Karen Pirie (ITV, September)
This drama brings to life one of celebrated crime writer Val McDermid’s most famous characters, DS Karen Pirie, as she tries to uncover the truth behind the unsolved murder of teenager Rosie Duff 25 years ago.
Set in Scotland, the three-part series stars Lauren Lyle (Outlander) as Karen Pirie, and comes from the team behind Line of Duty and Bodyguard. A good example of McDermid’s textbook ‘Tartan Noir’ brought to life.
SAS: Rogue Heroes (BBC, tbc)
A six-part drama by Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight about “how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two”? Yes please!
Set in Cairo in 1941, this BBC adaptation of Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book is packed full of undercover operations, explosions and love stories. It features a top cast, too: Sex Education’s Connor Swindells, Game of Throne’s Alfie Allen, The Mummy’s Sofia Boutella and The Crown’s Dominic West among them.
Then You Run (Sky/NOW, tbc)
Four rebellious teenagers’ summer holiday turns into a perilous adventure on the run from a terrifying gangster in this upcoming drama based on Zoran Drvenkar’s thriller novel, You.
The eight-part drama stars Leah McNamara (Normal People) as Tara, whose estranged father is found dead, causing her and her childhood friends (including Stink, played by I May Destroy You’s Vivian Opara) to flee across Europe with three kilos of heroin and a host of deadly criminals on their tails.
