It’s officially the New-ish Year. You’re not sure whether to stop starting emails with ‘Hope you had a nice Christmas!’, your resolutions for 2025 are in tatters and you’re probably still digesting cheese. Not to worry: here’s some of the best TV from the first few months of the year.
Severance
Apple TV+
17 January
The surreal world of Lumon Industries opens its doors once more, before very quickly closing them again, blocking out your memories of the outside world, and denying the doors were ever there to begin with. Following? No? Good.
The mind-bending science fiction show follows a group of employees whose minds inside and outside the office are kept separate. As such, they live two lives: they are both ‘outies’, or people that have no memory of work, and ‘innies’, doomed to devote every waking moment to labour. Adam Scott (Parks and Recreation) continues to star as the show goes further down the rabbit hole in series two, after series one’s bombshell cliffhanger ending.
The White Lotus
Sky Atlantic/NOW
16 February
Get ready for more 1%-ers behaving badly, this time in Thailand.
Although Tanya (played by the iconic Jennifer Coolidge) may have died in series two, this trip to a White Lotus resort will see the return of another fan favourite. Belinda (Natasha Rothwell, How to Die Alone) will be making her comeback, to the delight of fans and aspiring wellness business owners everywhere.
The first series of the anthology show centred around money, and the second around sex, according to creator Mike White. Speaking after the series two finale aired, he hinted that this series will explore Eastern religion, and death. Nice and cheery then.
Zero Day
Netflix
20 February
“The truth is the truth. But it’s not always the most important thing.”
Robert De Niro (Heats) leads this political conspiracy thriller about a cyber-attack that kills thousands. In the aftermath, ex-President George Mullen (De Niro) is brought in by Washington to head up the Zero Day Commission and hunt down the truth, wherever that leads. He’ll quickly find himself dealing with the underbelly of politics, Wall Street and the tech sector.
A Thousand Blows
Disney+
21 February
If you can’t wait until the Peaky Blinders film (filming was confirmed to have wrapped last month), creator Steven Knight has a new show to tide you over.
A Thousand Blows follows the whirlwind underground boxing scene of Victorian London. Stephen Graham (Boiling Point) appears as Sugar Goodson, an experienced boxer who finds himself in competition with new boy Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby, Small Axe). Erin Doherty (The Crown) also appears as Mary Carr, leader of all-female gang The Forty Elephants.
Miss Austen
BBC One and iPlayer
Reportedly out in February, this drama will look at the life and family of Jane Austen, 250 years after her birth.
This four-part series will adapt the Gill Hornby novel of the same name, which itself looked at why Jane’s letters were burned by her sister, Cassandra. Opening in 1830, after Jane’s death, Keeley Hawes (Bodyguard) stars as Cassanda. Patsy Ferran (Living) appears as a younger Jane in flashback, with Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones) rounding out the cast.
The Studio
Apple TV+
26 March
“I got into this because I love movies, but now I have this fear that my job is to ruin them.”
Seth Rogen (Freaks and Geeks) stars as Matt Remick, the head of a film studio who has to fight to keep movies relevant, and critically acclaimed, and also box office hits. Basically, his job is to save cinema. No pressure.
Along for the ride are his perpetually stressed team, neurotic actors and even more neurotic executives.
The Last of Us
Sky Atlantic/NOW
April
The zombie apocalypse returns. At the end of series one, Joel (Pedro Pascal, The Mandalorian) lied to Ellie (Bella Ramsey, Game of Thrones) about saving her life at the expense of developing a vaccine that could have saved humanity. Now, Abby (Kaitlyn Dever, Dopesick) – the daughter of one of the people he killed – is out for revenge. Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight) also joins the show as Dina, who was Ellie’s partner in the video game The Last of Us Part II.
Brian and Maggie
Channel 4
Steve Coogan (The Reckoning) goes head-to-head with formidable Succession matriarch Harriet Walter in this two-part drama.
Coogan plays broadcaster Brian Walden, who interviews Walter’s Margaret Thatcher at the tail end of her political career. Walden was renowned as a tough interviewer, making him a worthy opponent to the equally robust Iron Lady. An unlikely friendship developed, which was ruined by this 1989 interview. After Thatcher left the television studio, the two reportedly never spoke again.
