Guardian names must-see TV shows to watch in 2026

The Guardian has published a 50-title roundup of must-see TV for 2026, highlighting new series and returning favourites across broadcasters including the BBC, Netflix, HBO Max and Channel 4. Highlights in the list include Waiting for the Out, written by Dennis Kelly and starring Josh Finan as Dan, a philosophy teacher working in a prison whose anxieties “threaten to become a self-fulfilling prophecy” (BBC One, 3 January); Dawn French’s new sitcom Can You Keep a Secret?

by Simon Mayhew-Archer, about a couple coping after one of them is mistakenly pronounced dead (BBC One, 7 January); and Black Ops season two, which finds Gbemisola Ikumelo and Hammed Animashaun’s characters working for MI5 after infiltrating a gang (BBC One, 8 January). Other entries range from high-profile revivals and prestige dramas — Heated Rivalry (Sky/Now, 10 January), Industry (BBC One, 12 January) which introduces Whitney Halberstram described in advance reports as “a tornado of cut‑throat ambition”, and the Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Sky Atlantic/Now, 18 January) — to returning hits such as Euphoria’s new season (HBO Max, April) and a Malcolm in the Middle revival for Disney+ (10 April).

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Culture, Must-see Tv, Black Ops, Euphoria, Blue Planet Iii, Industry