DQ100 2025/26 – Part four

DQ100 2025/26 – Part four


By DQ
December 3, 2025

DQ100

In the final part of the DQ100 2025/26, we pick out a range of shows to tune in for and the actors, directors and writers making them, as well as some of the trends and trailblazers worth catching up with.

ACTORS

Ioane Sa’ula
Recognisable from roles in Australian series Last King of the Cross, The Fall Guy and Bump, Sa’ula will star in new medical drama The F Ward, a six-part series commissioned by streamer Stan. He joins an ensemble cast including Anna Friel, Lola Bond, Dan Wyllie, Alex Fitzalan, Emily Barclay, Annie Boyle and Rishab Kern in the story of a group of brilliant, flawed interns whose careers are on life support. Sent to the under-funded Pines Hospital in Sydney for a final chance, they must overcome their insecurities, their past and their own expectations, in a hot-house environment where the stakes are life and death. Co-created by Dan Edwards and Kelsey Munro, it is produced by Roadshow Rough Diamond and CBS Studios Production, with Paramount Global Content Distribution shopping the series outside Australia.

Nicole Wallace
The star of Prime Video’s biggest international originals ever, Culpa Mia and Culpa Tuya, Wallace has been announced as the lead in the streamer’s upcoming English-language Italian original series Postcards from Italy. Created by Lisa Riccardi and Damiano Bruè and directed by Jessica Yu (Only Murders in the Building, The Morning Show), it centres on Mia, a young and spoiled New York heiress who is sent by her grandfather to Palermo, without money or luxuries, to work as a real-estate agent in the family business. Will an Upper West Side girl survive in Sicily without even a credit card? It’s the first project under an exclusive talent-holding deal, marking the beginning of a creative collaboration with Prime Video designed to develop and showcase the star. Under the deal, she’ll work with Amazon MGM Studios to find projects in which she can star across the global Prime Video line-up. Wallace’s breakout role came in Skam España and she previously starred in limited series Ni Una Mas (Raising Voices). She will next be seen in upcoming Prime Video original series The House of Spirits. The Chilean series, which comes from producer Eva Longoria, will air in 2026.

Jessica Reynolds
Reynolds takes the lead in a new Channel 4 adaptation of A Woman of Substance, the classic novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford, playing the younger version of protagonist Emma Harte alongside Vera star Brenda Blethyn. In 1911, Emma is an impoverished ambitious maid in Yorkshire, England, who goes on a dizzying journey to become the world’s richest woman, gazing down from a luxury New York penthouse. In this rags-to-riches tale of women through the 20th century, Emma defies societal expectations, fearlessly challenging the roles she’s given, smashing glass ceilings and never, ever deviating from her masterplan to get to the top, whatever it takes. The series is produced by The Forge Entertainment and distributed by Banijay Rights. Reynolds can also be seen in Netflix’s House of Guinness, and appeared in Outlander and Derry Girls.

Tom Sainsbury
Sainsbury takes the lead in Small Town Scandal, a Sky New Zealand adaptation of his own parody true crime podcast of the same name. The eight-part series, which is set to premiere in 2026, follows Toby (Sainsbury), a disgraced journalist turned podcast host who returns to his rural hometown to investigate the bizarre death of his millionaire uncle – killed, suspiciously, by an automatic lawnmower. As Toby dives deeper into the case, he finds himself surrounded by a cast of quirky, eccentric townsfolk, who all have secrets of their own. The cast also includes Felicity Kendal (The Good Life) as Toby’s mother Sue and Rose Matafeo (Starstruck) as his cousin Carol. BBC Studios will handle global sales.

Narges Rashidi
Gangs of London and The Allegation actor Rashidi will star opposite Joseph Fiennes in Prisoner 951, a factual drama based on the true story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen who was imprisoned and held hostage by the Iranian state for six years. Rashidi plays Nazanin, with Fiennes as her husband Richard Ratcliffe, who campaigned tirelessly for justice and her return. The series covers Nazanin and Richard’s ordeal, which captured the world’s attention, from Nazanin’s arrest at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran to her release and return to the UK six years later. The four-parter is written by Stephen Butchard, directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and produced by Dancing Ledge Productions for the BBC. Fremantle is handling international distribution.

DIRECTORS

Jacob Tierney
The latest project from the star, writer and director of Canadian comedy Letterkenny is Heated Rivalry, a six-hour drama for streamer Crave that Tierney is again writing and directing. Produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment, it is based on the novel by Rachel Reid and follows a steamy romance set in the world of ice hockey. Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) are two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial and self-discovery. The international distributor is Sphere Abacus, which has secured sales to HBO Max in the US and Australia, Movistar Plus+ in Spain and Sky in New Zealand.

