What to watch in October 2022: best TV shows on Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, Sky, BBC and Channel 4

New month, new television: with the start of October comes a whole host of new offerings to look out for.

Here’s your guide to what’s on TV across October 2022, with a look at all the highlights across both terrestrial channels and the major streaming networks.

We’ve selected our top picks and the best of the rest to give you an idea of what to watch this month.

BBC One

Top Picks

Doctor Who | October

Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall’s final episode. The Daleks, Cybermen, and the Master unite, and classic 1980s companions Tegan and Ace return in this feature-length regeneration special. Full details – including a synopsis and airdate – to be released in mid-October.

Ralph & Katie | Wednesday 5 October

A spinoff of Peter Bowker’s popular BBC One drama The A Word, Ralph and Katie finds its eponymous leads adjusting to married life. Leon Harrop and Sarah Gordy star in this 6x30min drama from new and emerging disabled writers and directors like Genevieve Barr (When Barbara Met Alan) and Jordan Hogg (Ackley Bridge).

Best of the Rest

RUSSIA 1985-1999 TRAUMAZONE | Thursday 13 October

Journalist and Bafta award-winning filmmaker Adam Curtis has created a new series of seven films, not just the end of communism, but the failure of democracy too.

BBC Two

Top Picks

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy S2 | Sunday 1 October

Stanley Tucci (Inside Man) returns for a second series of his much loved cooking/travelogue food show.

BBC Three

Top Picks

Wreck | Sunday 9 October

A tense thriller mixing comedy with slasher as a Killer Duck goes on a cruise ship murder spree. Stars Jack Rowan (Noughts & Crosses) and Thaddea Graham (Doctor Who).

ITV & ITVX

Top Picks

The Walk-In | Monday 3 October

Based on a true story, Steven Graham stars in this drama about a reformed white supremacist going undercover to foil a Neo-Nazi plot to kill an MP. Jason Flemyng and Leanne Best also star.

Emmerdale’s 50^th Anniversary | Sunday 16 October

An hour-long special episode, celebrating 50 years at the Dales.

Best of the Rest

Without Sin | October, n.d.

Vicky McClure plays Stella, still hostage to grief and brought face to face with her daughter’s murderer. This psychological thriller will be initially exclusive to ITVX, before arriving on ITV proper later in the year.

Jeremy Paxman: Putting Up with Parkinson’s | Tuesday 4 October

The former Newsnight host who recently stepped down from University Challenge opens up with his experience of the neurological condition Parkinson’s.

The Martin Lewis Money Show | Tuesday 4 October

Martin Lewis returns for a new series of his money saving expert show, answering viewer questions and trying to explain how best to manage over the coming months.

Channel 4

Top Picks

I Hate You | October

A comedy about the intense, messy friendship between two women in their 20s. Robert Popper (Friday Night Dinner) writes and Damon Beesley (The Inbetweeners) directs while Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) and Melissa Saint star.

Best of the Rest

Jon Richardson: Take My Mother-in-Law | Thursday 5 October

Another comedian-with-their-parent travel show, except this time it’s Jon Richardson and it’s his mother-in-law. So stretching the definition of “parent” and “comedian” there with this one.

Britbox

Top Picks

Hammer Horror Classics | Thursday 27 October

A number of classic Hammer Horror films – including Doctor Jekyll and Sister Hyde, Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors, Frankenstein Created Woman and The Nanny – will come to Britbox just in time for Hallowe’en.

Best of the Rest

Criminal Justice S1-2 (2008-2009) | Thursday 20 October

Series 1 follows Ben Coulter who is accused of committing a crime that he has no recollection of after a drunken and drug-filled night out. Series 2 follows Juliet through the criminal justice system after she stabs her abusive husband. Starring Ben Whishaw, Maxine Peake, Alice Sykes and Vineeta Rishi.

Guilt S2 (2021) | Thursday 13 October

Two brothers with opposite temperaments unwittingly run over and kill an old man. But their attempts to cover up the crime only stir up more trouble. Starring Mark Bonnar, Jamie Sives, Sara Vickers and Emun Elliott.

Sky & NOW TV

Top Picks

The White Lotus S2 | Sunday 30 October

Mike White’s satire of the wealthy and privileged returns. The upcoming second series moves to Italy and another branch of the White Lotus Hotel Chain, introducing new characters played by Aubrey Plaza, Michael Imperioli, and F Murray Abraham. Jennifer Coolidge reprises her role from Series 1.

Gangs of London S2 | Thursday 20 October

The surviving Wallaces are scattered, the Dumanis broken and estranged, and ex-undercover cop Elliot is now being forced to work for the investors. There’s a new ruling force in London, but his vision for the criminal landscape is a dictatorship – and it can’t last forever. Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Paapa Essiedu, and Lucian Msamati star.

