The January 2020 Watchlist: 29 highlights and UK TV air dates for this month
David Farnor | On 01, Jan 2020
Netflix. Amazon Prime Video. BBC iPlayer. NOW. Walter Presents. Apple TV+. There’s so much TV to watch these days in so many places that it can be hard to keep up. Every month, we boil down what’s on the box to the essentials you need in your streaming queue.
2020 is getting off to a busy start, so before you start making new year’s resolutions, plan your gym trips around what’s going to have you racing to the sofa. That could be the new season of Doctor Who or the returns of Titans, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina or Sex Education. Or it could be the arrival of Dracula, David Tennant’s new Channel 4 drama, Armando Iannucci’s new space comedy, HBO’s The New Pope, or a certain Jean-Luc Picard back on Star Trek duties.
We’ve sorted through All The TV to bring you your January watchlist – what’s worth watching, why and where you can find it online in the UK:
Doctor Who: Season 12
Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor is back in the TARDIS along with Tosin Cole (Ryan) Mandip Gill (Yaz) and Bradley Walsh (Graham), as they prepare to take on one of the Time Lord’s oldest enemies – and welcome a host of guest stars, including Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, Robert Glenister, Goran Visnjic and Sacha Dhawan. Episodes air weekly on Sundays after the New Year’s Day premiere.
Doctor Who S12 UK air date:
When? 1st January (7pm)
What channel? BBC One
Watch online in the UK:
BBC iPlayer
Available weekly live and on-demand
Dracula
Claes Bang dons the cape of Bram Stoker’s iconic Count in BBC One’s new three-part adaptation. Written by Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, the series follows Dracula from his origins in Eastern Europe to his battles with Van Helsing’s descendent and beyond. Bang is joined on screen by John Heffernan, Joanna Scanlan, Dolly Wells, Sacha Dhawan, Jonathan Aris, Morfydd Clark and Nathan Stewart-Jarrett.
Dracula UK air date:
When? 1st January (9pm)
What channel? BBC One
Watch online in the UK:
BBC iPlayer
Available nightly live and on-demand
Messiah
Netflix’s ambitious 10-part drama follows the modern world’s reaction to a man who appears in the Middle East claiming to be the Messiah, explores the lines between religion, faith and politics. Michelle Monaghan stars as CIA officer Eva Geller, who uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption. She begins an investigation into his origins, but as he continues to cultivate followers who allege he’s performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure, and Geller must race to unravel the mystery of whether he really is a divine entity or a deceptive con artist capable of dismantling the world’s geopolitical order.
Messiah air date:
When? 1st January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Spinning Out
After a devastating fall threatens her competitive skating career, Kat Baker (Kaya Scodelario) seizes an opportunity to pursue her Olympic dreams, but at the risk of losing everything. Spinning Out follows Kat as she battles her personal demons and faces drama both on and off the ice.
Spinning Out air date:
When? 1st January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Doom Patrol
Doom Patrol reimagines one of DC’s most beloved group of Super Heroes: Robotman aka Cliff Steele (Brendan Fraser – Crash, The Mummy, Gods and Monsters), Negative Man aka Larry Trainor (Matt Bomer – White Collar, American Horror Story), Elasti-Woman aka Rita Farr (April Bowlby – Two and a Half Men, How I Met Your Mother) and Crazy Jane (Diane Guerrero – Orange is the New Black), led by modern-day mad scientist Niles Caulder aka The Chief (Timothy Dalton – The Living Daylights, License to Kill). Each member of the Doom Patrol suffered a horrible accident that gave them superhuman abilities, but also left them scarred and disfigured.
Doom Patrol air date:
When? 2nd January (00.01am)
What channel? STARZPLAY
Watch online in the UK:
STARZPLAY UK (£4.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
James May: Our Man in Japan
James May will embark on a journey across Japan for this new documentary, from its icy north to its balmy south. He’ll see the sights, meet the locals, and eat the noodles in a bid to truly understand the Land of the Rising Sun.
