The Last of Us

Sky Atlantic

January

There have been numerous attempts to adapt video games for screens big and small, but so far no runaway successes. HBO and Sky look set to lift the curse, however, with The Last of Us, a series based on Neil Druckmann's zombie apocalypse game that brought to the form such sophisticated storytelling that it bordered on cinema. It's therefore arguably more adaptable than most, and it won't hurt having the multi-award-winning creator of Chernobyl, Craig Mazin, at the helm.

Pedro Pascal stars as the playable protagonist Joel, who takes it upon himself to shepherd Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a teenage girl and fellow survivor, across a brutal, post-pandemic America.

Nolly

ITVX

February

As well as his much celebrated return to Doctor Who ahead of the series' 60th anniversary specials and 14th series this year, Russell T Davies, one of Britain's all-time great TV writers, has penned a love letter to Noele Gordon, one of Britain's all-time great soap matriarchs.

Helena Bonham Carter will star as Nolly in a three-part drama that lovingly recounts her most tumultuous years, including her mysterious sacking from the madcap soap she was the face of: Crossroads.

Big Brother

ITV

March

ITV2's sudden drop of the Big Brother eye and that timeless banger of a theme tune during an ad break for the Love Island final made for one of the TV moments of 2022. It had been five years since Channel 5 axed the series following a ratings slump, but ITV reckon they can revamp and reengage.

It will be interesting to see how it compares. Big Brother undeniably revolutionised reality TV when it first aired—indeed there is no Love Island without it. But in the age of the influencer, it may prove difficult to find the genuine housemates that made the early series so charming, and the social experiment valid.

Succession (S4)

Sky Atlantic

Spring

At once a hilarious satire of the hatefully rich and a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions, Succession has so far served up three series of electrifying TV and shows no signs of letting up.

Last time we checked in with the toxic, Murdoch-ish Roy family and their machinations, their self-described "killer" patriarch Logan double-dealed his way out of yet another threat to him and his media conglomerate Waystar Royco. But although he cut the siblings out of his deal with Gojo, they seem to have settled their differences and formed a "rebel alliance" that might just be powerful enough to bring his reign to an end.

Squid Game: The Challenge

Netflix

A timely reimagining of capitalism as a blood sport, the South Korean drama Squid Game (2021) made for a grisly but gripping series that fast became a word-of-mouth sensation. Most just couldn't help but binge-watch between their fingers as the 456 debtors set out to survive the deadly children's games and take home the 4.6bn won (£28m).

It comes as no surprise, then, that Netflix are expanding the franchise, but by turning it into a reality show they've set an interesting precedent for other series to swap genres. It's an ambitious undertaking: there is the same number of players (the largest cast in reality TV history) and a life-changing cash prize of $4.56m. Although, as many have pointed out, its success may come down to whether it can induce the same sense of jeopardy given the glaring omission of the death risk.

The Gallows Pole

BBC

After perfectly capturing the deprivation of '80s Britain in his This Is England series, Shane Meadows is going back in time to 18th century Yorkshire for a new "anarchic" period drama set against the backdrop of the rapidly advancing industrial revolution.

The Gallows Pole is based on Benjamin Myers' novel of the same name, which tells the remarkable true story of the rise and fall of David Hartley and the Cragg Vale Coiners. Leading the ensemble cast—which should birth some careers, judging by Meadows' track record—are Michael Socha, Tom Burke and George MacKay. Socha will play the enigmatic Hartley, who enlists a gang of weavers and land-workers to help him carry out the biggest fraud in British history.

Frasier

Paramount+

The highly-anticipated sequel to the beloved spin-off farce that followed Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) from Cheers back to his hometown of Seattle where he was pestered in his pad by all of his father, brother, housekeeper and dog. Plot details are scarce besides Grammer's note that Frasier, the psychiatrist-turned-radio host, will be living a "third act" in a new city, and with none of the original cast.

Despite sharing the wit of Seinfeld and the warmth of Friends—and winning more Emmys than both of them put together—for whatever reason, Fraiser hasn't quite had the same staying power. Perhaps the sequel will beam it back into the conversation.

Queenie

Channel 4

Candice Carty-Williams called her debut novel and Book of the Year Queenie "the black Bridget Jones," which sounds like she had at least one eye on a potential screen adaptation. And rightly so—the messy life and times of the titular heroine are ripe for a comedy series.

Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in south London with a lot on her plate. As well as feeling undervalued in her job at a national newspaper, she is reeling from a bad break up which has her seeking comfort in all the wrong places. And all the while, gentrification is chipping away at her home and heritage.

Beef

Netflix

The story goes that three years ago a guy yelled at writer Lee Sung Jin while stuck in traffic, he couldn't let it go, and now he has a show. It's made for an intriguing premise for his debut creation: Beef will follow two people (played by the always stellar Steven Yeun and the hilarious Ali Wong) who become obsessed with a road rage incident to the point where it consumes their every thought and action.

Jin has earned his comedic stripes writing for all of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Silicon Valley and Dave, so Beef should bring the funny.

Best Interests

BBC

"TV has failed disabled people, utterly and totally," declared Jack Thorne in his 2021 MacTaggart Lecture, and ever since he has been busy putting things to right with his pen. First came Help (2021) which focused on the plight of disabled people in care homes during the pandemic, then the inspirational origin story of the Disabled People's Direct Action Network in Then Barbara Met Alan (2022).

Now comes Best Interests, starring Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen as a married couple fighting for their disabled daughter's medical care, which should prove to be another hard-hitting and thought-provoking drama that will keep the light shining on the community and the many interests of theirs we are still yet to serve.

This Town

BBC

Steven Knight, the writer who put Birmingham on the map with Peaky Blinders, is returning to his hometown to tell the 1970s origin story of ska and two-tone music. The six-part series will follow an extended family and four young people who are drawn to the music as they fight to find their own paths in life.

Knight has often spoken about his wish to overcome the "cultural cringe" that pervades the UK and build a mythology around his city. By celebrating a genre that exploded from the grass roots of Coventry and Birmingham and managed to unite black, white and Asian youths, This Town should certainly play a part.

Masters of the Air

Apple TV+

Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' epic Band of Brothers series is widely considered to be one of the greatest depictions of war to ever bombard the screen.

Now, using Donald L. Miller's book Masters of the Air: America's Bomber Boys Who Fought the Air War Against Nazi Germany, the two have reunited to produce another intimate story of—and testament to—a single division, this time of the United States Army Air Forces: the Mighty Eighth. Strap in for another visceral and emotional ride.

Truelove

Channel 4

Rarely is there a comedy that has a core cast in their late 60s and 70s, and quite often any older characters have to resort to being the butt of the joke. Enter Truelove, starring Julie Walters and Clarke Peters in a darkly funny, ageist trope-squashing drama from producer Clerkenwell Films.

Phil (Walters) and Ken (Peters), once teenage sweethearts, meet again many years later at a friend's funeral where they make a drunken pact with their old gang. Rather than letting each other suffer a slow and painful death, they will step in to engineer a dignified death. 

Get Millie Black

Channel 4

Back in 2014, Marlon James won the Booker Prize for his sprawling historical novel A Brief History of Seven Killings, which tells the story of Jamaica over three decades (1970s-1990s) in all its chaos and beauty.

Get Millie Black will mark his TV debut, and sees him return to his homeland for a politically charged contemporary noir that promises to be just as vivid as his fiction. Tamara Lawrance will star as the titular detective, who returns to her Jamaican roots to investigate a missing person's case that begins in downtown Kingston but goes all the way to the top of the post-colonial elite.