ThinkboxIt remains to be seen (at the time of writing) whether it promises to be a Great British Summer or more of a traditional one. Which is to say a wet one, but hope springs eternal.
In these uncertain times - and we’re not just talking about the weather here - it is reassuring to know that some things remain entirely predictable.
And that is the quality and range of the programmes we’re highlighting in our bumper summer TV preview, 13 scorching treats to enjoy whatever the weather. Anyone seen the brolly?
Outrageous - U&Drama
This sumptuous looking period drama tells the story of the notorious Mitford sisters and their headline-making antics which so shocked and engrossed 1930s society.
Bessie Carter (Bridgerton, I Hate Suzie), Joanna Vanderham (Crime, The Control Room), Anna Chancellor (My Lady Jane, Trust) and James Purefoy (The Veil, Malpractice) are among the ensemble cast in this original UKTV drama created and written by Sarah Williams and based on Mary Lovell’s biography, The Mitford Girls.
A six-part drama, Outrageous promises to bring the ‘full, uncensored story of the Mitford sisters to the screen for the first time - a story of family bonds and betrayals, public scandal, political extremism, love, heartache and even imprisonment’.
Karen Pirie - ITV
Karen Pirie returns to ITV for a keenly-anticipated second series after its debut in 2022 was acclaimed as one of the best police dramas of the year.
Lauren Lyle (Outlander) is back as the eponymous Scottish investigator, this time attempting to unravel the kidnapping of an heiress and her young son 30 years ago.
Based on Val McDermid’s much-loved cold case novels, the new three-part series is based on the second Karen Pirie story, A Darker Domain, with returning cast members including Chris Jenks (Sex Education), Timestalker’s Zach Wyatt and Steve John Shepherd (Harry Potter, This Life).
Pushers - Channel 4
Rosie Jones stars in her first ever sitcom about a disabled woman who builds an illegal drug dealing empire.
Written by Jones and Peter Fellows, Pushers is the latest in a long line of Channel 4 comedies to begin life as a short-form Comedy Blap (when it was called Disability Benefits.)
Jones stars as Emily, a young woman who turns to crime when her benefits are cut after she is made redundant. But Emily ‘isn’t your average street-dealing dope peddler - she's sharp, funny, biting, highly educated - and on top of all that, she has cerebral palsy’.
Mr Bigstuff - Sky Max
His hugely popular Bafta win for Sky’s Mr Bigstuff was confirmation if any was needed that Danny Dyer is now nothing short of a national institution.
Dyer returns as the estranged brother whose sudden reappearance causes chaos in the life of series creator (and Brassic favourite) Ryan Sampson, the second season picking up two weeks after the shock news that the siblings’ dad is not in fact dead.
As the brothers join forces to track down their absent father, Harriet Webb (I May Destroy You) returns as Kirsty alongside guest stars Rula Lenska, Linda Henry and Shaun Williamson as an angry clown. It’s going to be emotional.
Transaction - ITV
Jordan Gray wrote, created and stars in this sitcom about a transgender egomaniac who wreaks havoc in the twilight world of the supermarket nightshift.
Gray plays supermarket worker Liv who comes to realise she is basically unsackable after store boss Simon (Nick Frost) inadvertently offends the LGBTQ+ community, and so uses the opportunity to cause chaos on everything and everyone around her.
The pairing of Gray with Frost promises to be quite the double act in the six-part comedy that co-stars Two Doors Down’s Doon Mackichan, Thomas Gray (Peacock) and The Witcher’s Francesca Mills.
The Couple Next Door - Channel 4
The suburbs have rarely been sexier - or more sinister - than in Channel 4’s The Couple Next Door, the scintillating psychological thriller which was its biggest scripted streaming launch ever.
It’s a case of new cast, same cul-de-sac, as a fresh bunch of neighbours move in, including high-flying medics Annabel Scholey (The Split) and Sam Palladio (The Princess Switch) whose lives are turned upside down when their mysterious new work colleague Aggy K Adams (The Witcher, Greek Salad) moves in next door.
But one familiar face does return - the resident outcast Alan played by Hugh Dennis. Sometimes your fantasies are best left as just that - a fantasy.
Celebrity Puzzling - 5
Jeremy Vine will put a host of familiar faces through some fiendishly difficult mind-benders in 5’s Celebrity Puzzling.
