Virdee, Stranger Things and Dear England - What to watch on TV in 2025

This gripping psychological thriller follows two sets of parents – Pete and Maddie, played by Happy Valley’s James Norton and Malpractice’s Niamh Algar, and Miles and Lucy, played by Mare Of Easttown’s James McArdle and Downton Abbey’s Jessica Brown Findlay – as they discover that the little boys they’ve been raising are not, in fact, their biological sons, and were actually switched at birth in a hospital mix up. Do they keep the sons they’ve raised and loved, or reclaim their biological child? Adapted from JP Delaney’s novel by Malpractice writer Grace Ofori-Attah, Playing Nice is a haunting tale of any parent’s worst nightmare realised.

Virdee, BBC ONE

The exciting new crime thriller series Virdee which is based on the best-selling novels by AA Dhand and filmed in Bradford. The six-part series is adapted for the screen by AA Dhand, tells the story of Detective Harry Virdee, a dedicated cop estranged from his Sikh family after marrying Saima, a Muslim woman. A turf war is brewing in the underbelly of the city with the police losing its grip on gang rivalries as they spill out onto the streets of Bradford. When a young dealer is murdered, Harry’s duty to uphold the law clashes with his links to members of the crime gangs. With his personal life in chaos, he must hunt down whoever is targeting those around him.

House Of Guinness, NETFLIX

From Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight comes a Succession-esque tale of the Guinness family and their brewing company in 19th-century Ireland and New York. Following the death of Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the Irish stout’s extraordinary success, a power vacuum opens up which his children – Arthur, Edward, Anne and Ben – must try to fill. With a cast including James Norton, Pistol star Louis Partridge, Masters Of The Air’s Anthony Boyle, Jack Gleeson (aka Game of Thrones’ Joffrey Baratheon) and more, this is set to be a gripping historical drama telling the story of one of the world’s most popular pints.

IT: Welcome To Derry, HBO/NOW

Stephen King fans, rejoice – Pennywise the Clown is back on our screens, and Bill Skarsgård will once again be playing the creepy, kid-killing circus freak. IT: Welcome To Derry is a prequel series to the 2017 film IT and 2019’s IT Chapter Two, and is billed as the origin story of the killer clown. While we anxiously await the chilling tale in 2025, in the meantime, stay away from storm drains and floating balloons…

The Last Of Us Season Two, HBO/NOW

Season one of The Last Of Us, a post-apocalyptic drama based on the Naughty Dog video game franchise, was a 2023 TV highlight. It won eight Primetime Emmy Awards, and fans old and new fell in love with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey’s portrayals of Joel and Ellie, so its return for a second season in 2025 is highly anticipated. Based on the first game’s sequel, The Last Of Us Part II, the show picks up a few years after season one’s finale. We find Ellie and Joel right at home in the Wyoming settlement founded by Joel’s brother, despite the raging Cordyceps infection ravaging the world outside of their haven’s gates. However, when a vengeful figure from Joel’s past arrives, the pair are back in a fight for survival.

Stranger Things Season 5, NETFLIX

Eight years after Mike, Eleven, Dustin, Lucas, Will and the gang first encountered the Upside Down in Stranger Things, the sci-fi horror series is coming to an end. When season 5 lands on Netflix, we can expect more horrifying monstrosities, the wrath of Vecna wreaking havoc on Hawkins, and the ultimate battle between good and evil set, as ever, against a nostalgic 1980s backdrop.

Black Mirror Season Seven, NETFLIX

According to creator Charlie Brooker, we can expect some “OG Black Mirror” from the seventh series of the dark, satirical anthology series when it streams on Netflix in 2025. The cast list includes Awkwafina, Peter Capaldi, Paul Giamatti, Rashida Jones, Chris O’Dowd, Issa Rae, Harriet Walter and lots, lots more, and we already know that one of the episodes will be a sequel to season 4’s USS Callister. There’ll be a mix of genres and styles across six episodes, Brooker has teased, with tales that are unpleasant, funny, emotional, horrifying and disturbing. Classic Black Mirror, then – and we can’t wait.

Missing You, NETFLIX

Following the nail-biting thrill ride that was 2024’s Fool Me One, Netflix is set to drop another Harlan Coben adaptation for our New Year’s Day viewing. Missing You follows Detective Kat Donovan, played by Slow Horses’ Rosalind Eleazar, as she stumbles upon her ex-fiancé Josh, played by Top Boy’s Ashley Walters, on a dating app, more than a decade after he disappeared from her life. His reappearance forces her to delve back into the mystery surrounding the murder of her father, played by Sir Lenny Henry, and uncover long-buried secrets.

Also in the cast are EastEnders’ Jessica Plummer, Harlan Coben stalwart Richard Armitage, Van Der Valk star Marc Warren, and Inside No. 9’s Steve Pemberton, and the series promises to be a riveting watch to kick off 2025.

Dear England, BBC ONE

The National Theatre production Dear England, written by Sherwood’s James Graham, was a smash hit, telling the story of Gareth Southgate and the England men’s football team – a team which just can’t seem to clinch a trophy, no matter how close they get. In 2025, the story will be told through a BBC television drama, with Graham writing the fictionalised account of the team’s struggles and successes for the screen, and The Handmaid’s Tale‘s Joseph Fiennes starring as Gareth Southgate. For those of us who have spent too much time singing It’s Coming Home, only to end with tear-stained cheeks down the local as the Three Lions miss another chance at victory, this will certainly be one to watch next year.