The new year is upon us and along with setting our New Year's resolutions, booking in that new haircut and checking our 2022 horoscopes, we're also gearing up for another 12 months of epic television viewing. The streaming giants are blessing us with a good mix of drama, action and comedy.
One of the most anticipated Disney+ titles this year is Pam & Tommy, promising epic transformations from Lily James and Sebastian Stan as the series revisits the infamous celeb sex tape scandal of the 90s. Fantasy lovers have their eyes peeled for Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings that wrapped up filming in New Zealand last year, while Netflix is preparing to release the second season of fan favourite, Bridgerton.
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I'm personally looking forward to How I Met Your Father when it comes to Disney+ (the release date is yet to be announced) because I miss Hilary Duff from her days on Stan's Younger that wrapped up its final season last year, (anyone else?), plus it's about time we had a female voice to follow on from How I Met Your Mother.
Here are the best new TV shows to watch in 2022. Grab some popcorn and buckle in for the ride.
Pam & Tommy
Release date: February 2
Where to watch: Disney+
Ever since the first cast photos came out last year, I've been impatiently waiting for this show's release because it has absolutely nailed the celebrity transformation and it's based on a true story, which I can never get enough of.
Lily James and Sebastian Stan's makeovers as Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee are incredibly on point in this eight-part series that tells the true story of the pair's sex tape that was stolen by a disgruntled carpenter (played by Seth Rogen) before becoming a full-blown global sensation when it hit the internet in 1997.
Watch the Pam & Tommy trailer below:
How I Met Your Father
Release date: TBA
Where to watch: Disney+
How I Met Your Mother – we've been there and done that. Now it's time for a follow-up from a female perspective and we're getting just that in this new show with Hilary Duff front and centre as the main figure and narrator.
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Duff's character, Sophie, tells her son the story of how she met his father – a story that kicks off in 2021 where Sophie and her friends are figuring out who they are, their life goals and how to fall in love in the world of dating apps.
Watch the How I Met Your Father trailer below:
This Is Going To Hurt
Release date: February (exact date TBA)
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Chances are, back in 2017, you would have succumbed to the hilarity and allure of Adam Kay’s bestselling memoir This Is Going To Hurt. In it, the comedy writer and former junior doctor recounted his gory, hilarious and heart wrenching experiences working on the NHS frontline.
Now, the book is being adapted by BBC One for a seven-part series, with beloved Brit actor Ben Whishaw in the lead role. We’ll see him navigating sleepless nights, chaos and bodily fluids working in a London Obstetrics and Gynaecology ward. Expect tears and genuinely laugh-out-loud moments.
Mood
Release date: February (exact date TBA)
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
It’s giving Michaela Coel/Phoebe Waller Bridge vibes and we are here for it. Nicôle Lecky is a name to have on your radar now, as the talented writer/creator/producer/star of BBC3’s show, which first started out as a one-woman show, written and performed by Lecky at the Royal Court Theatre in 2019.
Inspired by ‘young women today who have big dreams but empty pockets’, the tongue-in-cheek and highly relatable show will look at ambition, dating, social media and money woes all through the eyes of our protagonist Sasha.
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The Lord Of The Rings
Release date: September 2
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
We've seen the big screen blockbusters but get ready to go on another breathtaking journey with a look into J.R.R. Tolkien’s fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history.
It all begins in a time of relative peace, thousands of years before the events that unfold in Tolkien's fan favourites, The Hobbit and The Lord The Rings books. We'll see new and familiar characters confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. We have to wait until sunny Spring to watch this but trust me, you won't see me leaving the lounge once they release this one.
Watch The Lord Of The Rings trailer below:
Bridgerton Season 2
Release date: March 25
Where to watch: Netflix
I had honestly been praying for another Christmas day premiere in 2021 and while that didn't happen, the wait until season 2 of Bridgerton is not too long so I'll hold my horse.
This season Lady Whisteldown will be back to her neighbourhood gossiping antics and the storyline hones in on the devilishly handsome Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (played by Jonathan Bailey) and his new love interest, Kate Sharma. Simone Ashley's casting as the female lead is a massive win for female South Asian representation on screen and I'm eager to see how the Sex Education star makes this role her own.
Watch the Bridgerton Season 2 trailer below:
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The Gilded Age
Release date: January 25
Where to watch: Sky Atlantic/NOW
For fans of Bridgerton and Downton Abbey, the latter’s creator Julian Fellows has returned with another epic period drama, this time starring none other than Sex and the City/And Just Like That alumni Cynthia Nixon.
