As much as we love settling into new second, third and even fourth seasons of our favourite shows (how much longer, Stranger Things?), it is always so exciting to find a brand new series that you can't wait to binge-watch from start to finish. Fortunately, we have found some amazing new shows being released in 2021 that'll do just that! Check out our top picks...
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Them - From 9 April, Amazon Prime Video
Fancy a horror? This new anthology series explores terror in America. The synopsis reads: "The 1950s set first season centres on a Black family who moves from North Carolina to an all-white Los Angeles neighbourhood during the period known as The Great Migration. The family’s idyllic home becomes ground zero where malevolent forces, next-door and otherworldly, threaten to taunt, ravage and destroy them."
Mare of Easttown - From 19 April, Sky/NOW
Starring the one and only Kate Winslet, this drama series follows the tough Mare, a salt of the earth detective who has to solve the mysterious murder of a local teen mother - while also trying to retrace an investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl from one year before - all the while raising her grandson and dealing with the grief over her son's suicide two years earlier. Gripping stuff.
Why Are You Like This - 16 April, Netflix
Co-created and co-written by Naomi Higgins, Humyara Mahbub and Mark Samual Bonanno, this comedy was a huge hit in Australia - and now is now landing on our devices in the UK! This six-part story follows three twenty-somethings as they fumble through life in Melbourne and is loosely based on Naomi, Humyara and Mark’s own friendship as they go through the divisive socio-political hellscape of 2021, leaving a path of destruction in their wake.
Shadow and Bone - 23 April, Netflix
Based on the bestselling Grishaverse novels, this upcoming Netflix fantasy drama is based in a war-torn world where lowly soldier and orphan Alina Starkov has just unleashed an extraordinary power that could be the key to setting her country free.
WATCH: The Shadow and Bone trailer looks seriously good
The synopsis reads: "With the monstrous threat of the Shadow Fold looming, Alina is torn from everything she knows to train as part of an elite army of magical soldiers known as Grisha. But as she struggles to hone her power, she finds that allies and enemies can be one and the same and that nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. There are dangerous forces at play, including a crew of charismatic criminals, and it will take more than magic to survive."
The Nevers - 11 April, Sky/NOW
Fancy a supernatural period drama? Starring Outlander's Laura Donnelly and Ann Skelly, this series is based in Victorian times, where some people - mostly women - are suddenly gifted with abnormal abilities. Our two heroines, both 'touched', are the champions of this new underclass. Think X-Men with petticoats!
The Mysterious Benedict Society - 25 June, Disney+
You've got to love a YA drama every so often! Based on the bestselling novel by Trenton Lee Stewart, the story follows a group of orphans who are placed undercover at a boarding school known as The Institute. There, they must foil a nefarious plot with global ramifications... all while creating a new sort of family along the way. Keep an eye out for Veep star Tony Hale in the titular role!
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Lisey's Story - TBC, Apple TV+
Created by Stephen King, executively produced by JJ Abrams and starring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Dane DeHaan, we have a good feeling about this one! The story follows the widow of a successful novelist, Scott Landon, who is stalked and threatened to give over any of her late husband's work - or suffer the consequences.
The series will be based on the Stephen King novel
Intergalactic - 30 April, Sky/NOW
This eight-part series follows Ash Harper (Savannah Steyn), a young cop and galactic pilot wrongly convicted of a treasonous crime, whose fellow convicts break free and go on the run across a distant galaxy. The show is all about their quest for freedom, full of action, adventure and intrigue with an amazing cast including Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson, Sex Education's Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Peaky Blinders' Natasha O’Keeffe.
The Pact, May, BBC One
Starring Laura Fraser, the synopsis for the new drama reads: "When a young brewery boss is found dead, a chain of events is triggered that draws four of his employees - Anna (Laura Fraser; Breaking Bad), Nancy (Julie Hesmondhalgh; The A Word, Broadchurch), Louie (Eiry Thomas; Keeping Faith) and Cat (Heledd Gwynn; Ordinary Lies) into a fragile pact of silence, bound by a secret that will change their lives forever."
The Rig - TBC, Amazon Prime Video
Starring Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen, Line of Duty's Martin Compston and Criminal actress Rochenda Sandall, this story follows Magnus and his crew aboard the Kinloch Bravo oil rig, stationed off the Scottish coast in the dangerous waters of the North Sea.
The synopsis reads: "When they are due to be collected and return to the mainland a mysterious and all-enveloping fog rolls through. The rig is hit by massive tremors, and they find themselves cut off from all communication with the shore and the outside world. As the crew endeavour to discover what’s driving this unknown force, a major accident forces them to ask questions about who they can really trust."
Life After Life - TBC, BBC
Based on the bestselling novel, Life After Life is WWI and WWII Groundhog Day-esque tale in which Ursula Todd lives her life over and over again, experience different major life events each time. But what is it that Ursula so desperately needs to stay alive for? Each of Ursula’s alternative lives brings new challenges and half-memories of what has come before, and with every one, fascinating, joyful, traumatic, witty and surprising experiences and relationships. Starring Jojo Rabbit star Thomasin McKenzie.
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