6 Shows Commissioned by the BBC in 2025 That Need to Cross the Pond

This decade has been several flavors of awful for the entertainment industry since the pandemic first hit in March 2020, followed by the double strike of 2023. Five years in, the aftereffects are still everywhere, from the ongoing sale of the 115-year-old Paramount Studios to the multiple rounds of layoffs at Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery. However, it is a callous insult to injury that, on top of all this, the political instability in the U.S. has all but halted what was a decade-long influx of British series onto American streaming services. 

Not that the British networks are commissioning less, though the BBC notably did not have a swing-for-the-fences drama slate for 2025 after 2024's fizzled. However, the head of comedy, Jon Petrie, did do one for his side of the entertainment roster. Petrie commissioned ten shows altogether, four of which were recommissions of series that don't seem likely to head our way (Only Child, Funboys, The Young Offenders, The Golden Cobra). The biggest, The Reluctant Vampire, we have already covered, and two are super seasonal (the Christmas-themed Stuffed) or partly animated (Small Prophets), which makes them harder to sell. But that still leaves several shows that have no business not coming here.

The issue is the hostile political climate that has formed between America and Europe, along with the erratic threats of tariffs. The two have compounded to make deals with the U.S., the U.K.'s biggest benefactor and co-producer, no longer a safe bet. The chilling effect this has had on the industry is hard to overstate; the growing pile of BBC-commissioned series without any distribution deal, months after they were announced, is starting to become concerning.

We've sifted through some of the most significant commissions from the BBC in 2025 and highlighted those that look promising for American audiences, in the hope that it will help them gain attention and possibly find a home on BritBox.

Commissioned in March 2025, The Cage is a five-part crime thriller starring Sheridan Smith (Gavin & Stacey) and Michael Socha (D.I. Ray), and hails from writer Tony Schumacher, whose series The Responder, which was a massive hit for the BBC and streams on BritBox in the U.S. 

Here's the series logline:

When Leanne and Matty discover they are both robbing from the safe at the inner-city casino they work in, their lives are set on a collision course; with each other, the local gangster they're stealing from, and the police. 

The series will be helmed by Al Mackay (Kidnapped) and shot in and around Liverpool and Merseyside. The BBC plans to air and stream it as part of the 2025-2026 television season. Hopefully, it will be a big enough hit that BritBox will nab it if no one else does.

Diane Morgan is probably best known in the U.S. for her character Philomena Cunk, the faux British historian who is a semi-parody of presenters like Brian Cox and Lucy Worsley and starred in mockumentaries streaming on Netflix. Her newest project is Ann Droid, a six-part series where she plays the titular Ann, a social humanoid robot, created to keep elderly people company and monitor their health. As Diane Morgan put it in the press release: “I’m thrilled that the BBC has finally commissioned a programme about AI and how it will affect your mum.”

Here's the series' full synopsis:

It’s 2029. Sue’s husband, David, passed away 18 months ago, and her only son, Michael, is moving out – again - to try and fix his marriage - again. But the good news is he’s got Sue a surprise to help her live independently, a care provider with a difference. The latest D500 social humanoid eldercare robot. Created to keep the ageing population company and monitor their health, taking the pressure off the ever-stretched NHS. It’s Sue’s worst nightmare: an overly attentive, socially inept pain in the arse. But she soon works out she can use the droid to her benefit in settling scores and doing the things her son never gets round to. What develops is a buddy comedy between an older woman and her robot, who isn’t quite as advanced socially as she is technically.

Morgan teams with Sarah Kendall (The Other One) in writing the series, but it's not clear if Kendall will also co-star as Sue. Why Hulu isn't all over this is beyond me, maybe Netflix will take it.

Charlotte Regan’s debut film, Scrapper, showed real promise, and her first TV series, Mint, boasts a cast that suggests those who've read the scripts feel the same about the forthcoming eight-part series. Regan created, wrote, and directed all eight episodes, making this an auteur-style prestige series. (That alone would have gotten it picked up by an American distributor as little as two years ago.) Though it's technically under the auspices of BBC Drama, it's described as a "darkly comic and unconventional" drama about a crime family’s inner life, told through Regan’s unique and distinctive voice. 

Here's the series' synopsis:

Mint explores the question of what love might feel like when everyone outside of your family is terrified of you. At the centre is Shannon, the naïve and fiercely romantic daughter of the area’s dominant crime family. Shannon is desperately searching for love in the shadow of her gangster father, Dylan, devoted mum Cat, older brother Luke, and the indomitable family matriarch, Grandma Ollie  Having grown up protected within the surreal, yet violent confines of the ‘family business’, things are set to change once Arran arrives on the scene.

A story about soaring romance and crushing heartbreak, love, infatuation, darkness, and tragedy, Shannon is trying to find herself whilst dealing with the plain weirdness of living alongside the lawless world of the criminal elite, and pursuing her own version of power.

