The best upcoming TV shows in 2024

Dark Matter – Season 1 (Apple TV+)

Based on Blake Crouch’s bestselling sci-fi novel, Apple’s nine-part series explores the popular astrophysics theory of multiple alternate realities – one of which Chicago physicist Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton) finds himself abruptly abducted into during an evening walk. Can he escape this nightmarish land of ‘what if’ and return to his real life – or is he forever trapped in an existence he never should have experienced?

Release date: 8 May 2024

Bridgerton – Season 3 (Netflix)

Bridgerton’s take on Regency England (oversexed, racially colour-blind and surprisingly clean) may not be historically accurate, but Netflix viewers don’t care about that: they’re just here for the costumes, the tunes, the romance and the withering putdowns. More of all the above is imminent, with a third season of Shonda Rimes’ series about the well-scrubbed Bridgerton siblings’ attempts to find love amidst the gossip and glamour of early 19^th-century London coming in two parts, the first of which arrives in May.

The focal point this time around is the friendship between Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, now threatening to turn into something much deeper. Swoon.

Release date: 16 May 2024 (Part 1); 13 June 2024 (Part 2)

Eric – Season 1 (Netflix)

1980s New York was a far grittier, grimier place than today’s gleaming metropolis, and Netflix’s six-part drama dives right into its dark heart.

Benedict Cumberbatch plays Vincent, a man desperately searching for his young son Edgar – and believing that the key to bringing the missing child home lies in a blue monster named Eric (honestly, bear with us here). Vincent, you see, creates puppets for a Sesame Street-style TV show, and thinks that by bringing Eric – a creature Edgar designed – to the screen, he can show the boy how much he means to his parents and entice him into coming home. Meanwhile, an NYPD detective is in search of the real-life monsters that likely snatched the boy from the street.

Release date: 30 May 2024

Presumed Innocent – Season 1 (Apple TV+)

A Chicago prosecutor (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds himself on the opposite side of the aisle, becoming the police’s prime suspect when his colleague – and former lover – is murdered.

Based on the same novel as the 1990 Harrison Ford movie, this eight-part Apple original series marks Gyllenhaal’s first outing as the lead in a TV show. It’s executive produced by J.J. Abrams and written by TV superscribe David E. Kelley (of Boston Legal, Big Little Lies and Ally McBeal fame), who boasts an unrivalled history when it comes taut, character-driven legal dramas.

Release date: 12 June 2024

The Boys – Season 4 (Prime Video)

An alternative name for this series could be Supermen Behaving Badly, and while the concept of conflicted, sociopathic caped crusaders is nothing new, The Boys’ heady blend of humour, cynicism and character-driven drama has always made it the most enjoyable example of this burgeoning TV subgenre.

This fourth season sees Homelander team up with presidential wannabe Victoria Neuman as a means of cementing his power – meaning the fractured bunch of superhero killers that give the show its name must put aside their differences, reunite, regroup and once again attempt to save the world from the psychotic uber-hero.

Release date: 13 June 2024

Star Wars: The Acolyte – Season 1 (Disney+)

Set around a century before the events of The Phantom Menace, this eight-part Star Wars series from Russian Doll writer Leslye Headland takes place during the relatively enlightened days of the High Republic. Despite the Jedi presiding over a largely peaceful galaxy, there’s something dangerous and dark emerging from the shadows; a series of mysterious deaths signal that the Sith are no longer content to remain in hiding.

Release date: 5 June 2024

House of the Dragon – Season 2 (Max/NOW/Sky)

After a barnstorming first season that expertly set the stage for the conflict to come and ended with a shocking death, House of the Dragon’s second season will see bloody civil war coming to Westeros.

With two rival factions vying for the throne, both of which are in possession of several dragons as well as many thousands of soldiers, this clash promises some eye-popping battle sequences. But, as with Game of Thrones, it’s the human (and reptilian) relationships and drama that will make or break the TV show. Show us the stakes, make us care about the characters – then rip everything apart. We can hardly wait.

Release date: 14 June 2024

The Penguin (Max)

Colin Farrell’s portrayal of The Penguin was a stand out in 2022’s The Batman. Donned in latex and with a generic ‘New Yoik’ accent, we saw a glimpse of what this version of The Penguin can be in the Batmaniverse, but wasn’t fully explored in the movie.

It’s good news then that The Penguin will be coming to streaming service Max as a standalone, eight-part TV series. Set a week after the events of The Batman, the TV show explores the Penguin’s rise to power in Gotham’s underworld.

Release date: Autumn 2024

M. Son of the Century (Now TV, Sky)

There’s no shortage of wartime epics out there from the American and British perspective. Band of Brothers, Catch-22, The Man in the High Castle, The Pacific, we could go on. The eight-part M. Son of the Century, though, will show Italy’s wartime role in a TV drama format. Based on the novel by Antonio Scurati, directed by BAFTA-winner Joe Wright (Darkest Hour, Atonement, Cyrano) and written by Stefano Bises (Gomorrah), M. Son of the Century charts the rise of fascism in Italy, and with it Mussolini’s grasp on power.

Release date: TBA