After a year of exceptional television, taking us from Harry snatching the prize fund in The Traitors finale in January right up to the last ever episode of Gavin and Stacey on Christmas Day, it's easy to wonder how it could be topped. Luckily 2025 is off to a strong start before it's even begun.
Not only is there a long list of TV shows to get excited about, but most of them have women at the helm – from Girls creator Lena Dunham's *hotly* anticipated new Netflix series, Too Much, to Victoria Beckham's Netflix documentary and the third season of And Just Like That.
If you're dreading January, this list should do something to ease the pain and provide you with plenty of ideas for what to watch in the New Year. And if you really can't wait, don't panic, there's even a new Harlan Coben series and a new season of The Traitors starting on day one.
The Traitors, Season 3 – New Year's Day, BBC One
Few things have rallied people in the past few years quite like The Traitors. With only two series in the bank so far, it's safe to say the BBC gameshow is a once in a blue moon hit. With Claudia Winkleman as host, the blustering Scottish highlands as a backdrop and 22 strangers plotting to betray each other under the cover of darkness, it has rightfully become appointment TV. Season three starts on 1 January – cloaks at the ready.
Missing You – New Year's Day, Netflix
Everyone loves a Harlan Coben series (of which there are eight on Netflix, with another six yet to be adapted), especially when we can binge it on the sofa in a single day. Last year's Fool Me Once, starring Michelle Keegan, remained one of Netflix's most watched shows of 2024. This year's offering, Missing You, is likely to be another ratings success.
Slow Horses star Rosalind Eleazar plays Kat Donavan, a detective who finds with the ex-fiancé who ghosted her on a dating app and then discovers he'd be visiting her father's murderer in prison.
Lockerbie: A Search for Truth – 2 January, Sky/ NOW
On 21st December 1988, 259 passengers and crew were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie 38 minutes after take-off, with a further 11 residents losing their life as the plane came down.
In the wake of his daughter’s death, Dr Jim Swire (Colin Firth), is nominated spokesperson for the UK victims’ families, who have united to demand truth and justice. Travelling across continents and political divides, Jim embarks on a relentless journey that not only jeopardises his stability, family and life, but completely overturns his trust in the justice system.
American Primeval – 9 January, Netflix
It's 1857 America and 'pain is everywhere and innocence and tranquillity are losing the battle to hatred and fear'. Perfect January viewing, then! The six-part series, American Primeval, on Netflix is a fictionalised dramatisation and examination of the violent collision of culture, religion, and community that occurred during the fight to control America's Western frontier. Maybe one to watch with a glass of wine...
Playing Nice – January, ITV
The cast of the new ITV drama Playing Nice, starring James Norton, Niamh Algar, Jessica Brown Findlay and James McArdle, is strong enough to make us want to tune in without knowing much else about it. It's even more enticing when you do.
Set against a sweeping Cornish landscape, two couples discover their toddlers were switched at birth in a hospital mix-up, and face a horrifying dilemma: do they keep the sons they have raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child?
Molly-Mae: Behind It All – 17 January, Amazon Prime
Molly-Mae Hague had a huge year in 2024 – and not in the way anyone expected. The Love Island star effectively broke the internet in August when she posted an Instagram Story to say that she and her fiancé/ boyfriend-of-five years, Tommy Fury, were breaking up. In fact, she 'never expected' it would happen 'especially not in this way'. Now, she's letting the Amazon Prime cameras into her immaculately greyscale home.
Will we see the super-influencer in a new light? And will we find out what really happened with Tommy? Let's see.
The White Lotus, Season 3 – February, NOW/ Sky
Each contained season of The White Lotus features a masterfully crafted recurring character. In season two, set on the Sicilian coastline, it was the iconic Jennifer Coolidge as Tanya. In season three, it's Natasha Rothwell as Belinda Lindsey, who played the spa manager in The White Lotus Hawaii in season one.
Set in Thailand, season three promises to offer a satirical look at death, eastern religion, and spirituality. You won't want to miss it.
Miss Austen – February, BBC One
If you didn't already have it in the diary, 2025 marks Jane Austen's 250th birthday. The BBC is celebrating with a new four-part drama, Miss Austen, which takes a literary mystery – Cassandra Austen (Keeley Hawes) notoriously burning her famous sister Jane’s letters – and reimagines it as a fascinating, witty and heart-breaking story of sisterly love.
The Last of Us, Season 2 – Spring, NOW/ Sky
We might be four years out of our pandemic, but Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) from the The Last Of Us are more than 20 years into theirs. Society has collapsed around them and zombie-like creatures are hellbent on spreading a gruesome fungal infection as far as possible.
The long-awaited second season, based on the 2020 game The Last of Us Part II, follows Joel and Ellie five years after the events of season one.
