Looking Forward: the best TV to enjoy in 2017

Z: The Beginning of Everything, Amazon

The glamorous, fictionalised bio series charting the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (Christina Ricci), the beautiful Southern Belle who becomes the original flapper and icon of the wild, flamboyant, Jazz Age in the 20s comes to Amazon this January.

The Handmaid's Tale, Hulu

Chilling dystopian fiction from Margaret Atwood is being adapted by Hulu into a 10-part series starring Elizabeth Moss as Offred, the handmaid, who is kept for breeding purposes in a future where birthrates are low and America has been taken over by a religious dictatorship. This is her story.

A Series of Unfortunate Events, Netflix

Adapted from the classic book series by Lemony Snicket, A Series of Unfortunate Events stars Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) as the eccentric, bombastic and very, definitely, completely evil Count Olaf, who takes possession of the three very clever, unfortunate Baudelaire children after their parents die in a freak house fire.

Guerrilla, Sky Atlantic

Written by 12 Years a Slave’s John Ridley and featuring an all-star international cast, Guerrilla offers a close examination of racial identity in Britain and is likely to be a big hitting TV show.

The story follows a young couple who decide to liberate a political prisoner and go on to form a radical underground cell. Their underground movement soon decides to target the 'black power desk': a counterintelligence unit within the special branch.

Howards End, BBC One

EM Forster's beloved Howards End, about social mores in turn-of-the-century England, is being transformed into a new four-part mini series will be penned by Gangs of New York screenwriter Kenneth Lonergan for the BBC this year. Hold onto your bonnets.

Okja, Netflix 2017

A new thriller and global adventure story starring Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal and Steven Yeun is coming to Netflix in 2017 courtesy of South Korean film director and screenwriter Bong Joon-ho.

Twin Peaks, Sky Atlantic

Picking up from where it last left us (back in 1991) Twin Peaks returns to our screens with 18-episode series this May, courtesy of its original creators Mark Frost and David Lynch.

The original series was revolutionary and has since been considered as one of the most important TV shows in history.

His Dark Materials, BBC One

Prepare yourselves: Philip Pullman's beloved trilogy is arriving on the BBC. It's arrival is mostly cloaked in secrecy but we can tell you that writer behind Harry Potter - no, not J.K Rowling - Jack Thorne, who co-wrote the script for the Cursed Child is behind it and that the story will follow Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry as they travel through various parallel universes. It's very exciting news.

Girls: Season 6, Sky Atlantic

The beloved, dirty, honest and hilarious comedy about a group of friends in their 20s navigating the impossible waters of life in New York City, written by and starring Lena Dunham, officially comes to an end in 2017 with the arrival of season 6.

Riviera, Sky Atlantic

An intoxicating new thriller set in the opulent French Riviera, home to the world's filthy rich and most morally ambiguous is coming to Sky Atlantic in the new year. Created by Oscar-winning writer and director Neil Jordan (The Borgias) and starring Julia Stiles (The Bourne Series, Silver Linings Playbook), we expect to be come gripped by the sun-drenched luxury of the South of France and its awful inhabitants.

Apple Tree Yard, BBC One

Apple Tree Yard, the sinister thriller by Louise Doughty, became a page-turner and a literary sensation following its publication in 2013. This January, it comes to the BBC as a dark adaptation starring Emily Watson, Ben Chaplin, Mark Bonnar, Adeel Akhtar, Lydia Leonard, Frances Tomelty and Rhashan Stone.

Anne of Green Gables, Netflix

Spirited Anne (spelled with an e) Shirley is the best friend we all wanted growing up. Netflix are adapting the story of the spirited Canadian orphan into an eight-hour series.

The Cuckoo's Calling, BBC One

Cormoran Strike, the flawed, overweight amputee... and detective hero who will be starring three in a BBC adaptation of J.K Rowling (I mean Robert Galbraith)'s three crime novels: The Cuckoo's Calling, The Silkworm and The Career of Evil.

Cormoran will be played by Tom Burke (War and Peace). Filming started in autumn 2016 and each book will become two 60 minute episodes.

Stranger Things 2 Series 2, Netflix

Stranger Things, the crepuscular, spine-shivering thriller set in the fictional rural town of Hawkins that captured the hearts of Netflix fans last year, has announced it's return date for Halloween 2017.