Best New British TV To Cosy Up With This Autumn
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21 hours ago
From gripping crime dramas to a new Austen adaptation
Our grass might be scorched brown and our leaves crunchy underfoot due to our scorching summer, but there’s definitely a twinge of autumn in the air. Fresher mornings after longer, cooler nights prompt us to tighten up our social plans and retreat to the cosy arms of the sofa, blanket slung over lap, hot drink nestled in hand. But what’s on the telly? Plenty, it turns out. Read on for our pick of the very best new TV to cosy up with this autumn, all made on home shores.
Vigil Series 3
The BBC kicks off TV season this year with the return of its hit police procedural drama Vigil. In the show’s third outing, DCI Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) and DI Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie) are whisked to an Arctic research station far off the north coast of Scotland where a British special forces officer has been killed – while carrying out a covert mission. New episodes land weekly on BBC iPlayer.
Rivals Season 2 Part 2
After the first four episodes aired earlier this year, there’s a lot to get excited for in part 2 of Rivals season 2, Disney’s star-studded adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s beloved novel. The first half ended with a shock death and detailed exposé of Rupert Campbell Black’s (Alex Hassell) sordid personal life, and while the battle between Venturer and Corinium reaches fever pitch, the residents of Rutshire have a lot of dirty laundry to rifle through. Caught in the crossfire, love-struck Taggie (Bella Maclean) must find the courage to follow her own heart. November, Disney+
The Celebrity Traitors Series 2
After Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, Alan Carr, Claire Balding, Jonathan Ross and more starred in its inaugural series, it felt like there were hardly any British celebrities left for the second installment of The Celebrity Traitors. But somehow the BBC has defied all of our expectations and assembled a stellar cast (dare we say it’s even stronger?) for round two. Drumroll please… Michael Sheen, Jerry Hall, Richard E Grant, Miranda Hart, Ross Kemp, James Blunt, Bella Ramsey, James Acaster, Maya Jama, Amol Rajan, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan are all lined up for the smash-hit series’ characteristic secrets, lies and treachery – along with many more. Autumn, BBC iPlayer
The Gentlemen Season 2
After season 2 aired in 2024, Netflix’s Guy Ritchie gangster dramedy The Gentlemen finally returns this autumn, led by Theo James and Kaya Scodelario. It’s been one year since Eddie (James) and Susie (Scodelario) joined forces to work together in Bobby’s criminal empire overseas. But as they expand, Bobby’s decision-making seems increasingly wobbly, leaving Eddie and Susie to decide whether to take action or risk losing it all. 3 September, Netflix
The Party
Elizabeth Day’s 2017 novel The Party is getting the screen treatment this season, starring Luke Evans, Tom Cullen, Lydia Leonard and Joanna Scanlan. A mystery about class, we centre on life-long yet recently estranged friends Martin (Evans) and Ben (Cullen) whose secrets and ambitions collide at a glamorous countryside party. Autumn, ITVX
Pride and Prejudice
It’s more than two decades since Joe Wright’s Pride and Prejudice (with Kiera Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen) landed in British cinemas – so maybe we can stomach a remake. Dolly Alderton’s spin comes this autumn with plenty of stars in tow: Emma Corrin and Jack Lowden as Lizzy Bennett and Mr Darcy, along with Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Daryl McCormack, Jamie Demetriou, Louis Partridge, Fiona Shaw and plenty more. You know the story already – so how will Netflix’s version shape up? Autumn, Netflix
Bookish Series 2
Mark Gatiss’ cosy crime drama whisks us back to 1946 where Gabriel Book (Gatiss) is an eccentric antiquarian bookshop owner who utilises his storied collection to assist the police in untangling knotty mysteries. He has three crimes to solve in season 2, delving into the worlds of spiritualism, tailoring and German aristocracy. Streaming now, NOW TV
Black Doves Season 2
Starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw, Netflix’s Black Doves was a Christmas present to Britain when it aired in December 2024 – and it’s set to finally return for a second season this autumn. Knightley will return as Helen, wife of Wallace (Andrew Buchan) who is firmly on track to be the next PM. But with her handler Reed (Sarah Lancashire) ensnared in a ruthless plot that threatens to undermine her power in the Black Doves, in spilling secrets to the secret organisation, Helen is toeing a more treacherous line than ever. November, Netflix
Slow Horses Season 6
Apple TV’s longest-running original series is a very-British spy thriller starring Gary Oldman and possible Bond Jack Lowden. In its sixth outing, the Slough House agents find themselves on a hit list, picked off one by one, with their boss Jackson Lamb (Oldman) clueless as to why. As they start to investigate their own upcoming murders, a gripping tale of retaliation and revenge begins to unfold. New episodes weekly from 16 September, Apple TV
