TV in 2024: 26 of the best new and returning shows to watch in the 12 months ahead

The Tourist

BBC One, New Year’s Day

Jamie Dornan is back as the amnesiac Elliot for a second series of this hit thriller written by Harry and Jack Williams, and his memory is still a bit shaky. In series one Elliot woke up in Australia with no idea who he was or how he got there. He soon remembered how to run, though, as shadowy figures chased him across the Australian outback. In series two, Elliot heads to Ireland to uncover some clues about his family history. No time to stop for a pint of Guinness, though, as the baddies are still hot on his heels.

Fool Me Once

Netflix, from New Year’s Day

Maya Stern is trying to process the murder of her husband, Joe. But she’s got a lot more to process when her nannycam captures her supposedly dead husband in the house. What follows is a twisty, turny mystery that will keep you guessing right up to the end. Michelle Keegan, Richard Armitage, Emmet J Scanlan and Joanna Lumley star in this Harlan Coben joint.

Operation Transformation

RTÉ One, Wednesday, January 3rd, 9.30pm

We all make New Year’s resolutions we never keep, but once again five leaders have to stick to their commitment to starting a new, healthier chapter in their lives. And with the whole nation watching, they are not going to be able to back out. Kathryn Thomas presents RTÉ’s latest drive to revive, with people from all over Ireland rowing in to get healthy.

First Dates Ireland

RTÉ2, Thursday, January 4th, 9.35pm

The staff of the First Dates restaurant returns for another series of the dining-and-dating show, with maitre d’ Mateo, wait staff Alice and Pete, and barman Neil ready to welcome a new batch of singletons. Episode one features the show’s first double date, with Stephen and James going all Top Gun in the hope of impressing their dates, Jade and Siobhan. Will their Maverick and Iceman routine take the girls’ breath away, or will the ejector seat button get pressed?

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Dancing with the Stars

RTÉ One, Sunday, January 7th

Clear the Christmas and New Year clutter off the dancefloor: it is time for a new bunch of celebs to show their moves in RTÉ’s annual terpsichorean tournament. This year’s lineup features the former Miss World Rosanna Davison, the newsreader Eileen Dunne, the TV presenters Katja Mia and Laura Fox, the Fair City actors Shane Quigley Murphy and Rory Cowan, the jockey Davy Russell, the Wild Youth singer David Whelan, the drag queen Blu Hydrangea and the TikTok sensation Miriam Mullins.

Inside Penneys

RTÉ One, Tuesday, January 9th, 8.30pm

The rest of the world knows it as Primark, but here the Irish multinational has always gone by its original name of Penneys – much to visitors’ confusion. This six-part series goes behind the scenes at the Dublin HQ of this global fashion retailer, looking at the business from all angles, from its hardworking staff to the loyal shoppers who keep coming back.

True Detective: Night Country

Sky Max and Now, Monday, January 15th

Jodie Foster and Kali Reis take the baton for the fourth iteration of the popular crime series, playing smalltown detectives in Alaska who stumble on something big. When eight researchers mysteriously disappear from their facility, Liz Danvers (Foster) and Evangeline Navarro (Reis) must get past their mutual dislike and learn to work together to avoid dying. The snowy Alaskan landscapes will put you in mind of Fargo, and Foster’s steely presence could have echoes of Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. Fiona Shaw and Christopher Eccleston are among the cast.

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Netflix, from Thursday, February 22nd

The animated series (nothing to do with the movie featuring big blue aliens, apparently) gets another live-action “reimagining” following the flop film of 2010. With so much CGI on show, how do we tell which is live and which is Memorex? The series follows the adventures of young Avatar Aang, who must master the elements of fire, earth, air and water if he wants to defeat the deadly Fire Nation and restore order to the world. Sheesh, school exams are getting tougher every year.

3 Body Problem

Netflix, from Thursday, March 21st

Based on the sci-fi trilogy Remembrance of Earth’s Past, by Liu Cixin, this time-twisting, galaxy-straddling, physics-defying series sees a group of brilliant scientists confronting Earth’s biggest-ever threat – and it’s not global warming. The action goes from 1960s China to the edges of space and time. The Irish actor Liam Cunningham is among the international cast.