James May: Our Man in Japan UK air date:
When? 3rd January (12am)
What channel? Amazon Prime Video
Watch online in the UK:
Amazon Prime Video (£5.99 a month)
Available at once on-demand
The Adulterer: Season 2
Walter Presents’ most popular show of 2019 returns to continue the tale of Iris and Willem, who cross paths and cannot deny the intense chemistry between them – chemistry that will soon see their lives become more entangled than they could possibly imagine.
While married to a top prosecutor, with whom she has a young son, photographer Iris van Erkel-Hoegaarde meets Willem Steenhouwer at her exhibition launch. Immediately struck by overwhelming attraction for each other, the pair soon succumb to their feelings and embark on a passionate affair. Around the same time Willem, a respected defence lawyer, is called up to represent a man accused of murder. Unbeknownst to him, the case has also been assigned to prosecutor, and loving husband of Iris, Pepijn van Erkel. Lust, betrayal, murder… prepare to be hooked.
The Adulterer S2 UK air date:
When? 6th January (10pm)
What channel? Walter Presents (All 4)
Watch online in the UK:
All 4
All episodes available on-demand
Better Things: Season 3
Created, written by and starring two-time Emmy nominee Pamela Adlon, Better Things – the comedy that Time Magazine named the best show of 2017 – centers on Sam Fox played by Adlon, a single, working actor with no filter raising her three daughters. She’s a mum, dad, referee and the cops. Sam also watches out for her mother, Phil (Celia Imrie), an English expatriate who lives across the street. Sam is flawed, fierce and just trying to earn a living, navigate her daughters’ lives, have fun with a friend or two and also – just maybe – squeeze in some private time once in a while. She returns for a third season, released as a box set on BBC iPlayer while airing weekly on BBC Two.
Better Things S3 UK air date:
When? 7th January (10pm)
What channel? BBC Two
Watch online in the UK:
BBC iPlayer
Available all at once on-demand
Marvel’s Runaways: Season 3
Every teenager thinks their parents are evil. But what if they really were? When six L.A. teens stumble onto a terrible secret, they realise their parents have been lying to them all their lives. The third and final season picks up with our gang as the remaining Runaways must pull off a daring plan to free their friends…
Runaways S3 UK air date:
When? 8th January (9pm)
What channel? SyFy UK
Watch online in the UK:
Sky / NOW (£8.99 a month – an Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled))
Available weekly live and on-demand
Treadstone
From the producers of the Bourne franchise, Treadstone explores the origin story and present-day actions of Operation Treadstone, the infamous, covert CIA Black Ops programme that uses behaviour modification to turn recruits into nearly superhuman assassins. Season 1 follows sleeper agents across the globe as they’re mysteriously “awakened” to resume their deadly missions.
Treadstone UK air date:
When? 10th January (00.01am)
What channel? Amazon Prime
Watch online in the UK:
Amazon Prime Video (£5.99 a month)
Available at once on-demand
Deadwater Fell
Channel 4’s four-part drama stars David Tennant, Cush Jumbo, Anna Madeley and Matthew McNulty and is set in the fictional town of Kirkdarroch. When a seemingly perfect and happy family is murdered by someone they know and trust, the small Scottish community they call home becomes riven with mistrust and suspicion as those closest to the family begin to question everything they thought they knew about their friends…
Created by Daisy Coulam (Grantchester), Deadwater Fell examines in unflinching detail the nature of female friendship and the harmful, entrenched gender stereotypes and conformity that can lead to the most devastating consequences.
Deadwater Fell UK air date:
When? 10th January (9pm)
What channel? Channel 4
Watch online in the UK:
All 4
Available weekly live and on-demand
The InBESTigators: Season 2
Solving mysteries after finishing up their homework. The sharpest young sleuths around return as the charming Australian mockumentary is back for a second season.
The InBESTigators S2 air date:
When? 10th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Titans: Season 2
DC’s gritty take on Teen Titans follows Dick Grayson (Brenton Thwaites), aka the former Robin, who emerges from the shadows to lead a band of new heroes – including Starfire, Raven, Beast Boy and others. The series follows this group of young heroes as they come of age and find belonging.
Titans S2 air date:
When? 10th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Zumbo’s Just Desserts: Season 2
Australian pastry chef Adriano Zumbo fronts this cooking contest, which sees 12 amateur bakers attempting to recreate his most extravagant desserts in this colourful culinary series back for second helpings.
