Best new TV shows of 2024: 24 series to look forward to

There's Michael Sheen's The Way, Apple TV+ war epic Masters of the Air and Channel 4's Alice & Jack – and that's not to mention the returns of Doctor Who, House of the Dragon and Strictly Come Dancing.

Read on for our list of 24 series to look forward to in 2024, and find the full list of 65 programmes in this week's issue of Radio Times magazine.

1. The Way

BBC One, February

Co-written, directed and starring Michael Sheen, this three-part drama brings together Wales’s finest acting talent in a political thriller that follows the Driscoll family who have to escape their small town following a civil uprising, while pursued by a mercenary played by Luke Evans. - Alexia Skinitis

2. This Town

BBC One, Spring

From Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, starring Michelle Dockery, and filmed in Birmingham and at Knight’s new Digbeth Loc Film and TV Studios. In 1981, a group of young people pursue their dream of making music during chaotic and violent times. - Laura Rutkowski

3. Nightsleeper

BBC One, later this year

All aboard for this real-time thriller, which takes place on a Glasgow to London sleeper train that’s hacked. As a government agency tries to intervene, things on board start to escalate. Can two strangers (Alexandra Roach and Joe Cole), one on the train and one not, help each other reach their final destination unscathed? - Laura Rutkowski

4. The Jetty

BBC One, later this year

All good crime thrillers need a character with a murky past. In this four-parter, it’s Jenna Coleman’s Detective Ember Manning, who investigates a fire that destroyed a holiday home in Lancashire — but the case becomes a lot more complex as she digs into it. - Laura Rutkowski

5. Breathtaking

ITV1, coming soon

Rachel Clarke penned the memoir this series is based on about her life as an NHS doctor during the Covid pandemic. Jed Mercurio and Prasanna Puwanarajah bring it to the screen with Joanne Froggatt in the lead. - Laura Rutkowski

6. Masters of the Air

Apple TV+, 26th January

This much-anticipated Second World War drama comes from Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the executive producers behind Band of Brothers. The cast is similarly starry, with Callum Turner and Austin Butler, Rafferty Law, Barry Keoghan, Ncuti Gatwa and Spielberg’s son Sawyer Spielberg appearing in the adaptation of Donald L Miller’s book about the men of the 100th Bomb Group who were based in Norfolk and who conducted bombing raids over Nazi Germany. - Laura Rutkowski

7. One Day

Netflix, 8th February

David Nicholls’s 2009 novel comes to TV. It follows the sprawling 18-year friendship between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew (Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall) and their will-they, won’t-they love story that revolves around them meeting up every year on 15 July. - Laura Rutkowski

8. Playing Nice

ITV1, later this year

James Norton, Niamh Algar, James McArdle and Jessica Brown Findlay star as two couples who discover that their children were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up. But giving up the toddler “sons” they’ve raised and loved might not be the easiest option. - Laura Rutkowski

9. Out There

ITV1, later this year

A dark new drama starring Martin Clunes. When county lines drug dealers come to the British countryside, a farmer’s livelihood, as well as the land he loves, is jeopardised. - Laura Rutkowski

10. Alice & Jack

Channel 4, coming soon

A romantic drama starring Domhnall Gleeson and Andrea Riseborough as the titular characters. When Jack meets Alice they form an instant connection, but the course of true love never did run smooth... But, as Glesson says, "The only work I’ve wanted to watch and do since the pandemic is about connection and love, with a sense of humour." - Laura Rutkowski

11. The Gentlemen

Netflix, March

Guy Ritchie is the creator, co-writer and director of the first two episodes in this spin-off from his 2020 crime caper. Theo James (The White Lotus) leads the cast, which also features Vinnie Jones.- Laura Rutkowski

12. The Regime

Sky Atlantic, later this year

From the executive producers of Succession and directed by Stephen Frears and Jessica Hobbs comes The Regime. Kate Winslet plays the Chancellor, the dictator of a fictional European country, and stars alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton and Hugh Grant. - Laura Rutkowski

13. Ripley

Netflix, later this year

Andrew Scott plays the lead character in this series based on Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels. Although Matt Damon did a wonderfully creepy job in the film The Talented Mr Ripley, we know that Scott will surely put his own stamp on the charismatic conman. - Laura Rutkowski

14. Black Doves

Netflix, later this year

Helen Webb (Keira Knightley) has been passing on her politician husband’s secrets to an organisation called the Black Doves for ten years. But when her lover is assassinated, her spymaster (Sarah Lancashire) calls upon an old friend (Ben Whishaw) to keep Helen safe. - Laura Rutkowski

15. Renegade Nell

Disney Plus, Spring

Sally Wainwright’s latest series is set in 18th-century England, where Nell Jackson (Louisa Harland) inadvertently becomes the most feared highwaywoman in the country. Then a magical spirit called Billy Blind (Nick Mohammed) appears and helps Nell realise that’s not all she’s destined for. - Laura Rutkowski

16. Rivals

Disney Plus, later this year

Based on Jilly Cooper’s saucy novel, we’re transported to 1980s England, but with a "2020 lens", to look at the cut-throat world of the TV industry. David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Danny Dyer and Emily Atack are a few of the names in the line-up. - Laura Rutkowski

17. A Very Royal Scandal

Prime Video, later this year

The chameleon-like Michael Sheen takes on another role as a real person, this time Prince Andrew. Ruth Wilson co-stars as journalist Emily Maitlis as we follow the lead-up up to her Newsnight interview with the Prince. We’re already sweating. - Laura Rutkowski

18. Doctor Who

BBC One, May

Hot on the heels of their Christmas special, new Doctor Ncuti Gatwa and best pal Ruby (Millie Gibson) are back for eight more adventures. This year, the Doctor will meet the Beatles, battle new monsters and channel Bridgerton in a Regency-style episode. - Huw Fullerton

19. Bridgerton

Netflix, 16th May

Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) aka Lady Whistledown, is no longer pining for Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton), but has decided it’s time to get married... - Laura Rutkowski

20. House of the Dragon

Sky Atlantic, Summer

The Game of Thrones prequel that is (whisper it) better than the original returns, with two rival royal factions starting a bloody civil war. Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Emma D'Arcy are the stars, but you’ll love the impressive CGI dragons. - Huw Fullerton

21. Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough

Sky Nature, Summer

A look at how animals hear and produce sound. We are promised an insight into dolphins’ clicks and whistles, how baby caiman alligators communicate from within the egg, how lions and hyaenas battle in the dark, and how some birds master the art of mimicry. - Sherna Noah

22. Big Mood

Channel 4, coming soon

Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan and It’s a Sin’s Lydia West star in a new sitcom about pals whose relationship is tested by mental illness. - Huw Fullerton

23. The Outlaws

BBC One, later this year

Bristol’s hapless minor criminal gang — including creator Stephen Merchant and Christopher Walken — returns for a third series. - Huw Fullerton

24. Strictly Come Dancing

BBC One, September

Expect the BBC’s flagship show to go all out for its 20th birthday, with Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman at the helm. - Huw Fullerton

You can read the full list in this week's Radio Times magazine. Visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

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