Malpractice, Season 2 – Coming soon, ITV
If you slept on the first season of Malpractice, starring Niamh Algar – the gripping NHS drama written by former doctor Grace Ofori-Attah – then rush to ITVX to catch up before the second one arrives. It might follow the life of a different frenzied registrar and be set in a different hospital, but it's set to be just as captivating.
Tom Hughes plays Dr James Ford, a Psychiatric Registrar in a North Yorkshire hospital. His personal life is a mess, and his colleagues might find him arrogant, but he appears committed to his vulnerable patients. So when he finds himself torn between a new mother attending a routine postnatal check-up and the sectioning of a floridly psychotic woman during a busy on-call shift, no one could predict the terrible consequences.
Victoria Beckham Documentary – Coming soon, Netflix
If watching Posh and Becks tease each other about the minutiae of the British class system in Beckham, the documentary chronicling David Beckham's career, left you wanting more, then you'll be pleased to hear that Victoria Beckham's documentary is not far away.
It follows the former Spice Girl and fashion designer as she continues to build her fashion and beauty empire. And yes, there will be plenty of A-list guest appearances.
And Just Like That, Season 3 – Coming soon, NOW
The show that really put Pelotons on the map – the Sex and the City spin-off, And Just Like That, returns next year and fans have a lot of unanswered questions. Can Carrie and Aidan make things work if he's living in Virginia? What happened to Che Diaz? And why were the cast dressed in all black on set?
If you haven't pieced together the plot of season three already (there are a lot of BTS pictures on social media), then you must be eagerly awaiting the third instalment like the rest of us.
The Death of Bunny Munro – Coming soon, Sky/ NOW
Following his wife Libby’s suicide, sex addict, door-to-door beauty product salesman and self professed lothario Bunny Munro finds himself saddled with a young son and only a loose concept of parenting. Together with nine-year-old Bunny Junior he embarks on an epic and increasingly out-of-control road trip across Southern England as the two struggle to contain their grief in very different ways.
This six-part Sky Original adaptation of Nick Cave’s novel The Death of Bunny Munro sees BAFTA and Emmy-nominated actor Matt Smith star in the titular role.
Too Much – Coming soon, Netflix
Girls has earned its place as one of the most successful and influential shows of the 21st Century. Understandably, that puts a lot of pressure on whatever the creator does next. In her upcoming Netflix series, Too Much, Lena Dunham turns to memoir with a new semi-autobiographical romcom about a New Yorker who moves to London with a broken heart.
Jessica, played by comedian Megan Stalter, meets Felix, played by The White Lotus’ Will Sharpe, and they discover a connection that is impossible to ignore. Millennial women, get ready to cancel all your plans.
Stranger Things, Season 5 – Coming soon, Netflix
After seven years of global success, the fifth and final season of Stranger Things is set to air in 2025. While the plot has, of course, remained under wraps, it's likely follow the Hawkins gang as they try to defeat Vecna once and for all now that the Upside Down has invaded their town.
Returning cast members include Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Joe Keery and Maya Hawke. Harbour previously told Variety that he knows how the series ends and 'it's quite moving and quite beautiful'.
Black Mirror, Season 7 – Coming soon, Netflix
Charlie Brooker’s dark, satirical anthology series is returning for a seventh season. While little is known about the episodes – other than the fact they are bound to leave us feeling existential – the lead cast includes Emma Corrin, Chris O'Down, Peter Capaldi, Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross and Harriet Walker. It's not one you'll want to miss.
Open Water – Coming Soon, BBC
Open Water started its life as the award-winning debut novel of Caleb Azumah Nelson. It is a tender and lyrical love story which centres around two London artists, offering a fierce exploration of Black British identity and masculinity. Unsurprisingly, the rights were snapped up by the BBC.
First Day On Earth – Coming soon, BBC
We all knew Michaela Coel was brilliant when she starred in Chewing Gum in 2015, but we didn't realise quite how brilliant she was until her brainchild I May Destroy You aired in 2020. Five years later, Coel's next project, First Day On Earth, starts filming and will hopefully land on the BBC later in the year.
In the upcoming series, British novelist Henri (Coel) is stuck. Work has dried up, her relationship is going nowhere. So when she's offered a job on a film in Ghana, West Africa – her parents' homeland, where her estranged father lives – she can't resist the chance to reconnect with him and the country of her heritage.
Wednesday, Season 2 – Coming soon, Netflix
For those who wish Halloween lasted longer than it does, you can channel your inner-ghoul by binging the second season of Wednesday, which returns in 2025. It promises to be just as twisted and haunting as the first with Wednesday Addams, played masterfully by Jenna Ortega, once again making us wince and simultaneously question whether we can pull off plaits.
How To Kill Your Family – December, Netflix
If you haven't read Bella Mackie's best-selling novel, How To Kill Your Family, then where have you been? You have just under a year to catch up because the book is being adapted for the small screen by Netflix and Anya Taylor-Joy is already lined up to play the lead. All of which mean it's going to be one of the most talked about (and watched) shows of 2025 – even if we have to wait until December.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).