Film & TV production

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Don’t know what to watch in 2024? You can trust our TV critic’s top picks

January 25, 2024

How many new television shows are there in 2024? Let’s put it this way: I’m a TV critic whose job it is to watch new television shows and I just searched online for “Signs you’re seriously overworked” (447,000 results!) That said, my downfall will be at the hands of a very promising year. From galaxy-spanning science-fiction to earthbound black comedies, this year’s launch schedule is eclectic. Here are the shows I’m most excited to watch.

THE NEW LOOK

Paris was the capital of fashion in the 1950s and the names of prominent couturiers live on today as luxury brands: Christian Dior, Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain. With Apple’s considerable budgets, this period drama will be swathed in historic fits and archival detail. But it’s not just a catwalk saga: the groundbreaking French designers of the era had lived through the Nazi occupation of the 1940s, which the likes of Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) and Chanel (Juliette Binoche) responded to in very different ways. Apple TV+, February 14

THE WALKING DEAD: THE ONES WHO LIVE

The Walking Dead’s zombie apocalypse was running on empty by the time it concluded in 2022, but a succession of concise spin-offs – Dead City and Daryl Dixon – based around key participants has reinvigorated the franchise. The latest successor brings back two essential characters: Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) and the katana-wielding Michonne (Dania Gurira), who had previously departed the original series for post-apocalyptic parts unknown. In Walking Dead terms, this is a big deal, with the creative ambition hopefully matching the action. Stan, February 26

THE REGIME

Political satires set in Canberra or Washington D.C. tend to be farcical – it’s a privilege of democracy. But this black comedy is set in a fictional Central European state where Kate Winslet’s formidable chancellor has a dictator’s grip on power. But when she imprisons an opposition leader (Hugh Grant), domestic turmoil starts to grow. Creator Will Tracy has written multiple episodes of Succession, so the bloody geopolitics and palace betrayal are guaranteed some scathing dialogue and uncomfortable twists. Binge, March 4

3 BODY PROBLEM

Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have experience adapting vast series that have shifted a genre’s boundaries. Having produced a fantasy smash, they’re now joined by Alexander Woo (True Blood) to take on the first novel in Chinese author Liu Cixin’s acclaimed science-fiction trilogy. A rich-in-theory mystery that opens with the planet’s leading scientists dying of unnatural causes, 3 Body Problem encompasses the ramifications of individual trauma and world-changing events. Top marks for ambition. Netflix, March 21

RIPLEY

Recent cover star Andrew Scott will follow his lead role in arthouse sensation All of Us Strangers with the title role in this adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s unerring 1955 psychological thriller The Talented Mr Ripley. The book has been translated to the screen numerous times, including with Matt Damon as Ripley in Anthony Minghella’s 1999 film, so it’s up to creator Steven Zaillian (writer of Schindler’s List and The Irishman) to reveal a new perspective on obsession and deceit amidst the sun-drenched Italian locations. Zaillian’s first step? Shooting every episode in black and white. Netflix, April 4

FALLOUT

The success of The Last of Us has set the stage for another adaptation of a storied video game series set in a post-apocalyptic environment. Per the trailer, the husband-and-wife team of Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan (Westworld) bring a bloody, demented tone to the story of a young woman, Lucy (Ella Purnell, Yellowjackets), who emerges from a lifetime in a secure underground vault to explore the ruins of Los Angeles hundreds of years after a nuclear war. Big plus: the great Walton Goggins (Justified) as a mutant bounty hunter. Amazon Prime Video, April 13

THE FRANCHISE

Are Marvel’s ears burning yet? Veep creator Armando Iannucci brings his masterful feel for dismissive insults, petulant egos, and hierarchical screw-ups to Hollywood, with this comedy series about the many setbacks plaguing the production of a blockbuster superhero film. It could be low-hanging fruit for Iannucci, but he has a terrific ensemble cast with Himesh Patel (Tenet), Aya Cash (The Boys), and Billy Magnussen (Made for Love) and a co-creator well-versed in the studio system – filmmaker Sam Mendes (Skyfall). Binge, TBA

JEOPARDY! AUSTRALIA

The game show continues to be the perfect antidote for television’s surplus of both scripted and reality series – they’re quick, come with a readily familiar format, and you can play along at home. Debuting in 1964, Jeopardy! has been the pinnacle of American game shows for decades, boasting the defining spin of the contestants being offered an answer to which they must phrase the correct question. Aiming high, the Australian edition comes with an unimpeachable host in everyone’s favourite British polymath Stephen Fry. Nine, TBA

SUGAR

Fingers crossed this science-fiction series with the plot of a hard-boiled detective novel – a private investigator trawls Los Angeles in search of a legendary producer’s missing granddaughter – is the better of the two Colin Farrell streaming series debuting this year, as opposed to The Penguin, the spin-off from The Batman where the Irish actor reprises his buried-in-prosthetics villain. Behind the camera on Sugar are creator Mark Protesovich (I Am Legend) and director Fernando Meirelles (The Constant Gardener). Apple TV+, TBA

STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW

After a trio of hit Spider-Man movies, director Jon Watts moves to a galaxy far, far away for a Star Wars streaming series that will hopefully shine a fresh light on a wavering icon. The concept is a space opera coming of age tale about a quartet of children who are sent far from their home planet, necessitating a risky adventure home. Their guide is a mysterious, Force-wielding stranger, played by Jude Law, who becomes a more intriguing actor with every year that passes. Disney+, TBA

SWIFT STREET

Careening across Melbourne’s inner-city suburbs, this comic-drama is a father and daughter tale with a difference. And that difference is rampant crime. Graduating from short films, creator Tig Terera tells the larcenous story of Robert (Cliff Curtis, Avatar: The Way of Water) and Elsie (Tanzyn Crawford, Tiny Beautiful Things) – the despondent dad owes money to a gangster, the can-do daughter plots a series of increasingly audacious suburban heists to raise the cash. SBS, TBA

THE SYMPATHIZER

The wildcard. Based on Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 debut novel, this 1970s black comedy follows a North Vietnamese spy in the South Vietnamese army (Australian Hoa Xuande) who continues as a mole after fleeing to American with his commanding officer. It’s a story of contradictory identities and allegiances, directed by South Korean provocateur Park Chan-wook (Oldboy). Watch out for a post-Oppenheimer Robert Downey Jr, who plays multiple roles and reportedly improvised widely. Binge, TBA

Returning shows in 2024: (from left) Quinta Brunson in Abbott Elementary; Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm; Kitty Flanagan in Fisk; and Sam Reid in Interview with a Vampire.

PLUS, NEW SEASONS OF...

Abbott Elementary (Disney+), Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (AMC+), The Big Door Prize (Apple TV+), The Boys (Amazon Prime), Bridgerton (Netflix), Curb Your Enthusiasm (Binge), The Diplomat (Netflix), Fisk (ABC), Girls5eva (Netflix), House of the Dragon (Binge), The Lord of the Rings: The Ring of Power (Amazon Prime Video), My Brilliant Friend (Binge), The Night Agent (Netflix), Squid Game (Netflix).

Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.

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