The 50 best TV shows to watch this autumn

Wayward and chaotic, in the grand tradition of The Word and TFI Friday, Late Night Lycett proved that Joe Lycett had fully inherited Friday nights on Channel 4. Its follow-up sounds even more TFI-esque. The Lycett Arms is a real east London pub, open for just one hour a week, which required Lycett to train to be accredited with a level 2 award for personal licence holders. The show promises “top-drawer comedy entertainment from Joe and a pub full of celebrity guests”. What could possibly go wrong? Channel 4, 4 September

Last Seen

Colin from Accounts’ Patrick Brammall is totally changing tack with this intense drama about a one-time cop whose three-year-old daughter Mags disappeared more than a decade ago. When the remains of a young girl are found nearby, Ian Ridley (Brammall) is first on the scene – and his former colleagues in the police force know there’s nothing they can do to stop him from doing some digging. But the truth about the victim is far murkier. A twisty six-parter that will keep you guessing. Apple TV, 9 September

Slow Horses

Jackson’s Joes are being picked off one by one – and everyone who has ever worked at Slough House has been wiped from the system at MI5 HQ the Park, so no one will even know they’re goners. The sixth season of the smash-hit drama about supposedly second-rate spies kicks off with a horrifying fire in a shipping container and a very violent funeral, and only ramps up from there. The usual suspects, from Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas to Jack Lowden, are still at it. Plus, the brilliant Lenny Rush joins the cast – and turns out to be a dab hand at spycraft. Apple TV, 16 September

Youth

“Has any man ever said: ‘Have you met my girlfriend? She’s sexy, she’s fun, she’s 60.’ I need to meet someone now. I think I’ve got 10 years left as a sexual person, tops.” Sharon Horgan’s new comedy is as scabrous and hilarious as always. Things aren’t going great for Alex (played by Horgan herself): her body is failing her, her son Ruari is veering off the rails (mooning at his school graduation) and her ex is moving abroad, leaving her even more of a single parent. Let’s hope she’s able to spice things up with some “new dick energy”. HBO Max, 20 September

Brothers

First Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey starred in True Detective. Then McConaughey revealed that he recently discovered he might have the same father as Harrelson. And now, bizarrely, they are basically Curb Your Enthusiasming this new dynamic. In Brothers, the pair play fictionalised versions of themselves who learn that … well, you can see where this is going. You have to applaud the effort, since making an entire television series about some family gossip seems like so much more hard work than simply getting a DNA test. Apple TV, 23 September

Strictly Come Dancing

All eyes on the Elstree and Borehamwood ballroom for the first series of the sparkly dance staple without Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly. How on earth will the trio of new hosts – former pro dancer and all-round icon Jojo Radebe, Emma “safe pair of hands” Willis and comedian and former penguin suit-wearing Christmas contestant Josh Widdicombe – fare? And will any other scandals befall the show as it attempts this reset? The contestants include Shaun Wright-Phillips, Jaime Winstone, Dani Dyer, Delta Goodrem and, er, celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton. BBC One, September

The Great British Bake Off

Stale no more! Bake Off has been in serious need of a revamp for a while now – and who better to zhuzh it up than the queen of sass herself, Nigella Lawson. The grande dame of spoon-licking cookery TV, and all-time winner of best pronunciation of the word microwavay, joins as the new judge. Expect to be whisked away by her charm, withering putdowns and (fingers crossed) fantastic repartee with Paul Hollywood. Channel 4, September

Kill Jackie

Well, this one looks bonkers. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a former international cocaine dealer who has spent 20 years hiding in plain sight as an ostentatiously wealthy art dealer. But her cover is blown when she discovers that a group of elite assassins called the Seven Demons has been hired to kill her. Needless to say, she tries to kill them first. Co-starring Daniel Ings, Julian Barratt and Julian Rhind-Tutt, this has the potential to be the most entertaining thing in forever. Prime Video, 2 October

War

It’s juicy, it’s bitchy and it’s very starry indeed: George Kay’s tentpole divorce drama looks at the bitter end of a relationship from both sides, meeting the lawyers making cases for all parties. Here, the movie star and tech billionaire going through proceedings – after he serves her divorce papers on her own red carpet – are played by Sienna Miller and Dominic West. The cast is absolutely stacked, from reunited Celebrity Traitors mates Nick Mohammed and Celia Imrie (who could forget when he dug up her grave?) to Aran Murphy (son of Cillian – and set to be everywhere on our screens) as the feuding couple’s son. Sky/Now, 2 October

Last One Laughing Halloween special

Last One Laughing is such an ingenious money-maker – a whole series spun out from putting some comedians in a room for less than a day! – that we were always going to get more of it. While we await the third series (which stars Harry Hill!) this Halloween special features Jack Dee, Phil Wang, Reece Shearsmith, Harriet Dyer and Tom Allen, alongside the returning Lou Sanders and Daisy May Cooper, and there’s an intriguing new rule: competitors will be punished not just for laughing, but also for screaming. Prime Video, 23 October

Nocturne

Rowan Joffé has long been a writer worth paying attention to, most recently for Edward Berger’s film Ballad of a Small Player. Nocturne sounds like it might cement his reputation once and for all. A drama about a homicide cop who relocates to Pennsylvania and finds himself having to deal with a serial killer, it stars Liev Schreiber and Zazie Beetz. Best of all, Stephen Graham plays the serial killer. Enter