Summary created by Smart Answers AI
In summary:
- Tech Advisor highlights BBC’s exciting 2026 lineup featuring five must-watch series including spy thrillers, period dramas, and compelling character studies.
- Notable stars Tom Hiddleston returns in The Night Manager Season 2 while Kit Harington leads A Tale of Two Cities adaptation set during the French Revolution.
- Standout offerings include Honey, a 1980s Berlin spy romance, The Other Bennet Sister retelling Pride and Prejudice from Mary’s perspective, and Richard Gadd’s new drama Half Man.
BBC series may be less likely to become instant smash hits than Netflix, HBO or Disney productions, but the network’s projects keep delivering stellar acting, compelling stories and sharp wit.
In 2026, the BBC will release a fresh batch of shows to tempt fans of various genres, from thrillers and espionage stories to period pieces and comedies. Beloved stars such as Tom Hiddleston and Kit Harrington will once again appear on the small screen, spreading their particular brand of British charm all over the world.
Here are five BBC series worth looking out for in the coming year.
Don’t forget, you can watch any of these shows on BBC iPlayer once they’ve aired. If you’re outside of the country, that’s not a problem. We’ve got a step-by-step guide to watching iPlayer from the US and other countries.
The Night Manager (Season 2)
Releases: 1 January 2026
In 2016, Tom Hiddleston was at the top of his game. After playing Loki in the MCU, a vampire in Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive, and a gothic villain in Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak, it was speculated that he could become the next James Bond. He did indeed play a spy – but one from the imagination of John le Carré, not Ian Fleming.
Although The Night Manager is low-key compared to the wild adventures of 007, it has a certain Bond-like charm. While Slow Horses offers a more down-to-earth, often grotesque take on spies and spy craft, The Night Manager features bold crimes, big money, beautiful women, and glamorous locations.
Despite the appreciation from viewers and critics alike, it took 10 years for the series to return for season 2. Le Carré, who died in 2020, didn’t write a sequel to his book, so the new episodes are based entirely on the work of screenwriter David Farr. This time, Hiddleston’s Jonathan Pine, now living as Matthew Ellis, sets off to Colombia to take down the successor to Richard Roper’s arms-dealing empire.
Where to watch
UK: BBC iPlayer / BBC One
US: Amazon Prime Video
A Tale of Two Cities
Releases: 2026
If you’re wondering what Kit Harrington has been up to these days (apart from hanging around as an entitled aristocrat/tech bro in the brilliant Industry, which is also returning to the BBC this January), here’s the answer: he’s about to do a far, far better thing than he has ever done.
BBC
Set over 20 years, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens explores the brutal realities of 18th-century London and Paris, covering the outbreak of the French Revolution. In the BBC series based on the novel, Harrington stars as Sydney Carton, a hard-drinking, cynical lawyer caught in a love triangle with the beautiful Lucie Manette and reformed aristocrat Charles Darnay.
It’s been some time since the last adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, so I hope for a brave vision that delivers dazzling acting, moving drama and gorgeous costumes. Plus, of course, class conflict, rebellion and everything related to the French Revolution – one of the most fascinating periods in European history, but relatively rarely explored by cinema and television.
Where to watch
UK: BBC iPlayer / BBC One
US: MGM+
Honey
Releases: 2026
If, like me, you think that the best spy stories are slow burners, resembling a chess match rather than an MMA fight, Honey may be your cup of tea.
BBC
The series takes you to East Berlin in the early 1980s, where the MI6 agent Marta is undercover. The young spy, surrounded by enemies, finds herself caught in a love triangle with the cunning Friedrich Bauman, the new Head of Counter Espionage for the Stasi, and the arrogant CIA agent, Aaron Neeland.
The mind behind the series is Emma Moran, creator of Extraordinary, a wild comedic series with an unusual take on the superhero genre. So, in Honey, you should expect to find not only a violent espionage story, but also crazy plot twists, rude humour and – according to Moran – a steamy love story.
Where to watch
UK: BBC iPlayer / BBC One
US: TBC
Half Man
Releases: 2026
In 2024, Baby Reindeer was a smash, unexpected hit on Netflix, exploring themes of stalking and sexual violence towards men. Two years later, Richard Gadd, the creator of Baby Reindeer, returns with a new series in which he stars alongside Jamie Bell.
BBC
Set in Glasgow, the show follows two brothers, Ruben (Gadd) and Niall (Bell), who reunite after many years at the latter’s wedding. The meeting and the subsequent eruption of violence serve as the starting point for telling the brothers’ story, dating back to the 1980s.
Besides the acting duel between Gadd and Bell, the series promises an emotional rollercoaster and an insightful portrait of a changing Glasgow over the course of 40 years.
Where to watch
UK: BBC iPlayer / BBC One
US: HBO Max
The Other Bennet Sister
Releases: 2026
There can never be enough adaptations of Jane Austen’s classics. In 2026, not only is Netflix releasing a new Pride and Prejudice series, but the BBC is also launching a retelling of the beloved story.
BBC
The Other Bennet Sister is an adaptation of Janice Hadlow’s novel, which focuses on Mary, the most serious and least likeable of the Bennet sisters. Being the ugly duckling and a bookworm with no prospects of marriage, in Austen’s novel, she’s nothing more than an awkward spinster. However, Hadlow, and thus the BBC, go beyond the book material.
The upcoming series will tell the story of Pride and Prejudice from Mary’s perspective. What’s more, The Other Bennet Sister gives Mary a chance for a better life. After Lizzie and Darcy’s wedding, she decides to follow her own path, leaving her hometown to work as a governess in the Gardiner household.
Where to watch
UK: BBC iPlayer / BBC One
US: BritBox