House of the Dragon

Sky Atlantic and Now; summer 2024

After the disappointing final series of Game of Thrones, it’s fair to say that the prequel series House of the Dragon has rejuvenated the franchise, but can it keep up the momentum for a second series? Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Eve Best and Rhys Ifans are among the returning cast for the latest epic adventure, set 200 years before the events of GoT, and focusing on the House of Targaryen.

Small Town, Big Story

Sky Max and Now; date to be announced

Chris O’Dowd writes and directs this warm-hearted comedy set in the fictional Irish town of Drumbán (not a million miles from O’Dowd’s hometown of Boyle, Co Roscommon). It’s peopled by the usual misfits and misanthropes, but the relative peace is broken when a big Hollywood production rolls in to town like some cinematic circus. Christina Hendricks stars as a hotshot TV producer, and Paddy Considine plays the local medic.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

Sky Atlantic and Now; date to be announced

Harvey Keitel leads the cast in this heavyweight series inspired by true events. Lali is a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau who is given the job of tattooing identification numbers on his fellow prisoners’ arms. Then he meets his fellow prisoner Gita, and the pair fall in love, finding a reason to stay alive. Years later, Lali, now in his 80s and played by Keitel, finally tells his story to the young writer Heather Morris (Melanie Lynskey). It’s a story of love blossoming in a place of death.

The Sympathizer

Sky Atlantic and Now; date to be announced

Part espionage thriller, part satire, The Sympathiser follows the adventures of a Viet Cong spy who is forced to live in exile in the United States after the Vietnam War ends. He gamely tries to keep up his espionage activities, but it all gets a bit complicated, especially when Robert Downey jnr keeps popping up in various disguises and largely improvising his multiple roles. The Killing Eve star Sandra Oh is also among the cast.

Ted

Sky Max and Now; date to be announced

Go on, admit it: you’ve always wanted to know the backstory of that big, furry, potty-mouthed star of the Ted movie franchise starring Mark Wahlberg. Well, here it is, a seven-part prequel series set in 1993 and detailing the friendship between the walking, talking teddy bear (Seth McFarlane) and 16-year-old John Bennet (Max Burkholder). How will John’s family cope with their sentient toy guest? I’m sure everyone will learn valuable lessons.

The Day of the Jackal

Sky and Now; date to be announced

Frederick Forsyth’s classic suspense thriller was made into a superb 1973 film starring Edward Fox and a not-so-great 1997 film starring Bruce Willis. Eddie Redmayne is the titular assassin in this modern reimagining, which promises to dig deeper into the psyche of the Jackal and bring some high-octane thrills in a globe-straddling cat-and-mouse game between the ruthless, resourceful killer and the authorities desperately trying to stop him in his deadly tracks.

The Gentlemen

Netflix; date to be announced

Guy Richie is the creator, cowriter and director of this thriller series in which toffs meet thugs and old money collides with a new breed of gangster. Eddie is estranged from his aristocrat dad, but when the old man kicks it and leaves him the family pile, he leaves Eddie with a whole lotta trouble, as he is now the proud owner of Europe’s biggest weed farm. Theo James, Joely Richardson and Giancarlo Esposito are among the cast; Richie’s old mucker Vinnie Jones also makes an appearance.

Eric

Netflix; date to be announced

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a guilt-ridden dad desperately trying to find his nine-year-old son, who disappeared on his way to school in this series set in 1980s New York. Vincent is a puppeteer with his own children’s TV show, but when his son Edgar vanishes he turns to Edgar’s imaginary blue monster puppet, Eric, for guidance – a rather unconventional investigative method that alarms friends, family, colleagues and detectives.

