Seven years after the previous series of Happy Valley, Sarah Lancashire has returned as sergeant Catherine Cawood, who is “still one of television’s finest creations”, said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. Cawood is played “so brilliantly” by Lancashire, “that we should just hand her the Bafta now and have done with it”. TV drama “doesn’t get much better than this”. Tell Vera that “she needn’t bother” – Ted Hastings “can stay at home too”, said Christopher Stevens in the Daily Mail. “Telly’s most capable copper is back – and she’s in no mood for nonsense.”
New heist series Kaleidoscope represents “nothing less than a bold new vision of storytelling”, said Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. There are eight episodes in total, “but here’s the thing”, you can watch “in any order you like”. In fact there are “40,320 ways” to watch the show. Giancarlo Esposito, Jai Courtney, Tati Gabrielle and Rufus Sewell star.
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This Amazon Prime show about a remote oil rig has “supernatural overtones” that will give an “extra chill to long winter nights”, said Claire Gregory on Sky News. Shot entirely in Scotland – and starring Martin Compston, Iain Glen, Mark Bonnar and Emily Hampshire – the drama has provided a “welcome boost” to the Scottish TV industry.
Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey will star in the nine-part adaptation of the “classic” PlayStation action-adventure game, said Alex Fletcher on BT.com. Taking place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed, The Last of Us looks like an “early contender for one of the best and biggest TV shows of 2023”.
UK release date: part one 9 February and part two 9 March
Netflix’s “notorious serial killer” Joe Goldberg is returning to “wreak more havoc”, said Emily Gulla in Cosmopolitan. Series four, which is released in two parts, is this time set in London with a brand new cast and brand new victims. “Yikes.”
The journeys of the Mandalorian through the Star Wars galaxy continue. Baby Yoda will be back to “munch on more macarons”, along with Pedro Pascal (“obvs”) and Katee Sackhoff, said Laura Jane Turner on Digital Spy. The Book of Boba Fett “set the scene” for Mando’s third instalment.
There are “so many good follow-up seasons coming this year”, including a fourth series of Succession, said Emily Gulla in Cosmopolitan. TV’s “greatest foul-mouth” Logan Roy (Brian Cox) returns along with his children as the battle for the future of media conglomerate Waystar Royco “gets even more intense”, said Alex Fletcher on BT.com. “Who will triumph in the seismic power struggle? We can’t wait to find out.”
When Henry Cavill announced that he would be “leaving the bath tub behind” and walking away from The Witcher, it was one of the “biggest pieces of entertainment news” of 2022, said Laura Jane Turner on Digital Spy. Season three will be Cavill’s swansong as Geralt of Rivia, with Liam Hemsworth confirmed as his replacement for season four.
It’s going to be a “bumper year” for fans of Doctor Who, said Alex Fletcher on BT.com. David Tennant and Catherine Tate will reunite in November for three hour-long specials to mark the show’s 60th anniversary before newcomer Ncuti Gatwa steps into the Tardis as the 15th Doctor at Christmas.
The popular French language mystery thriller Lupin will return for a third series on Netflix in 2023. Inspired by the adventures of Arsène Lupin, the hit show is created by the British writer George Kay and stars Omar Sy as Assane Diop. Fans of Netflix’s “most suave gentleman thief” will have to wait a little longer to see him back on their screens, said Morgan Jeffery on RadioTimes.com. The streamer has confirmed that part three will land this year, “though exactly when remains a mystery”. The first series of Lupin was one of the most successful ever on Netflix.
Netflix is “heading back into the wild” with a “major new natural history push” in 2023, said Peter White on Deadline. As well as ordering six new series including Our Universe and Life on Our Planet narrated by Morgan Freeman, the streamer has also renewed David Attenborough’s Our Planet for a second season. From the team behind Planet Earth, it will “follow more animals on the move” and “unravel the mysteries of how and why animals migrate to reveal stories in the natural world”.
Clean out the diary room, a reboot of the hit reality series is returning to our screens on ITV2. A cast of housemates from all walks of life will be locked up in a brand new Big Brother house with cameras “capturing their every move”, said Josh Darvill on Telly Mix. The new series was originally scheduled to launch in March, but it has reportedly been “pushed back to sometime in autumn 2023”.
It's “good news” for Bridgerton fans as the popular franchise is getting its very own prequel series, said Emily Gulla in Cosmopolitan. Focusing on Queen Charlotte’s younger years and her relationship with King George, Netflix hasn’t confirmed a release date, but it has “dropped a first-look teaser”.
The sixth and final season of Netflix’s “absolute juggernaut of a 20th century epic” will “get to the heavy stuff” in late 2023, said Tom Nicholson in Esquire. In season five there was a lot of “portent and pouting” and in season six Diana’s going to die “very early doors”. From there “we’ll head into the Blair premiership proper, the wreckage of the death of Diana, the beginnings of the split between Harry, William and Charles, the demise of Blairism and Queen Lizzie’s encroaching mortality”.
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