New drama from Girls creator Lena Dunham is coming to the BBC

With our social calendars looking pretty empty this summer (aside from park and garden visits when the weather plays ball), most of what we currently have to look forward to seems to be whatever time is acceptable to open up a bottle of wine, and what TV delights are coming up over the next few months.

From Jodie Comer starring in the first instalment of the much-anticipated BBC dramatic monologues Talking Heads (filmed while practising social distancing), which is coming to our screens later this month, to season 4 of Issa Rae's hit comedy Insecure (release date June 23rd) and a new BBC drama Industry, from Girls creator Lena Dunham about the scandalous world of corporate finance, we've got an awful lot of incredible TV to look forward to.

We've rounded up all the best reasons to stay at home on the sofa!

Release date: 2020 TBC

Set in the world of international finance, the eight-part drama series about the 2008 global financial crisis, follows a group of ambitious twenty-somethings all competing for a limited number of permanent positions at a London investment bank.

According to the show’s synopsis, the graduates 'immerse themselves in a company culture defined as much by sex, drugs, and ego as it is by deals and dividends. As members of the group rise and fall, they must decide whether life is about more than the bottom line.'

Filming was shot in location in both Cardiff and London and Girls star and creator Lena Dunham will act as one of the show's executive producers - if that doesn't pique our interest, I don't know what will!

The series will be shown on both BBC Two in the UK and HBO in the U.S.

Watch the first double bill on BBC One at 9pm, Tuesday 23 June.

Catch up on all 12 episodes on BBC iPlayer from the same date

Alan Bennett’s critically acclaimed Talking Heads is returning to the BBC, over 30 years since its first season aired. The critically-acclaimed monologue series, which is now on the A-Level and GCSE syllabus, won several of its stars (Maggie Smith, Julie Walters and Alan Bennett himself) BAFTAs for their performances in the '80s and '90s.

The reboot was filmed at BBC Elstree Studios using existing sets and the team followed the latest government guidelines on Covid-19 to ensure that the series was made safely and responsibly.

The 10 original monologues have been remade, alongside two new monologues that Bennett wrote in 2019. Some explore the topic of isolation and will be performed by famous faces such as Jodie Comer (who stars in Her Big Chance), Martin Freeman (A Chip in the Sugar), Tamsin Greig (Nights in the Garden of Spain), Kristin Scott Thomas (The Hand of God) and Imelda Staunton (A Lady of Letters).

Explaining why the series is so relevant to audiences right now, Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, said: 'Covid-19 has laid waste to drama production in the UK, but it has also posed a challenge: how do we adhere to restrictions while still offering British viewers the chance to lose themselves in great stories at this time of national need?'

Watch from June 19th on Netflix

The first season of this gripping thriller starred Jessica Biel in a career-defining role, the show continues through it's different iterations with Matt Bomer taking on the lead role this time, alongside Bill Pullman.

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Watch from June 19th on Netflix

Not content with bringing us Hollywood last month, Ryan Murphy is back with the second season of The Politician.

The second season will pick up right where the first left off, with wannabe US president Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) ready to fight to unseat Senate Majority Leader Dede Standish (Judith Light) in the New York State Senate race.

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Release date spring 2020 TBC on ITV

Sheridan Smith is set to star in a new drama mini-series about the coronavirus pandemic.

Isolation Stories is a four-part series consisting of 15-minute episodes examining the ways different households are handling lockdown life. Smith will star in the first episode, about a single mum spending her pregnancy alone during the outbreak of Covid-19, and will film the scenes in her own home, under the remote advice of the show's directors.

'I am heavily pregnant and have been isolating at home so I jumped at the chance to make a drama about the massive drama going on all around us right now,' Smith said of the role.

Release date: 22nd May on Amazon Prime Video

Stepping into Julia Roberts shoes from season one, Janelle Monae’s character awakens on a boat in the middle of a lake with no recollection of her memory… or even who she is.

Season one of Homecoming (which is based on a podcast of the same name), saw Roberts playing caseworker Heidi Bergman, who helps soldiers transition back to civilian life at facility Homecoming, before leaving to start a new life. Years later, questions are raised by officials as to why she left, leading to question her own narrative.

The second season will be both a continuation of season one, but will also be the start of a completely new storyline.

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Release date: May 1st on Apple TV+

A new British comedy series starring Rafe Spall, Esther Smith and Imelda Staunton, about a thirty-something couple and their friends learning to grow up, settle down and find someone to love.

All Nikki and Jason want is a baby—but it’s the one thing they just can’t have. How are they going to fill the next 50 years if they can’t start a family?

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Release date: 2020 TBC

True story of the feminist movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, and the unexpected backlash led by conservative Phyllis Schlafly, starring Cate Blanchlett & Rose Byrne

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