10 of the best TV shows of 2026 so far

From a Ryan Murphy body horror to an ingenious James Bond-themed comedy-drama and the latest Game of Thrones prequel, we pick the year's greatest programmes to stream right now.

Simon Ridgway/ HBO

1. Industry

This BBC/HBO drama has been on quite a journey since it kicked off 2020: where it began as a tight, claustrophobic drama about London graduates trying to make it in the cutthroat world of the banking industry, in its fourth series its young protagonists are now power-players, and its scope has expanded to equally incorporate the worlds of media, politics and Britain's landed gentry. The new thematic ambition is admirable, turning it into something like a state-of-the-West drama, albeit an extremely pessimistic one – but what remains most impressive is the sharpness of the writing and performances. As frenemies Harper and Yasmin, Myha'la and Marisa Abela continue to anchor the show with a chilly magnetism, while Kit Harington has never been better than as the mentally broken, failed politician-cum-entrepreneur Sir Henry Muck. It's been announced it will wrap up with one final season, which feels about right – and hopefully before it ends, it will finally get the awards attention it deserves. (Hugh Montgomery)  

Available on HBO Max in the US and BBC iPlayer in the UK 

Christopher Barr/ Netflix

2. How to Get to Heaven from Belfast

This thoroughly winning romp from Lisa McGee, the creator of Derry Girls, is a comedy and a mystery, along with a road trip across Ireland and beyond. And at heart it is another of her stories of female friendship, no matter how unlike each other those friends are. We believe the three late-thirty-something heroines have stayed close for 20 years despite their diverging paths: Robyn is a polished but harried mother of three, Saoirse is a successful TV writer clearly engaged to the wrong man, and awkward Dara is a carer for her mother and still mourning a broken romance with the woman who was her true love. The series is expansive enough to delve into their relationships, complete with tensions and irritations, while each fast-paced, cliff-hanging episode propels the increasingly outlandish and funny plot, which ramps up from finding the wrong body in a casket to spying and kidnapping, with some romantic attractions along the way. McGee's unique voice comes through in a show filled with droll, perfectly-delivered dialogue, along with wacky humour and action. (Caryn James)

Available on Netflix internationally

Philippe Antonello/ FX

3. The Beauty

While super-producer Ryan Murphy seems to become ever-more prolific, he definitely has issues with quality control: see last year’s universally slated legal drama All’s Fair as an example. But he's certainly had a strong run in 2026 so far: Love Story, telling the story of the tragically cut-short relationship of John F Kennedy Jr and Carolyn Bessette, was a real watercooler hit, although it came under fire for its looseness with the facts. But body horror The Beauty was a more unqualified success: based on a comic book, it satirises today's vanity-driven age with its story of a wonder drug that literally causes people to be reborn as a more physically attractive version of themselves – with the unfortunate side effect that they may, at some point, explode. Like recent film The Substance, with which it shares much DNA, it's not exactly subtle in its messaging, but that's hardly the point: it easily carries you through its 10 episodes with its in-your-face brio, humour and game performances from the likes of Evan Peters, Rebecca Hall, Ashton Kutcher and Isabella Rossellini. Plus, it finishes on a great cliffhanger, which suggests a second season must be on the cards. (HM) 

Available on Hulu in the US and Disney+ in the UK

Des Willie/ Amazon Prime Video

4. The Night Manager

There aren't many series so good that they can afford to wait 10 years between seasons, but this espionage drama is a thrilling exception. Tom Hiddleston once more plays Jonathan Pine, now an MI5 agent who is as tightly wound as they come, but somehow still endlessly charming. The first season used up the plot of John le Carré's novel of the same name, but writer David Farr does a first-rate job of channelling him to create a new story involving gun-running and political intrigue in Colombia and the corrupt involvement of MI5 itself. Diego Calva gives a magnetic, star-making performance as a new villain, the arms dealer Teddy Dos Santos. Steamy scenes tease an attraction between Teddy and Jonathan, the settings range from luxurious homes to the jungle, and the series even pulls off a welcome surprise concerning the fate of Hugh Laurie's character, Richard Roper, called "the worst man in the world." True to its origins, it has all the danger, tension and glamour of the best spy stories. (CJ)

Available on Prime Video internationally and BBC iPlayer in the UK

BBC/ Eleven/ Lisa Tomasetti

5. Lord of the Flies

After writer Jack Thorne had a global mega-hit with his Netflix drama Adolescence, it might seem foolhardy for him to follow it up with another piece focussed on boys behaving violently. Yet his adaptation of William Golding's celebrated parable about a group of schoolkids stranded on a desert island is a triumph. While it retains the book's period setting, it's a fresh, innovative retelling, which makes an inspired decision to present each of the four episodes from a different character's point of view, giving it an immersive quality that is intensified by the queasy, over-saturated visuals and White Lotus composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer's disturbing, discordant score. The result is both a tense thriller and a chilling inquiry into the dark side of human nature, with an expertly-cast ensemble of child actors all impressing: in particular, watch out for David McKenna, who plays the doomed Piggy, in years to come. (HM)

