Clear your schedule in 2025, as it's set to be a bumper year for television. Small-screen favourites such as "The Last of Us" and "The Bear" will be back with new seasons, while fresh shows promise to keep us entertained.
Dear England
The BBC is set to release a four-part adaptation of James Graham's hit West End show "Dear England" about Gareth Southgate and the national men's football team. As manager, Southgate delivered the "inflatable unicorn: two Euros finals, a World Cup semi-final", said GQ. But the naysayers point to the "lack of silverware" and "tedious tactics". Joseph Fiennes will bring his "star power" to the role in the TV series, which is also written by Graham.
It: Welcome to Derry
Fans of "It" can look forward to a nine-episode prequel, "It: Welcome to Derry", which will "expand on the horrific world of Stephen King's thriller even further", said Screen Rant. Set in the 1960s, the supernatural horror will explore the origins of Pennywise the clown, played again by Bill Skarsgård, who starred in the 2017 movie "It" and the 2019 sequel "It: Chapter Two". The TV series is expected to "flesh out Derry" in Maine "even further than it was in the movies, which is incredibly exciting news for fans of the franchise".
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Suits: LA
The original series captivated audiences with the lives of glamorous New York City lawyers from 2011 to 2019. But the drama isn't over. This year, a new "Suits" will be released, set in Los Angeles. Gabriel Macht will reprise his role as the bold lawyer Harvey Specter in a three-episode arc. So far, the rest of the cast includes Stephen Amell, Josh McDermitt, Troy Winbush, Alice Lee and Bryan Greenberg.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
The latest "Game of Thrones" prequel based on George R.R. Martin's "Tales of Dunk and Egg" novellas, is set to premiere on HBO in 2025. The series will follow Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk), played by Peter Claffey, and Aegon Targaryen (Egg), played by Dexter Sol Ansell, on a series of adventures. Following "House of the Dragon", this upcoming drama has been criticised for deviations from Martin's source material, but the author has visited the set and has only positive feedback for "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms", reported Screen Rant. The characters "look like they walked out of the pages of my book", he said.
Severance (season two)
It's been a long three-year wait for fans of "Severance" after the "truly astonishing" first season finale ended with a dramatic cliffhanger, said Empire. Season two picks up in the "immediate aftermath" and answers some of the burning questions. The acclaimed dystopian drama stars Adam Scott, of "Parks and Recreation" and "Big Little Lies", whose character has undergone a procedure to separate work and personal memories. Season two is "by turns gripping, tense, bewildering, and darkly, absurdly funny".
(Image credit: Alamy / Pictorial Press Ltd)
The Other Bennet Sister
"Bridgerton" fans should be excited because the BBC's newest "Pride and Prejudice" spinoff will be spiky, said Ben Jureidini in Tatler. The 10-part series, based on Janice Hadlow's novel of the same name, will follow Mary, the "plain" Bennet sister. The fresh spin on the Jane Austen classic will turn the awkward, forgotten character into a true period heroine. Writer Sarah Quintrell, who grew up watching the BBC's adaptations, intends to write a "beautiful story" for "all the Marys out there".
Black Rabbit
Jason Bateman and Jude Law are set to star as brothers competing over a family business in this new Netflix mini-series that is already being compared to "Succession" and "The Bear". Bateman and his "Ozark" co-star Laura Linney are two of the four directors. The show's logline says Law plays the "owner of New York City hotspot" who allows his "turbulent brother back in his life", opening "the door to escalating dangers that threaten to bring down everything he's built".
The Last of Us (season two)
The "jaw-dropping" season finale of "The Last of Us" left masses anxiously awaiting the return of the video-game adaptation and, now, fans can "finally rejoice" as season two has been confirmed for 2025, said Tribune. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will return for more post-apocalyptic adventures, joined by newcomers Isabela Merced and Jeffrey Wright. Catherine O'Hara, of "Beetlejuice" fame, appears in a new trailer, which gives the impression that she will play a therapist helping Pascal's Joel Miller open up about the events of the first series.
Ludwig (season two)
After millions devoured the first season of BBC's smash hit comedy-detective drama "Ludwig", the new season hopes to prove just as bingeable, said Radio Times. Season one introduced David Mitchell's John, a puzzle setter who found a knack for crime solving while impersonating his missing police detective brother James, and his sister-in-law Lucy, played by Anna Maxwell Martin. Now John is officially helping the force, but James is still missing.
Wild Cherry
Two-time Bafta-winning "Mood" creator Nicôle Lecky is back with the highly anticipated thriller "Wild Cherry", said Max Goldbart in Deadline. The "provocative and deliciously honest" show will follow Lorna (Carmen Ejogo), a self-made, successful Black business woman and her privileged best friend Julia (Eve Best), as they are forced to take sides during a "shocking" scandal at their daughters' exclusive private school.
The Bear (season four)
Nominated for five Golden Globes earlier this month, "The Bear" is one of the most critically acclaimed shows on TV right now and the new season is expected to air in June. The ending of season three was "daunting", said Somiyah DeMercado in CBR, leaving the fate of the restaurant up in the air as Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) prepares to begin her own venture. Jeremy Allen White, who won the best actor Golden Globe, will return as Carmy Berzatto in the high-stress kitchen for a season "filled with even more emotional breakdowns and foul language".
(Image credit: FlixPix / Alamy Stock Photo)
The White Lotus (season three)
Fans are in for another season jam-packed with drama as a whole new group of guests check into a White Lotus luxury resort, this time in Thailand. The season will feature a fresh ensemble, led by stars like Leslie Bibb, Jason Isaacs and Michelle Monaghan. Season one's Belinda Lindsey, played by Natasha Rothwell, will be back for a cameo.
Creator Mike White has promised a "supersized 'White Lotus'" that will be "longer, bigger, crazier". A new trailer, out this month, features "a flashing montage of parties, guns and boat trips", said Marie Claire. "One of the most intriguing plot threads" looks likely to feature the 29-year-old Aimee Lou Wood from "Sex Education" and the 53-year-old Walton Goggins as a couple with a "noticeable age gap".
Daredevil: Born Again
Fans have been "clamouring for more of Matt Murdock" since the end of Charlie Cox's three-year stint in Netflix's "Daredevil". Now, the favourite superhero is back, this time as part of Marvel's interconnected cinematic universe, said Allison Hambrick in Screen Rant. Murdock, a blind lawyer with a double life as a crime fighter, will take on a fight for justice in New York alongside a handful of cast members from the original series, like Vincent D'Onofrio’s Kingpin and Jon Bernthal’s Punisher. This latest edition to the Marvel canon will debut on Disney+ in March.
7/7: The London Bombings
On the morning of 7 July 2005, London commuters opened their papers to good news: the capital had been announced as the host of the 2012 Olympics, said Hollie Richardson in The Guardian. Then, at 8:49am, the first of four bombs exploded on the city's tubes and buses; collectively, they killed 52 people and injured more than 700. This four-part BBC2 documentary tells the "terrifying story of what happened that day", drawing on the testimonies of survivors, footage from the time, and forensic evidence. "7/7: The London Bombings" features interviews with several high-level figures, including Tony Blair and Eliza Manningham-Buller, then head of MI5, said Sean O'Neill in The Times. "But it is the people on the ground, and on the Underground" – the bereaved, the witnesses, the police who risked their lives – who make the series "such a sombre and compelling watch".
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