The Show Must Go On: Exciting 2021 TV

Smother (RTÉ One, Spring)
The “rugged coast of Clare” is the setting for this Scandi-like tale of a matriarch digging into the family secrets, which appear to be the reason for her husband being found dead at the foot of a cliff. The evergreen Dervla Kirwan, Niamh Walsh, Michael Patric, Tim Casey and Hot Press fave Seána Kerslake are among those entrusted with making sure it’s a more enticing prospect than last year’s overblown The South Westerlies.

Conversations With Friends (BBC Three/RTÉ, Spring)
Other than confirming that it’s sticking to the winning Normal People formula of Sally Rooney adapting her own novel and Lenny Abrahamson directing, the BBC are saying nowt about the eagerly awaited twelve-parter, which will hopefully have Joe Duffy listeners giving out yards again.

The Falcon And The Winter Soldier (Disney+, March 19)
Delayed last year because of you know what, this blockbuster in the making is a sort of Avengers: Endgame sequel with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan reprising their respective roles as Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes. The teaser trailer confirms the same everything including the kitchen sink approach we’ve come to expect from the Marvel Universe who don’t believe in this less being more malarkey.

Vigil (BBC One, TBA)
Not content with wowing us in Gentleman Jack, Suranne Jones plays a hard-nosed DCI – they’re never soft-nosed, are they? – in this six-part police procedural, which starts with the mysterious disappearance of a Scottish fishing trawler and ramps up a gear when a Trident submarine crew member is murdered on-board. With assorted Game Of Thrones, Grantchester, Outlander, Top Boy and Riviera cast members also involved, it has all the hallmarks of a primetime smash.

It’s A Sin (Channel 4)
Years & Years singer Olly Alexander, Stephen Fry and Neil Patrick Harris, AKA Doogie Howser, M.D., are three of the reasons we’re looking forward to this fact-based drama about how the 1980s AIDS crisis impacted on Manchester’s gay community. Two more are that it’s written by Queer As Folk creator Russell T. Davies and makes excellent use of the Pet Shop Boys hit of the same name.

The Pact (BBC One, TBA)
Breaking Bad’s Laura Fraser swaps Albuquerque for Cardiff in this story of five female friends struggling to cope with the sudden death of their sixth amigo. Similar in Noir-ish tone to the brilliant Hinterland – you’ll find all three seasons on Netflix – it’s a first recurring role for the highly rated Abbie Hern who previously featured in a particularly odd episode of The Twlight Zone.

Time (BBC One, TBA)
The King of Gritty Realism, Jimmy McGovern, returns with this prison-based drama, which features Sean Bean as the guilt-ridden inmate serving four years for accidentally killing a man and Stephen Graham as the kindly warder who tries to help him stop unraveling. With Happy Valley’s Siobhan Finneran – we suspect Irish blood – and McGovern go-to Sue Johnston also taking part you just know it’ll be good.

My Name Is Lizzie (Channel 4)
Niamh Algar (above) follows up her impressive turns in The Virtues and Raised By Wolves with a starring role in this forensic account of how Rachel Nickell was murdered on Wimbledon Common eighteen years ago. After a bungled police investigation leads to the wrong man being tried at the Old Bailey, it’s ten years before a cold case team discover the real killer who also carried out a double murder in 1993.
As with Sky’s recent Ripper docuseries, the levels of police and judiciary incompetence throughout are staggering.

Love, Victor (Disney Star, February 23)
Set in “the world of the original 2018 film Love, Simon”, this sharply scripted spin-off finds the titular new boy at Creekwood High School coming to terms with his sexuality in a not always supportive environment. One of the new Disney channel’s flagship shows, it’s made an instant LBTQI icon out of leading man Michael Cimino.

Landscapers (Sky Atlantic, TBA)
From the people who made Chernobyl comes this true crime tale of Susan and Christopher Edwards, a seemingly innocuous husband and wife who murder Susan’s parents and bury them in their Mansfield garden where they push up the daisies for ten years before being unearthed. Olivia Colman and Christopher Edwards co-star as the dastardly duo who use the money they drain from the mummy and daddy’s bank account to buy Hollywood memorabilia.