Focusing on the boom years of 1880s in New York City – aka the Gilded Age – the HBO series will show the lives, loves and conflicts of two affluent families, in the old age high society battle between old and new money.
Watch The Gilded Age trailer below…
The Ipcress File
Release date: February (exact date TBA)
Where to watch: ITV Player
If the first look images are anything to go by, this is set to be a seriously stylish high octane spy thriller. Starring Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole, Lucy Boynton and Tom Hollander, the six-part series is based on the globally renowned Len Deighton novel of the same name.
Set against the backdrop of Cold War Europe during the 1960’s, we’ll be introduced to British spy Harry Palmer in a tale of espionage set in Berlin and London.
Ms. Marvel
Release date: February 2
Where to watch: Disney+
Marvel has come far in terms of cultural diversity as of late – think Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings and Eternals – and there's thankfully more to come. The six-episode series, Ms. Marvel centres on Kamala Khan, a 16-year-old Pakistani American from Jersey City who's a huge fan of the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel.
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Kamala's struggled to find her place in the world but that all changes when she acquires superpowers like the heroes she's admired for years. We're talking powers such as the ability to change her shape and size that has added strength as she grows.
Iman Vellani stars as Kamala aka Ms. Marvel and I'm excited to see where this big break takes her next in her acting career.
Watch the Ms. Marvel trailer below:
The Sandman
Release date: TBA
Where to watch: Netflix
Based on the DC comic by Neil Gaiman, the 11-episode series as Netflix puts it, "follows the people and places affected by Morpheus, the Dream King, as he mends the cosmic — and human — mistakes he’s made during his vast existence." The big drawcard for me is Tom Sturridge in the role of Dream as we haven't seen much of the actor on screen since Being Julia and Waiting for Forever.
Watch The Sandman trailer below:
She-Hulk
Release date: TBA
Where to watch: Disney+
There's more Marvel goodness coming in 2022 with this comedy series directed by executive producer Kat Coiro with Anu Valia also directing. Tatiana Maslany portrays She-Hulk/Jennifer Walters, a lawyer specialising in superhuman-focused cases. I'm particularly excited for this one because her cousin, Bruce Banner aka The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) is also in it, as is the Abomination, played by Tim Roth.
Trailer to come.
Too Hot to Handle: Season 3
Release date: January 19
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Where to watch: Netflix
It's back for a third season and is frankly the mindless escapism my heart is craving as we go into 2022. Yet another group of thirsty singles are ready to meet and mingle but in order to win the $100,000 prize, they have to give up all forms of sex.
Cast members this season hail from all across the globe including the US, England and South Africa plus we have our own Aussie in the mix. Keep your eyes peeled for 26-year-old Queensland midwife Georgia who's from Brisbane.
Watch the Too Hot To Handle Season 3 trailer below:
Moon Knight
Release date: TBC
Where to watch: Disney+
This action-adventure series brings mental health awareness to the forefront with Oscar Isaac playing a complex vigilante, Marc Spector, who suffers from a dissociative identity disorder.
The multiple identities inside him are thrust into a war of gods in Egypt as he becomes the embodiment of Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon. The series is directed by executive producer Mohamed Diab and Jeremy Slater is lead writer on the production.
Watch the Moon Knight trailer below:
Limitless with Chris Hemsworth
Release date: TBA
Where to watch: Disney+
The name Chris Hemsworth is enough to sell it to me. In this six-part Disney+ original series from National Geographic, viewers will watch the 38-year-old Australian actor "discover the full potential of the human body".
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The Thor star looks into how we can live healthier, smarter lives and throughout this process undergoes training for six massive challenges in a bid to show how to fight aging at every life stage.
Keep your eyes peeled for the premiere date that's yet to be announced.
Watch the Limitless with Chris Hemsworth trailer below:
Inventing Anna
Release date: February 11
Where to watch: Netflix
Inspired by the New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People” by Jessica Pressler, Inventing Anna is about a Russian-born woman (played by Ozark's Julia Garner) who creates and pretends to be the fictitious Anna Delvey, a wealthy German heiress who steals the money and hearts of New York's social scene.
As people wonder who Anna Delvey really is, there's one journalist who's on the case, investigating Delvey's moves. The reporter and Delvey develop a dark, funny love-hate bond as the journo tries to determine if she's a con woman or there's more to the story.
Watch the Inventing Anna trailer below:
As we leave you, here's a reminder to all of the TV buffs to bookmark this page as we will continue updating it as new release date and trailers emerge.