The best upcoming BBC dramas to look forward to - YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Sign in Welcome!Log into your account Forgot your password? Password recovery Recover your password Search Sign in Welcome! Log into your account Forgot your password? Get help Password recovery Recover your password A password will be e-mailed to you. YOU Magazine Fashion Beauty Celebrity Health Life Relationships Horoscopes Food Interiors Travel Home Life The best upcoming BBC dramas to look forward to By You Magazine - October 6, 2022 TV fans will be pleased to know there is a host of exciting new dramas winging their way to the BBC in the next year. We’ve already seen the return of much-loved series such as Happy Valley and Peaky Blinders, and the highly-anticipated book adaptations of Conversations with Friends and Everything I Know About Love. But there are loads more new releases on the horizon, too. There really is something for everyone, whether you’re a crime drama nut or just love period dramas. Here are a few upcoming TV shows in the next year to get excited about… The best upcoming BBC dramas MAYFLIES Line of Duty star Martin Compston will join Ashley Jensen and Tony Curran in a Scottish drama called Mayflies. First look images have just been released for the drama, which is adapted from Andrew O’Hagan’s acclaimed novel of the same name. Everyone has a Tully Dawson (Curran) – the friend who defines your life. In the summer of 1986, in a small Scottish town, Jimmy (Compston) and Tully ignite a brilliant friendship based on music, films and the rebel spirit. With school over and the locked world of their fathers before them, they rush towards the climax of their youth – a magical weekend in Manchester, the epicentre of everything that inspires them in working-class Britain. There, against the greatest soundtrack ever recorded, a vow is made: to go at life differently. Thirty years on, half a life away, the phone rings. Tully has the worst kind of news, and a request that will test their friendship, love, and loyalty to the limit… Mayflies is a memorial to youth’s euphoria and to everyday tragedy. A tender goodbye to an old union, it discovers the joy and the costs of love. Release date: TBC, BBC One THE ENGLISH The first photos from Emily Blunt’s new western BBC series The English have been revealed. In the drama, A Quiet Place star Emily takes on the role of Lady Cornelia Locke, an aristocratic Englishwoman who comes together with Twilight‘s Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer) as they ‘cross a violent landscape built on dreams and blood’. The series, set in the US in the 1890s, will tackle ‘core themes of identity and revenge to tell a uniquely compelling parable on race, love and power.’ The synopsis says that the two main characters ‘must face increasingly terrifying obstacles that will test them to their cores, physically and psychologically. But as each obstacle is overcome it draws them closer to their ultimate destination, the new town of Hoxem, Wyoming. ‘It is here, after an investigation by the local sheriff Robert Marshall (Stephen Rea) and young widow Martha Myers (Valerie Pachner) into a series of bizarre and macabre unsolved murders, that the full extent of their intertwined history will be truly understood, and they will come face to face with the future they must live.’ Save the date! An aristocratic Englishwoman (Emily Blunt) and a Pawnee ex-cavalry scout (Chaske Spencer) come together in 1890 mid-America in an epic parable on race, love and power. #TheEnglish comes to @BBCTwo and @BBCiPlayer from 10 NovemberMore https://t.co/quQDB59yCT pic.twitter.com/vpR2DYcorl - BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) September 1, 2022 Release date: 10 November 2022, BBC Two THE WOMAN IN THE WALL Getty This newly-commissioned drama, starring The Affair‘s Ruth Wilson will examine the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking scandals – the inhumane institutions known as ‘The Magdalene Laundries’. Lorna Brady (Wilson) is a woman from the small, fictional town of Kilkinure, who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house. Chillingly, Lorna has no idea who the dead woman is or if she herself might be responsible for the apparent murder… That’s because Lorna has long suffered from extreme bouts of sleepwalking, understood to have manifested around the time she was ripped from her life at the age of 15 and incarcerated in the Kilkinure Convent. The Convent was home Magdalene Laundries, a place where women were taken when they fell afoul of the social mores of their times – from those accused of committing adultery to teenage pregnancies. When it finally closed its doors, a score of survivors were left suffering in its wake. Very few women