Bodkin

Netflix; date to be announced

In a scenic town on the Irish coast, a group of podcasters come together to search for the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of three people. It’s all great craic altogether until things start to get weird and the lines between fact and fiction, truth and lies disintegrate. Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen, Robyn Cara, David Wilmot and Chris Walley star in a dark thriller with a comedy edge.

Ripley

Netflix; date to be announced

You’ve seen The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett; now here’s the talented Mr Andrew Scott, who takes the role of the con artist Tom Ripley in this series based on the novels by Patricia Highsmith. In 1960s New York, Ripley is hired by a rich dad to head to Italy and bring his errant son home. But when Ripley gets a taste of la dolce vita, his mind turns to murder. Johnny Flynn and Dakota Fanning star alongside the Irish actor.

Mary & George

Sky Atlantic and Now; date to be announced

Julianne Moore stars as the ruthless, ambitious matriarch Mary Villiers, who, in an early example of “bulldozer” parenting, clears the way for her charismatic son George to become one of the most powerful men in 17th-century Britain. He presents himself at the court of King James I, where he seduces the king and is installed as the king’s favourite. Soon, Mary and George are at the centre of the royal court during a time of political turmoil and the threat of a Spanish invasion.

Funny Woman

Sky Max and Now; date to be announced

Gemma Arterton returns as the working-class comedian Barbara in the second series of the comedy based on the novel by Nick Hornby. Barbara has found her voice and found her way into the nation’s hearts as the top comedy star Sophie Straw, but now she’s worried about being typecast and getting stuck in an old-school-comedy rut. How to break out of the sitcom ghetto? Simple: just move into the arthouse-cinema space. But will her fans take her new avant-garde direction seriously?

The Tommy Tiernan Show

RTÉ One; date to be announced

Time for RTÉ to wheel out another bunch of people for Tommy Tiernan to interview, to see if he can deck who he’s talking to. Some of them he’ll recognise right away, but with others it might be a little awkward. The completely improvised show has proven a huge success, as Tiernan has to think on his feet and come up with the right questions to ask his guests and put them at their ease. The comedian Fred Cooke again comperes this eighth season.

Rivals

Disney+; date to be announced

The 1988 bonkbuster by Jilly Cooper comes to the small screen, with a cast that includes David Tennant, Aidan Turner, Katherine Parkinson, Emily Atack and Danny Dyer. Set in the fictional horsey English county of Rutshire, it centres on the rivalry between TV execs as they jockey for position in the broadcasting world. Expect riding crops to be wielded with abandon.

Blackshore

RTÉ; date to be announced

All good telly cops have to eventually return to their hometown to investigate a crime and face their demons, and in this new series from the creators of Smother the ambitious DI Fia Lucy is sent to within throwing distance of her eponymous home to solve a missing-persons case. She is of course haunted by her past, and her hometown harbours a few dark secrets, so there’s lots of shame and guilt to keep everything ticking away ominously. Lisa Dwan plays DI Fia, with Rory Keenan, Stanley Townsend, Andrew Bennett, Amy De Bhrúin and Jade Jordan also among the cast.

Extraordinary

Disney+; date to be announced

Welcome back to the superhero series where the main character has no superpowers. Absolutely zilch. Unless you count her unerringly accurate verbal zingers in this comedy set in a world where everyone is conferred with a superpower when they hit 25 – except for Jen. In this second series she has to navigate a world where everyone can fly, change shape or shoot lasers out of their nostrils, while she still has to get the bus to work. The series stars Máiréad Tyers along with Siobhán McSweeney from Derry Girls.

Star Wars: The Acolyte

Disney+; date to be announced

The Star Wars spin-offs are flying like neutrinos from our telly screens and here’s the latest series from Lucasfilm set in a galaxy far, far away. The Acolyte is kind of a detective thriller with lightsabres, as a former Padawan (that’s an apprentice Jedi) and her Jedi master reunite to solve crimes. It’s not long before they come up against the usual dark and sinister forces and have to use all their Jedi skills to survive. For those fixated on “canon”, it’s set around the last days of the High Republic, about a century before the events of the Star Wars films. As if that makes a blind bit of difference.