The main cast of Mint includes Emma Laird (The Brutalist) as Shannon, Sam Riley (Rebecca) and Laura Fraser (Patience) as her parents, Lewis Gribben (Black Mirror) as her brother, and Lindsay Duncan (Sherwood) as Grandma Ollie. Ben Coyle-Larner, better known as musician Loyle Carner, debuts in his first on-screen role as Arran. Why PBS and Masterpiece aren't on this is a mystery.

There's nothing quite like a good bad pun, and the title for Bill's Included is exactly that. Starring Welsh comedian Rob Brydon (My Lady Jane), the series is exactly what it says on the tin. It's a comedy about a guy named Bill who rents out his house to students, without mentioning he still lives there, sort of like the world's most awkward long-term Airbnb situation. Hence, "Bill's" being included.

Here's the series' synopsis:

Bill’s Included follows middle-aged divorcee Bill Beam, who staves off financial ruin by renting his spare rooms to students. Warm-hearted and eager but neurotic and slightly overbearing, Bill is thrilled by the youthful energy his lodgers bring – but baffled by their indifference to his laminated house rules and colour-coded cutlery. He’s torn between wanting to be part of the gang - sharing banter, keeping up with trends - and clinging to his role as a responsible adult.

The students, meanwhile, aren’t exactly living the dream: a 90-minute commute to campus, a strict bin rota, and a man in his 50s who insists on a group vote before ordering a takeaway. Still, the rent’s insanely cheap (please don’t tell Bill), and somehow, through all the awkwardness, this chaotic household starts to gel. As Bill and his mismatched lodgers navigate heartbreak, reinvention, and emotional upheaval, surprising parallels emerge between university life and midlife crisis. Can they overcome their differences, embrace their found family, and help each other muddle along? Can Bill learn to be both landlord and land…friend? Probably not, because he’ll get too excited and screw everything up, but let’s see.

The series hails from Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen, the comedy duo known as "The Pin," and is produced by Steve Coogan's outfit, Baby Cow. This belongs on BritBox, but I wouldn't mind seeing it on Hulu or Netflix.

Our final drama on the list, which was only recently commissioned in May 2025, is currently operating under the working title Waiting for the Out. The six-part series is based on Andy West’s acclaimed memoir The Life Inside, adapted for TV by Dennis Kelly (Matilda The Musical). While it might not have an official title, it already sports a cast so large that we have two photos' worth of headshots.

Here's the synopsis:

Dan, a philosopher begins teaching a class of men in prison. Each week, Dan leads discussions about dominance, freedom, luck and other topics that have troubled philosophers for thousands of years – topics that gain a new meaning when seen through the prisoners’ eyes - both igniting passions and creating tension. Through his work, Dan begins to dig deeper into his own past – growing up with a violent father who ended up in prison, as did his brother Lee and uncle Frank. Dan took a different path, but his time working in a prison begins to make him worry, obsessively, that he belongs behind bars just like his father. As Dan’s personal crisis deepens, his actions begin to threaten both his own future, and his family’s.

Said sprawling cast includes (deep breath everybody!): Josh Finan (Say Nothing), Gerard Kearns (The Day of the Jackal), Samantha Spiro (Sex Education), Phil Daniels (House of the Dragon), Stephen Wight (Bergerac), Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo (Rain Dogs), Neal Barry (Ridley Road), Alex Ferns (Andor), Francis Lovehall (A Thousand Blows), Steven Meo (The Pembrokeshire Murders), Tom Moutchi (Criminal Record), Nima Taleghani (Heartstopper), Sule Rimi (The One That Got Away/Cleddau), Charlie Rix (Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Jude Mack (Such Brave Girls), and Ric Renton (The Newspaper).

Kelly penned the six-episode series with Levi David Addai and Ric Renton, Directors Jeanette Nordahl and Ben Palmer split helming duties, with Louise Sutton serving as producer. This will likely be available on BritBox, but it should be on PBS.

Last on the list of commissions (but certainly not least), there is the BBC NI comedy series Leonard & Hungry Paul. This unconventional "comedy" is more of a "feel good series" (which are technically comedies if you use strict Shakespearean definitions), and is based on the novel by Rónán Hession (also known as Mumblin' Deaf Ro), adapted for TV by writers Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson. 

Here's the series logline:

The story follows two unique board-gaming friends as they meander through leafy suburban life, charting a tale about Judo, ancient Rome, first loves, and the expansion of the Universe.

The series is currently filming in Dublin and stars Alex Lawther (The End of the F***ing World), Laurie Kynaston (Fool Me Once), and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls). Director Andrew Chaplin (The Full Monty) helms all six episodes. This so clearly belongs on PBS that I can barely see straight, but Netflix or BritBox will probably nab it before public broadcasting finishes tying its shoes.