Wrong Mans. Sky1, Autumn
Sci Fi Star Trek: Discovery
More than 50 years since Captain Kirk, Spock and co first boldly went to the final frontier, and 12 years since its last small-screen outing, the franchise lives on with this 15-part series introducing new characters on a new ship with a new captain played by Harry Potter’s Jason Isaacs but, thankfully, still a Klingon or two lurking. Netflix, Sept 25
Horror Lore
Based on the horror podcast of the same name, this six-part anthology series from the producers of The Walking Dead and The X-Files explores the reallife tales behind pop culture’s most legendary myths: expect vampires, changelings, werewolves, séances and possessed dolls. Amazon, Oct 13
Crime Mindhunter
Set in 1979, this chilling psycho-crime drama follows two FBI agents who attempt to get inside the mind of ‘crazy’ by interviewing incarcerated serial killers in a bid to solve grisly ongoing cases. Executive-produced by David Fincher (House Of Cards, Gone Girl) and Charlize Theron. Already renewed for season two. Netflix, Oct 13
Sci Fi Stranger Things 2
Just in time for Halloween, the Eighties-set sci-fi horror returns with Winona Ryder reprising her role as an anxious mother battling mysterious paranormal horrors in a small Indiana town. Season two of the must-binge nostalgia fest, which pays due homage to Stephen King and Spielberg, promises to be a good deal more horror-oriented than season one. Netflix, Oct 27
Game Of Thrones’ Kit Harington stars in a fast-paced period thriller telling the story of the plot to blow up the Houses Of Parliament and assassinate King James I
Western Godless
Steven Soderbergh’s epic seven-part western follows outlaw Jack O’Connell, who is on the run from notorious criminal Jeff Daniels and his nefarious gang. Michelle ‘Downton’ Dockery is a long way from Lady Mary as a gun-toting widow who offers him refuge in the mysteriously matriarchal mining town of La Belle, New Mexico. Netflix, Nov 22