Already familiar to 5 viewers, Vine will be joined by regular team captains Sally Lindsay - another face of 5 - and Carol Vorderman, accompanied each week by celebrity guests including Dom Joly, Les Dennis, Scarlett Moffatt, Paul Sinha and Miles Jupp.
The new eight-part series will test contestants’ logic, lateral thinking and problem-solving skills, and is a fresh take on Puzzling, the 5 quiz which ran for two series after its debut in 2023.
Bookish - Alibi
The estimable Mark Gatiss created, wrote and stars in this crime drama about Gabriel Book, an unconventional antiquarian bookshop owner who helps detectives solve a variety of mysterious crimes.
Set in postwar London, the ‘whip-smart and debonair’ Book acts as a consultant to the local police force, surrounding himself with a host of lovable and damaged misfits. Polly Walker (Bridgerton, Line of Duty) stars as Book’s colourful wife Trottie, who runs the wallpaper shop next door, with guest stars including Joely Richardson, Daniel Mays and Paul McGann.
Joyously nostalgic but so fast-paced it feels entirely up to date, UKTV has already commissioned a second run of the drama before the first has even begun.
Flight 149: Hostage of War - Sky Documentaries
Flight 149 tells the extraordinary story of a civilian passenger plane that found itself caught in the middle of a war zone, its passengers and crew taken hostage by Saddam Hussein in the wake of Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.
The documentary examines how and why the British Airways flight was allowed to land in Kuwait City just hours after Iraq’s troops had crossed the border, and follows the legal action taken by the surviving hostages to seek justice and uncover the truth.
One of the most astonishing - and until recently - officially denied chapters of the Gulf War, it is a stranger than fiction tale brought to life in this no holds barred investigation of a geopolitical scandal.
Ridley - ITV
Adrian Dunbar returns in the titular role of the northern England crime drama as Alex Ridley, the retired detective turned police consultant who tragically lost his wife and daughter in an arson attack on the family home.
Written and created by Paul Matthew Thompson (Vera) the second series sees Ridley resume his partnership with former protege DI Carol Farman, played by Bronagh Waugh (Unforgotten, The Suspect) as they investigate a shooting, a mysterious vanishing and a jewel heist.
Returning with four two-hour films, the first series of Ridley was one of ITV’s biggest drama launches of the year when it debuted in 2022. It will be a most welcome return.
The Secret Life of Trees - 5
Michael Palin narrates this three-part exploration of the unseen world of the planet’s extraordinary tree population.
The Secret Life of Trees was filmed over the course of a year and ventures throughout the UK and Europe to chart their incredible growth from seed to mature giant and the metamorphoses they go through along the way.
It promises to leave no leaf unturned as it opens our eyes to the extraordinary biology and behaviour of trees, some of which are more than a thousand years old, shedding light on their ‘incredible mystery and romance [and] their fundamentally essential role in the cycle of life’.
Celebs Go Dating - E4
It’s the dating show not quite like any other, in which a fresh group of familiar faces put their quest for love in the hands of the show’s resident experts and risk being hilariously roasted by narrator, Rob Beckett.
In this - the 14th iteration of the hit E4 show - the celebs putting their hearts on the line include Atomic Kitten's Kerry Katona, The Chase's Mark Labbett, S Club 7's Jon Lee, Love Island All Stars' Olivia Hawkins and Too Hot To Handle's Louis Russell.
And in an extra twist this year, the first week of the new show will see the celebrities and their dates whisked away to Ibiza. Will it be fun in the sun or will their passions boil over in the heat of the moment?
Mountainhead - Sky Atlantic
The multi-award winning Succession creator Jesse Armstrong brings us Mountainhead, the star-studded tale of a group of billionaire friends whose high altitude getaway is rudely interrupted by a snowballing international crisis.
Not just written and executive produced by Armstrong but also his directorial debut, Mountainhead stars Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman, Cory Michael Smith and Ramy Youssef.
A Sky Exclusive film, Mountainhead has inevitably drawn comparisons with Succession as well as the rather sunnier climes of The White Lotus, memorably described as the ‘next must-watch chapter in television’s rich-people-imploding cinematic universe’. We can’t wait.