Wayne Hope & Robyn Butler
Husband-and-wife performers, writers and directors Hope and Butler are the driving force behind Australian production company Gristmill, which counts Upper Middle Bogan, The Librarians, Summer Love and Little Lunch among its credits. Their latest series is Dear Life, a six-parter that explores grief, lost love and the power of human connection. Brooke Satchwell stars as Lillian, whose doctor fiancé Ash tragically loses his life after being attacked at work. Eight months later, she is still consumed by grief when she gets an anonymous letter from the man who received her partner’s heart – one of 11 beneficiaries of Ash’s decision to donate his organs. Lillian then tracks down some of the organ recipients, while she and her friends and family continue to deal with the impact of Ash’s death in different ways. Hat Trick International is distributing the series, which will stream on Stan down under.

Benedict Andrews
Andrews (Seberg, Una) has partnered with Iceland’s Truenorth to direct and showrun Fury, a drama inspired by the legendary Sturlunga saga: a brutal tale of power, politics and blood feuds set during one of the most turbulent periods in Icelandic history. Currently in development, the returnable eight-parter is pitched as Iceland’s answer to Shakespeare or Game of Thrones, as the life of the Sturlung Era of the 12th and 13th century Iceland is marked by family betrayal, shifting alliances and violent uprisings in a visceral, contemporary retelling that blends psychological drama with
epic scale.

Hans Herbots
A Belgian director known for helming international series such as The Serpent, COBRA, Riviera, No Escape and Paris Has Fallen, Herbots is now lead director on This is Not a Murder Mystery – a show as visually unique and flamboyant as the premise of this 1930s-set whodunnit. Here, several of the world’s most renowned surrealist artists, including a youn Salvador Dalí and René Magritte, find themselves trapped in a lavish mansion with a mysterious serial killer on the loose. Based on an original idea by co-director Matthias Lebeer and Christophe Dirickx, and written by Dirickx and Paul Baeten, the six-part series is produced by Panenka for Belgium’s VRT, and coproduced by RTL, Proximus and Deadpan Pictures. It is also a project selected by the New8 coalition of European public broadcasters. StudioCanal is handling international distribution.

Tinna Hrafnsdóttir
Heima er best (Descendants), Vigdís and Reykjavík 112 director Hrafnsdóttir helms all six episodes of Nordic Blue series Hildur, a drama based on the crime novels by Satu Rämö. Set between sea and mountains in the harsh and remote yet picturesque Westfjords, it stars Ebba Katrín Finnsdóttir as the titular Icelandic detective whose two sisters disappeared on their way home from school. Now 25 years later, she is drawn into an investigation of baffling crimes. Together with unlikely allies Jakob, a Finnish trainee officer seeking a fresh start, and Florian, a German recruit mistakenly assigned to the team, she soon discovers they are on the trail of a cunning serial killer. Distributed by Cineflix Rights, Hildur is produced by Take Two Studios for Nelonen Media’s Ruutu in Finland and Sagafilm for Siminn in Iceland. Hrafnsdóttir is also known in Iceland as an actor for roles in The Minister, Descendants (pictured) and The Valhalla Murders.

WRITERS

Leo Reich
Upcoming Channel 4 (UK) and Crave (Canada) comedy It Gets Worse is written and created by Reich, who also stars alongside Emily Fairn and Olive Gray. They play Abi (Fairn), Sam (Gray) and Ethan (Reich) – best friends from uni, soulmates for life and dysfunctional roommates. A year since they finally managed to move to London, they have collectively accomplished nothing, and now their landlord is selling up. They’re getting kicked out. Can they keep their friendships alive when they are dispersed across a city that seems to want them dead? Can they find a 6/10 or higher to have bad sex with? Can they get their shit together when the world is so obviously falling apart? Probably not, but they’re going to have fun trying. Produced by A24, the six-part production will air on Channel 4 in 2026.

Ursula Rani Sarma
An admirer of Abi Morgan legal drama The Split, Sarma is the creative behind its follow-up, The Split Up. Set in the charged world of high-net-worth divorces in Manchester, it centres on Kishan Law, a powerhouse British-South Asian family firm, where rising star Aria Kishan (Ritu Arya) is poised to take the mantle from her father Dhruv (Sanjeev Bhaskar). But the death of her mother has cast a new light on these plans for Dhruv, who begins to wonder if his daughter can, or should, take on this responsibility single-handedly. With new characters and storylines created by Sarma, based on Morgan’s original series, six-part The Split Up is produced by Sister in association with Little Chick for the BBC. BBC Studios is handling global sales.

