Halfway through the year, we’ve already been treated to a rich banquet of TV – from the surprise success of to the virality of Here’s our running list of the best TV shows of 2024 so far, and a sneak peek at the series we’re most excited about for the autumn. You’ll find dramas and procedurals, sci-fi galore, and enough historical epics to keep you occupied. So much to watch! on Apple TV+ If you’re a soft target for British crime procedurals and have fond memories of the Scottish actor Peter Capaldi dominating Armando Ianucci’s classic political series , Apple TV+’s is just the thing.
In this eight-episode, London-based series, Capaldi and Cush Jumbo go toe to toe as warring detectives – veteran and rookie – re-litigating a high-profile murder case. – on Sky Atlantic and Now Set during the eternally dark and snowy days of late December in a remote Alaskan town where Indigenous locals and a mining company coexist uneasily, the newest iteration of bears the closest resemblance to the thrilling first season 10 years ago. This time around, though, with Mexican writer and director Issa López at the helm, women are the heavies: Jodie Foster brandishes the badge for the first time since 32 years ago, while real-life pro-boxing champ Kali Reis more than holds her own as her tough-as-hell partner.
Both are haunted by ghosts from their traumatic pasts as they attempt to solve a grisly massacre at a scientific outpost. It’s the perfect wintertime binge, not to mention scary as hell, and both diehards and those who have never heard of “time is a flat circle” are sure to enjoy the eerie, supernatural, supremely satisfying ride. – on Prime Video Lulu Wang follows up her heartfelt 2019 film with .
Like , which told the story of a young Chinese American woman returning to China to spend time with her dying grandmother, is (unsurprisingly) concerned with the experience of living between cultures. Here, the subjects again are Americans living abroad in Asia, a trio of women whose lives are intertwined with each other and with a random-seeming tragedy. The show resists easy categorisation; in some ways, with its lush attention to the frenetic urban landscapes of modern-day Hong Kong, it bears the imprint of Wang’s previous creations, feeling like a vision-driven independent film.
There’s a mystery associated with the tragedy, but this is hardly a whodunnit. Instead, it’s an examination of how people build a home in a foreign place, and how fragile those constructions can be. Nicole Kidman gives a harrowing performance as one of the trio of women, but it is Ji-young Yoo, playing a disaffected and aimless young Korean American college graduate, who steals the show.
– on Apple TV+ Based on historian Donald L Miller’s bestseller, follows the American bomber boys of the 100th Bomb Group (dubbed the Bloody Hundredth) as they engage in treacherous raids over Nazi Germany. Executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the show has a traditional feel, foregrounding the psychological and emotional toll paid by these young men. But there’s plenty of visual splendour to luxuriate in, with directors like Dee Rees behind the camera and in front of it the impossibly coiffed crème of handsome young Hollywood (Barry Keoghan, Austin Butler, Callum Turner) and Colleen Atwood’s costumes (indulgent thick leather bombers with shearling collars).
– on Prime Video Prime Video’s stars Donald Glover and ’s Maya Erskine as a pair of spies navigating dangerous weekly missions (often around New York, where they’re based in a gorgeous townhouse, but also sometimes in the dramatically beautiful Dolomites, or the Costa Rican jungle, or on the shores of Lake Como) while also attempting to maintain their arranged marriage – one that quickly evolves from a strange shared burden to a font of real passion and pleasure, as well as conflict and competition. The 2005 film of the same name, starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, inspired this series, but Glover and Erskine are doing entirely their own thing – and the results feel exciting and fun. Plus, the show boasts a murderers’ row of supporting actors, among them Sarah Paulson (fabulous as a batty couples therapist), Alexander Skarsgård, John Turturro, Sharon Horgan, Paul Dano, Michaela Coel, and Parker Posey.
– on Netflix I didn’t want to like this show. A mainstream bestseller turned into a mid-Aughts toothless (sorry, Anna Hathaway stans) turned show? Talk about tired IP. But boy did I love it.
I chalk it up to the incredible chemistry between (unknown to me before watching this show, a real discovery and an unapologetic comedic talent) and (the rascally charlatan who charmed on season two). The plot charts the relationship between the characters played by Mod and Woodall, university friends who circle each other romantically for most of their twenties. Each episode checks in on them on the same day but a different year (hence the title), and the show somehow convinces you that they have grown older (not wiser) and, eventually, more assured of themselves and their relationship.
Rarely has something I expected to be nothing more than a treacly confection so surprised me with its genuine heart. – on Apple TV+ Apple’s streaming service continues to take big swings with sci-fi; check out , , or ..