Coming to Netflix in the US on 4 May, and available on BBC iPlayer in the UK now

Steffan Hill/ HBO

6. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

This lively standalone series may be a prequel to Game of Thrones, taking place in author George RR Martin's familiar world, but its refreshing wit and lightness set it apart. There is no cutthroat palace intrigue because the immensely likeable hero is the impoverished Ser Duncan (Peter Claffey) – low in rank, tall in height and possibly not even a real knight given the dubious way he was made one. His clever sidekick and squire is an even more likeable character, a sardonic little boy known as Egg (the delightful Dexter Sol Ansell). There is colourful medieval-style action at a jousting tournament, but the characters are the point here. Daniel Ings is practically effervescent as the high-spirited, carousing Ser Lyonel Baratheon. A major character turns out to have links to one of the many GOT royal families, but even so, it's a treat to watch a Game of Thrones show that doesn't require doing homework on the characters' genealogy to make sense of it all. (CJ)

Available on HBO Max in the US and UK

Erin Simkin/ HBO

7. The Comeback

Lisa Kudrow's mockumentary about a sitcom actress, the irrepressible Valerie Cherish, desperate to stay relevant, has had a fascinating trajectory. Initially cancelled after just one season in 2005, before garnering a cult following, it has subsequently returned every 10 years to reflect on the state of Film, TV and popular culture in scathingly hilarious style. This third run takes on Hollywood's looming AI crisis as Valerie signs up to appear in a new multi-camera comedy written by machine, her qualms outweighed by her need to keep her career afloat. Sharply satirical, but with a more poignant and searching undertow of melancholy than ever, it's a sophisticated piece of work, but most importantly, it's still laugh-out-loud hilarious. Seeing Valerie in the first episode during rehearsals for a run in Chicago – a plot turn too perfect for words – is something from which you may struggle to recover. (HM)    

Running weekly on HBO and HBO Max in the US, and NOW, Sky Go and HBO Max in the UK 

Katrina Marcinowski/ HBO

8. Rooster

Steve Carell is a comic master at turning unlikely characters into loveable, messy heroes. And Bill Lawrence, co-creator of Ted Lasso, Shrinking and many other series, makes shows that are heartfelt and sincere without being saccharine or feeling fake. They've combined those strengths in this smart sitcom that isn't afraid to be silly. The premise is beyond improbable: Greg Russo, a writer of commercial novels, is hired to teach at a college he happened to be visiting to check in on his daughter, an art history professor going through a messy public divorce from a colleague. But Carell soars above the goofy premise. So does the ensemble cast, including Danielle Deadwyler, Phil Dunster (Jamie on Ted Lasso) and John C McGinley, who is especially funny as the college's benign, clueless, gossipy dean. The feel of the show is breezy and low-key, which is another asset. In a landscape of intense dramas and strained, unfunny sitcoms, this one is a gem. (CJ)

Available on HBO Max in the US and UK

Amazon Prime Video

9. Bait

If there's one good thing to come out of the endless, exhausting speculation game that is the hunt for the next James Bond, it's this inspired, very meta show created by and starring Riz Ahmed. It sees the British-Pakistani Oscar nominee play Shah Latif, a down-on-his-luck actor, formerly a rising star, now broke, who gets an audition to play 007. After he then deliberately gets himself papped leaving the building, he finds himself at the centre of a media circus – one that leads to attacks on all sides, from those who believe Bond should remain a white man, to Muslim peers who think he's selling out by taking on such an establishment role. What's most exciting about Bait is how determinedly it evades classification: through its six sub-half-hour episodes, it manages to at once be a penetrating industry satire about the knotty issue of "representation", a delightful family comedy, and an involving psycho-drama. And that's all topped off by some inspired splashes of surrealism: see the way it integrates pastiches of Bond action sequences, and features, of all things, a disembodied pig's head voiced by Patrick Stewart. (HM)    

Available on Prime Video in the US and UK 

Warrick Page/ HBO Max

10. The Pitt

Anchored by Noah Wyle's intense, empathetic performance as Dr Robby, this compelling medical series found an ideal formula that it carries seamlessly into season two. As it goes through a single 15-hour shift at a Pittsburgh trauma centre in real time, it captures – often in gut-wrenching detail – the life-or-death stakes and the personal stories of the doctors, nurses and other staff. But even patients who are treated briefly emerge as vivid characters rather than case studies, in line with the show's humane tone. The latest season arrived in the US before the first landed in the UK last month, but even for viewers catching up it's no spoiler to say that Robby, who has a kind of PTSD from years of treating patients who can't always be saved, is more on edge than ever. Among the strong cast, Taylor Dearden is a standout as the supersmart, neurodivergent Dr Mel King. The series has been seen as a throwback to older episodic television, but it's the up-to-the-minute portrait of stress in the medical profession that resonates. (CJ)

Available on HBO Max in the US and UK

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