Autumn 2026 TV preview: from Slow Horses to the new Harry Potter series
Streaming platforms and broadcasters are lining up a packed slate of new and returning shows for autumn 2026, spanning spy thrillers, comedies and documentaries. The Guardian has rounded up the standout titles arriving through September, October and the winter season.
Television audiences can expect a busy autumn as multiple broadcasters and streamers roll out new seasons and fresh series.
Channel 4 opens September with Joe Lycett's new show "The Lycett Arms", filmed in a real east London pub open just one hour a week. Apple TV follows with "Last Seen", an intense drama starring Patrick Brammall as a former police officer investigating the disappearance of his daughter more than a decade earlier.
Returning favourites
On 16 September, Apple TV brings back the sixth season of spy drama "Slow Horses", which opens with agents being picked off one by one. HBO Max premieres Sharon Horgan's new comedy "Youth" the same month, following a woman navigating ageing and family upheaval. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey star together in "Brothers", inspired by the actors' real-life discovery that they may share a father.
BBC One's "Strictly Come Dancing" returns in September for the first time without longtime hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly, replaced by a trio of new presenters. The same month, "The Great British Bake Off" welcomes Nigella Lawson as a new judge.
In October, Prime Video releases "Kill Jackie", a thriller starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as a former drug trafficker, alongside the divorce drama "War" from Sky/HBO with Sienna Miller and Dominic West. November brings the sci-fi series "Blade Runner 2099", starring Michelle Yeoh and Hunter Schafer, plus the continuation of "Rivals" season two on Disney+.
Winter releases
On Christmas Day, HBO Max debuts its highly anticipated "Harry Potter" series, with Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape and John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore. Also planned are several documentaries, including a BBC film about the sodium valproate pregnancy medication scandal and the natural history trilogy finale "Blue Planet III", narrated by David Attenborough.
