2024: THE YEAR AHEAD IN DRAMA TV
A look ahead at the new and returning drama series set to hit screens in 2024.
MR BATES VS THE POST OFFICE
ITV1
Hundreds of innocent subpostmasters and postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, fraud and false accounting due to a defective IT system - many of the wronged workers were prosecuted, some of whom were imprisoned for crimes they never committed, and their lives were irreparably ruined by the scandal.
TRIGGER POINT
ITV1
Lana is just back from secondment training Ukrainian bomb disposal teams but has not returned to active duty - she is giving a routine talk to security officers from major financial institutions about the issues surrounding bomb-centred terrorism when there is a bomb attack in the heart of the city. Lana is closest to the incident, but is she ready to take it on?
THE TOURIST
BBC One
Elliot and Helen travel to Ireland to find answers about Elliot’s past. However, after Elliot is violently kidnapped, they must each continue their dangerous search alone.
THE RESPONDER
BBC One
Series two joins Chris Carson six months later. Chris is attempting to rebuild his life, and his relationships, desperate to avoid the corruption that nearly sucked him under. He is trying to be a better police officer, a better man, and most importantly, a better father to his daughter Tilly. All whilst still dealing with the relentless trauma of being a night response officer.
THE WINTER KING
ITV1
This series is set in the fifth century in a brutal land of warring factions and tribes where lives were often fleeting and follows Arthur Pendragon as he evolves from being an outcast and becomes a legendary warrior and leader
SILENT WITNESS
BBC One
Nikki and Jack investigate a murder bearing all the hallmarks of a notorious serial killer. When Nikki meets Charles Beck, the pathologist who conducted the original post-mortems, she discovers his wife was the suspected fifth victim of the serial killer, but nobody believes him when he claims he knows where to find her body.
BREATHTAKING
ITV1
A searing, thought-provoking and poignant account of an NHS doctor in the eye of the storm during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. The drama stars Joanne Froggatt in the role of a frontline hospital consultant, is based on doctor-writer Rachel Clarke’s unflinching personal memoir of the greatest public health crisis in living memory.
VERA
ITV1
DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the suspicious death of a market trader and reveals a web of secrets, lies and betrayal while an enigmatic figure from her past returns - episode two sees Vera delve into the case of a sickly young girl found in a remote railway siding, unearthing twisted family dynamics and raising questions about trust and exploitation in the process.
GRANTCHESTER
ITV1
Will is the happiest he’s ever been, but his world will be rocked by a terrible accident - he’s always preached the word of a compassionate God, but how can he now when his despair leads him on a dangerous downward spiral?
TRUELOVE
Channel 4
Truelove is a unique spin on a cat and mouse thriller, centring on a gang of older friends who make a pact that, if and when the time comes, rather than let each other suffer a dreadful decline they will engineer a more dignified death as a sign of ‘Truelove’. But when an intrepid young police officer discovers that there is more to this group of retirees than meets the eye, events soon take a surprising and dangerous turn…
COMA
Channel 5
Simon (Jason Watkins), a devoted family man, finds himself at a breaking point as his neighbourhood falls victim to the terrorising antics of a group of teenagers, led by the menacing 17-year-old Jordan Franklin, played by rising star Joe Barber, and his questionable companions.
DEATH IN PARADISE
BBC One
Cast regulars and new faces alike descend on Saint Marie, delving into a world of mysterious murders and perplexing puzzles that have gained Death In Paradise its reputation as a shining example of the crime drama genre.
BEYOND PARADISE
BBC One
The new series features the same joyful escapism, humour and mind-boggling cases fans have come to adore since series one. Shipton Abbott’s new detective inspector will be tasked with solving a shocking crime on a steam train, an arson attack predicted by a medium and the baffling disappearance of the local fishing legend.
THE HARDACRES
Channel 5
A sweeping rags to riches story that follows the lives, loves and fortunes of the working class Hardacre family as they move from a grimy fish dock to a vast country estate in 1890’s Yorkshire. A bold, gutsy ensemble family drama full of heart, The Hardacres places an ordinary family in an extraordinary position and explores the age-old question – can money ever buy true happiness?
PASSENGER
ITVX
A close-knit community in the small Northern village of Chadder Vale is sent spinning on its axis following a series of strange and unnatural crimes. After arriving there five years ago, former Met Police detective Riya Ajunwa (Wunmi Mosaku, Loki, Damilola, Our Loved Boy, Lovecraft Country) has been searching for that ‘one big crime’, that one challenge that will make her feel alive again.
AFTER THE FLOOD
ITV1
When an unidentified man is found dead in a lift in an underground car park and police assume that he became trapped as the waters rose, PC Joanna Marshall (Sophie Rundle) becomes obsessed with discovering what happened.