From returning faves to brand new ones, there are plenty of great shows still to arrive this year.
Some shows have ended, never to be seen again… Others made triumphant returns, and we’ve even been treated to some new surprises. Don’t think for a second there’s not still a lot of great new viewing on the horizon though. Steve Newall takes us through some of the many upcoming highlights.
(You can also check out The best shows of 2023 (so far), The best movies of 2023 (so far) and The best movies still to come in 2023.)
Slow Horses
Slow Horses: Season 3
Gary Oldman, his disintegrating socks and his rank farts return in this third season of the British spy drama, following a collection of intelligence agents banished to the ‘losers’ office. After two seasons of averting major threats, the slow horses are perhaps no longer seen as the same bungling idiots as before—maybe—but they’ll still have their hands full dealing with a rogue operation keen on exposing the Government’s most outrageous secrets.
Unwanted
Unwanted: Season 1
Created and co-written by Gomorrah‘s Stefano Bises and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall), Unwanted is a drama series set on the Mediterranean ocean, where a luxury cruise ship, full of rich passengers, comes to the aid of a ship on fire, rescuing migrants risking everything to escape Libya. But when the desperate refugees discover the ship is heading for Tunisia, not Italy—and they risk being sent home to their deaths—they take over the ship, rescue drama turning into a hostage thriller.
The Doll Factory
The Doll Factory: Season 1
Based on the bestselling novel by Elizabeth Macneal, this Victorian-era drama series centres on Iris, a young woman who paints porcelain dolls. Iris is ambitious to escape her dreary life, and sees opportunity when one of London’s Pre-Raphaelites takes an interest in using her as a model—a chance to learn to paint for herself. But while Iris is eager to broaden her horizons, there are also women regularly going missing in the background…
Reacher
Reacher: Season 2
Jack Reacher (Prime Video’s hulking, built-like-a-brick-shithouse version as opposed to the one whose real-life initials are T and C) is back for another season of brutal-looking mayhem. Season two of Reacher sees someone torturing and killing members of the 110th, an elite group of Army Special Investigators that was Jack’s former unit. Cue fistfights, gunfire, a rocket launcher, drowning someone in concrete, and Reacher showing his tough-guy cred by kicking… a car.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Season 1
In a fresh take on Percy Jackson, author Rick Riordan is one of the driving forces behind this series adaptation of the first novel in his series, The Lightning Thief. Across eight episodes, it’s a chance for Riordan to make this version more faithful to his novel (presumably with an eye to future seasons). For those unfamiliar, this first season sees Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old present-day demigod, accused by the Greek god Zeus of stealing his thunderbolt.
Berlin
Berlin: Season 1
Prequel spinoff to the hugely popular Money Heist winds the clock back to the heyday of its character Berlin, long before he receives his terminal diagnosis, as he attempts an extraordinary heist. According to Money Heist creator Álex Pina, “it’s a trip through the golden age of the character, when he robbed around Europe crazy in love.”
