‘Night Manager’ To ‘A Thousand Blows’

Big Brit stars including Tom Hiddleston, Tamara Lawrance and Walking Dead star Andrew Lincoln are set to grace the small screen next year. Here, we round up the biggest shows coming out of the UK in 2025, as The Night Manager returns, Steven Knight’s latest drops and, just maybe, the next big hit launches. Read on, and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments section.

‘The Night Manager’ (BBC, Prime Video)

Tom Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine is back baby, and he’ll be on TV for a little while. A supercharged double-season order of one of the shows that defined TV’s golden era was actioned earlier this year and Season 2 will land in 2k25 with a brand new director in I Hate Suzie’s Georgi Banks-Davies and new American co-producer in Prime Video, which replaces AMC. Last seen in the back of a paddy wagon driven by arms buyers who were not best pleased with him, Hugh Laurie’s status in the new season of the John le Carré adaptation remains unknown. But with returning cast galore and a few new faces in tow, one thing’s for sure, this one looks set to thrill.

‘King and Conqueror’ (CBS Studios, BBC)

James Norton and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as warring 11th century royals, what’s not to like? This much-anticipated series from CBS Studios (bought swiftly by the BBC) will chronicle a clash that defined the future of Britain for a thousand years and is still taught in schools today. The producers and stars have already said that King and Conqueror will show a different side to those who battled for the crown and Norton is having a bit of a moment on both sides of the pond at present, adding some serious star power. A period drama revival feels afoot and King and Conqueror could be at the forefront.

‘Get Millie Black’ (HBO, Channel 4)

We don’t often flag shows that have already had their U.S. launch on this list but UK viewers won’t technically get to see Get Millie Black until Jan so this crime thriller makes the cut. Booker Prize-winning novelist Marlon James penned the series starring Tamara Lawrance as a cop who returns to Jamaica to work in a missing persons department and finds herself on a quest to solve a case that will blow her world apart. The show for HBO and Channel 4 deals with a whole host of themes and American viewers appear to have been suitably impressed. James has previously spoken with us about how he wanted to portray the “richness” of queer Caribbean communities, giving a distinctly modern feel to the traditional detective story. This one could land itself as an early critical success as we move through 2025.

‘The Death of Bunny Munro’ (Sky)

Per a recent first look, Matt Smith is as you’ve never seen him before in this adaptation of Nick Cave’s cult novel. Sky’s originals strategy tends to sweep from big-budget fare like Day of the Jackal to the quirkier stuff and Bunny Munro definitely falls into the latter, sitting in a similar category to big hitter Patrick Melrose. The show sees Smith’s Munro, a self-professed Lothario, saddled with his young son following the death of his wife by suicide. Cue chaos, and the potential for a whole lot of buzz.

‘Malice’ (Prime Video)

Jack Whitehall isn’t a name you would associate with the psychological thriller genre but then the man has range. He stars as part of an ensemble including David Duchovny and Carice van Houten in Malice, playing a young man trying to infiltrate the world of a wealthy family. Duchovny and van Houten are the heads of the family and can draw on some weighty experience starring in intrigue shows like The X-Files and Game of Thrones. If Amazon throws a bit of marketing might behind this one, it could just take off, coming as the streamer tries to further establish itself as a big player in the UK originals game. You could do worse than a bit of Whitehall, Duchovny and van Houten.

‘Cold Water’ (ITV)

Andrew Lincoln is back in Blighty. Having warmed hearts as ‘the one with the bits of card’ in Love Actually, Lincoln travelled across the pond, achieving superstardom via one of the greatest TV franchises of all time in the Walking Dead. Now he is back leading an ITV thriller. Cold Water’s draw is therefore palpable, with Lincoln playing a repressed man who moves to a Scottish village and strikes up a relationship with an enigmatic neighbor, played by the always brilliant Ewen Bremner. ITV has a number of shows in production featuring starry talent and will be hoping to go gangbusters with Cold Water a year after Mr Bates vs the Post Office unearthed the best kind of PR a channel can get.

‘How to Get To Heaven From Belfast’ (Netflix)

Shows don’t jump between platforms post-greenlight too often so eyebrows were raised as Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee’s new project suddenly switched from Channel 4 to Netflix. But Channel 4’s issue with “rising costs” will no doubt be Netflix’s gain. The show is a tad more expansive than Derry Girls, following Saoirse, Robyn and Dara, who journey on a hilarious odyssey through Ireland and beyond as each tries to piece together the truth of the past. In McGee’s hands, expect plenty of laughs, merriment and emotion, as the creator of what is arguably Channel 4’s most influential comedy of the past decade tries her hand once again. Execs at Channel 4 may end up watching but through gritted teeth.

A Thousand Blows (Disney+)

Ding ding round one. One of Disney+’s biggest titles of next year comes from the UK with Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight re-teaming with Peaky alum Stephen Graham (who will star in Knight’s new Peaky film) to do battle in A Thousand Blows. The Victorian era boxing drama follows the fortunes of Hezekiah and Alec, two best friends newly arrived from Jamaica. Fighting for survival in the violent melting pot of the East End, they come up against Sugar Goodson, a dangerous veteran. Rivals has helped Disney end the year with a bang in the UK and with a new EMEA originals chief still being sought as we go to press, they will be hoping to keep up the momentum with A Thousand Blows.