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17 hottest new TV shows to get excited about from October onwards

Check out 2021's telly highlights here

emily witcher
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
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There have been some awesome new shows in 2021 - Sex Education season three, It's a Sin, and Vigil to name just a few - but you didn't think the excellent shows were done and dusted just yet, did you? With plenty of brand new shows set to air and land on streaming services in the latter part of 2021 (and into 2022!), check out our top picks here... 

MORE: 9 brand new TV shows and films coming to Netflix in October

The Wheel of Time, Amazon Prime Video - 19 November

Starring Rosamund Pike, the synopsis for the upcoming show reads: “Set in a sprawling, epic world where magic exists and only certain women are allowed to access it, the story follows Moiraine, a member of the incredibly powerful all-female organisation called the Aes Sedai, as she arrives in the small town of Two Rivers. 

WATCH: The exciting new fantasy series stars Rosamund Pike 

"There, she embarks on a dangerous, world-spanning journey with five young men and women, one of whom is prophesied to be the Dragon Reborn, who will either save or destroy humanity.” 

wheeloftime

With Love, Amazon Prime Video - 17 December

Join the Diaz siblings for season one of this sweet series as brother and sister Lily and Jorge go on a mission to find love and purpose. The duo cross paths with seemingly unrelated residents during some of the most heightened days of the year — the holidays. 

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Hawkeye, Disney+ - 24 November

Fresh from Black Widow, welcome back Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova in the Hawkeye series! The series will set Jeremy Renner’s Avengers character Hawkeye at centre stage for the first time, who will be joined by Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld. 

jeremy tenner

Life After Life, BBC - Date TBC

Based on the bestselling novel, Life After Life is WWI and WWII Groundhog Day-esque tale in which Ursula Todd lives her life over and over again, experience different major life events each time. But what is it that Ursula so desperately needs to stay alive for? Each of Ursula’s alternative lives brings new challenges and half-memories of what has come before, and with every one, fascinating, joyful, traumatic, witty and surprising experiences and relationships. 

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Thomasin McKenzie is set to play Ursula

Anatomy of a Scandal, Netflix - Date TBC

Downton Abbey star Michelle Dockery will star in the new Netflix drama - and it sounds amazing! Based on the bestselling novel Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan, the series is about "sexual consent and privilege set in London". Michelle will play Kate, a criminal barrister who specialises in sexual crimes, while Sienna Miller will play Sophie Whitehouse as "an Oxford graduate, a wife and a mother of two whose perfectly charmed life is about to implode".

michelle dockery

Stay Close, Netflix - Date TBC

Netflix synopsis for the new Harlan Coben show reads: "Stay Close questions how much you really know someone. Three people living comfortable lives each conceal dark secrets from those closest to them; Megan, a working mother of three; Ray, the once-promising documentary photographer, now stuck in a dead-end job pandering to celebrity-obsessed rich kids, and Broome, a detective unable to let go of a missing person’s cold case.

MORE: 75 must-watch movies to check out on Netflix this week

"Lorraine, an old friend from Megan's past, delivers some shocking news that will impact on all three characters.  As the past comes back to haunt them, threatening to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, what will be their next move?" 

richard armitage

The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Netflix - Date TBC

Based on the bestselling novel, this is an Agatha Christie-type thriller, with a master twist. In the story, the narrator lives the same day as a murder takes place in a crumbling mansion over and over again, each time embodying a different person who could have been involved in Evelyn Hardcastle's murder. 

The Witcher season two - 17 December

Ready for season two? The synopsis for the next adventures of Geralt reads: “Convinced Yennefer’s life was lost at the Battle of Sodden, Geralt of Rivia brings Princess Cirilla to the safest place he knows, his childhood home of Kaer Morhen. While the Continent’s kings, elves, humans and demons strive for supremacy outside its walls, he must protect the girl from something far more dangerous: the mysterious power she possesses inside.”

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The Rig, Amazon Prime Video - 2022

This story follows Magnus and his crew aboard the Kinloch Bravo oil rig, stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea. The synopsis reads: "When they are due to be collected and return to the mainland a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through. The rig is hit by massive tremors, and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world. As the crew endeavour to discover what’s driving this unknown force, a major accident forces them to ask questions about who they can really trust."

Angela Black, ITV - 10 October

Described as a "Hitchcockian" thriller by ITV, Angela Black focuses on a suburban homemaker (Joanna Froggatt) whose seemingly perfect life is hiding some big secrets. Angela seems to have it all: a lovely house in suburban London, a fulfilling but not overly demanding job, two wonderful sons and a charismatic, hard-working husband, Olivier. But beneath this façade of charmed domesticity, Angela is also the victim of domestic abuse.

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The Gilded Age, HBO - Date TBC

Love a Julian Fellowes period drama? If so, you will be all over his latest series based in the US in the late 1800s. Chatting to the Los Angeles Times about the project, he said: "These people were extraordinary. You can see why they frightened the old guard, because they saw no boundaries. They wanted to build a palace, they built a palace... They redesigned being rich." 

MORE: Emily in Paris reveals first look photos from season two – and fans have major reaction

MORE: Young Royals: Netflix confirms future of fan favourite drama

Landscapers, NOW TV/Sky - Date TBC

Inspired by true events, Olivia Colman is back on our screens as Susan, a woman who manages to go ten years undetected after murdering her parents and burying them in her back garden. The synopsis reads: "This blackly comic, narratively playful true-crime drama is based on extensive research, hours of interviews and direct access to the accused, who have always protested their innocence of murder.

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Conversations with Friends, BBC - Date TBC

Following the massive success that wasNormal People, Sally Rooney's second novel is being adapted for a series by the same team behind the romantic tale of Connell and Marianne. This one looks at the friendship between Frances and Bobbi, and their subsequent relationship, and is set to star Joe Alwyn. Frankly, we can't wait for another sweet story from these master storytellers!

normal people cast

Excited for the second TV adaptation from Sally Rooney?

The Great season two, Channel 4 - 19 November

After a smash hit first season, filming is currently underway for The Great season two - and we're certainly hoping for a late 2021 airdate! The show stars Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning as Emperor Peter and Catherine the (soon-to-be) Great in the early years of their marriage. Expect the unexpected with this wacky period drama. 

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Elle stars as Catherine the Great

Inventing Anna, Netflix - 1 January 2022

From Shondaland comes this real-life story of how a woman named Anna Delvey managed to con New York's high society by pretending to be a wealthy heiress in a stranger-than-fiction tale. 

You season three - Netflix, 15 October

Hello you. Season three of the hit Netflix show sees Joe settled down with the psychopath mother of his unborn child, Love. Of course, he already has his eye on his next victim, his next-door neighbour. So what will the serial killer get up to next? 

you joe

The charming serial killer is back in You season three

Emily in Paris season two - 22 December

Join Lily Collins as the vivacious and tres fashionable Emily as we return for more adventures in Paris! The synopsis reads: "Now more entrenched in her life in Paris, Emily’s getting better at navigating the city but still struggling with the idiosyncrasies of French life. After stumbling into a love triangle with her neighbor and her first real French friend, Emily is determined to focus on her work — which is getting more complicated by the day. In French class, she meets a fellow expat who both infuriates and intrigues her." 

emily paris

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