Plunkett on TV: Autumn preview

Try as we might to convince ourselves that it’s still shorts weather - ah, the joy of working from home - all indications are that it is now, without doubt, autumn.

And if you’re still convinced, look no further than the advent calendars now being stacked up at a supermarket checkout aisle near you.

Which means it must be time once again to round up some of the best new and returning series commercial TV has to offer. It’s what the nights drawing in were made for.

Three Little Birds - ITV (October)

Written by Sir Lenny Henry and inspired by his mother’s stories of Windrush generation life, Three Little Birds follows the stories of a trio of women who leave Jamaica for a new life in Dudley.

Played by rising stars Rochelle Neil, Yazmin Belo and Saffron Coomber, the trio must overcome racism, sexism and poverty when they arrive but they are determined to succeed and build a new life in 1950s Britain.

Executive produced by Russell T Davies, Three Little Birds is funny and moving, a deeply personal and heartfelt celebration of immigration and community.

The Lazarus Project - Sky Max (autumn)

The mind-bending, time-hopping sci-fi series is back for one of the most eagerly awaited returns of the year.

From BAFTA nominated creator Joe Barton (Giri/Haji), Paapa Essiedu stars as an agent of a top secret organisation able to travel through time to save the world from extinction.

They now find themselves stuck in a loop where the world ends every three weeks, and unless they find a solution it will implode for the final time from which there will be no coming back.

The Couple Next Door - Channel 4 (autumn)

A dark psychological thriller, The Couple Next Door stars Sam Heughan (Outlander) and Poldark’s Eleanor Tomlinson as neighbours who are married to other people but inexorably attracted to one another.

Heughan is an alpha male traffic cop married to a beautiful yoga instructor (Jessica De Gouw), whose lives will never be the same again after the arrival next door in their upscale neighbourhood of Tomlinson and her husband (Alfred Enoch).

Based on Dutch series New Neighbours, this taut six-part drama ‘explores the stultifying claustrophobia of suburbia and the fallout of chasing your darkest desires’.

Big Zuu’s Big Eats - Dave (October)

Big Zuu is back with a fourth series of the Bafta-winning show that promises to be bigger and better than ever.

The larger than life chef and grime artist returns with his best mates Tubsey and Hyder, cooking up a storm for guest celebrities including Jonathan Ross, Alex Scott, Roisin Conaty and Manchester rapper Aitch.

Bringing flavours from all over the world to a national audience, when they welcome sporting legend Sir Mo Farah they deliver their most epic cook yet.

Good Ship Murder - Channel 5 (October)

Shayne Ward stars in this new Channel 5 drama as a former detective who starts a new life as a cruise ship cabaret singer only for a wave of on-board murders to plunge him straight back into his old one.

Reuniting with his former Coronation Street co-star Catherine Tyldesley as the Mediterranean cruise ship’s first officer, the pair join forces to solve the murders against the backdrop of a different stunning coastal destination each week.

A combination of cabaret and crime, high jinks and high seas, Good Ship Murder promises to be unlike anything you’ve seen before.

Archie - ITV (October)

Jason Isaacs stars as Cary Grant in ITV’s four-part telling of the extraordinary life of the world’s definitive leading man.

Written and executive produced by multi-award winning Jeff Pope, Archie will trace how Archibald Leach, born into poverty in Bristol, became a Hollywood legend.

Co-starring Laura Aikman, Harriet Walter and Kara Tointon, the drama has been made with the blessing of Grant’s daughter, Jennifer, and ex-wife, Ryan Cannon, both of whom are executive producers on the eagerly-anticipated drama.

Smothered - Sky (autumn)

Created by Monica Heisey (Workin’ Moms, Schitt’s Creek)and made by Ash Atalla’s Roughcut TV, Smothered describes itself as a ‘not so typical romcom’.

Sammy (Danielle Vitalis) and Tom (Jon Pointing) are two strangers who meet up on a night out and hit all the right notes in a karaoke booth together. They agree to have a no-strings affair for three weeks, after which they will never speak again.

Except it turns out to be rather more complicated than that when Sammy discovers there is another woman in Tom’s life - his six-year-old daughter, Ellie.

Endurance: Race to the Pole - Channel 5 (October)

He’s travelled all over the world for Channel 5 including his acclaimed documentary series about Chernobyl.