Sarah Scheller
Strife and The Letdown screenwriter Scheller’s latest project is The Family Next Door, a series that explores the challenges of motherhood, marriage, friendship and the complexities of family identity. Based on the novel of the same name by Sally Hepworth, it tells the story of enigmatic Isabelle (Teresa Palmer), who moves into a small seaside cul-de-sac where her obsessive drive to solve a mystery casts suspicion on four neighbouring families. But her quest to reunite one family will have consequences for them all. With Emma Freeman directing, the cast also includes Bella Heathcote and Philippa Northeast. Sphere Abacus is the distributor of the series, which is produced by Beyond Entertainment and Muse Entertainment for ABC Australia.

Anita Vettesse
Grantchester, This Thing of Darkness and River City screenwriter Vettesse is behind Blue Mountain, an ambitious, character-driven drama that follows multiple families locked in an escalating conflict as they fight to hold on to their land, their legacy and each other, threatened by ruthless developers and long-buried secrets. Part Scottish neo-western, part epic family saga, the series is in development as a coproduction between Synchronicity Films (The Tattooist of Auschwitz) and Big Light Productions (The Man in the High Castle).

Paul Mayhew Archer
Laura Linney, Rhys Ifans, Monica Dolan and Rory Kinnear lead the starry ensemble of But When We Dance, a touching story written by Archer about two people with lots in common – a great sense of humour, a love of dance, and Parkinson’s disease. Set and filmed in North Norfolk, Ifans plays Tony Evans, the deputy head of a local primary school, while Linney is Emma Dretzin, a pianist, composer and single mother of two daughters. Neither knows the other until a startling encounter changes the course of their lives: on the same morning, they are both confronted with a diagnosis of Parkinson’s. A single drama by Archer, the co-host of Parkinson’s podcast Movers and Shakers, it is produced by Hilltop Screen for the BBC. Kaleidoscope Film Distribution is handling worldwide sales.

SERIES

Till Death Do Us Part
commissioned by TV4, This Swedish drama stars Aliette Opheim (Caliphate) and Filip Berg (Whiskey on the Rocks) as married couple Malin and Tobias, whose world is turned upside down when Tobias is suspected of murder. Convinced of his innocence, Malin takes on his defence as his lawyer. But as secrets begin to surface and long-held truths are exposed as lies, Malin is faced with a terrifying question – what if he’s guilty? The six-parter (local title Tills Döden Skiljer Oss) is directed by Julia Lindström and written by Veronica Zacco. The series is produced by Harmonica Films in coproduction with SF Studios, TV4 and Film Stockholm. Dynamic Television handles international sales of the show, which is expected to premiere in autumn 2026.

The Trio
ZDF in Germany has joined SkyShowtime on this six-part love triangle drama based on the novel by Johanna Hedman, which tells a story of love, sex, passion – a reflection on the meaning of life and the passage of time. It stars August Wittgenstein as older Hugo, who confronts his past and the two strangers he once knew very well. Felix Sandman plays August, with Seth Manteus and Rebecka Harper also starring. Directed by Anders Hazelius and written by Veronica Zacco, The Trio (local title Trion) is produced by SF Studios with SkyShowtime, SVT, Film Stockholm and Night Train Media. Eccho Rights is handling distribution.

The Future is Ours
A dystopian drama based on Philip K Dick novel The World Jones Made, this Latin American series (local title El futuro es Nuestro) is the first adaptation of the author’s work in Spanish. In 2047, an ecological collapse has led to the creation of FedSur, a coalition of South American countries that applies extreme measures to protect nature and counteract the prevailing hunger and violence. When a new voice on the internet emerges, one capable of predicting the future, police officer Hugo Crussí discovers it belongs to young preacher Jonás Flores – but his arrest causes him to become the spiritual leader of the continent and lead a reactionary revolution, while Crussí embarks on a suicidal mission to stop the tyrant, who will have foreseen the assassination attempt and will be waiting for him. From showrunner Mateo Gill, the show is directed by Vicente Amorim, Daniel Rezende and Jesús Braceras. K&S Films and Electric Shepherd Productions are the producers, while the cast includes Enzo Vogrincic, Emiliano Zurita, Delfina Chaves, Marleyda Soto and Fernán Mirás.

Those Who Lived
From director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade comes this eight-part drama that marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris terrorist attacks of November 13, 2015. Focusing on the survivors of the Bataclan concert hall, it follows a group of characters who forged a unique friendship on the night they were all taken hostage in a story that chronicles their encounter with the terrorists and the years that followed as they struggled to rebuild their lives and continue living. Boasting a cast including Benjamin Lavernhe de la Comédie-Française, Alix Poisson, Antoine Reinartz, Félix Moati, Anne Steffens, Thomas Goldberg and Cédric Eeckhout, it was created by Lestrade and Antoine Lacomblez. What’s Up Films, Mizar Films and NAC Films produce for France Télévisions, with Federation Studios handling international distribution.

