DQ100 2025/26 – Part two

DQ100 2025/26 – Part two


By DQ
June 25, 2025

DQ100

In the second 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

Julie Gayet
French actor Gayet will star in South African crime drama Boy Under Water. She plays Charlotte, an expat single mother who has begun running a floating bar with her teenage son at a luxury resort town in the country’s North West province. However, their search for a fresh start is upended when the bound and battered body of a 16-year-old black boy is found on the manicured shores of the local golf estate. Co-created by Chanél Muller and Nico Scheepers, Boy Under Water is produced by Nagvlug Films and Federation MEAC. MultiChoice has snapped up the African rights to the series, which was selected for the Drama Series Pitch competition at C21’s Content London 2023.

Izuka Hoyle
British actor Hoyle is a familiar face from roles in shows including Big Boys, Ludwig (pictured), The Responder and The Outpost, as well as 2021 feature film Boiling Point and its 2023 BBC series sequel. She will now take the lead alongside Tahar Rahim (The Serpent) in Prisoner, a high-stakes action series commissioned by Sky that follows Amber Todd (Hoyle), a principled young prison officer escorting dangerous, high-value prisoner Tibor Stone (Rahim) to court to testify against his elite crime syndicate. When the transport convoy is ambushed, they are forced to go on the run and must work together if they hope to reach their destination alive and on time. Created by Matt Charman and directed by Otto Bathurst, it is produced by Binocular in association with Sky Studios for Sky in the UK and Ireland. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution is handling international sales.

Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton
The trio of newcomers are set to be thrust into the spotlight after being cast in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series. McLaughlin will play Harry, with Stout as Ron Weasley and Stanton as Hermione Granger, following an exhaustive search involving tens of thousands of children led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockman. Following in the footsteps of the hit film franchise, the small-screen series is described as a faithful adaptation of JK Rowling’s wizard novels that will stream on HBO Max where available. The show is being written by Francesca Gardiner, with multiple episodes directed by Mark Mylod. Other cast members include John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall) and Paapa Essiedu (Severus Snape).

Fotini Peluso
Italian rising star Peluso (Everything Calls for Salvation, Greek Salad) heads the cast of The Great Chimera, an adaptation of Greek author M Karagatsis’s epic novel of the same name. In the six-hour drama, she plays Marina who, fascinated by classical Greek culture, falls in love with Greek ship owner Yannis (Andreas Konstantinou) and quickly joins him to start a new life on the idyllic island of Syros. But caught between cultures and social expectations, Marina struggles to balance her passion and desires and soon gives in to her love for her husband’s brother Minas (Dimitris Kitsos), and finds herself trapped in her very own Greek tragedy. With filming taking place in Athens, Syros and Trieste, the series comes from Foss Productions and distributor Beta Film. ERT will broadcast the show in Greece.

Gustaf Skarsgård
Swedish star Skarsgård is following in the footsteps of Krister Henriksson and Kenneth Branagh by taking the lead in a new iteration of iconic detective series Wallander. Henning Mankell’s literary character has been reimagined for a new era by Jarowskij/Yellow Bird, TV4 and Banijay Rights, with the first season comprising three 90-minute films based on the novels One Step Behind, Sidetracked and Faceless Killers. The series finds life unravelling for the 42-year-old Kurt Wallander. Newly separated after two decades of marriage and estranged from his daughter, he’s a man on the edge. Wallander drinks too much, sleeps too little and carries the weight of every unsolved case. He is pushed to the limits as he confronts high-stakes cases, with this new adaptation promising to go under the skin of this intriguing character, with a raw portrayal of a modern man navigating personal collapse while attempting to uphold his detective work.

DIRECTORS

Malin-Sarah Gozin
Screenwriter Gozin, whose Flemish series Clan inspired Sharon Horgan’s Bad Sisters, took on her first directorial role in her latest drama, Dood Spor (Dead End). A blend of crime, comedy, drama and psychology, Dead End introduces Ed, a man with a unique skill: he can ‘see’ the last moments of anything he puts in his mouth by tasting or eating it. Both gift and burden, he uses this quality to run a business, The Aftertaste, offering grief-stricken people an insight into the final moments of their dead loved ones. But when his next client is a homicide detective struggling to solve a series of mysterious killings, Ed faces a moral dilemma: if his gift works on a toothbrush or a sausage, would it work on a body too? Caviar and Lompvis produce for Streamz and Play4. Federation Studios is the distributor.

