Thinkbox
With pundits predicting this year’s football World Cup will be the biggest ever and trusted content increasingly valuable amid the AI-slop, TV is set for a bumper 2026.
Viewers wanting top quality shows are spoilt for choice with big returning series as well as more sport than ever before.
From comedy to drama to documentaries, encouragingly there are also plenty of new shows out this year that are set to net viewers and score profile for brands too.
The Summit - ITV (10 February)
Imagine The Traitors x Race Across the World but up a mountain in New Zealand and you’ll get an idea of this show, which makes a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award expedition look like a picnic. Fronted by Ben Shepard, it follows 12 contestants who must form alliances and complete challenges during a 14 day race to reach the summit of a mountain and win £200,000. Arguably the most risky reality show around at the moment: a contestant in the Norwegian version died of a heart attack.
How to Get to Heaven From Belfast - Netflix (12 February)
How do you follow smash hit Derry Girls? With this comedy mystery about friendship, starring Roísín Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan, Caoilfhionn Dunne and Ardal O’Hanlon. From Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, How to Get to Heaven From Belfast sees three lifelong pals embark on a chaotic quest across Ireland.
Becoming Victoria Wood - U&Gold (due February)
The late Victoria Wood was one of the UK’s most-loved comics and this feature-length documentary celebrates her life with unseen footage and interviews with friends, including Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders and Maxine Peake. Actor Jessica Barden from The End of the F***ing World also brings to life extracts from Wood’s personal archive. The documentary received a cinema release in January ahead of its airing on U&Gold.
The Dyers’ Caravan Park - Sky (expected late February)
Love Clarkson’s Farm? Then Danny Dyer and his daughter Danni trying to run a caravan park business on the Isle of Sheppey could be right up your street. Made by the same company that makes Jeremy Clarkson’s Amazon series, this fly-on-the-wall series features Dyer senior and junior’s attempt to make the great British seaside holiday great again. If they can’t make caravanning cool then who can? Expect humour, pathos and, funnily enough, some swearing.
Celebrity Sabotage - ITV (due February/March)
ITV has its biggest entertainment slate for a decade out this year and this undercover prank series is one of their big swings. It has hints of Game For A Laugh x Ant & Dec’s Undercover pranks but features Joel Dommett, Judi Love, Sam Thompson and GK Barry teaming up to secretly sabotage challenges being carried out by contestants (who think they’re taking part in a new game show) in order to win them cash prizes. Famous faces due to guest star include Clare Balding, Rylan Clark and Monica Galetti. Could this be ITV’s successor to Takeaway?
The Rest Is Football - Netflix (June & July)
We’re going to (literally) see more visualised podcasts on TV this year and this one could be a defining moment. The granddaddy of the expanding Goalhanger podcast empire has been snapped up by Netflix to tap into World Cup fever with daily episodes. Who can bet against canny Goalhanger co-founder Gary Lineker and his co-hosts bringing new fans (and probably headlines) to the streamer this summer?
Nations Championship - ITV and STV (July)
Props to ITV for locking in the rights to this new rugby tournament, which sets the top six teams from the northern hemisphere against the top six from the south. It joins ITV’s coverage of every England fixture in the Six Nations, ensuring free-to-air access to the game’s top tournaments. And if you’re not a rugby fan, ITV says this is set to be its “biggest year in sport”, with something for everyone - from horse racing to darts to the FIFA World Cup.
Saturday Night Live UK - Sky (Expected mid/later 2026)
We all need a laugh at the moment and comedy is rightly the new rock’n’roll again following the success of Amazon’s Last One Laughing. This UK version of the veteran US satirical sketch show is timely and the first time SNL has crossed the Atlantic. Details of who will be appearing are yet to be released, but expect a mix of the cream of British comedy and up-and-coming talent.
Number 10 - Channel 4 (Later in 2026)
Oh to be a fly on the wall of 10 Downing Street at the moment. Following the exploits of a fictional government in this drama by former Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat might be the closest some of us get to what goes on behind the famous black door. It stars Rafe Spall, Katherine Kelly and Jenna Coleman but the issue it may face is, at the moment truth is stranger than fiction.
Last One Laughing - Amazon Prime Video (Later in 2026)
Like Heated Rivalry (though without the ice-based romance) this was a word-of-mouth hit. It propelled comedy back into the spotlight in 2025, with its ‘Oh-so-simple-why-didn’t-I-think-of-that?’ format: namely get a room full of comedians to try and make each other laugh whilst they must keep a straight face throughout. Last series’ winner Bob Mortimer is back, with a new troupe including Alan ‘Top Traitor’ Carr, David Mitchell and Diane Morgan.
Rivals 2 - Disney+ (Later in 2026)
Round two of the antics of Rutshire’s finest, in the show that cemented Danny Dyer as a national treasure and created such a frisson it even made the TV franchise system seem sexy. Rupert Everett and Hayley Attwell are joining the cast this time. No word yet as to whether Alex Hassell will be involved in another steamy sporting scene but, if so, my money’s on it being set on a croquet lawn.
The X Factor: Entertainment Juggernaut (w/t) - Sky (Later in 2026)
It’s a yes from Simon Cowell to appearing in this in-depth documentary about the ITV talent show behemoth. Billed by Sky as being the “definitive documentary series exploring the era-defining entertainment juggernaut,” it’s being made by the producers behind Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, so expect no stone to be unturned.
Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive - U&Gold (Later in 2026)
Lovely jubbly! Hit sitcom Only Fools & Horses is 45 years old this year (yes, really) and this two-part documentary celebrates the adventures of Del Boy, Rodney and their Peckham crew with unseen footage, including an opening scene thought to have been lost. It includes new interviews with cast and crew including Sir David Jason. This time next year we’ll see how many millions tuned in.
TipToe - Channel 4 (Later in 2026)
Anything It’s A Sin writer and former Doctor Who show runner Russell T Davies does is highly anticipated and his new offering is no exception. The Queer as Folk creator is going back to Manchester’s Canal Street for a look at the current issues and rising tension faced by the LGBTQ+ community. Starring Alan Cumming and David Morrisey as neighbours, Tip Toe is bound to spark debate.
The Lady - ITV (Later in 2026)
The drama and crime surrounding those in orbit around Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his coterie continues to provide material for TV, particularly in this four-part true-life crime story about Sarah Ferguson’s dresser Jane Andrews, who was convicted of murdering her boyfriend Thomas Cressman in 2000. It stars Mia McKenna-Bruce (Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials) as Andrews and is likely to fuel more headlines about Ferguson and her marriage - as well as give Rivals a run for its money in the retro- fashion stakes.
Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards (w/t) – Channel 5 (Later in 2026)
He was the BBC presenter who delivered news of the late Queen’s death and presided over national occasions. So the revelation that Huw Edward had received images of child abuse and groomed a vulnerable 17-year-old shook the nation and the BBC. This two-part factual drama starring Martin Clunes as the Welsh newsreader explores the investigation that led to Edwards’ fall, leading him to plead guilty to making indecent images of children.
Falling - Channel 4 (Later in 2026)
Keeley Hawes in a wimple doesn’t immediately scream ‘must-watch’ but an avowed insider has told me this story about a romance between Hawes’ nun and a priest, played by Paapa Essiedu, is one you might fall for. Intriguingly, it’s penned by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, who is set for another stellar year as the wordsmith behind the BBC’s adaptation of Lord of the Flies.
