Ten TV shows to watch in October

Westworld

Star Wars’ JJ Abrams is behind this ambitious new series about a futuristic, Old West-themed, adults-only amusement park populated by lifelike artificially intelligent robots that have been programmed never to murder the paying customers. Let’s see how long that lasts. The wealthy guests in turn can do whatever they want, even if it means ‘killing’ the townsfolk. “It’s OK, they’re only robots,” they’re told. Or are they? The cast is outstanding: Anthony Hopkins (in his first ever regular TV role), Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood, James Marsden, Jeffrey Wright, Thandie Newton, Tessa Thompson and Sidse Babett Knudsen to name but a few. Previewers have drawn attention to the graphic violence against women but have generally been impressed at the sheer quality of a show that blows the haunting, if low-budget, 1973 film of the same name by Michael Crichton out of the water. Airs Sundays on HBO in the US (Credit: HBO)

Conviction

Agent Carter star Hayley Atwell plays Hayes Morrison, a lawyer and former First Daughter with a drug problem. In order to avoid jail for a cocaine possession charge (and to prevent harming her mother's senate campaign) she takes a job offer from her ‘sexy nemesis’, a New York district attorney, to head up his new wrongful conviction unit. A spoiled brat to begin with, she begins to grow up and take her work seriously. Conviction promises heart as well as soapy appeal and also stars Eddie Cahill, Shawn Ashmore and Emily Kinney. Airs Mondays on ABC in the US (Credit: ABC)

Divorce

Sarah Jessica Parker’s first major TV role since Sex and the City boasts the writing talent of Sharon Horgan, the creator of the biggest – and best – British sitcom for years, Catastrophe. That show, about a transatlantic romance, was a deeply gritty and honest examination of a relationship; this time she is focusing on the end of one and it looks just as snappy, funny and profound. Parker plays a mother of two, Frances, whose decade-long marriage to Robert (Thomas Haden Church) begins to fall apart – though very slowly. Can they get back to liking each other again by calling time on their marriage? And how does that work? Molly Shannon and Tracy Letts also star. Premieres 9 October on HBO in the US (Credit: HBO)

Chance

House star Hugh Laurie plays another troubled doctor – but this time he’s Eldon Chance, a San Francisco-based forensic neuropsychiatrist who gets sucked into a “violent and dangerous world of mistaken identity, police corruption and mental illness”. An adaptation of Kem Nunn's novel, Gretchen Mol, Paul Adelstein, and Clarke Peters also star, in the 10-episode series. The favourable advance notices suggest this programme won’t harm Laurie’s dazzling position in the TV firmament following his acclaimed turn in House and as the amoral businessman Richard Roper in the hit BBC series The Night Manager. Premieres 19 October on Hulu (Credit: Hulu)

Black Mirror

The acclaimed British anthology series presented a dystopian vision of reality warped by technology has been poached from Channel 4 by Netflix, which has grand plans for it. Written by Charlie Brooker, the new episodes count Joe Wright and Dan Trachtenberg among the directors, Mike Schur and Rashida Jones among the writers, and will feature performances from Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Bryce Dallas Howard, Alice Eve, Kelly MacDonald and more. Premieres 21 October on Netflix (Credit: Netflix)

Framed

This exciting Dutch crime drama is based on the award-winning novels of Charles den Tex and focuses on software consultant Michael Bellicher (Daan Schuurman), whose idyllic life becomes a nightmare when someone steals his identity and he is framed for the murder of a colleague. However, what initially appears to be an ordinary case of cyber-crime is in fact part of a terrifying international conspiracy, involving a group who are determined to unleash a civil war between Muslims and Christians. Premieres 14 October on Walter Presents in the UK (Credit: Walter Presents)

The Missing

Acclaimed BBC1 crime drama The Missing is returning for a second series –and the whole premise is changing. Tcheky Karyo is reprising his role as the retired French police officer in the drama, which this time around is about the return of young Alice Webster (Abigail Hardingham), a British girl who went missing in 2003 only to mysteriously turn up in her hometown in 2014. It also stars David Morrissey and Keeley Hawes who play Alice's parents Sam and Gemma. "It’s the other side of the coin to series one," say writers Harry and Jack Williams. If it’s as good as that story, which followed Tony (James Nesbitt) and Emily Hughes (Frances O'Connor) in search of their 5-year-old son Oliver who disappeared while they were on holiday in France, then expect another hit. Premieres 12 October on BBC1 in the UK (Credit: BBC1)

Ordinary Lies

Another drama taking a whole new tack with its second series is Ordinary Lies, Danny Brocklehurst’s drama, which focuses in each episode on an individual point of view and slowly builds a story of intrigue and deceit. Series one was set in a car showroom – which employed a number of 'ordinary' people, each with dark secrets – while the new one is set in a call centre and warehouse of a sports sales company in Wales. A fresh new cast is here, including UK TV legend and comedian Griff Rhys Jones, Kimberley Nixon and Angela Griffin. Premiere date on BBC1 to be determined (Credit: BBC)

HIM

Hopes are high for this ‘domestic horror’ series from ITV, which promises to mix family drama with supernatural intrigue. I tells the story of a 17-year-old boy (known only as ‘HIM’) struggling with the trials of adolescence, divorce and the strange powers he finds himself afflicted with. Newcomer Ffion Whitehead plays the young man, who splits his time between the households of mum Hannah (Katherine Kelly), and dad Edward (James Murray). As if the fractured family situation and volatile teenage years weren't unsettling enough, the young man is also facing a mutual and inescapable attraction to his new stepsister Faith. Premiere date on ITV to be determined (Credit: ITV)

Our Loved Boy

The appalling death of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, who bled to death in a south London stairwell, shocked the UK in 2000. This new BBC1 drama will tell the story of the crime and its aftermath, including the trials of youths suspected of being involved in his death. Babou Ceesay plays the boy's father Richard, with the part of his late wife, Gloria, played by Wunmi Mosaku. The film has been written by screenwriter and playwright Levi David Addai who calls it a tale of “family, fatherhood and hope.” Premiere date on BBC1 to be determined (Credit: BBC)