Lord of the Flies
A young cast, many of them making their professional screen debuts, lead this four-part series – the first television adaptation of William Golding’s iconic novel. It tells the story of a group of young schoolchildren who find themselves stranded on a tropical island with no adults, following a deadly plane crash. In an attempt to remain civil, the boys organise themselves, led by Ralph (Winston Sawyers) and supported by the group’s intellectual, Piggy (David McKenna). But Jack (Lox Pratt), who is in charge of signal fire duty, is more interested in hunting and vying for leadership and soon begins to draw other boys away from the order of the group and, ultimately, from hope to tragedy. Truthful to the original novel and set in the 1950s, filming took place in Malaysia. Produced by Eleven for the BBC and Stan, it is distributed by Sony Pictures Television. Jack Thorne is the writer, with Marc Munden directing.

TRENDS & TRAILBLAZERS

Stranger Things
It burst onto the scene with relatively little fanfare – but over the last decade, the NetfliX show has become nothing less than a cultural phenomenon. Created by the Duffer Brothers, Matt and Ross, the supernatural, coming-of-age drama arrived as a love letter to the 1980s, Dungeons & Dragons and the films of Steven Spielberg and John Carpenter. It began with the story of a young boy’s disappearance from the fictional small town of Hawkins, Indiana, and his friends’ search for answers, leading them into a mystery involving top-secret government experiments, supernatural forces and one strange little girl. Now the gang – featuring stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Joe Keery, Maya Hawke and others – face a final reckoning in their battle with Vecna. It’s been a star-making series for the young cast and the Duffer Brothers, who will move to Paramount at the conclusion of their Netflix deal in 2026. With the fifth and final season now streaming – the series finale drops at 01.00 GMT on January 1, 2026 – the Duffers have also made good on their plans to create cinematic television, with episodes later in the series often going beyond an hour in length and the S4 finale clocking in at 142 minutes.

Lost & Found
This Japanese-Singaporean coproduction is described as the first of its kind in Asian scripted television, as it is specifically targeting Gen Z viewers. Singapore’s Empire of Arkadia and Mocha Chai Laboratories have partnered with Japanese broadcaster NHK and producer TV Man Union to create the show, an adventure drama inspired by real events. The story focuses on introverted Singaporean gamer Richie (Shawn Thia), whose world is turned upside down when his caring online Japanese gamer girlfriend Sakura disappears. He heads to Tokyo to find her, and enlists the support of new gamer friend Yuka (Anna Yamada), only to become embroiled in the city’s dark underworld where many young people are unwittingly trapped in a web of scams, trafficking and illegal employment. Shot in both Japanese and English on location in Tokyo and Singapore, and blending both real and digital settings, it is due to debut in mid-March 2026 on NHK and Mediacorp Singapore. Empire of Arkadia is handling distribution.

Play for Today
This iconic anthology ran on the BBC from 1970 to 1984, featuring more than 300 original stories and adaptations that also served as a platform for new talent in front of and behind the camera. Now, UK broadcaster 5 has launched its own drama strand inspired by the format, also called Play for Today. Debuting in November, four standalone one-hour dramas have been commissioned from two production companies. Vertigo is behind Never Too Late and A Knock at the Door, while LA Productions is making Big Winners and Special Measures. At a time when breaking into the industry is as tough as winning a commission, each production will spotlight new voices and focus on supporting low-income talent in behind-the-scenes roles such as writing, directing and production.

The Leftovers
This ambitious 24-episode trilogy is breaking boundaries in two ways for Singaporean broadcaster Mediacorp – it marks the network’s first foray into the dystopian crime genre, and is also described as its most ambitious use of virtual production to date. Set between 2017 and 2043 on the ash-shrouded island of Equaland, the story follows underground boxer Lin Zhekang (Zhang Ze Tong, pictured) as he battles a ruthless organ-trafficking syndicate to save his mother (Jesseca Liu), only to cross paths with a disgraced doctor (Li Nanxing), whose secret experiments threaten to upend what it means to be human. The series also marks the first time ‘Ah Jie’ Zoe Tay and ‘Ah Ge’ Li Nanxing will share the screen since 2015’s The Dream Makers 2, reuniting two of Singapore’s biggest stars. The first eight-part season of the series debuted in October.

Peaky Blinders
Steven Knight’s acclaimed Birmingham-set gang drama following the exploits of Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) has already run for six seasons, with spin-off film The Immortal Man in the works. It has also inspired video games and a dance production titled Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby. Now the BBC and Netflix are partnering on the next chapter in the Peaky Blinders universe, commissioning two seasons of a new television spin-off that will tell the story of the next generation of Shelbys. In 1953, after being heavily bombed in the Second World War, Birmingham is building a better future out of concrete and steel – and the race to own the city’s massive reconstruction project becomes a brutal contest of mythical dimensions. This is a city of unprecedented opportunity and danger: with the Shelby family right at its blood-soaked heart. It will be produced by Kudos and Garrison Drama.

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