Caleb Azumah Nelson
Nelson is the lead writer and director on a BBC adaptation of his own debut novel, Open Water. The eight-part series, produced by Mam Tor Productions and B-Side Productions, introduces aspiring photographer Marcus and dance student Effie. From the moment they meet, they feel an immediate, undeniable connection. However, as Marcus soon learns, Effie is in a relationship with Marcus’s friend Samuel. It’s a boundary that Marcus is unwilling to cross. But when a shared project draws them into each other’s orbit, can their burgeoning friendship resist the pull of desire? Banijay Rights will handle distribution.

Molly Manning Walker
The How to Have Sex director is following up her debut feature film – which won the Un Certain Regard award at the Cannes Film Festival – with Channel 4 drama Major Players, which she has co-written with Yasmin Joseph (A Thousand Blows). Inspired by Walker’s experiences at high school, where the crowd control was more urgent than the education, it follows two girls on the brink of adulthood and their mission to start a women’s football team. Produced by A24, the show is described as a love letter to football and a funny and wild exploration of young people in London today, tackling topics from friendship to gender politics.

Alberto Rodríguez
The director of Spanish historical drama La peste (The Plague) is partnering with La Casa de Papel (Money Heist) star Álvaro Morte for The Anatomy of a Moment, a four-parter based on Javier Cercas’s novel about the 23-F coup d’etat attempt in Spain in 1981. When Civil Guard Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero entered the Congress building with a pistol in his hand, only three men – Adolfo Suárez, Santiago Carrillo and Gutiérrez Mellado – remained seated, while the rest ducked for cover. Through this trio who led the transition to democracy and the three main leaders of the coup d’état, Tejero, Milans and Armada, the series recounts the chain of events and tensions that led Spain to the brink of a return to the previous military regime. With filming taking place in Madrid, it is produced by DLO Producciones for Movistar Plus+ and Arte France, with Movistar Plus+ International handling distribution. Rodríguez also recently directed Movistar Plus+ film Los Tigres, a character thriller about two siblings set in the world of industrial diving.

Storm Saulter
Jamaican filmmaker and photographer Saulter (Sprinter, Better Mus’ Come) is helming five-part Sky drama Inheritance, a thriller set between Bristol in the UK and Jamaica. It stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Claudia, an ambitious young biracial lawyer who embarks on a journey to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim filed by an unknown local resident, Cudjoe East (Sheldon Shepherd), against Oliver Connaught (Jonny Lee-Miller), a wealthy white aristocrat. Her quest takes an unexpected turn when the contested estate reveals the ominous house that has haunted her nightmares: the Connaught family’s Jamaican plantation, Hope Hill. As Claudia and Oliver investigate, they uncover a chilling connection between historical horrors and present-day injustices. Written by actor Karla Crome, Inheritance is produced by Snowed-In in association with Sky Studios for Sky in the UK and Ireland, with NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution handling international sales.

WRITERS

Constance Cheng
Cheng’s credits include The Great and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. She’s now writing and showrunning Red Butterfly, an “explosive and stylish” eight-part crime drama that follows the rise of an all-female gang run by two sisters in 1950s Singapore, a city of crime dubbed the glamorous but lawless “Wild West” of Asia. It will be filmed in English and Chinese languages, and shot on location in Singapore and Malaysia. The series is produced by StudioCanal in partnership with Beach House Pictures and MOMO Film.

Mackenzie Crook
On screen, Crook is perhaps best known for playing Gareth Keenan in Ricky Gervais’s seminal mockumentary The Office. He’s also the writer and director behind Detectorists and Worzel Gummidge, and is taking on both roles once again for BBC comedy Small Prophets. Produced by Treasure Trove Productions and Blue House Productions, with Sphere Abacus distributing, the six-part series is the comic tale of eccentric Michael Sleep (Pearce Quigley) who, since his darling Clea disappeared seven years ago, has lived a very ordinary life. He eats Shreddies, works in a DIY store, visits dad Brian (Michael Palin) and hopes for Clea to return – until Brian shares an old recipe involving rainwater, horse manure and more than a little alchemy. With recipe in hand, Michael sets out (albeit with some scepticism) to create Homunculi – magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future – in the hope they can tell him if he’ll ever see Clea again. Filmed and set in Manchester, the series will also include elements of animation.

Sophie Goodhart
A writer on Rivals, Sex Education, Boat Story and The Baby, Goodhart writes all six half-hour episodes of her first original series, Alice & Steve, which has been commissioned by Disney+ in the UK. With Nicola Walker and Jermaine Clement in the title roles, it follows the fallout between the titular best friends when middle-aged Steve begins a relationship with Alice’s 26-year-old daughter Izzy. Although both are no strangers to chaos and dubious decision-making, their once rock-solid friendship is turned upside down and tested to its limits – threatening their families, futures and everything in between. The ‘anti-romcom’ is produced by Clerkenwell Films (Baby Reindeer), with Tom Kingsley (Stath Lets Flats) directing.

