The return of hit bonkbuster Rivals, the horny hockey show taking the world by storm, Richard Gadd’s follow-up to Baby Reindeer … and Buffy is back! Here’s your complete guide to 2026’s unmissable television
As the writer of conspiracy thriller Utopia and Covid-era relationship drama Together, Dennis Kelly has form for creating darkly perceptive TV drama. This excellent series stars Josh Finan (whose performance in The Responder earned him a Bafta nomination) as Dan, a philosophy teacher with a troubled family past, working in a prison. As he explores issues around freedom, luck and destiny with the inmates, he starts to wonder if he actually belongs behind bars like his abusive father. Soon, his anxieties threaten to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
BBC One, 3 January
Dawn French has made a new sitcom, which in itself should be cause for celebration. However, Can You Keep a Secret? is written by Simon Mayhew-Archer (producer of This Country and Funboys) and revolves around a couple trying to cope with the windfall they receive when one of them is mistakenly pronounced dead, which is even better. And Mark Heap is in it too. This one could be brilliant.
BBC One, 7 January