Zumbo’s Just Desserts S2 air date:
When? 10th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
AJ and the Queen
The scripted comedy series follows a drag queen on a road trip across America. RuPaul plays Ruby Red, the bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen, accompanied by AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy 11-year-old stowaway. As these two misfits – one tall, one small – travel from city to city, Ruby’s message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changing their lives for the better. Oh, and RuPaul performs a killer musical number in every drag club she finds.
AJ and the Queen air date:
When? 10th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
The New Pope
The follow-up to 2017’s The Young Pope fromOscar winning filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, The New Pope, dives into the inner workings of the Vatican, while exploring the very human desires, vices and fragilities of those in power and the complexities inherent in faith today. The series picks up where The Young Pope left off, with Jude Law’s Lenny Belardo, known as Pope Pius XIII, in a coma. Following an unpredictable and mysterious turn of events, Secretary of State Voiello (Silvio Orlando) succeeds in having Sir John Brannox (John Malkovich), a charming and sophisticated moderate English aristocrat, placed on the papal throne, adopting the name John Paul III. The new pope seems ideal, but he conceals secrets and has a certain fragility.
The New Pope UK air date:
When? 12th January (9pm)
What channel? Sky Atlantic
Watch online in the UK:
Sky / NOW (£8.99 a month – an Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled))
Available weekly live and on-demand
The Outsider
Based on Stephen King’s bestselling novel of the same name, The Outsider is a new drama series that explores the investigation into the gruesome murder of a local boy and the mysterious force surrounding the case.
The Outsider UK air date:
When? 13th January (9pm)
What channel? Sky Atlantic
Watch online in the UK:
Sky / NOW (£8.99 a month – an Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled))
Available weekly live and on-demand
Cold Feet: Season 9
The gang are back together as ITV’s charming ensemble drama about ageing adults returns once more.
Cold Feet S9 UK air date:
When? 13th January (9pm)
What channel? ITV
Watch online in the UK:
ITV Hub
Available weekly live and on-demand
Grace and Frankie: Season 6
Netflix’s comedy stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as the eponymous two friends, whose lives are turned upside down when they husbands (Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston) reveal they are gay and leave their spouses for each other. First premiering in 2015, it has gone on to become one of Netflix’s most successful comedy series.
Created by Friends’ Marta Kauffman and Howard J. Morris, the programme has managed to stand out from the crowd with its focus on older characters. As we join them once more in Season 6, we pick up during the aftermath of Grace getting married again – this time, to Nick (Peter Gallagher). With Frankie fearing the changes in their routines, the duo are also trying to corner the toilet start-up market.
Grace and Frankie S6 air date:
When? 15th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Good Omens
Amazon Prime Video’s series, based on the beloved book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, sees the armies of Heaven and Hell amassing and The Four Horsemen are ready to ride. And so Aziraphale, an angel, and Crowley, a demon, agree to join forces to find the missing Anti-Christ and to stop the war that will end everything. David Tennant and Michael Sheen star as the duo on a quest to save the world, which they’ve become rather fond of. Hilarious and warm-hearted, it follows its box set release on Amazon Prime with a weekly airing on BBC Two.
Good Omens UK air date:
When? 15th January (9pm)
What channel? BBC Two
Watch online in the UK:
BBC iPlayer
Available weekly live and on-demand
Little America
Eight stories. One dream. Inspired by the true stories featured in Epic Magazine, Apple TV+’s series goes beyond the headlines to bring to life the funny, romantic, heartfelt and surprising stories of immigrants in America. The first season consists of eight half-hour episodes, each with its own unique story from different parts of the world.
Little America is written and executive produced by Lee Eisenberg (The Office, Good Boys), who serves as showrunner, and executive produced by Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley), Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick), Alan Yang (Master of None, Parks and Recreation), Sian Heder (Tallulah, Orange Is the New Black), Joshuah Bearman (Argo), Joshua Davis (Spare Parts) and Arthur Spector (The Shack). Heder also serves as co-showrunner alongside Eisenberg.
