The best TV shows coming in the New Year

As 2022 approaches, viewers can look forward to an abundance of new and returning TV series.

From crime thrillers to comedic capers, from scorching period antics to royal dramas, buckle up for tantalizing TV over the next few months.

Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls is finally back after a hiatus of more than two years while Netflix offers a double offer of a second series of Bridgerton and The Crown series five.

There are also new thrillers in the form of the BBC’s mystery drama One The Tourist, starring Co Down’s Jamie Dornan, the Amazon The Rig series with Line of Duty star Martin Compston and ITV Trigger Point in six parts, featuring another Line of Duty star Vicky McClure.

Here are 12 series to watch in 2022.

THE TOURIST

Local boy Jamie Dornan stars as an Irishman in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, chased by a huge tanker trying to force him off the road.

‘The Man’ later wakes up in the hospital, injured, but alive. The only problem is that he has no idea who he is and has no memory of how he got there.

As he begins to uncover the mystery of who he was, he’s also forced to ask who he is now – and quickly. Will he unlock the secrets of his identity before those who try to kill him catch up to him?

The Tourist will debut on BBC One on Saturday January 1 at 9 p.m. ET. All six episodes will be available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

RESPONDENT

Martin Freeman is leading this new BBC show, which offers a new take on the detective genre.

It focuses on morally compromised emergency response officer Chris, who tackles a series of rhythm night shifts at Liverpool.

He fights both personally and professionally and faces a new challenge as he is forced to face new rookie partner Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo).

Based on the real-life experiences of the writer, former police officer Tony Schumacher, it is presented as a dark and intense watch.

DERRY GIRLS

Series creator Lisa McGee has confirmed that the next Channel 4 sitcom series, which takes place during the Troubles, will be the last.

The second series delivered an emotional ending as James (Dylan Llewellyn) decided to stay in Derry with his friends Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Orla (Louisa Harland) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O ‘Donnell).

The final episodes will see teens slowly turning into adults as Northern Ireland enters a new, more optimistic period. The cast members announced that this series will be the best yet with several high profile guest stars appearing for the swan song of the hugely popular series.

BRIDGERTON

Derry Girls actress Coughlan also stars in the Netflix period drama, which is based on a Julia Quinn romance series and which broke all records when it launched on Christmas in 2020.

The leading male role, Rege-Jean Page, who played Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings, will not return for the second season.

However, viewers can expect elaborate costumes and more attention from one of the Bridgerton brothers, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey).

THE CROWN

The end of 2022 will see the return of Netflix’s lavish royal drama The Crown in its fifth season.

A new cast portrays the Royal Family, to reflect the passing years, including Imelda Staunton as Queen and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.

The series is expected to cover the events of the late 1990s.

According to Deadline, this will include the famous Panorama interview with Diana, the Princess of Wales on the BBC.

Writer Peter Morgan has confirmed that there will be a sixth and final series. It should be released in late fall.

THE RIGGING

Line Of Duty star Compston has become one of the UK’s most acclaimed actors, and one of his plans for 2022 is this new Amazon series.

The six-part thriller takes place on the Kinloch Bravo oil rig, stationed in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland.

When the crew is faced with serious danger – fog, shaking, and loss of shore communication – they must try to figure out what is going on. For now, no release date has been revealed.

TRIGGER POINT

Trigger Point, which will arrive on ITV in January 2022, is a six-part thriller about the work of the Metropolitan Police Bomb Disposal Squad during a summer bombing campaign.

It stars Vicky McClure and Adrian Lester of Line of Duty as bomb disposal officers who risk their lives walking towards danger.

Reckless and out of control, McClure’s character Lana Washington is a former military man and pushed to breaking point in the face of a series of improvised explosive devices that threaten London during a summer terror campaign.

CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS

BBC Three and Hulu bring another Sally Rooney book to screens, following the success of the 2020 Normal People series.

This time it is the Irish author’s debut novel about the complex relationship between young designers Frances (Alison Oliver) and Bobbi (Sasha Lane), and older couple Melissa (Jemima Kirke) and Nick (Joe Alwyn ).

Set in Dublin but partly shot in Northern Ireland, it should have a similar style to Normal People as they are the same team leading the 12-part drama.

THE BAY

Written by Co man Armagh Daragh Carville, the Morecambe-based ITV hit The Bay will return for a third season in 2022, with Cobra and White Collar star Marsha Thomason as DS lead Jenn Townsend, the new Morecambe family liaison officer.

The show’s final season averaged eight million viewers and was ITV’s most-watched drama of 2021 in terms of on-demand viewing.

DS Townsend is immediately thrown into the deep end when a body runs aground in the bay on her first day on the job. She has to step into the shoes of a grieving and complicated family if she has any chance of solving the untimely death of a young, aspiring boxer, while also trying to fit in with Manning and the rest of the squad.

The bay begins on ITV on Wednesday, January 12.

STAY CLOSE

Stay Close, starring James Nesbitt, is a new Netflix crime drama, based on the novel of the same name by Harlan Coben.

The eight-part series, which will be released on December 31, 2021, tells the story of three key figures whose “dark secrets resurface, unleashing a chain of events that threatens to destroy their lives.”

Nesbitt of Northern Ireland plays Jack Broome, a detective who remains obsessed with a case he has not been able to solve.

Stay Close also stars Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage, Sarah Parish, Eddie Izard and Jo Joynor.

ANNE

Maxine Peake will play the remarkable Anne Williams in ITV’s new drama Anne, which is set around the Hillsborough disaster.

Williams, who died in 2013, fought tirelessly for justice for her 15-year-old son, Kevin, who died in the 1989 tragedy.

The upcoming miniseries, produced by the team behind Line of Duty, will examine Williams’ campaign – at their own expense – and how she went to great lengths to bring justice to the 97 who lost their lives.

Anne will debut on ITV on January 2 at 9 p.m. and will air for four consecutive nights.

PEAKY BLINDERS

Just when we thought Peaky Blinders couldn’t do better, the show picked Stephen Graham as its newest recruit. One of the most talented actors in the UK, not much is known about his character except that he doesn’t seem to be on good terms with Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby.

In a teaser for the sixth and final season of the period gangster drama, the character of Graham is heard saying in his Liverpudlian accent: “I’ve heard that there are men here from Birmingham looking for me. “

He is next seen face to face with Tommy, who we last saw in free fall after his plan to assassinate Oswald Mosley was sabotaged by a relative.

Peaky Blinders returns in early 2022.