Everything British Worth Streaming in January 2024

Happy New Year! As we wave 2023 out one door, 2024 is already blowing in the other. It's make-or-break time for many streaming services over the next 36 months, and there's no time like the present to get started. Ever since Downton Abbey colonized January in 2012, proving it a nice empty space American TV wasn't properly occupying, it's been PBS' favorite debut month. Now, the rest of the streaming world is catching on to the model of January model as ideal for British debuts.

January 2024 is far from the first time we've had every single streaming service with a high-profile British (or British-ish) debut in the same month. But it is the first time we've had quite this level of quality to go along with the quantity. It's a good thing, too, as the winter chill is grabbing both coasts, and the fevers and illnesses are spiking. There's a lot of TV to watch this month; it's best to cuddle up on the couch and stay home.

With the sheer number of series arriving, this list should help Anglophiles decide which shows to watch this month and which to defer to February or even March, depending on the runtime and the weekly versus all-at-one drop schedules. Let's run down what shows are coming for January 2024, when, and where.

Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale

AMC Networks will kick off the first week of January with an adaptation of the V.V. James novel Sanctuary: A Witch's Tale. Set in a contemporary world where witchcraft is real, and witches are free to practice their craft peacefully, the death of a local boy becomes the flashpoint for new persecutions. The seven-part series starts with two episodes on Thursday, January 4, 2024, with one a week to follow, streaming on AMC+ and Sundance Now.

Monsieur Spade

AMC+ was the streaming service that initially hopped aboard Monsieur Spade, but sister network Acorn TV is known for its British, French, and Brits-in-France mysteries, so now the show will stream on both. The series stars Clive Owen as the iconic Dashiell Hammett PI Sam Spade, once played by Humphrey Bogart, now a retired ex-pat in the 1960s. The six-episode series streams and airs weekly on AMC, AMC+, and Acorn TV starting Sunday, January 14, 2024.

Criminal Record 

Apple TV+ will kick off the year with both British and British-ish programming. First up, the British series Criminal Record, starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo. An anonymous phone call draws two brilliant detectives into a confrontation over an old murder case, confronting race, institutional failure, and the quest to find common ground in a polarized Britain. The eight-episode series debuts with two episodes on Friday, January 12, 2024, with one a week to follow.

Masters of the Air

If anyone needs to know what a "British-ish" series is, Masters of the Air is a perfect example. The third installment in the Spielberg-Hanks Band of Brothers WWII epics, the series is American-Allies-centric but has gone from being a show that stars all American actors and the occasional Damian Lewis to a show that stars all Brits and the occasional Elvis impersonator. The ten-episode series debuts with two episodes on Friday, January 26, 2024, with one a week to follow.

Reyka Season 2

The Canadian crime drama Reyka quietly snuck onto BritBox with Season 1 during 2023 with little fanfare, but as the show gathers steam on Canadian television, the arrival of Season 2 has gained a higher profile. The new season follows criminal profiler Reyka Gama (Kim Englebrecht) back to the underworld of South Africa as she investigates human trafficking and another depraved serial killer. All episodes arrive on Thursday, January 4, 2024. 

Blue Lights Season 1

The police procedural Blue Lights was billed as a thriller when it debuted on the BBC in 2023, but the mishap-prone rookies at its heart gave it a dark comedy edge that propelled the series' ratings. Here's hoping the humor will also appeal to Americans, as BritBox is bringing over Season 1 ahead of debuting Season 2 stateside along with the BBC in the U.K. later this spring. All episodes of Season 1 land on Wednesday, January 17, 2023.

Father Brown Season 11

It's a new year; therefore, it is time for a new season of Father Brown. The series has officially entered its second decade on the air with Season 11 and five years on BritBox, where it has resided since Season 8. Mark Williams returns with John Burton, Tom Chambers, and new regulars Ruby-May Martinwood and Claudie Blakley. Season 11 starts Tuesday, January 23, 2024, and runs weekly for ten episodes.

