The Best of British TV Coming in 2026: ‘Half Man’ to ‘Industry

It’s been a cracking year for British television with Adolescence, Celebrity traitors adn Down Cemetery Road among some of the more buzzy shows to have hit our screens. That’s not all though, and with another year comes another batch of talented writers, directors and actors to bring to life both original stories and beloved classics.

The Hollywood Reporter has compiled a list of the most exciting U.K. programs coming, starting with those that have confirmed release dates. The Night Manager returns, Netflix’s Pride and Prejudice debuts and Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer follow-up is on its way. Another Industry installment is near, as is season two of A Thousand Blows and Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee’s next project.Take a look at what to expect from British telly in 2026.

Run Away

netflix has teed up its next Harlan Coben adaptation for a New year’s Day release. Run Away, with James Nesbitt, Ruth Jones, Minnie Driver and Alfred Enoch, follows an angst-ridden Simon who is resolute to reunite the family when his eldest daughter, Paige, runs away.The eight-part series is one of 13 titles from best-selling author coben produced for Netflix. It will feature eight hourlong episodes and, in keeping with previous coben adaptations, is relocating the story of the novel from the U.S. to the U.K.

Red Eye (Season 2)

Jing Lusi will reprise her role as hana Li in ITV’s Red Eye, also back Jan. 1 and set to return to the world of high-stakes espionage. Richard Armitage will not be returning to his role as Nolan, but Line of Duty‘s Martin Compston takes his place as a new character, Clay Brady. The pair are forced to set aside past differences to solve a conspiracy after a murder occurs inside the U.S. embassy.

## What to Watch in Early 2025: A Guide to New Shows

Another Netflix adaptation set to air Jan. 15, this one focusing on the story by the acclaimed English author Agatha Christie. Her 1929 novel, adapted for the screen by Chris Chibnall, boasts Mia McKenna-Bruce, Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman among its cast.The show is set in 1925 and, in true Christie fashion, sees a country house party prank turn deadly.

Thankfully, Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee is back in the writer’s chair and has her hotly anticipated Netflix series how to Get to Heaven From Belfast on the way. Slated to arrive in February, the eight-part series follows three friends investigating the mysterious death of a former school mate. It stars Roisin gallagher as Saoirse, Sinéad Keenan as Robyn and Caoilfhionn Dunne as Dana.

Set to release on Amazon Prime Video on March 4, the Guy Ritchie-directed Young Sherlock is adapted from Andrew Lane’s Young Sherlock Holmes book series, itself based on arthur Conan Doyle’s character. Hero Fiennes tiffin plays Sherlock and Dónal Finn his moriarty, with zine Tseng as Princess Gulun Shou’an. “As a 19-year-old at Oxford University, Sherlock Holmes is not yet the master detective he grows up to be,” a plot synopsis reads. “He is raw and unfiltered, and he lacks discipline.A murder at Oxford puts Holmes’s freedom at risk, and he sets out to solve his first murder mystery that leads him to a global-level conspiracy.”## On the Horizon: ‘Kill Jackie’ and a New ‘Lord of the Flies’

The Catherine Zeta-Jones-starring *Kill Jackie* is expected to arrive on Amazon Prime Video this year. Adapted from the Nick Harkaway novel *The Price You Pay* under his pseudonym Aidan Truhen,it gender-swaps the main character. The Welsh actress plays a wealthy art dealer with a secret past, who discovers she’s the target of a lethal squad of hitmen known as The Seven Demons. Daniel Ings, Darci Shaw and Raff Law also star.

## *Lord of the Flies*

*Adolescence* writer Jack Thorne has an exciting adaptation ahead with the BBC’s *Lord of the Flies*, coming to our screens in 2026. The show, based on William Golding’s 1954 novel, tells the story of a group of young boys who find themselves stranded on a tropical island. Winston Sawyers plays Ralph, Lox Pratt is Jack, David McKenna stars as Piggy and ike Talbut as Simon. Thomas Connor appears as Roger, Noah and Cassius Flemming as twins Sam and Eric, Cornelius Brandreth as Maurice and Tom Page-Turner as Bill – alongside an ensemble of more than 30 boys playing the desert island camp’s “biguns” and “littluns”.