TV Shows To Look Forward To In 2019

Big Little Lies, Season 2

As if Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Woodley weren’t enough to get us hooked on HBO’s Big Little Lies (not to mention Adam Scott and Alexander Skarsgård), but now the 2019 series has added actual Meryl Streep to the line-up. And we should all be counting our lucky stars that season two is actually happening at all – writer and producer David E Kelley said the show was supposed to be a one off, considering how tough it is to get these superstar women together on one set: "Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Alex Skarsgård, Shailene Woodley. These are all people with big careers with a lot of projects lined up and they all had just one-year deals."

Not many details about season two’s plot has been released, but the show’s official synopsis promises “to explore the malignancy of lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and, of course, the vicious ferocity of sound parenting.” Can’t wait!

Big Little Lies will be on Sky Atlantic, date tbc.  

Central Park Five

Ava DuVernay’s limited series is set to look at the 1989 case of five black Harlem teens who were incorrectly convicted in the media and by the courts of the brutal rape of a jogger in the famous New York Park, right up until 2014 when their names were finally cleared. Having been reviled by the likes of Donald Trump, the teens spent years in jail and eventually sued New York City for just over $40 million (£31,853,400). The dramatized series will star Jack Ryan’s Jovan Adepo, Gotham’s Chris Chalk and Bates Motel’s Vera Farmiga.

Central Park Five will be available to watch on Netflix, date tbc.
 

Fargo, Season 4

Chris Rock is set to follow in the footsteps of Martin Freeman and Ewan McGregor, taking the lead in season 4 of Fargo. This time, the drama’s due to be set in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1950 with Rock playing the boss of a crime syndicate who, in order to make peace with another, trades his eldest son, and raises his enemy’s as his own. So far there’s been no other details on who else will star, but with a previous cast boasting the likes of Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemmons and Carrie Coon, we’ve got high hopes for this one.

Fargo will be available on FX, date tbc.

Game Of Thrones, Season 8

Yes, Game of Thrones is finally coming to an end – and fans will be gutted to hear that it’ll be a shorter season than those of the past, ending with just six episodes. A trailer for the final series dropped in December, which showed the symbols of each of the show’s families being covered in fire and ice. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait until April to see how it all goes down.

Game of Thrones will be available to watch on Sky Atlantic in April 2019.
 

Homeland, Season 8

Another series that’s back for one final series is Homeland. At the end of season seven, we saw Clare Danes’s Carrie Mathison captured by Russian national Yevgeny Gromov. Having had her medication withheld, when she’s released as part of a prisoner exchange seven months later, Carrie is a shell of herself, and doesn’t even recognise her mentor, Saul. With all of season seven taking place in DC, this final season is said to mostly take place overseas – showrunner Alex Gansa hinted that season eight would go back to where it all began: “This show began in Israel, and there's something poetic about going back to that part of the world in the show," he said. "So we've been thinking, just in a thematic way, that it might be nice to end the show set in Israel."

Homeland will be on Showtime, date tbc.
 

Liar, Season 2

Last year, this BBC drama had viewers on the edge of their seat as a date between Joanne Froggatt’s Laura Nielson and Ioan Gruffudd’s Andrew Earlham turned into something far more menacing. Over the course of the series, we saw the aftermath of Laura waking up believing Andrew had raped her, and the renowned surgeon’s insistence that it was consensual. This was a drama full of twists and turns – the biggest perhaps being Andrew’s lifeless body in some marshland at the end of the final episode. Fans of the show are no doubt begging for the second season to start, just to find out what actually happened to Andrew. Filming for the new series is due to start this month , with the show expected later in the year. It has not yet been confirmed if it will return to ITV.
 

Mindhunter, Season 2

The series based on the bestselling book by former FBI special agents John Douglas and Mark Olshaker is coming back. Directed by David Fincher and starring Jonathon Groff (Glee) and Holt McCallany (Fight Club), season two will look at the real-life events of 1979-81, taking place two years after season one. The Atlanta child murders were a series of 28 killings of African-American children, teenagers and adults – John Douglas was closely involved in profiling the killer and was officially reprimanded over his conduct during the case. Charles Manson will also feature, with actor Damon Herriman taking up the role. (Interestingly, this is not the only time Harriman will play Manson – he also plays the murderer in the new Quentin Tarantino film, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.) But most importantly, here’s hoping we find out what happened to the cat in psychologist Wendy Carr’s apartment building.

Mindhunter returns to Netflix, date tbc.
 

Peaky Blinders, Season 5

Thomas Shelby and co are back in Birmingham once again. In 2017, we saw the Shelby clan face off against mob boss Luca Changretta (Adrien Brody) and come out relatively unscathed – well, bar John Shelby of course (RIP). As such, the usual cast (minus Joe Cole) will be back for season five, plus a few new faces, including Anya Taylor-Joy (Split), Sam Claflin (Me Before You) and Brian Gleeson (Snow White and the Huntsman). This season, Tommy’s mental health continues to decline as he becomes a Labour MP for Birmingham. Well, you wouldn’t vote against a Peaky Blinder, would you?

Peaky Blinders returns to BBC One, date tbc.
 

Stranger Things, Season 3

Ever since the cast teased the latest season on social media, all we can think about is what’s going to happen in Stranger Things 3. We’ll have to wait until 4th July to see what happens to Mike and the others, but from the look of the poster, it’s going to Eleven and Will that will be in trouble once again. Will these two ever catch a break? Not if the Upside Down has anything to do with it.

Stranger Things will return to Netflix in July 2019.

Taboo, Season 2

With filming taking place over 2018, season two of Taboo is expected early this year. So far, Tom Hardy is the only definite return, with his character James Delaney taking his ragtag group of misfits into “the new world”, according to series creator Steven Knight (who also created Peaky Blinders).

Taboo is due to return to BBC One, date tbc.
 

The Crown, Season 3

As Claire Foy and Matt Smith move on from their characters in The Crown, we can’t wait to see what Olivia Coleman (The Favourite) and Tobias Menzies (Game of Thrones) do with their roles as Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Also starring in the series, set from 1964-76, will see Emerald Fennell (Call The Midwife) take the role of Camilla Parker-Bowles and Helena Bonham-Carter (Ocean’s 8) as Princess Margaret.

The Crown will debut on Netflix, date tbc.
 

True Detective, Season 3

Moonlight’s Mahershala Ali takes on the starring role in season three of True Detective, with many saying it’s back to the gothic form of the first season after a blip with Vince Vaughn in series two. Once again, it spans decades, centring on a case involving two missing children – and you won’t have to wait long for it, as it premieres this month.

True Detective returns to Now TV in January 2019.