What’s Hot On TV Right Now?
By
6 days ago
The C&TH guide to watercooler chats
Ever find yourself a step behind on the TV chatter drifting between the watercooler, the kettle, or (on a particularly lively day) the office itself? We’ve all been there. But it doesn’t have to be this way: we’ve collected the shows everyone claims to be watching (and the ones genuinely worth your time) right here, perfect for your next cosy night in.
Planning ahead? Here are all the Christmas TV shows you’ll actually want to watch this month.
Buzzy TV Shows To Watch ASAP
Ella Purnell (Lucy MacLean) in Fallout season 2. (Lorenzo Sisti/Prime
© Amazon Content Services LLC)
Fallout
This is one the whole family will love – especially if you like The Last of Us and/or you parent a video game-addicted teen. Prime Video’s Fallout may arrive wrapped in nuclear dread and retro-futurist oddity, but beneath the radiation and sci-fi sits something far more winning: a sharp, character-led drama laced with jet-black humour and unexpected heart. Based on the fan-favourite video game series, it follows sheltered vault dweller Lucy (Ella Purnell) as she steps out of her underground shelter and into a fractured, morally complicated America on a mission to save her abducted father Hank (Kyle MacLachlan), en route meeting a squire named Maximus (Aaron Moten) and the immortal ghoul bounty hunter Cooper (The White Lotus’ Walton Goggins). Blending an off-kilter adventure with compelling characters, Fallout is surprisingly easy to be gripped by – even if you’ve never picked up a controller. And with season 2 streaming on Prime Video from 17 December, it’s high time to gather the family for a cosy binge-watch. Prime Video
Lily Collins as Emily in Emily in Paris. (Caroline Dubois/Netflix © 2025)
Emily in Paris
After season 4’s summer debut, Netflix is reverting to its tried-and-tested festive Emily in Paris premiere for season 5 – they just know we will be binge watching the whole affair. This technicolour daydream of a romcom centres on Chicago transplant marketing exec Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) as she navigates work, romance and cultural faux pas in a Paris that exists somewhere between reality and mood board. But this time, it’s a tale of two cities: Emily has hopped across to Rome to open a new Agence Grateau office – while also doing some serious research into a certain handsome Italian cashmere scion, Marcello (Eugenio Franceschini). Back in the city of lights, all of our old friends are returning, including Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu as Sylvie Grateau, Ashley Park as Mindy Chen and Lucas Bravo as Emily’s on-again-off-again chef beau Gabriel. Expect sharper career stakes, romantic reshuffles, and Emily finally evolving from wide-eyed outsider into someone who might finally know what she wants. All 10 episodes (yes, all 10) are streaming on Netflix from 18 December. Netflix
Aisling Franciosi as Trisha Van Ness, Gillian Anderson as Constance Van Ness and Lucas Till as Garret Van Ness in The Abandons. (Michelle Faye/Netflix)
The Abandons
Gillian Anderson brought unexpected wit to her recent role as an alcoholic widow in Channel 4’s Troubles-era romance Trespasses. But it’s Lena Heady playing the repressed Irishwoman in Anderson’s latest series The Abandons, which landed on Netflix last week. Heady is the outcast and childless Fiona Nolan who adopts four orphaned and outcast children, while Anderson is her fierce rival, the wealthy and privileged Constance Van Ness. A 19th century Western set in the Washington Territory, expect passion, betrayal and survival backdropped by this barren landscape on the fringes of law and order – the perfect sofa watch as the rain sends us inside. It has garnered mixed reviews, but as the executive producer Christopher Keyser puts it, ‘In the middle of murder and revenge and a bit of illicit romance, we get to explore questions we never seem to get away from: What makes a family? How do you stay good in a bad world? And would you change who you are and what you believe in to protect what you love? But in this case, we do it all through the eyes of Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson, as two widowed matriarchs battling to survive. And that…is really something to watch.’ Netflix
Lola Petticrew as Cushla Lavery & Tom Cullen as Michael Agnew in Trespasses. (Channel 4)
Trespasses
Speaking of Anderson, however, a certified must-watch is Trespasses, Channel 4’s Irish Troubles-era drama based on Louise Kennedy’s bestselling novel of the same name. A forbidden love story, Trespasses is led by a stellar trio: Lola Petticrew and Tom Cullen as star-crossed lovers, and Anderson as the former’s alcoholic mother in a standout performance. It’s sexy, clever and ultimately heart-wrenching – a great one to bring to coffee chats. Channel 4
Claire Danes as Aggie Wiggs in The Beast in Me. (Netflix © 2025)
The Beast In Me
A popular pick in the C&TH office, The Beast in Me is a new Netflix thriller centring on writing-blocked author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) who has pulled away from public life following the death of her young son. But when real estate magnate as Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves in next door along with his wife Nina (Brittany Snow), she is intrigued – especially after learning Nile is accused of murdering his first wife. Safe to say the writing block soon lifts. Netflix
Juliet Lonsdale (EVE BEST), Lorna Gibbons (CARMEN EJOGO), Allegra Lonsdale (AMELIA MAY) & Grace Gibbons (IMOGEN FAIRES) in Wild Cherry. (© BBC/Firebird Pictures/Natalie Seery)
Wild Cherry
If you haven’t had chance to binge this private school drama yet, make sure you add it to your queue before the buzz dies down. Wild Cherry is the BBC at its best: a very-British thriller, chock-full of familiar faces. Penned by Nicole Lecky (who also stars), across six episodes we delve into the secret lives of teenagers Grace (Imogen Faires) and Allegra (Amelia May) whose wealthy mothers Lorna (Carmen Ejogo) and Juliet (Eve Best) would do just about anything to protect them. And that dedication is put firmly to the test… BBC
Dakota Fanning and Sarah Snook in All Her Fault. (© Sky)
All Her Fault
A gripping thriller with a surprising twist? We loved bingeing All Her Fault, a new American parental mystery on Sky starring Sarah Snook, Dakota Fanning, Jake Lacey and more. It opens with every mother’s nightmare: Marissa Irvine’s (Snook) son Milo is not at the playdate she is supposed to be picking him up from. In fact, no one knows where he is. Thus a complex conspiracy begins to unfurl, with an unexpected suspect at the centre. But fingers are also pointing at all of the women close to Milo. Now TV
Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price & Hazel Doupe as Marian Price in Say Nothing. (Rob Youngson/FX)
Say Nothing
This is more of a deep cut, having been released at the end of 2024. But since Say Nothing is now streaming (for free!) on Channel 4, the conversations are back anew – and it’s totally worth the watch. Set in Troubles Ireland like Trespasses above, and also led by Lola Petticrew in their breakout role, Say Nothing centres on Dolours Price (Petticrew), a teenager in turbulent Belfast who, along with her sister Marian (Hazel Doupe), is desperate to effect change for Catholics during the Troubles. Soon convinced that violence is the only viable path, they join the IRA and are wrapped up in conversations between major decision makers like Brendan Hughes (Anthony Boyle) and Gerry Adams (Josh Finan), discovering knotty internal dynamics, ideological divisions and startling decisions about violence.