. or don’t! For all of their ambition, none of Apple’s splashy sci-fi series have so far become essential viewing. But is absolutely worth your time: a space-drama meets conspiracy thriller starring the always-good Noomi Rapace and Jonathan Banks (whom we loved in and ).
The writer Peter Harness is behind the eight-episode series, and the promise of his track record ( , , ) pays off with an unsettling story that twists through space exploration, high-level physics and the spooky sense that reality itself is coming undone. It’s just a shame that Apple TV+ has decided not to renew it. – on Apple TV+ Can fashion history make for compelling drama? , a series from Apple TV+ that begins in Paris under Nazi occupation and charts the rise of Christian Dior after the Second World War, brings star power and a veteran TV creator to the task.
Here is Ben Mendelsohn as an exquisitely dignified Dior, working in obscurity for the couturier Lucien Lelong (and reluctant to design dresses for Nazi wives), and Juliette Binoche as his high-profile rival Coco Chanel, comporting with members of the Third Reich and living at the Ritz. The creator is the genre specialist Todd Kessler, known for pulpy entertainments like and , though with he’s aiming for something more high-minded and polite (think , but with fashion designers instead of royals). The series has escapist sweep and is packed with familiar faces: Emily Mortimer as socialite Elsa Lombardi, John Malkovich as Lelong, Maisie Williams as Dior’s sister Catherine (arrested and imprisoned at a concentration camp), and Claes Bang as Chanel’s aristocratic Nazi boyfriend, Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage.
Mendelsohn is the moral and creative hero, but the striving, anything-to-survive Binoche gives the series a ruthless spark. – on Disney+ One of the surprise hits of the spring, this epic, years-in-the-making adaptation of James Clavell’s bestselling, 1,000-plus page novel from 1975, , proved better than anyone expected and quickly became a bit of a streaming phenomenon (proving that Netflix isn’t the only game in town when it comes to breakthrough series). Set in 17th-century Japan, the story is satisfyingly complex and the acting is superb, especially from as the translator Mariko, veteran Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano as feudal leader Yabushige and the highly appealing Cosmo Jarvis as the English sailor John Blackthorne.
Addictive, well-paced and lavishly produced. – on Netflix Guy Ritchie returns! Sometimes you just want to cheer the streamers for handing over a big budget to someone with the verve and vision of Ritchie. Another star, an extremely charismatic Theo James, is the second son of a recently departed duke, who (mild spoiler here) is unexpectedly named his father’s heir.
The reasoning quickly becomes apparent as the extent of the first son’s dissolute dysfunction unfolds. Further revelations ensue: namely, a criminal operation that is part of the inheritance. Ritchie feels like he’s back in beloved territory, among the charming rakes and bullish thugs of the British underworld.
The British actor (perhaps, like me, you remember her as the singular Effy from ) is creepy and convincing as a woman confidently navigating that seedy scene. – Season 3 on Netflix If you’re in the market for a joke-a-minute sitcom along the lines of or , look no further than , which chronicles the improbable mid-forties reunion of an early-Aughts girl group. admittedly takes a few episodes in the first season to find its footing, but its highly Tina Fey-influenced comedic voice and bevy of magnetically watchable stars (Renée Elise Goldsberry playing a clear piano! Busy Philipps as a dippy influencer type! Paula Pell, enough said!) make it well worth seeking out.
– on Apple TV+ Call it the effect: a certain type of TV show that presents a super-saturated, candy-coated vision of the past. , which stars Kristin Wiig as a beauty pageant queen who marries up, sets its sights on Palm Beach society. Like a Lilly Pulitzer fever dream, the show is awash in tangerine and flamingo pink, .
The plot is nominally an outsider narrative, with Wiig’s character attempting to infiltrate the upper echelons of that milieu, but it’s really the fashion and the slightly camp but still enjoyable performances from the cast (Allison Janney, Laura Dern, Kaia Gerber, Ricky Martin – does the man ever age?) that keep the show afloat. – on Netflix In the quest for the next culture-dominating -esque series, consider this Netflix’s big bet: , an adaptation of Chinese novelist Liu Cixin’s 2008 science fiction novel ( tote-around paperback for the haute-nerd set). It’s no small thing to transform Cixin’s extremely complex, time-jumping, alien-invasion story to the screen, but this is a show with ambition on hyperdrive: among the clutch of big name producers, none other than David Benioff and D B Weiss (of ) serve as writer/producers, along with Alexander Woo, who was responsible for the excellent .