Dennis Kelly
The Pulling, Utopia and Matilda: The Musical writer is behind BBC drama Waiting for the Out (working title), an original six-part series based on Andy West’s memoir The Life Inside. Produced by Sister and distributed by BBC Studios, it stars The Responder’s Josh Finan as Dan, a philosopher who begins teaching a class of men in prison. Each week, Dan leads discussions about dominance, freedom, luck and other topics that have troubled philosophers for thousands of years – topics that gain a new meaning when seen through the prisoners’ eyes – both igniting passions and creating tension, and leading Dan to explore his own past with his violent father. Levi David Addai (Damilola, Our Loved Boy) and Ric Renton (One Off) are also on the writing team, with Jeanette Nordahl (The Responder) and Ben Palmer (Douglas is Cancelled) directing.

Karianne Lund
Okkupert (Occupied) creator Lund is the writer behind upcoming Norwegian medical series Still Breathing. A “raw and gripping” portrayal of young doctors navigating a system pushed to the brink in one of the world’s wealthiest nations, it centres on four young interns – Petra, Joakim, Ashan and Kissy – as they are thrown into the world of emergency medicine. Idealistic and ambitious, they quickly face the harsh realities of long shifts, impossible choices and life-or-death decisions. Based on an idea by Lund and Nicolai Moland, and directed by Eirik Svensson, the eight-part drama is produced by Rubicon and distributed by DR Sales. Season one is due to air on NRK in May 2026, and the series will also be available on ZDF (Germany), NPO (the Netherlands), VRT (Belgium), SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland) and RÚV (Iceland) under the New8 coproduction partnership. Season two has already been confirmed.

SERIES

Amsterdam Empire
Famke Janssen stars in this extravagant Netflix crime drama full of the glamour and grime at the heart of the Amsterdam cannabis scene. When his affair with a well-known journalist comes to light, coffee shop empire mogul Jack van Doorn discovers that his most dangerous enemy has been living under his roof: his betrayed wife, Betty (Janssen), an ex-pop diva who knows all his weak spots and secrets and will not rest until she has taken everything from him.

Bust Up
Morgana O’Reilly and Roimata Fox pair up to lead this New Zealand series for Sky NZ and Germany’s ZDF. Produced by Lippy Pictures in coproduction with MadeFor Film and distributor ZDF Studios, the series finds former romantic partners Deb Brighton (O’Reilly) and Mihi Renata (Fox) reunited after a decade apart and forced to partner up again as cops on the beat in the fictional town of Waitote, in the north of New Zealand, when Mihi returns to her hometown. Coming home was always part of Mihi’s life plan, but working with her ex was not. Can these two ex-lovers survive 10-hour shifts together while taking on the likes of bank robbers, drug dealers and car thieves? It will air in 2026.

California Avenue
This six-part series marks the latest collaboration between writer-director Hugo Blick (pictured with Emily Blunt), his Eight Rooks production company, producer Drama Republic and BBC One, following The English, The Honourable Woman and Black Earth Rising. The story is set in a secluded canalside caravan park deep in the luscious English countryside, whose peace is irrevocably disrupted by the arrival of Lela (Erin Doherty) and her 11-year-old child, both on the run, looking for refuge in this hidden world. It is here that a fractured family will come together, ghosts and demons will firmly be put to rest and an unexpected love is forged. Bill Nighy, Helena Bonham Carter and Tom Burke also star, with Mediawan Rights and Entourage Media handling distribution.

Montmartre
Created by Julien Simonet and Brigitte Bémol, with Louis Choquette directing, this eight-part historical drama – coproduced by Aline Panel’s Authentic Prod with TF1 – is set against the pulsating and uncompromising backdrop of the iconic Parisian neighbourhood at the turn of the 19th century. It’s here that Céleste, a determined can-can dancer, sacrifices her reputation by becoming Paris’s first nude performer, in order to fund the search for her long-lost siblings Arsène and Rose, separated after their father’s murder.

We Come in Peace
Former X-Files showrunner Frank Spotnitz is making a return to sci-fi after his company Big Light Productions (Leonard, The Man in the High Castle) boarded this Scandinavian series – its first non-English-language project – produced by Black Spark Film & TV for Sweden’s TV4 and Germany’s ZDF. The grounded sci-fi series explores the chaos unleashed when a mysterious jellyfish-like object appears in the sky over Stockholm, sparking widespread panic, fear and confusion among the population. Created and written by Lars Lundström, it stars Fares Fares (Westworld) and Evin Ahmad (Snabba Cash). Newen Connect is handling distribution. The series also counts Lundström’s Snyggfin Production, Infinite Entertainment in Sweden, Dansu in Lithuania and Beside Productions in Belgium as coproducers, in association with TV2 Norway, MTV in Finland and C More in Denmark. It is set to premiere in late 2025.