were able to go on and lead relatively normal lives, and others, such as Lorna, were even less fortunate in their fate. One thing all survivors had in common, is that none of them would ever forget. Unluckily for Lorna, the extremely ambitious, albeit elusive Detective Colman Akande (Daryl McCormack) is now also on her tail for a crime which is seemingly unrelated to the dead woman she’s discovered in her house. Colman quickly rose through the ranks of the Garda Síochána thanks to his natural aptitude for the job. He possesses a dark and sometimes scathing wit but there is a quiet sadness to him that even he doesn’t understand, and he’s hiding his own secrets from the world… Release date: TBC CHAMPION Champion is the first TV project for Candice Carty-Williams, author of bestselling novel Queenie, and tells the explosive story of what happens when fame collides with family. Rap sensation Bosco Champion is home from prison, and ready to dominate the music industry once more. But when his dutiful younger sister Vita’s own talent is discovered by Bosco’s rival, Bulla, she steps out of her brother’s shadow to become a performer in her own right, setting the Champion siblings against one another and tearing apart the whole family in the process. A love letter to Black British music set in south London, Champion is a celebration of a sound that has long been the beating heart of our culture. Candice Carty-Williams says: ‘Since I knew what music was, I’ve loved grime and UK rap and neo-soul, to the point of obsession, and to bring to BBC One in the U.K. and Netflix globally a series that gives these genres of music life and texture is my dream, as is working with some of the best producers and songwriters making music today to create original tracks for the show.’ Release date: TBC TEN POUND POMS Michelle Keegan has been cast alongside Luther’s Warren Brown and Game of Thrones‘ Faye Marsay in this new six-part BBC drama. The series follows a group of Brits as they leave dreary post-war Britain in 1956 to embark on a life-altering adventure on the other side of the world. For only a tenner, they have been promised a better house, better job prospects and a better quality of life by the sea in sun-soaked Australia. But life down under isn’t exactly the idyllic dream the new arrivals have been promised. Struggling with their new identity as immigrants, we follow their triumphs and pitfalls as they adapt to a new life in a new country, far from Britain and familiarity. Release date: TBC, BBC One TWO TONE working title Peaky Blinders fans listen up! The man award-winning writer behind the drama – Steven Knight – is coming back with a new show, which has just been commissioned by the BBC. Two Tone (which is the working, rather than official title) tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of ska and two tone music, which grew from the grass roots of Coventry and Birmingham in the late 70s and early 80s. The music united black, white and Asian youths in an expression of unity. The six-part series will start filming later this year in Birmingham. Steven Knight says: ‘This is a project that’s literally very close to home and I’m developing characters and themes that are set in the early 80s but hopefully are very contemporary. Of course, the soundtrack will be sensational.’ Sounds ideal! CALL THE MIDWIFE We know series 11 only finished recently, but we’re so glad to see filming for series 12 is already underway. BREAKING NEWS!! #CallTheMidwife begins filming for Series 12! >>> https://t.co/TcYgFYEChX pic.twitter.com/SYAexk1jhD - Call the Midwife (@CallTheMidwife1) April 25, 2022 On the programmes social media, it wrote: ‘We bring you this picture straight from the Nonnatus House set, where our team began filming again just a few hours ago on a brand new Christmas Special and series 12 of Call The Midwife! This year Jenny Agutter (Sister Julienne) and Linda Bassett (Nurse Crane) were there to provide us with the traditional clapperboard shot that marks the beginning of the first scene of the new season. ‘We also hope to bring you some exclusive festive sneak peeks from our Poplar Christmas set later this week… so stay tuned! Call The Midwife will return with a new Christmas Special and series 12 in 2023.’ While character Trixie Franklin had to leave season 11 halfway through due to Helen George’s pregnancy, fans needn’t worry anymore that she won’t be returning for season 12. Show creator Heidi Thomas told Radio Times: ‘Trixie rejoins us. And something interesting and rather wonderful will happen for Trixie this series, so she has big news coming up – which we probably won’t unveil just yet.’ Release date: 2023, BBC One READ MORE: YOU speaks to Helen George – ‘I might be small and blonde, but I’m no pushover’ THE GOLD Some big names have been announced for The Gold, which is inspired by the iconic story of the Brink’s-Mat robbery and the decades-long chain of events that followed. The cast includes Hugh Bonneville, Dominic Cooper, Jack Lowden and Charlotte Spencer. On the 26 November 1983, six armed men broke into the Brink’s-Mat security depot near London’s Heathrow Airport, and inadvertently stumbled across gold bullion worth £26m. What started as ‘a typical Old Kent Road armed robbery’ according to detectives at the time, became a seminal event in British criminal history, remarkable not only for the scale of the theft, at the time the biggest in world history, but for its wider legacy. The disposal of the bullion caused the birth of large-scale international money laundering, provided the dirty money that helped fuel the London Docklands property boom, united blue and white collar criminals and left controversy and murder in its wake. Release date: 2022, BBC One SAS ROGUE HEROES BBC A major new drama series from Steven Knight, the creator of Peaky Blinders, SAS: Rogue Heroes tells the story of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two. It will star the likes of Alfie Allen, Connor Swindells and Jack O’Connell (above) as well as Dominic West (below). ‘It has been a privilege to work on a project which tells the story of a renegade band of soldiers who used wit and imagination as much as firepower to halt the march of Fascism across North Africa during the darkest days of World War 2,’ Knight said. ‘This is a war story like no other, told in a way that is at once inspired by the facts and true to the spirit of this legendary brigade of misfits and adventurers.’ Connor Swindells, Jack O’Connell, Alfie Allen, Sofia Boutella and Dominic West star in #PeakyBlinders creator Steven Knight's new drama, inspired by the origins of the SAS. #SASRogueHeroes is coming this autumn on @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer.More https://t.co/xRRi0LPo4d pic.twitter.com/Bx7HMDK6S5 - BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) April 3, 2022 Release date: 2022, BBC One RAIN DOGS BBC Starring Daisy May Cooper and written by Cash Carraway, this new eight-part drama promises a tale of brilliance thwarted by poverty and prejudice. Costello Jones – played by Daisy – is a writer and single mother with a rock and roll swagger; a woman who appreciates the glamour of the gutter but would do anything to keep her daughter, Iris, from it. Iris is a hustler in kid’s clothing who loves South Park, William Morris wallpaper and, more than anything, her mum. Gloria is Iris’s chaotic, directionless and utterly glorious godmother who’s running out of second chances. Selby is a boarding school boy educated on Brett Easton Ellis and Goddard, Costello’s loyal soulmate and loving tormentor. Together they form the Rain Dogs; a makeshift family fed on defiance and chaos, and a deep but complicated love. The show has just gone into production, so it may not be on our screens for a while, but we are already excited for this one! Release date: TBC BEST INTERESTS Written by Jack Thorne, this is a story of a family driven apart by having to make choices no parent would ever want to make. Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen play married couple Nicci and Andrew, they have two daughters: Katie and Marnie. Marnie has a life-threatening condition. The doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die, but her loving family disagree. And so begins a fight that will take them through every stage of a legal process, as they struggle to contemplate this huge decision. Who decides? And in whose best interests will it be? Sharon Horgan says: ‘Best Interests broke me when I first read the script and then again after talking with Jack about it. Covid seems to have shone a closer light on the desperate inequalities that exist for our disabled community so this felt very timely.’ Michael Sheen says: ‘Jack Thorne is such an extraordinary writer and he has approached this incredibly important and urgent subject with humanity, honesty and humour. I feel very fortunate to be part of this production and to work with the brilliant Sharon Horgan and some of the most talented actors around.’ Release date: TBC GREAT EXPECTATIONS Period drama fans, you won’t want to miss this. Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is getting a new TV adaptation, and it will star none other than Oscar winner Olivia Colman. Production has now begun on the BBC show, which will retell Dicken’s famous tale of Pip, an orphan whose story begins when he’s accosted in a graveyard by a frightening escaped convict. The novel follows him through childhood and into adulthood, and introduces a number of iconic characters. There’s Miss Havisham, who has refused to take off her decaying wedding dress after being jilted at the altar – this legendary character will be played by Colman. There’s the beautiful but cold Estella. And then there’s Joe, the unsophisticated and kind blacksmith. It’s not the first screen version of Great Expectations by any means, but with Colman at the helm, this is one we cannot wait to watch! Release date: TBC WATERLOO ROAD Fans of school-based drama Waterloo Road, which originally aired from 2006 to 2015, will be pleased to know it’s making a comeback – and the return of three hugely popular cast members has been confirmed. Angela Griffin is back as Kim Campbell and is now Headteacher of the school, Adam Thomas is returning as Donte Charles and Katie Griffiths is returning as Chlo Charles. Images of the trio on set ahead of filming commencing have also been released. The award-winning contemporary drama series, which is set to return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer later this year, will start shooting on location in Greater Manchester next month. The full cast will be announced soon. Release date: TBC HAPPY VALLEY BBC Sarah Lancashire will return to her role as Sergeant Catherine Cawood in the new series of Happy Valley, while James Norton again plays her nemesis, the murderer and sex offender Tommy Lee Royce. The BBC synopsis says ‘When Catherine discovers the remains of a gangland murder victim in a drained reservoir it sparks a chain of events that unwittingly leads her straight back to Tommy Lee Royce. ‘Her grandson Ryan is now sixteen and still living with Catherine, but he has ideas of his own about what kind of relationship he wants to have with the man Catherine refuses to acknowledge as his father. ‘Still battling the seemingly never-ending problem of drugs in the valley and those who supply them, Catherine is on the cusp of retirement.’ Release date: TBC MARIE ANTOINETTE Fans of historical drama rejoice – BBC Two has a gift in store for you. Created and written by Deborah Davis, who was behind brilliant film The Favourite, Marie Antoinette tells the story of the incredibly modern and avant-garde young queen who was barely 14 years old when she left Austria to marry the Dauphin of France. Known for her extravagant tastes and pastimes, Marie Antoinette also endured great hardship, suffering enormous pressure to produce a male heir. She was eventually being executed after the French Revolution, aged just 37. This BBC drama promises to be a fascinating delve into her life. Release date: 2022, BBC Two THE ELEPHANT MAN Stranger Things fans will recognise the name Charlie Heaton from his role as Jonathan Byers in the Netflix sci-fi drama, but Heaton himself is likely to be unrecognisable as Joseph Merrick, who was cruelly nicknamed the Elephant Man in the 1860s due to a congenital disorder. The show recieved backlash in 2018 when able-bodied Heaton was cast, as critics commented that it would have been an opportunity to allow disabled actors to take on the role and improve on-screen representation, but the show has promised to address this with supporting roles. In this two-part drama, Heaton will portray Merrick as a young man finding his way in society with the support of surgeon Frederick Treves, before his death at just 27 years old. Release date: TBC ENGLISTAN Following three generations of a British Pakistani family, Englistan is ‘an untold British story with universal themes and resonance,’ according to creator Riz Ahmed. Often, minority and migrant stories are told from an outsider’s perspective, but Ahmed’s sensitive, nuanced approach will hand the mic back to a community that has helped shape Britain as we know it. Spanning four decades, the nine-part BBC Two series will unpack the political values, religious and cultural identities and national economics that affect the lives of this family. Release date: TBC BLUE LIGHTS From the writers of The Salisbury Poisonings, this new six-part drama follows three rookie police officers working in Belfast, a uniquely dangerous place to be in the force. Grace, a mother of a teenage boy, has made the decision in her forties to leave her steady job as a social worker to join the police. It’s the biggest gamble of her life, and just a few weeks into the job, she’s making so many mistakes that her decision no longer looks like a winning bet. Her fellow rookies are Annie, who struggles with the fact that her chosen path may mean having to leave everything she’s ever known behind, and Tommy, who is desperate to prove himself, despite being disastrously inept at the practical side of frontline response policing. The pressure on all three police officers is immense and, chances are not all three will last. 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