BRAND NEW THRILLS COME COURTESY OF…

HARD SUN

If you’ve spent most of Agyness Deyn’s screen career wondering when she’ll crop her hair again, wonder no more: in a new cop drama from the pen of Luther creator Neil Cross, set five years prior to the apocalypse. The Lacey to Deyn’s Cagney is the not-entirely-undesirable-to-look-ateither Jim Sturgess (both above). Cross has described the show as ‘like the world with a death sentence’. Which feels alarmingly close to reality right now. Chin up, all, here’s the fictional version. Begins 6 January, 9.35pm, BBC One

COLLATERAL

While she’s been sweeping up awards on a regular basis on stage, there has emerged a specifically Billie Pipershaped hole on the small screen. Piper is an actress who throws herself full throttle at every role. There is something about her face that just makes the screen a better place to be in front of. She co-stars with a truly stellar line-up in Collateral, David Hare’s exploration of the spider’s web events that lace together after a pizza delivery boy is shot. Carey Mulligan (below left) and John Simm are on hand, too. Begins January, BBC Two

A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL

When all the best film lists appeared at the close of 2017, didn’t you just want to scroll through them all with a biro, scribbling ‘where’s Paddington 2, though?’ The surprise reprise partnership of the year, Ben Whishaw and Hugh Grant, now get a second chance to hang out together in the impeccable Russell T Davies’ retelling of the Jeremy Thorpe scandal. It’s racy, it’s political, it’s going to be immense. Begins January, BBC One

KIRI

When a young child (the Kiri of the title) goes missing under a supervised visit from Sarah – we are not worthy – Lancashire’s social worker (below), the spotlight is shone on the caring professions. This was a personal project for writer Jack Thorne, whose own mum was a social worker. The writer has been responsible for some of the strongest dramas of his age, including a masthead title on the Harry Potter play. His speciality is human strangeness. It will engage. Begins January, Channel 4