The Blame
She may have gotten her start on British TV, but Michelle Keegan’s roles have been a little more scant in recent years. But you know when she selects a new series, it’s going to be a goodie – just look at the smash-hit success of Netflix’s Fool Me Once. That’s why I’m so excited about The Blame, which also stars Douglas Booth, and details the fall out of a cop being present when a young girl is killed. Think lies, institutional coverups and moral compromise… Juicy. Autumn, ITVX
This City Is Ours Series 2
After the stonking success of series 1 last year (it was one of the BBC’s most-watched new dramas), the BBC has revealed that its Scouse gang drama This City is Ours series 2 will air in autumn 2026. Michael and Diana have fled the drama of Liverpool’s ganglands for Spain, only to be immediately dragged back into the fold to answer questions about Colombia cocaine supplier Ricardo’s death. They can’t just wriggle out of this one: Colombian cartel member Felipe Guzman (Álvaro Morte), also Ricardo’s younger brother, is on the scene and hunting for answers. Autumn, BBC
War
I cannot wait to see Sienna Miller and Dominic West in War, a new drama from Sky that already has season 2 in production. It’ll plummet us into the high-stakes lives of London’s most powerful lawyers as two firms go head-to-head in the headline-grabbing divorce proceedings of a British tech entrepreneur (West) and an international film star (Miller). Celia Imrie, Nick Mohammed, Emma Laird and Archie Renaux also star. Weekly episodes from 2 October, Sky
Time Series 3
Jimmy McGovern’s prison anthology series has starred Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey, and now it’s over to David Tennant, who will helm series 3 along with returning star Siobhan Finneran. This time we’re in a young offenders institution, where Tennant’s custodial manager Bobby Bailey clashes with Finneran’s chaplain Marie-Louise O’Dell. Autumn, BBC
Hunting Alice Bell
Channel 4’s flagship autumn drama Hunting Alice Bell has a very dark premise, surely inspired by recent criminal trials derailed by the court of public opinion. A notorious anesthetist serial killer has been convicted; his accomplice and lover was a nurse called Alice Bell, who has been given a new identity. When Fran Da Silva (Alex Roach) is accused of being Alice Bell online, a wave of mob hate sends her happy family life into a downward spiral. As Fran fights to clear her name, she discovers she is not the only woman being branded by this false accusation. But as the women battle to prove their innocence, one question haunts them: what if the real Alice Bell is among us? Autumn, Channel 4
Blue Lights Series 4
Backdropped by the complex politics of Belfast, Northern Ireland, Blue Lights centres on three new PSNI probationary recruits – Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke), Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) and Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin) – as they navigate the uniquely complex landscape. The BBC is keeping schtum, but co-creators and co-writers Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson tease Blue Lights series 4 ‘reveals a lot of dark secrets, examines what justice looks like in Belfast today, and ties together the past, present, and futures of Grace, Annie and Tommy in an action-packed story’. Autumn, BBC
Youth
Sharon Horgan’s London-set HBO comedy Youth is set to be a riot. The Irish Bad Sisters and Catastrophe writer is a dab-hand at black comedy, but Youth is all about the humdrum chaos of middle-aged motherhood. Think balancing caring for elderly parents with troubled teenaged kids, while navigating the changing landscape at her job as a literary agent and feeling like a big biological clock is ticking. She stars opposite Rupert Friend, Sharlene Whyte, Harriet Walter and newcomer Aran Murphy (son of Cillian). 21 September, HBO
Number 10
Will this be Britain’s answer to West Wing? In classic Channel 4 tongue-in-cheek fashion, this comedy-drama takes us into the bowels of Britain’s strangest work place, where Rafe Spall is the Prime Minister and Jenna Coleman his deputy chief of staff, extinguishing all the small fires, both political and personal. Penned by Stephan Moffat, we’re expecting wit aplenty. Autumn, Channel 4
The Witch Farm
Based on his hit podcast of the same name, Danny Robbins is the writer behind The Witch Farm, bringing experience from Uncanny, The Battersea Poltergeist and 2:22 – A Ghost Story along with him. Inspired by first-hand accounts, theories and real events, The Witch Farm takes us deep into the Welsh countryside in 1989, where Bill (Michael Socha) and Liz (Gabrielle Creevey) and their teenage son Jonathan (Lewin Lloyd) have just moved into a modern farmhouse from London. At first the isolation is unsettling. And then a strange figure appears… Autumn, BBC
Looking for something gritty, new or otherwise? These are our favourite British crime box sets that stand the test of time.
