The best TV, Autumn 2019

The Crown season 3, Netflix

It’s been a long time coming. Season three has taken two years to arrive on the shelves of Netflix, mainly because of the change in cast.

Olivia Colman replaces Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth, Tobias Menzies plays Prince Philip, and the screen-shattering Helena Bonham Carter takes on the rebellious Princess Margaret.

This phase in the Royal history covers Elizabeth Windsor’s reign from 1964 to 1976 – encapsulating the Moon Landing and the introduction of Lady Diana Spencer.

Catherine the Great, Sky Atlantic

If the wait between now and The Crown is too long to bear, Helen Mirren as Catherine II of Russia could fill that royal gap.

Catherine the Great follows the final years of the 18^th century Russian empress, and her scandalous affair with the military leader Grigory Potemkin (played by Jason Clarke).

From the trailer, Catherine and her lust for power wields some dark similarities to Game of Thrones's Cersei Lannister. Expect muddy battles, brutal politics, and divine jewellery.

His Dark Materials, BBC One

After an appalling movie version, fans of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy deserve something much, much better. Thankfully, the BBC seem eager to deliver.

With an all-star cast including James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, this looks to be a more faithful adaptation – complete with mythical daemons, armoured polar bears, and evil Gobblers.

Noughts & Crosses, BBC One

There’s never been a better time for dystopian TV. As if to reflect the tumultuous times we’re living in, shows like Years and Years, Black Mirror and The Handmaid’s Tale provide some dark, unsettling futures.

Noughts & Crosses will be another fascinating example, adapted from the novel series by Malorie Blackman and starring the Grime artist Stormzy. Set in a future society gripped by reverse racism, in which white people (‘Noughts’) are second to black people (‘Crosses’), a love story blossoms from the hate.

World on Fire, BBC One

Any character played by Sean Bean will almost certainly die, but maybe World on Fire will change that.

This sprawling WWII drama spreads across Europe during the first year of the war. Following ordinary surviving citizens in Berlin, Warsaw, and Manchester this series promises to be an absorbing new perspective on that period.

From translators to factory workers, World on Fire will bring these forgotten stories back into the light.

Unbelievable, Netflix

In 2008, Marie Adler filed a report of rape. Nobody believed her, and she retracted her case . But in 2011, two detectives caught the rapist responsible. Unbelievable tracks that three-year struggle, based on the 2015 ProRepublica article An Unbelievable Story of Rape.

This eight-part miniseries stars Kaitlyn Dever (Booksmart) as Adler with Toni Colette (Velvet Buzzsaw, Wanderlust) and Marritt Wever (Welcome to Marwen) as the two detectives. It’ll prove a devastating but necessary watch.

A Confession, ITV

When it comes to ITV dramas, they range from boring to brilliant. The new six-part drama A Confession, based on the 2011 Sian O'Callaghan case, proves to be one of the good ones.

DI Steve Fulcher (Martin Freeman), in charge of the O'Callaghan investigation, bent the rules to extract a confession from the murderer responsible - and paid an horrendous price. A Confession follows his brutal journey. Imelda Staunton also stars.

Criminal, Netflix

Set entirely within claustrophobic interrogation rooms, Criminal explores 12 different stories of crime across four European countries. The first three episodes take place in the UK, and feature David Tennant and Hayley Atwell.

Very little has been revealed in terms of the individual plots, but it's already being compared to Line of Duty because of its tense interrogation concept. Will the interrogations span entire episodes? Will they reach a Jed Mercurio-level of gripping? We’ll find out the truth soon enough.

Dublin Murders, BBC One

Certain detective dramas have tried and failed to replicate the macabre, horror-cinema success of Luther. But Dublin Murders, based on the novels by Tana French, looks like a decently dark and morbidly engrossing noir.

Set in Ireland during their economic boom in the late-90s and early noughties, the eight-part psychological thriller follows detectives Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) as they investigate some local horrors.

One case is a young ballerina, found dead on an ancient altar. The other is a free-spirited woman, found dead in a roofless famine cottage.

The Trial of Christine Keeler, BBC One

Not long after American Crime Story announced that season 3 will cover the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, the BBC reaches back into Britain’s political history for a similar, adulterous tale.

In the ‘60s, the Secretary of State for War John Profumo was accused of having an extra-marital affair with the 19-year-old dancer Christine Keeler. Like Clinton, Profumo also strenuously denied the allegations until further evidence proved the contrary, which dismantled Harold Macmillan’s Tory government. The Trial of Christine Keeler follows these events in a six-part series.

The Politician, Netflix

Payton (Ben Platt) is a high-school student determined to become Student Body President on his road to the Oval Office. But plenty of other students want the position, and they're willing to be ruthless to get it.

The Politician boasts an all-star cast - including Gwyneth Paltrow, Bette Midler, and Jessica Lange - in a colourful satire of American politics, perfect for our bleak and troubled times.

Modern Love, Amazon Prime

Another bite-sized anthology series, Modern Love dips into the love-lives of eight different couples. Each half-hour episode is based on a true story told in a famous column in the New York Times. These range from a pregnant woman fancying the doorman to a bipolar person struggling to find love.

Anne Hathaway (Serenity), Tina Fey (Wine Country), and Dev Patel (Hotel Mumbai) are all involved, with Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, This Way Up) directing the Tina Fey episode.

The New Pope, Sky Atlantic

The trailer for The New Pope, the follow-up to Paolo Sorrentino’s 2016 series The Young Pope, has a barely clad Jude Law walk out of the sea (Daniel Craig-style) and moving through lines of wide-eyed women in bikinis. It’s hard not to laugh at the sexual absurdity, but the reasons make sense.

The Young Pope ended with Pope Lenny Belardo (Law) drifting into a coma, and now John Malkovich’s Giovanni Paolo is taking the reins. But the coma isn’t permanent, and Belardo returns from his sexy dreams. He wakes to realise he’s been replaced. Awkward.

The Loudest Voice, Sky Atlantic

The fascination with global media empires has grown in the past couple of years, especially after the first season of Succession. Shows like Trust and MotherFatherSon proved enticing, often commenting on the power of money over people and governments and nations.

The Loudest Voice offers another angle – looking into the Fox News network and its former CEO Roger Ailes, who resigned in 2016 after many sexual harassment allegations.

Russell Crowe has a Christian Bale-like transformation into the overweight Ailes, starring alongside Naomi Watts (Twin Peaks: The Return) and Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy). The series looks like an evil version of The Newsroom.

A Christmas Carol, BBC One

Charles Dickens’ existential classic has enjoy infinite version over the years. Has it run out of things to say? Apparently not.

Maybe we can trust that Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight, a dark and excellent force in TV writing, will offer something different. This three-part adaptation claims to be ‘haunting’, ‘hallucinatory’, and ‘spine-tingling’. Considering Knight’s stylistic talent, especially with bleak period dramas, he’s certain to deliver an unforgettable journey.

With Guy Pearce (Mary Queen of Scots), Andy Serkis (Black Panther), and Stephen Graham (The Virtues) playing crucial roles, this could be the BBC event of the season.