TRENDS & TRAILBLAZERS

Babylon Berlin
Sold to more than 140 territories around the world, this German period drama is coming to an end with its fifth season. The director/writer trio of Henk Handlogten, Achim von Borries and Tom Tykwer all return, with Volker Bruch (Generation War) and Liv Lisa Fries (The Wave) reprising their respective roles as Gereon Rath and Charlotte Ritter. Based on Volker Kutscher’s fifth novel The March Fallen, the new season’s story will take viewers into the dreadful events of February 1933 and the Nazi party consequently taking power. S5 might never have been made at all after original commissioner Sky Deutschland pulled back from its scripted output in 2023 – but producer X-Filme Creative Pool and coproduction partners ARD Degeto, SWR, WDR, Radio Bremen and distributor Beta Film came together to ensure the acclaimed series will receive the finale it deserves.

Beth
In March, Channel 4 in the UK revealed it had commissioned its first digital original drama, which would be broadcast on YouTube as well as C4’s linear and online platforms. Beth subsequently debuted in June in three 15-minute webisodes online, while C4 also aired it as a one-off 45-minute film. Written and directed by Uzo Oleh (Edicius), the sci-fi drama introduces couple Joe (Nicholas Pinnock) and Molly (Abbey Lee), who seemingly have it all. They’re deeply in love, successful in their careers and living the high life. But one thing is missing – a child. So when Molly falls pregnant after years of false hope, it feels like a miracle. Months later, when their baby daughter Imogen is born, she’s as Caucasian as can be, with no resemblance to Joe, who is black. As Joe and Molly’s life is thrown into turmoil, Joe begins to unravel a shocking truth that rocks him, Molly and, potentially, the world to the core. It is produced by Dark Pictures.

Deaf series making noise
A pair of this year’s standout series so far put deaf characters, and actors, in the spotlight with authentically told and produced stories representing the deaf experience. Described as a bilingual series mixing spoken English with British Sign Language, BBC drama Reunion (pictured) is an emotional thriller about revenge and redemption. It follows the journey of Daniel Brennan, a deaf man determined to right his wrongs while unravelling the truth behind the events that led him to prison. Written by deaf writer William Mager and produced by Warp Films (Adolescence), it boasts a cast featuring Matthew Gurney, Lara Peake, Anne-Marie Duff, Eddie Marsan and Rose Ayling-Ellis.
The latter also starred in ITV and BritBox crime thriller Code of Silence, in which she plays Alison, a smart and determined deaf woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when her remarkable lip-reading skills catch the attention of DS Ashleigh Francis (Charlotte Ritchie) and DI James Marsh (Andrew Buchan). Recruited for a covert operation, Alison must surveil a dangerous gang planning a high-stakes heist, thrusting her into a world of crime and deception. The six-parter is produced by Mammoth Screen and distributed by ITV Studios.

Dreamers
This Channel 4 coming-of-age drama is set in a dance school, where an eclectic group of students navigate today’s complex world, brought to life via its dance choreography. But this Leeds-based series isn’t just set and filmed in the city. Behind the scenes, creator Lisa Holdsworth built the story on characters who were workshopped and inspired by true stories from Leeds with support from the Young Audiences Content Fund, which was managed by the BFI and funded by the UK government. The Duck Soup Films production also offered gave 10 Leeds-based people the opportunity to break into the broadcast industry as part of a 4Skills training initiative backed by the National Film and Television School. In particular, it was tailored to people with no previous production experience, providing training, mentoring, one-to-one sessions, career planning and the chance to work on a major production, enabling many of those who worked on the series to further develop their careers in the industry.

Soap crossover
Drama crossovers are more common in the US, where characters from franchises like the Arrowverse, NCIS and One Chicago have often stepped outside their familiar surroundings and come together for amped-up stories set over multiple episodes. Now, two British series are getting in on the act, with Coronation Street and Emmerdale joining forces for the first time in soap history for an hourlong episode set to air on ITV in January 2026. Little is known about the story that will unite the two on-screen communities, except to say an “ambitious stunt that will have everlasting consequences” will be involved, leading familiar faces to depart and new characters to arrive in both soaps. Viewers will also get to choose which two characters, one from each programme, they would like to see meet in a scene. If the experiment proves to be a success, watch out for further extensions of the ITV Soap Multiverse.

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