– on Sky Atlantic and Now Nearly three years (!) after reminded us all, for about the thousandth time, that Kate Winslet is one of the very best we have, she returned to HBO in , a political satire set in a fictional Central European autocracy wherein the fearsome chancellor (Winslet) is beginning to lose her grip. (The first teasers feel a little meets , with some -flavoured jockeying thrown into the mix.) The talent behind the camera is mighty – Winslet, Will Tracy, Frank Rich, Tracey Seaward, Stephen Frears, and Jessica Hobbs are all executive producers (with Tracy serving as showrunner), while the writing team includes playwright Sarah DeLappe, novelist Gary Shteyngart, and Juli Weiner, an Emmy winner for her work on but the show’s cast isn’t bad either.
Besides Winslet there’s also the likes of Matthias Schoenaerts, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton, and Hugh Grant. – on Netflix Another recycled story that holds its own appeal. This time the beloved stars as Tom Ripley in an adaptation of the gripping Patricia Highsmith novel.
Scott is joined by and Johnny Flynn, and is replaced by an austere black-and-white scheme. Written and directed by Steven Zaillian, creator of the gripping and dark HBO procedural , it has a distinctly noir feel, and Scott delivers a subtle and sinister performance. – on Apple TV+ The reason to put on your to-watch list is its 50-year-old star, Tobias Menzies, recently of and and a clutch of TV shows before that ( , , ) – each one of them worth watching precisely because of Menzies, who brings his steady, slightly raffish sophistication to any project he’s in.
is an adaptation of a nonfiction bestseller about the hunt for President Lincoln’s killer in 1865 and Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War and the lead detective – of a kind – in the search for the man who pulled the trigger, John Wilkes Booth. Call it true crime meets historical fiction. – on Netflix After arriving on Netflix with a bang in April, quickly became one of the year’s most-talked-about shows – thanks in no small part to the fact that its shocking depiction of stalking and sexual assault was closely based on the real-life experiences of its creator, the British comedian Richard Gadd.
(Much of the debate surrounding the show centred on whether it was closely based on real life, as internet sleuths made efforts to track down the real people involved.) What impressed most, though, was ’s tonal tightrope walk between black comedy and moments that felt more akin to a thriller – as well as its sensitivity in dealing with a number of hot-button topics. – on Prime Video Video-game TV adaptations are usually a case of hype cycles run amok – even though HBO’s was a genuine prestige-TV hit in 2023 (and has been renewed for a second season).
Prime Video’s adaptation of the post-apocalyptic role-playing game has gold-plated executive producers, Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy of , and proved to be an interesting stew of cowboy action, robot mayhem, and kooky world-building. – on Disney+ Revenge is a dish best served at . Ryan Murphy’s latest instalment of his series tells the tale of Truman Capote’s unfinished roman à clef and the bridges he burnt when an excerpt from it was published in in 1965.
Not since Diana’s swimwear on has the fashion hive anticipated a new series with such fervour. In , the flock is glamorous and the plumage Olympics-worthy. The social doyennes of the second half of the last century are the main characters here, with as long-suffering yet sanguine Babe Paley, Chloë Sevigny as a straight-shooting, Scotch-swilling CZ Guest, Calista Flockhart as the wounded, sabre-tongued Lee Radziwill and Diane Lane as the sage and vindictive Slim Keith.
Directed by Gus van Sant, languorous, malicious meals unspool at La Côte Basque, the midtown society lunch spot, gloves are sought at Saks (they are shamed for being behind the times and told to – gasp – try Lord & Taylor). Capote, played brilliantly by an equal parts vulnerable and savage Tom Hollander, descends into drink and darkness when his writing irretrievably ruins his social swirl and closest friendships. His infamous is chronicled in painstaking detail over an entire episode, with Zac Posen brought in to design the Swans’ gowns (Murphy veteran Lou Eyrich handles the rest of the show’s costumes with aplomb – and real vintage).
The show is glamorous and gothic at once, and, while not much happens, it’s still worth having a bird’s eye view. – on Apple TV+ Apple TV+ has been plunging into the historical drama game of late and is the latest example, a big-budget limited series set in 1776 when Benjamin Franklin travelled to France to bring its monarchy onto the side of the rebelling colonies. None other than Michael Douglas, 79, plays Franklin, amid an excellent cast of international actors including Ludivine Sagnier and Thibault de Montalembert.
