This weather, eh? Whatever point of the year you’re reading this, that question makes sense in Britain. Whether it’s the endless rain of April or the tentative sun of May – it’s currently warm outside these office windows! – it is always good to have a show on the go if you live in the UK.
Luckily, we make a few really good ones. It’s like the TV gods and weather gods planned this. Here are some of the best on offer, and this list will be updated throughout the year.
You can read our list of 2024’s best shows here.
Doctor Who
The 15th Doctor (played by Ncuti Gatwa) kicked off the latest series of the British behemoth in style, though whether the show’s direction this season is good is yet to be seen. Either way, fans will watch it – either to complain or heap praise – while the rest of us can tune in without the burden of decades of fandom.
Doctor Who is available to watch on iPlayer and Disney+, and airs weekly
Rebus
A reboot of Rebus is upon us. This time the titular detective, created by Ian Rankin, is young! He will be played by Richard Rankin (and before you cry nepotism, he is not related the author) while Brian Ferguson will play the young detective sergeant’s brother, Michael, a former solider who has made some dangerous enemies. It might not surprise you that Rebus also has matters of the heart to attend to.
All episodes are available on BBC iPlayer. It will air on BBC One from 18 May
Eric
Benedict Cumberbatch hits 1980s New York! And he has an imaginary friend! Doesn’t that sound like fun? Well, his nine-year-old has gone missing, so it’s not all bright lights and shoulder pads. Cumberbatch’s character, Vincent – a puppeteer on a children’s show – descends into madness after son, Edgar, vanishes. As you might expect. The imaginary friend, a seven-foot blue and purple monster puppet, is less expected, though the series has been created by Abi Morgan (The Hour) so that flair is not too much of a surprise.
Eric will be available to watch on Netflix from 30 May
The Listeners
A noise you find unbearable but isn’t a problem for anyone else? That’s how I feel about podcasts! But it is also the premise for this drama, which starts Rebecca Hall as teacher Clare, who begins to hear a low hum that no one else can. Apart from a boy in her class, Kyle (Ollie West), with whom she forms an unlikely bond. Based on the book of the same name by Jordan Tannahill, and will apparently explore “the human search for the transcendent” and “the rise of conspiracy culture in the West”. I’ll probably watch it on mute with subtitles.
The Listeners is coming to BBC and iPlayer later this year
Playing Nice
James Norton returns to ITV for a four-part psychological thriller with a premise that will surely haunt parents everywhere (and provide good content for “would you rather” games for everyone else). Two couples discover that their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital error. Do they now swap them or keep the children they have raised? After they agree on a solution, ulterior motives are revealed. We would be disappointed if they weren’t.
It is currently being filmed in Cornwall, so expect a release date later this year
Black Doves
Keira Knightley makes her way onto the list (hurrah!) but it’s not a period drama (weird!). Instead, it’s a spy thriller. Good! Knightley plays Helen, both mother and spy. You can be both now. She’s been selling her politician husband’s secrets to her employees (the Black Doves) but that comes to a stop when he is assassinated. Her boss sends in an old friend to keep her safe: Sam Young, an assassin played by Paddington should-be-Oscar-winner Ben Whishaw. While Helen hunts for her husband’s killer, Sam’s job to protect her becomes increasingly complicated. I hate when that happens!
Black Doves is coming to Netflix later this year, and the show is set in Christmas, so let’s just assume it will be a winter drop
Ludwig
I simply cannot imagine a more fun place that the room in which they came up with detective shows for the BBC (though perhaps that room is simply one writer’s over-caffeinated head). Anyway, let us picture a murder mystery but with identical twins! After Ludwig’s brother, James, vanishes, Ludwig takes over his identity to try to find him (maybe this makes more sense in the show!). The only – okay, the biggest problem – with this scheme is that James was a DCI who helped bring Cambridge’s criminals to justice. It is a good thing that Ludwig is a puzzle designer! Did we mention that David Mitchell is playing Ludwig? And that it is a case-of-the-week drama? Sign us up.
Filming started in January, so we are hoping for a release date later this year
King & Conqueror
The words “BBC period drama” awaken something in the soul of the nation. Anyway, this one stars James Norton as Harold, Earl of Wessex and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (one of the more appealing actors from Game of Thrones) as William, Duke of Normandy. I don’t know how much history you have retained from school but these two fought a fairly famous battle – at Hastings! In 1066! – which impacted our country for the next few centuries. It is written and produced by Michael Robert Johnson (he wrote the 2009’s Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr.) who will hopefully bring some of that humour to this eight-parter.
King & Conqueror is being filmed this year, so expect a release date of late 2024 or early 2025
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Henry Wong is a senior culture writer at Esquire, working across digital and print. He covers film, television, books, and art for the magazine, and also writes profiles.
