Everything British Worth Streaming in October 2024

October is here, and along with it, the time of the year recently dubbed "Spoooooooky Season." (Ok, fine, it's Spooky Season, but I like all the extra "o"s.) Once upon a time, the Christmas holiday was the only major event that TV producers created specialty programs for; since the advent of the streaming wars and the loss of appointment TV, that's extended back to October 1, with horror and thrillers for a month, then Thanksgiving for a couple of weeks, and then Christmas, as studios realized they could create appointment television for the entire last quarter of the year.

Halloween was an American-only phenomenon for a long time; however, as the (extremely clumsy) Halloween episode of The Great British Baking Show recently revealed, the U.K. is finally trying to move away from a bit of apple bobbing and get into the spooky season spirit. That leaning into horror has finally paid dividends on the small screen, with almost every one of our usual streaming services arriving with Halloween-aimed fare, including BritBox, Acorn TV, Starz, and Prime Video.

Combined with high-profile debuts on Disney+...errr, um Hulu, a pair of fan favorites on Netflix, and even a British series on HBO, this month is a well-rounded sampler of British entertainment for viewers to enjoy. Let's run down everything British worth watching that coming to American steaming for October 2024.

The Graham Norton Show Season 32

The Graham Norton Show is one of the few British shows BBC America still has the rights to. It will air the series as long as Norton keeps making episodes. Some people even watch on linear still; however, most of us watch on YouTube if we see a clip. Season 32 begins on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, on BBC America and streaming on AMC+, with new episodes weekly until the holidays.

The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned

AMC Network's contributions to Spooky Season are mostly on Shudder, but for Anglophiles, it's brought over The Midwich Cuckoos (and renamed it The Midwich Cuckoos: Village of the Damned because Sundance Now loves adding extra words). The series stars Keeley Hawes as the town doctor dealing with a strange happening that impregnates every woman in town. The series premieres Thursday, October 17, 2024, on both Acorn TV and Sundance Now and will stream weekly on Thursdays through November. 

Whitstable Pearl Season 3

For those impatiently wondering why Harry Wild and My Life Is Murder get new seasons, and we haven't heard from Kerry Godliman and her Whitstable Pearl series, wonder no more. After two years away, the mystery series, which is set in the titular small town known for its oysters, has returned. Godliman and Howard Charles co-star as the unlikely murder-solving duo for six new episodes starting Monday, October 21, 2024, exclusively on Acorn TV, with new episodes weekly on Mondays.

Disclaimer 

Apple TV+'s contribution to the horror season is Disclaimer, the Alfonso Cuarón series starring Cate Blanchett (Lord of the Rings) as a journalist who built her reputation revealing the misdeeds and transgressions of others, only to discover her darkest secrets are being released in the form of a novel, where the leading character is unmistakably her. The series is referred to as a "seven-part event" in an attempt to proclaim itself "more than just a TV show." The first two chapters arrive on Friday, October 11, 2024, with one a week to follow. 

Suspect Season 2

Based on the Walter Presents series Face to Face (Forhøret), Suspect returns for Season 2, with Anne-Marie Duff taking over the lead from Season 1's James Nesbitt after co-starring as his ex-wife in the first go-round. She'll take over the investigation of their daughter's death while trying to make up for it by saving another girl before she's murdered. The series premieres two episodes on Thursday, October 3, 2024, with two installments daily through Sunday.

The Inheritance

Most of BritBox's all-at-once releases are older shows from the late aughts or the twenty-teens as the BBC quietly beefs up the library of offerings. However, one binge drop, The Inheritance, is more recent; it debuted on Channel 5 in 2023. Starring Robert James-Collier and Samantha Bond, this family drama deals with the fallout when the family patriarch dies under suspicious circumstances. All episodes arrive Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

Passenger

Finally, BritBox's big get for the Halloween season is the dark comedy thriller Passenger. Starring PBS favorites Wunmi Mosaku, David Threlfall, and Ella Bruccoleri, the series pokes fun at small-town murder mysteries set in the U.K., where the ever-growing body counts go unnoticed, mixed with a supernatural angle. Passenger debuts with two episodes on Thursday, October 17, 2024, and streams two installments a week, ending on Halloween.

Joan 

The American broadcast network "CW" (it dropped the "The") has been one of the hardest hit by the streaming wars, sold off to the cheap producers at Nexstar. There's little to nothing to watch on it most days, and the few British shows it's brought over have been flops or never aired (ahem, Everyone Else Burns). Yet, somehow, CW landed Joan, the Sophie Turner series where she plays real-life jewel thief Joan Hannington. Joan debuts on Wednesday, October 2, 2024, and will air/stream one episode a week.

Rivals

There's a major TV debut coming to Dinsey+, one of those high-profile shows on streaming, adapted from a series of best-selling sexy novels. It stars major A-list talent David Tennant and Aidan Turner in period costumes; the cast currently graces the cover of The Times Magazine, despite Americans having no idea the series is about to debut. To be fair, Rivals is on Hulu in the States, not Disney+; but seriously, forget Spooky Season. It's Sexy Season. All episodes will arrive on Friday, October 18, 2024.

The Franchise

With Industry finding its feet in Season 3, HBO is on top again in providing British hits on Max. However, it seems much less likely The Franchise will do nearly as well. The comedy satire, making fun of the superhero blockbuster craze and those stuck creating them, stars Himesh Patel, Lolly Adefope, Richard E. Grant, and Daniel Brühl, and hopefully will get noticed before its six-episode run concludes. The series premieres on HBO and Max on Sunday, October 6, 2024, with one episode a week to follow.

Heartstopper Season 3

Heartstopper, the LGBTQ+ romance between teens Nick and Charlie, is like a little hug for your heart, and Season 3 is no exception. The new set of episodes follows the boys as they progress through high school and face the pressures of getting into uni while handling teen crises of all kinds, from first sexual experiences to eating disorders. All episodes land on Netflix on Thursday, October 3, 2024.

The Diplomat Season 2

There are a few British documentaries on Netflix in October, but none are even close to being worth watching the way Heartstopper and The Diplomat are. A surprise hit when it arrived in 2023; The Diplomat returns for Season 2 with American Keri Russell and Brit Rufus Sewell as the estranged married diplomatic couple representing the U.S. in the U.K. All episodes arrive on Thursday, October 31, 2024.

Citadel: Diana

Remember Amazon's terribly dumb series Citadel, which was far too preoccupied with seeding local language spinoffs for Amazon Studio's emerging markets and ultimately failed to notice it didn't have much of a plot? Now that viewers have entirely forgotten about it, the first of those local spinoffs is here, Citadel: Diana, which is Italian-based. There's another one next month, too, if you are really into these. All episodes will arrive on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

The Devil's Hour Season 2

The Devil's Hour starred Peter Capaldi and Jessica Raine in a horror series geared toward Halloween in 2022. Two years later, the first of two follow-up seasons no one asked for has arrived, and this time, it'll debut in the middle of October instead of on All Hallow's Eve, making its return even more puzzling. If you must watch Capaldi and Raine in everything they do, all episodes arrive on Friday, October 18, 2024.

Sweetpea

Despite Starz not having nearly as much British fare as it did a decade ago, for Halloween, the Little Streaming Service That Could has picked up Sky's Sweetpea, starring Ella Purnell. Based on the novel by CJ Skuse, the series is about a quiet girl taking care of her sick father who finally loses it entirely and becomes a serial killer. The series debuts on Thursday, October 10, 2024, with one episode a week to follow.