Pretenders to the Thrones For the second year in a row there is a Game of Thrones-shaped chasm in the calendar: prequel House of the Dragon won’t launch until 2022. That presents an opening for deep-pocketed rivals. Netflix’s own medieval-tinged gorefest The Witcher is back for a second season, joined on the platform by sorcery saga Shadow and Bone (April). And Amazon Prime Video is set to launch two formidable fantasy franchises: The Wheel of Time adapts Robert Jordan’s hefty series of novels, with Rosamund Pike starring, while we might finally see its long-awaited The Lord of the Rings adaptation, set to be the most expensive TV show of all time at a cool $1bn. Returning series Between Covid disruption and some shows just taking their sweet time, 2021 has a high share of returnees. On the drama front, expect another Euphoria special (January, Sky Atlantic), Kelly Macdonald guest-starring in Line of Duty (spring, BBC One), a Chris Rock-fronted Fargo (Channel 4), further outings for Sex Education, Stranger Things (both Netflix), American Gods (11 January, Amazon Prime Video), and The Morning Show (Apple TV+). Cheer can be found in comedies This Time With Alan Partridge (BBC One), Inside No 9, Motherland (both BBC Two), Pls Like, Back to Life (both BBC Three), Pen15 , Insecure (both Sky Comedy), another outing for Taskmaster (Channel 4) and Donald Glover’s ace Atlanta (BBC Two). Mitchell and Webb’s Back (21 January, Channel 4) is also, well, back. A rogues’ gallery Telly loves a wrong ’un. This year is no different, as TV’s first family of foulness, the Roys, return for a third outing of Succession (Sky Atlantic). Glenn Howerton is back as terrible teacher Dr Carson in AP Bio (18 January, Sky Comedy); his other, even more sociopathic sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Netflix) has been renewed for four more seasons. Elsewhere, Shonda Rhimes’s drama Inventing Anna (Netflix) sees Julia Garner play fake heiress Anna Delvey, while it’s hoped that, despite delays, noted sleazeball Saul Goodman will be back for a final season of Better Call Saul (Netflix) this year. Corking new comedy You won’t be able to move for mirth in 2021: Frank of Ireland (Channel 4) pairs up brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson for a daft, Dublin-set comedy, while New Zealander standup Rose Matafeo has a one-night stand with an A-lister in Starstruck (BBC Three). Greg Davies mops up crime scenes in new sitcom The Cleaner (BBC One), while Jane Horrocks is an ambulance driver in Bloods (Sky One). There is a full series for Comedy Blap Lady Parts (Channel 4), about a female Muslim punk band, and Gbemisola Ikumelo expands on her Bafta-winning short Brain in Gear (BBC Three). For something more sketchy, there’s inventive duo Lazy Susan and absurdists Ellie and Natasia (both BBC Three). American exceptionalism The golden age of US TV drama stretches into another year. Moonlight director Barry Jenkins adapts Colson Whitehead’s slavery novel The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime Video) and HBO’s Mare of Easttown (Sky Atlantic) has Kate Winslet investigating a small-town murder in Pennsylvania. For something less earthbound there’s Asimov adaptation Foundation (Apple TV+), and Star Wars spin-off The Book of Boba Fett (December, Disney+). And Ryan Murphy is, as ever, cooking up a number of shows: expect Halston (Netflix), a Ewan McGregor-fronted biopic about the fashion designer, and American Crime Story: Impeachment (BBC Two), which tackles the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Marvel making moves After conquering cinema, Marvel’s universe expands further with a clutch of superpowered shows on Disney+. First up is the trippy WandaVision (15 January), which sees Avengers duo Scarlet Witch and Vision trapped in a 50s sitcom. That will be followed by four more series: The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (19 March), Loki (May), Ms Marvel and Hawkeye (both late 2021). Competition comes from DC, whose Arrowverse stable of shows welcomes Superman and Lois (UK broadcaster TBC) and the first black Batwoman (E4). High notes from a small island British drama had a banner year in 2020. Can 2021 match it? Early signs are encouraging. Russell T Davies confronts the Aids crisis in 80s-set drama It’s a Sin (22 January, Channel 4). The North Water (BBC Two) teams up Colin Farrell with 45 Years director Andrew Haigh for a drama about 19th-century whalers, while Landscapers (Sky Atlantic) sees Olivia Colman in a blackly comic shocker. Stephen Merchant plays the serial killer Stephen Port in factual drama Four Lives (BBC One), while the Sarah Solemani-scripted Ridley Road (BBC One) is inspired by Jewish anti-fascism groups in 60s east London. Domina (Sky Atlantic) follows power plays in ancient Rome through the wife of Augustus Caesar, and Queen & Slim star Jodie Turner Smith turns heads in a provocative drama about Anne Boleyn’s final days (Channel 5). Keeping it real Non-scripted TV played a vital supporting role in 2020, with The Great British Bake Off (autumn, Channel 4) and Strictly Come Dancing (autumn, BBC One) credited with keeping spirits up. Both will provide more comfort in 2021, as should the return of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (14 January, BBC Three), and we might see a delayed sixth season of Queer Eye (Netflix). After a year away working on its base tan, Love Island (summer, ITV2) is expected to return. Expect a deluge of documentaries, too: The Fall of the House of Maxwell (BBC Two) traces the elite family’s downwards spiral from Robert to Ghislaine; New Labour (BBC Two) gets a five-part treatment by the team behind the Beeb’s Thatcher series; and Tiger (likely Sky Documentaries) traces a golfing legend’s rise, fall and resurgence. A lot of animation Pixar Popcorn (22 January, Disney+) is a collection of shorts based round some of the studio’s most beloved characters, followed by the Monsters Inc spin-off Monsters at Work (early 2021). Star Trek: Lower Decks (22 January, Amazon Prime Video) is an adult comic spin-off focusing on “one of Starfleet’s least important ships” created by Mike McMahan, the chief writer on Rick and Morty (All 4), which should be back for its fifth season at some point, too. Then there is Marvel’s alternative superhero history What If …? (Disney+) and the gory-looking Invincible (Amazon Prime Video). And, after its Netflix cancellation, the gloriously anarchic bird-com Tuca & Bertie heads to Adult Swim in the US, with a UK broadcaster still to be announced. Superior subtitled drama Deal or no deal, classy series continue to flow in from the continent. Naples mob epic Gomorrah (Sky Atlantic) is back for a fifth outing; its creator Roberto Saviano has another of his novels adapted in Zero, Zero, Zero (January, Sky Atlantic), a transcontinental drug trade drama starring Andrea Riseborough. Germany is well represented: the final season of Deutschland 89 (February, Channel 4) tackles the fall of the Berlin Wall, and the creepy miniseries Hausen (spring, Sky Atlantic) puts a modern spin on haunted-house horrors. Finally, the team behind The Bridge and The Killing go jet-setting with Bullets (29 January, All 4), a terrorist thriller that hops between Georgia, Belgium and Finland.