– Season 3 on Netflix If Shonda Rhimes followed the chronological order of Julia Quinn’s source-material book series, season three of be about Benedict Bridgerton’s quest to find love. Yet the showrunner made the executive decision to focus instead on fan-favourites Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington, whose slow-burn story has been building through the past few years. At the end of season two, Penelope overhears Colin tell his friends he would “never dream” of courting her – leading Penelope to finally ditch her long-held crush on the third Bridgerton brother.
After years of pining, it’s finally time for Colin to pursue her rather than the other way around. Add in a dash of double-life drama (Penelope is secretly the infamous Lady Whistledown), and the third season of might be the most satisfyingly soapy yet. – on Apple TV+ Would you believe it? Another reality-bending sci-fi-esque thriller from Apple TV+ (see also: , , , ).
could seem like run-of-the-mill prestige TV – adapted from a bestselling book (by Blake Crouch), noir-ish in look and tone – except its cut-above cast raises the stakes. The typically excellent Joel Edgerton plays a physics professor who slips into an alternate reality and has to fight his way back to save his wife, played by Jennifer Connelly. – Season 3 on Prime Video With its third season, overcame the nearly impossible feat of topping itself.
After a strong sophomore season, many viewers wondered how the odd-couple comedy would continue its trajectory. Now, it’s clear there was no reason to worry. The show’s latest instalment is funnier, smarter, and more poignant than ever, especially thanks to Jean Smart, who delivers bigger laughs and gut punches as Deborah Vance – whether she’s turning an NA meeting into a tight 10, or scheming to get her own late-night show.
The promotion of Meg Stalter and Paul W Downs to series regulars has added a delightful B-plot to the series, and Hannah Einbinder continues to bring greater depth to Ava with every passing episode. Lucky for us, a fourth season is on its way. – Season 3 on Disney+ The third season of , focused on the titular restaurant’s rocky first months of operation, proved its most divisive yet.
At times the show abandoned the larger plot for more intimate character studies, leaving viewers yearning for some form of resolution in , , and Carmy’s relationships with pretty much everyone else. But the choice also gave us my favourite episodes of the season, “Napkins”, a closer look at Liza Colón-Zayas’s Tina (and Ayo Edebiri’s directorial debut) and “Ice Chips”, which follows Natalie, aka Sugar (Abby Elliott), as she is forced to lean on her mother, Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis), for support when she goes into labour. Let’s just consider season three an amuse-bouche; with season four already filmed, we know the main course is on the way.
– Season 2 on Sky Atlantic and Now While HBO’s prequel to may have started off a little slow, by the end of its first season, it was firing on all cylinders – not least thanks to the fiery performances by its two leads, . And the latter’s expression of grief and fury in the season’s final shot alone proves there will be plenty of carnage to come in the show’s follow-up. Expect more dragons, more gruesome deaths, and plenty more twists and turns up the (medieval trumpet) sleeves of the show’s creators, Ryan Condal and George R R Martin.
– on Apple TV+ You can watch this show with intimate familiarity with the book and Harrison Ford film, or you can come to it – as I did – with absolutely none, and fully enjoy it. (We ran an experiment with a sample size of two in our household, and this was our definitive conclusion.) It’s not that surprising, actually, when you consider the calibre of the cast: Jake Gyllenhaal as the wrongfully (or he???) accused lawyer fending off a life-damning murder charge; Ruth Negga as his long-suffering wife; Peter Sarsgaard as the smarmy colleague out to get him; the luminous Renate Reinsve ( ) as the murdered girlfriend; Bill Camp – a revelation – as the lawyer and best friend defending Gyllenhaal’s character.
It’s a powerhouse collection, and they are all doing their part to weave together this supremely watchable and classy show. The story to be setting itself up for resolution in the final episode, but with a second season already announced, we can look forward to more suspense to come. – on Netflix Nicole Kidman knows what she’s doing, starring in yet another prestige-y murder mystery series set in a fastidiously manicured community, and peopled with a throng of compelling (if suspicious) supporting characters.
This time, however, the backdrop is Nantucket, not Monterey; and the author of the involving source material is Elin Hilderbrand, not Liane Moriarty. In , Kidman plays Greer Garrison Winbury, a famous novelist whose son, Benji (Billy Howle), is due to marry Amelia Sacks (Eve Hewson) at Summerland, the Winbury family’s seaside compound; drama and intrigue ensue when a body washes up on the beach. With a cast including Liev Schreiber (as Greer’s husband, Tag), Dakota Fanning, Meghann Fahy and Isabelle Adjani, we’re almost certainly in for a delectable, late-summer treat.
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