Iris is another thriller from Neil Cross, who created the gritty, London-set Luther, starring Idris Elba as the titular maverick detective. The series won the Drama Series award at the RTS Programme Awards in 2012, and Elba the Actor – Male award in 2014.

This time around, Cross is setting his story in sunny Sardinia. A genius and drifter called Iris Nixon (Algar), as enigmatic as she sounds, flags harmful content on social media for a living. But she lives for puzzles.

The Daleks - Doctor Who

You look at the Daleks and you think: letterboxes, they're just gliding letterboxes.

Because the Night follows Nathan, a happily married man who’s well-meaning demeanour hides a terrible secret that if revealed will ruin his new life.

After spending a decade covering up his past, Nathan encounters Bob, an old face from his past, who comes to Nathan’s doorstep with shocking news that will risk exposing the skeletons in his closet.

“It’s one of my favourite stories: a tale of psychological suspense, of guilt and ghosts and murder,” said Cross.

“Our job is to make viewers want to sleep with the lights on.”

Luther

BBC One, 9.00pm

Crime drama Luther makes a thrilling return on New Year’s Day.

Opening with protagonist DCI John Luther tied to a chair, having been tasered and tortured, the detective must quickly recover to bring a psycho-sexual killer to justice.

The Luther star joins forces with Bill Bailey who plays his best friend in the programme.

The show is the latest in a line of British comedies for Sky 1 which also includes The Reluctant Landlord from Romesh Ranganathan, and Sick of It from Karl Pilkington, best known for Sky programme An Idiot Abroad.

The series of commissions is part of Sky’s effort to corner the market on daring, late night, grown up comedy programmes, to air in the 10pm slot on Sky 1.

The multi-award winning drama will return to BBC One, with Idris Elba reprising his role as DCI John Luther.

Details of the latest series are being kept under wraps, but there's no doubt that it will be full of scary surprises.

Writer Neil Cross said: "It can't be over, can it? There's so much we don't know. So much unfinished business. The thing is, we've been asking ourselves the same question. I'm scared of the monsters. The face at the window. The hand under the bed. The shadow at the end of the street. Who's going to stop them, if not John Luther?"

Played by Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock has been named the favourite BBC TV character by a third of TV viewers surveyed.

The research was conducted in the lead up to BBC Worldwide Showcase. Over 7000 people aged 18 to 64 from Australia, France, USA, Germany, India, Japan and Mexico were asked to take part in the survey, which identified the most popular BBC TV character and most memorable scene from BBC television.

Jim Sturgess (One Day) and Agyness Deyn (Clash of the Titans) will star in the pre-apocalyptic drama from Luther creator Neil Cross.

The six-part series follows detectives Elaine Renko and Robert Hinks as they attempt to keep order and protect their families as the apocalypse approaches.

They must work together if they are to survive the end of the world, however the two detectives could not be more different: one is kind, gentle and corrupt, the other damaged, difficult and incorruptible.

The Write To Green Light competition aims to develop a major new television series from the winning entry.

The competition is being run in conjunction with Lionsgate UK & Europe and seeks to address a “huge shortage of undiscovered television writing talent”, said Lionsgate UK & Europe CEO Zygi Kamasa.

The nominations contain around 50 nods for British television shows, actors, writers and directors.

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys was nominated for Best Lead Actor in a drama for his role in US spy drama The Americans, while Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba are all vying for Lead Actor in a limited series for BBC shows Sherlock: the Abominable Bride, The Night Manager and Luther respectively.