Now Ben Fogle’s latest C5 series might be his most daring yet, an attempt on the South Pole using only the equipment available to the first Edwardian explorers.

A ‘dream project’ for the presenter, the three-part series will re-live key moments of the expeditions of Scott, Shackleton and Amundsen, stepping back in time as he immerses himself in their world.

Big Brother - ITV2 (October)

At the risk of making you feel very old indeed, it’s 23 years since Big Brother first aired on Channel 4 and five years since it was last on Channel 5.

Now the mother of all reality shows is back on ITV2 and ITVX, with a new house, a new presenting team - AJ Odudu and Will Best - and a whole new bunch of contestants.

This year’s housemates haven’t been unveiled yet, but we’re guessing a lot of them won’t have been born when ‘Nasty’ Nick Bateman was kicked out of the house all the way back in 2000. Let the fun and games begin.

Tony Robinson’s Marvellous Machines - Yesterday (November)

There’s no better guide than Sir Tony Robinson to take us on a tour of the world’s most mind-blowing machines and vehicles.

Our intrepid presenter travels the globe in a six-part celebration of modern engineering marvels, meeting the amazing engineers, scientists, and inventors who created them.

He’s given unique behind the scenes access to explore how these extraordinary inventions work, and even gets the chance to operate them himself (and return to tell the tale).

Breeders - Sky Comedy (October)

Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard are back for a fourth and final series of Sky’s darkly funny comedy drama, Breeders.

And it’s all change for its swan song run as we jump forward five years, a time shift that brings with it a whole new set of parenting problems.

Created by Chris Addison and Simon Blackwell alongside Freeman, Breeders is as honest and uncompromising a vision of parenting as you’ll see. You don’t have to have kids at home to appreciate it, but it helps.

Breathtaking - ITV (autumn)

This Covid-19 drama is told from the point of view of a frontline hospital consultant and based on the real-life experiences of doctor and author, Rachel Clarke.

Co-written and executive produced by Line of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, Breathtaking stars Joanne Froggatt as a doctor and mother of two small children who witnesses first-hand the terrifying virus take hold.

The three-part series is an unflinching personal memoir of an extraordinary public health crisis unprecedented in modern times.

Hullraisers - Channel 4 (November)

A female-led series both on and off screen, Channel 4’s Hullraisers returns with the promise of bigger, even wilder scrapes this time around.

Leah Brotherhead, Taj Atwal and Sinead Matthews return as the three working class women juggling friends, family and work with hilarious and chaotic consequences.

Written by Caroline Moran and Anne-Marie O’Connor, they’ll be stepping into ‘bright new chapters of their lives where everything will be different … (whilst they fight to keep everything exactly the same!)’

Dad’s Army: The Animations - Gold (November)

It’s Dad’s Army - but as you’ve never seen it before. Gold will bring archive audio recordings of original (and now lost) television episodes to life in this new animated series.

Featuring the voices of Arthur Lowe, John Le Mesurier, Clive Dunn and John Laurie, five early episodes of the much-loved series will be brought back to life in animated form.

It will be the first time in more than 50 years that audiences will be able to enjoy these original episodes of the perennial fan favourite.

The Toy Hospital - Channel 5 (November)

A delightful dose of nostalgia comes with every episode of this new Channel 5 series which celebrates the great toys of yesteryear and helps bring them back to life.

Any type of toy - from teddies to train sets, Barbies to bicycles - is welcome at The Toy Hospital, where a team of ‘Toy Doctors’ use their expert skills to return them to their former glory.

A tribute to the world of toys and the magical powers of restoration, the six-part series offers a glimpse into the world of these treasured possessions and the stories of their owner that go with them.

Don’t Look Down - Channel 4 (October)

The climax to Channel 4’s celebrity challenge show Don’t Look Down promises to be the most vertigo-inducing high-wire walk imaginable.

If reading this is enough to have you breaking out in a sweat, then give thanks you are not soap legend Beverley Callard, football icon David Ginola or Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, who are among those taking part in the Stand Up To Cancer special.

Paddy McGuinness is our MC for the five-part series, with the celebrities at a training camp in the Austrian Alps in preparation for the top secret final challenge.