Catherine Zeta-Jones is back on screen with a gun in hand for the revenge thriller Kill Jackie, arriving 2 October on Amazon Prime Video as one of 20 new television dramas hitting screens this autumn.
In the eight-part series, Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a wealthy art dealer targeted by a group of hitmen called The Seven Demons. Rather than fleeing, Jackie uses her powerful contacts to hunt her enemies down one by one. The show is based on the 2018 novel The Price You Pay by Aidan Truhen, a pseudonym of Nick Harkaway, whose father is the spy writer David Cornwell, better known as John le Carre.
Michelle Keegan Returns To Crime
The Blame, out 20 September on ITV1 and ITVX, marks Michelle Keegan's first role since giving birth to her daughter Palma in March last year. She plays DI Emma Crane, who leads the hunt for the killer of young figure skater Sophie Madsen across six episodes while uncovering deep corruption within her own team of detectives.
Also arriving 20 September, on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer, is The Split Up, a spin-off from Abi Morgan's legal drama The Split. Written by Ursula Rani Sarma, the six-parter follows a family of British-Asian solicitors in Manchester, led by Unforgotten's Sanjeev Bhaskar as Dhruv Kishan, alongside Ritu Arya and Aysha Kala. BBC insiders said the show was put on hold in September 2024 over creative issues, with filming only starting a year later.
Horowitz's Sleuth Returns To Solve More Murders
Marble Hall Murders, from 26 September on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer, is crime writer Anthony Horowitz's six-part sequel to Magpie Murders and Moonflower Murders. Lesley Manville returns as editor and amateur sleuth Susan Ryeland alongside Tim McMullan's fictional detective Atticus Pund, as Susan uncovers murderous secrets in the family of late children's author Miriam Crace (Patricia Hodge). Filmed on Corfu, the series even features a wine-drinking cameo from Horowitz himself.
From 30 September on ITV1 and ITVX, Winter pairs Richard Armitage's unconventional forensic pathologist Dr Ethan Winter with Annabel Scholey's no-nonsense DI Lauren Bell. Filmed in Belgium and Bristol, each of the six episodes features a self-contained murder alongside an ongoing storyline tied to Winter's personal life.
Steinbeck Saga And A Bitter Divorce
Netflix's East of Eden, out 1 October, is a seven-part adaptation of John Steinbeck's 1952 novel, starring Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames alongside Ciaran Hinds as patriarch Samuel Hamilton. Adapted by Zoe Kazan, granddaughter of Elia Kazan, who directed the 1955 film version starring James Dean, the family saga spans the US Civil War to the First World War.
Sky Atlantic and HBO Max's eight-part divorce drama War, from 2 October, follows tech mogul Morgan Henderson (Dominic West) and his actress wife Carla Duval (Sienna Miller) as their amicable split turns ugly. Lawyer Beatrice "Queen Bea" Ubosi, played by Nina Sosanya, warns: "If they play dirty, we will be total and utter filth." Carla tells her legal team: "Let's take Morgan for every penny he's got - and he's got quite a few."
Stephen King's Carrie And A Sea Monster
Amazon Prime Video's Carrie, from 7 October, is the fourth adaptation of Stephen King's 1974 novel and stars 22-year-old Canadian actress Summer H Howell as the bullied teenager who turns her telekinetic powers on her tormentors after a disastrous prom night. Howell's previous horror credits include Curse of Chucky, Cult of Chucky and Night of the Reaper.
Netflix's Below, out 8 October, stars Josh Hartnett as fisherman Calvin Penney, who asks, "Who would want to live anywhere else?" as he looks out over the sea from his Canadian hometown. The six-part thriller, filmed in Newfoundland and Labrador, sees a mysterious sea creature threaten the town, and has already been dubbed "Jaws for the 21st century."
A Serial Killer Terrorises Pennsylvania
Apple TV's Nocturne, from 30 October, stars Liev Schreiber as Detective Jonah Lynn, who swaps Philadelphia for a quiet town in western Pennsylvania only to find serial killer Jurek Walter, played by Stephen Graham, terrorising the area. Based on the novels Lazarus and The Sandman by husband-and-wife writers Alexander and Alexandra Ahndoril, the role of Walter was originally intended for Tom Hardy.
ITV1 and ITVX's Adultery, coming in October, was written by Danny Brocklehurst, who calls it "a show about how love and sex have the capacity to lift us to the highest highs and take us down to the lowest lows." Romola Garai's Beth and Dominic Cooper's Tom begin an affair, while their children Jess and Ollie pursue a relationship of their own.
A Friday The 13th Prequel And A Manhunt
Crystal Lake, an eight-part prequel to the Friday the 13th franchise coming to Sky Atlantic and Now in October, focuses on Pamela Voorhees, played by Linda Cardellini, a mother grieving the drowning death of her son Jason a year earlier. A visit from two strangers digging into her past sets off a disturbing chain of events.
Also in October, Channel 4's Hunting Alice Bell is a six-part psychological thriller with echoes of The Traitors, in which five women are suspected of secretly being Alice Bell, accomplice to a notorious serial-killer anaesthetist, though only one truly is. Co-written by David Baddiel, who wanted to explore how social media can incite hatred, it stars Alex Roach and Amanda Abbington as two of the suspected Alices.
Class, Power And Corruption
The Party, a five-part ITV thriller filmed in southern Wales and adapted from Elizabeth Day's novel, stars Luke Evans as journalist Martin Gilmour, whose unbreakable friendship with wealthy politician Ben Fitzmaurice, played by Tom Cullen, hides dangerous secrets.
Channel 4's Pierre stars David Harewood as a solicitor who accuses police of mishandling the case of a young Black client. Harewood explains that his character "challenges the police's portrayal of Michael as a criminal and by doing so starts to lift the lid on institutional corruption - with major consequences." He spent time shadowing a London solicitor to prepare for the role.
Magic, Old Secrets And Spies
Sky One's eight-part Yaga follows private investigator Rapp, played by Noah Reid, as he is drawn into ancient magic while investigating the disappearance of a fishery heir in a Canadian coastal town. Carrie-Anne Moss co-stars as a university professor with a taste for younger men, in a series based on Kat Sandler's 2019 play drawing on the Slavic legend of Baba Yaga.
The Good Daughter, an eight-part thriller for Sky Atlantic and Now based on Karin Slaughter's 2017 novel, stars Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy as sisters confronting buried secrets after a home invasion 28 years earlier in Pikeville, in America's Deep South.
Channel 5's The Heights, from novelist Louise Candlish, who admits plotting it "was very complex - I don't know why I do this to myself," stars Anna Friel in her first major British drama role since 2019's Deep Water, as a mother who vows revenge after her son is led astray by a manipulative friend.
BBC1's Honey, rumoured but not confirmed by the BBC to be a prequel to Killing Eve, stars Ann Skelly as an MI6 agent in 1982 Berlin caught between a Stasi counter-espionage chief and a CIA operative. And on Paramount+, Minnie Driver stars as hostage negotiator Sylvia "Vox" Voxley in The Day, an eight-part thriller based on the Belgian series De Dag that unfolds over a single day from multiple perspectives.