Little America UK air date:
When? 17th January (00.01am)
What channel? Apple TV+
Watch online in the UK:
Apple TV+ (£4.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
COBRA
Set in the heart of government during a time of national crisis, this high-stakes British drama stars Robert Carlyle as Prime Minister, Robert Sutherland, and Victoria Hamilton as his Chief of Staff, Anna Marshall. Under the name COBRA, a team comprised of Britain’s leading experts, crisis contingency planners and the most senior politicians must now assemble to help bring society back from the brink of collapse, as they deal with an unfolding national emergency after catastrophic events literally throw the nation into darkness. All episodes available as a box set alongside Episode 1.
COBRA UK air date:
When? 17th January (9pm)
What channel? Sky One
Watch online in the UK:
Sky / NOW (£8.99 a month – an Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled))
Available weekly live and on-demand
Sex Education: Season 2
Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy, which stars Gillian Anderson and Asa Butterfield, follows Otis Milburn, a socially awkward high school student who lives with his sex therapist mother, Jean. In Season 1, Otis and his friend Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) set up a sex clinic at school to capitalise on his intuitive talent for sex advice. In Season 2, as a late bloomer, Otis must master his newly discovered urges in order to progress with his girlfriend, while also dealing with his now-strained relationship with Maeve.
Sex Education S2 air date:
When? 17th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 14
Your favourite five selfish underachievers return for the 14th run of FX’s worryingly entertaining comedy.
Always Sunny S14 air date:
When? 19th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Avenue 5
Created by Armando Iannucci, Avenue 5 is a space tourism comedy set 40 years in the future when the solar system is everyone’s oyster.
Avenue UK air date:
When? 22nd January (9pm)
What channel? Sky One
Watch online in the UK:
Sky / NOW (£8.99 a month – an Entertainment Membership auto-renews at £8.99 a month until 1st September 2020, £9.99 thereafter unless cancelled))
Available weekly live and on-demand
The Dead Lands
A supernatural adventure set in a mythic Māori past, with an aesthetic that’s part Ash vs Evil Dead and part Xena: Warrior Princess. The Dead Lands features a murdered Māori warrior, Waka Nuku Rau (Te Kohe Tuhaka), who’s sent back to the world of the living to redeem his sins. But the world Waka returns to is ravaged by a breach between Life and the Afterlife as the spirits of the newly dead now stalk the
The Dead Lands UK air date:
When? 23rd January (00.01am)
What channel? Shudder UK
Watch online in the UK:
Shudder UK (£4.99 a month)
Available weekly on-demand
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Season 3
The dark incarnation of the teenage witch, pitched somewhere between Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, with a hint of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, returns to continue reimagining Sabrina’s coming-of-age story, as the 16-year-old wrestles to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit. Season 3 sees a mysterious carnival roll into town, bringing with it a threat to the Spellmans and the coven: a tribe of pagans looking to resurrect an ancient evil. And, with no one on the throne, Sabrina must defend it against a challenger, the handsome Prince of Hell Caliban.
CAOS S3 air date:
When? 24th January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand
Star Trek: Picard
Star Trek: Picard features Sir Patrick Stewart reprising his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard, which he played for seven seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The new series will follow this iconic character into the next chapter of his life. Alongside Stewart, Star Trek: Picard will also star Isa Briones, Santiago Cabrera, Michelle Hurd, Alison Pill, Harry Treadaway and Evan Evagora.
Star Trek: Picard air date:
When? 24th January (00.01am)
What channel? Amazon Prime
Watch online in the UK:
Amazon Prime (£5.99 a month)
Available weekly on-demand
Ragnarok
From the creator of Borgen, Adam Price, the coming-of-age drama builds on and contributes to a new and surprising angle on Norse mythology. The series is set in the small, fictitious town of Edda, situated in the grand, breathtaking Norwegian nature. The story revolves around its inhabitants, who are perhaps not all who they claim to be. With them, we experience a drastically changing world: melting poles, warm winters, violent downpours. Some might say we’re headed for yet another Ragnarok. Unless someone intervenes in time…
Ragnarok air date:
When? 31st January (8.01am)
What channel? Netflix UK
Watch online in the UK:
Netflix UK (£8.99 a month)
Available all at once on-demand