Best of the Rest

Babylon Berlin S4 | Friday 14 October

Moody German noir set against the chaotic early 1930s as the Weimar Republic began to crumble. Volker Bruch and Liv Lisa Fries star.

Monstrous | Tuesday 11 October

A new horror series from the director of Train to Busan.

Netflix

Top Picks

The Bastard Son & the Devil Himself | Friday 28 October

A new series from Giri/Haji and The Lazarus Project screenwriter Joe Barton, who’s always worth your time. Caught between two warring clans, the son of a notorious witch responsible for a deadly massacre tries to find his place in the world — and his powers.

The Midnight Club | Friday 7 October

Mike Flanagan of The Haunting of Hill House and Doctor Sleep returns for more spine-tingling horror. At a hospice for terminally ill young adults, eight patients come together every night at midnight to tell each other stories — and make a pact that the next of them to die will give the group a sign from the beyond.

Best of the Rest

Dead End: Paranormal Park | Thursday 13 October

Hamish Steele’s coming-of-age cartoon is perfect for young adult LGBTQ viewers. Two teenagers and a talking pug work together to fight demons in a haunted amusement park. The two slowly start to grow into themselves as they face zombies, game show hosts, witches, and crushes.

Amazon Prime Video

Top Picks

The Devil’s Hour | Friday 28 October

A dark new thriller starring Peter Capaldi, Jessica Raine, and Nikesh Patel. A woman wakes up with horrifying visions at 3:33am every night - but what are her nightmares trying to tell her? Written by Tom Moran and produced by Hartswood Films.

The Peripheral | Friday 21 October

Chloë Grace Moretz stars as Flynne Fisher, a woman trying to hold together the pieces of her broken family in a forgotten corner of tomorrow’s America. Flynne is smart, ambitious, and doomed. She has no future; until the future comes calling for her. From William Gibson.

Catherine, Called Birdy | Friday 7 October

In medieval England, the daughter of a financially destitute Lord thwarts her father’s plans to marry her off to a wealthy suitor. When the most vile suitor arrives, her parent’s love for her is tested. Children’s fantasy directed by Lena Dunham.

Best of the Rest

High School | Friday 14 October, Amazon Freevee

YA drama told through a backdrop of ‘90s grunge and rave culture. Based on the best-selling memoir by musicians and siblings Tegan and Sara Quinn.

Icons Unearthed: Star Wars | Friday 21 October, Amazon Freevee

A documentary about the making of Star Wars, featuring the first ever screen interview with Marcia Lucas – the Oscar-winning editor credited with making the original film actually watchable, and George Lucas’ ex-wife.

Disney+

Top Picks

The Bear | Wednesday 5 October

An intense drama about an award-winning chef coming home to Chicago to run the failing family restaurant.

Best of the Rest

Werewolf by Night | Friday 7 October

A black-and-white Marvel horror, directed by composer Michael Giacchino. He’s described it as a “love letter to monsters and the humanity behind them”.

Apple TV+

Top Picks

Shantaram | Friday 14 October

Fugitive Lin Ford looks to get lost in chaotic 1980s Bombay; alone in an unfamiliar city, Lin struggles to avoid trouble but falls for an enigmatic woman and must choose between freedom and love and the complications that come with it. Charlie Hunnam stars in this adaptation of Gregory David Roberts’ 2003 novel.

Paramount+

Top Picks

Let the Right One In | Saturday 8 September

Television adaptation of the famous vampire movie. Mark and Eleanor’s lives were changed forever when she was turned into a vampire; now, Eleanor lives a life of isolation, and Mark does his best to find a cure for his daughter.

Best of the Rest

The Ex-Wife | Wednesday 12 October

Tasha is living the dream: she has the perfect house, a loving husband and a beautiful little girl. But there’s one large blot on Tasha’s marital landscape: her husband’s ex-wife won’t leave them alone and seems intent on staying in the picture. What if the dream becomes a nightmare? Céline Buckens (Showtrial) stars in this adaptation of Jess Ryder’s novel.

Star Trek: Prodigy S2 | Friday 28 October

The family-friendly Star Trek animation returns for further adventures. Kate Mulgrew, Brett Gray, and Ella Purnell star.

Peacock

Top Picks

Friend of the Family | Friday 7 October

True crime drama about a child kidnapped multiple times over multiple years by the same man. Anna Paquin (The Affair) and Jake Lacy (The White Lotus) star.

And keep an eye out for…

A new adaptation of Interview with the Vampire is coming to AMC on Sunday 2 October, while Supernatural prequel The Winchesters is arriving on the CW on Tuesday 11 October. Neither have UK airdates just yet though.

You might also be interested to know that Peaky Blinders and Derry Girls are coming to Netflix US in early October, hence why they might be in the conversation again.