The amazing television coming to your screen this month

Hard Sun, BBC One

From Bafta and Emmy-nominated Neil Cross, the creator of Luther – and with Professor Brian Cox as the series’ specialist advisor – this self-described 'pre-apocalyptic crime show' coming to the BBC is already making waves.

Britannia, Sky Atlantic

It’s 43AD and the Romans are invading: they’re here to crush the Celtic heart of Britain.

The nine-part series follows the power struggle between the Celts, Druids and Roman army. As well as the big battle scenes, the drama is psychological. Could Britannia knock Game of Thrones off its perch?

McMafia, BBC

'I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. Educated at a private school in England. I run my own firm in the city. I'm very happy with my life the way it is...'

Heartthrob James Norton returns to our screens this Christmas in eight-part, high-stakes gangster drama McMafia, an adaptation based on Misha Glenny's bestselling novel about Russian organised crime.

Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency season two, Netflix

The second series in this often baffling, reliably hilarious and predictably feel-good drama on Netflix.

This season, Holistic Detective Dirk Gently has been trapped in the government organization of Blackwing for the last two months, unfortunately re-immersed in the nightmares of his childhood, and separated from Todd (Elijah Wood) and Farah (Jade Eshete).

Girlfriends, ITV

ITV is starting 2018 with a comedy about three women coming to terms with the passage of time – despite all the pilates, mindfulness apps and supplements they can get their hands on – written and directed by BAFTA winner Kay Mellor (The Syndicate, In The Club).