The Repair Shop Seasons 1+2

Netflix is rescuing The Tourist from Max, but BritBox is also quietly pulling lost content from Zas' coffins. The streaming service smartly picked up the first two seasons of the third most popular reality show in the U.K., The Repair Shop, which is The Great British Baking Show x Antiques Roadshow. Hopefully, it will go full completionist on the series. All episodes of the first two seasons arrive on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans

The best of the endless Ryan Murphy series, Feud, returns after nearly a decade off the air with Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans. It's a British-ish NYC-based period piece about American writer Truman Capote and starring Diane Lane, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, Molly Ringwald...and Naomi Watts....and Tom Hollander as Capote. You see why we're covering it now, yes? The eight-episode series premieres on FX and Hulu via Disney+ on Wednesday, January 31, 2024, with one episode a week to follow.

Sort Of Season 3

Max is currently canceling its most interesting, undermarketed programming from the U.K., Canada, etc, along with most stuff that gave voices to the underrepresented. Unfortunately, in the middle of that, the creators of Sort Of, a Canadian gem from the CBC that you probably didn't know existed until right this minute, also decided to call it quits after three seasons. The sweet, critical darling comedy about a gender-fluid millennial in transition will end with all episodes arriving on Thursday, January 18, 2024. Do watch it.

Fool Me Once

Netflix’s latest entry into the Harlan Coben library of adaptations, Fool Me Once, brings back Richard Armitage once more as one-half of a married couple whose relationship is brutally shattered by violence. But when the wife discovers her husband isn’t nearly as dead as she thinks, everything changes. All episodes arrive on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2024.

Champion

After debuting last summer on the BBC, the eight-part musical series Champion arrives on Netflix. The series, a love letter to contemporary British Black music, focuses on the story of Champion siblings Bosco (Malcolm Kamulete) and Vita (Déja J Bowens) and their musical rivalry to make it to the top. Nadine Marshall, Ray Fearon, and Jo Martin co-star. All episodes arrive on Netflix on Thursday, January 11, 2024.

The Kitchen

One of Netflix’s Oscar-bait films, the Daniel Kaluuya/Kibwe Tavares co-directed near-future set film is a dystopian drama that our reviewer called “A full-bodied and appropriately angry elegy to the brutalization and segregation of London’s Black communities.” The film will debut on streaming for Americans on Friday, January 19, 2024.

Six Nations: Full Contact

One of Netflix’s two British documentaries for this month, Six Nations: Full Contact, is precisely what it says on the tin: a sports documentary about the 2023 Six Nations Rugby Championship. Round by round, match by match, the best teams in Europe battle it out to take home the trophy. The film debuts on Wednesday, January 24, 2024.

Alexander the Great

Netflix’s other British documentary, Alexander the Great, is also precisely what it says on the tin. Combining talking head interviews with dramatic reenactments, this docudrama explores the life of Alexander the Great through his conquest of the Persian Empire. The film arrives on Wednesday, January 31, 2024.

The Woman in the Wall

Based on the horrific Magdalene Laundries practices in Ireland that were only uncovered in the 1990s, the mystery series The Woman in the Wall stars Ruth Wilson as a woman who is haunted by the experiences she can only half-remember from her time in the institution and the baby who may or may not have survived. The Woman in the Wall will stream on Paramount + starting Friday, January 19, and air on Showtime beginning Sunday, January 21, with weekly episodes.

Sexy Beast

Paramount+ brings over its British original Sexy Beast, the prequel series based on the hit 2000 film of the same name. The new show explores the origins of Gal and Don’s complicated relationship as they descend into the seductive madness of the London criminal world during the vibrant and volatile 1990s. All episodes land on Paramount+ on Thursday, January 25, 2024.

Belgravia: The Next Chapter

Julian Fellowes' Belgravia series has been resurrected as Belgravia: The Next Chapter, jumping forward to the 1870s and a whole new era of hats and cloaks. Benjamin Wainwright is Frederick Trenchard, and Harriet Slater is Clara Dunn, the new central couple for the season as old secrets fester and new ones are buried. The eight-episode series premieres Sunday, January 14, 2024, on MGM+, with one episode a week to follow.

The Traitors Season 2

Peacock accidentally stumbled into the rights to knock off the BBC's hit reality series The Traitors in 2023, one of the streaming service's only genuine hits. It's grabbing on with both hands, with Season 2 debuting dangerously close to Season 2 of the BBC version, with a group of Americans also checking into a Scottish castle in the Scottish Highlands to complete to backstab their way to £120,000, except with Alan Cumming hosting instead of Claudia Winkleman. Three episodes arrive Friday, January 12, 2024, and then one a week to follow.