The best TV shows to watch in 2021 [updated]

Viewing figures were up in 2020 across the board for television and streaming shows (who’d have thought forcing people to stay in their homes would be good for TV…) which has led to a bumper lineup of series both new and returning for the New Year.

The viewing boom saw shows such as Tiger King dominate pop culture and social media, and gave an entire new generation a chance to catch up with the Karate Kid’s Kobra Kai series.

But what new shows will dominate headlines in 2021? Here’s the best new shows to watch in the New Year.

Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Date: TBC 2021
Outside of a new film, this new series is looking to be a highlight for Star Wars fans next year. It will see Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen reprise their roles as Obi-Wan and Darth Vader, in a new series on Disney Plus that will pick up ten years after Revenge of the Sith.

Star Wars: Ahsoka
Date: TBC 2021
A brand new Disney Plus series and spin-off to The Mandalorian will also feature Gina Carano’s character from the series. Ahsoka will follow the self-exiled Jedi in a continuation to Disney’s Star: Wars Rebel series.

WandaVision
Date: January 15, 2021
The first official series in the Marvel MCU (not counting Netflix’s Daredevil and the like) reportedly cost as much as a proper film, with a budget of US$150 million. The series follows Avenger’s Endgame’s Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) in what looks to be an alternate reality.

Falcon and The Winter Soldier
Date: March 19, 2021
It’s second TV series from Marvel that will appear on Disney Plus over the coming year. This will follow Anthony Mackie’s Falcon and Sebastian Stan’s Winter Soldier exploring “the legacy of the shield”. Expect it to be a launch pad for both character’s continuation as Marvel’s Avengers over the next phase of the MCU.

Loki
Date: May 2021
Marvel’s original trickster is no longer dead (due to the Avenger’s meddling with reality using the time stone in Engame) but he is in a spot of trouble. Loki will follow the god of mischief and the Time Bureau.

Ms. Marvel
Date: Late 2021
We don’t have an exact date on when Marvel’s first Muslim superhero will hit streaming screens. All we know is that it will star Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan (aka Ms Marvel) and land sometime in late 2021.

Limitless with Chris Hemsworth
Date: TBC 2021
As the name suggests, this series will follow the Avenger’s star as he goes on a mission to discover the limits of the human body. The series is part science, part action adventure (and quite a bit of Hemsworth topless, we assume).

Dickinson
Date: Janaury 8, 2021
This Apple TV+ series will return for another 10-episode run. It will star Toby Huss, Jane Krakowski, and Adrian Enscoe. This season, Nick Kroll and Timothy Simsons will join them as guest stars.

American Gods
Date: January 11, 2021
Season three will follow the story of the battle between the old gods and the new.

Batwoman
Date: January 18
Javicia Leslie will take the cape and cowl from Ruby Rose who quit the role last year. The new DC series will see Batwoman replaced by Ryan Wilder, and is expected to continue the DC extended universe legacy.