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2022’s most anticipated TV shows

Thanks to the powers of fast broadband deals and quality streaming services, it’s now easier than ever to instantly watch your favourite TV shows. Whether you strictly use Netflix for your nightly streaming sessions or you’re a devoted Apple TV user, there is no escaping how popular the different series produced by streaming platforms have become.

If your broadband makes streaming difficult, remember you can browse a range of broadband offers using our comparison tool, which will help you find cheap broadband deals that cater to your needs.

With so many top-rated shows coming from the streaming giants, the broadband and TV experts at Uswitch were curious to discover which shows have made the biggest impression and which have left us wanting more. 

To reveal the most anticipated TV shows in 2022, the researchers compiled a list of the shows made by Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus, Hulu, and HBO Max. We then consulted Google data to see which ones we’re searching for the most to find out when the next series is out.

This is the TV show we’re most excited for in 2022

Season four of Netflix’s Stranger Things is the most anticipated TV show release this year, with over one million monthly global searches made by those who desperately want to watch it. 

This is likely because it has been two years in the making and promises to be supersized with a runtime nearly double that of previous seasons. Adding to the anticipation, the supernatural show that follows a group of young friends is set to be released in two volumes; the first will premiere on 27th May 2022 and the second will follow five weeks later on 1st July.

In fact, 70% of the top ten list is made up of Netflix original content. The Korean drama series, Squid Game, is second on the list - which comes as no surprise since the streaming service announced it is one of their most successful shows ever. The dystopian survival show has been renewed for another season, but no release date has been confirmed which explains why nearly 723,000 searches are made each month by people looking for season two.

Third on the list is Outer Banks. Netflix confirmed that the next season of the teenage treasure hunt drama will continue into season three; however, no release date has been announced yet. But the good news for those searching for answers is that in February 2022 they confirmed season three is in production.

When looking at other Netflix creations, Ginny & Georgia is fourth on the list with 271,000 monthly global searches for the next series, whilst the hit show The Crown season five is sixth. Emily in Paris season three is eighth, and Bridgerton season three completes the top ten list. 

Shows made by other streaming services also feature in the most anticipated list; for example, the Disney+ produced show, Loki is fifth thanks to the 241,900 global monthly searches for season two, following the success of the first season. An Apple TV production also features in the top 10, with Ted Lasso being revealed as the seventh most anticipated TV show of 2022.

Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan is in ninth place with over 178,000 monthly searches made for its third season around the globe.

Netflix’s most anticipated shows

Looking specifically at Netflix shows in the top 30, the majority of the list is made up of fictional storylines and shows that offer high drama. This includes Stranger Things which has nearly 1,022,000 searches every month around the globe for its next season, as well as Squid Game, Outer Banks, and The Crown.

However, there are some real-life shows that fans are eager to see the next season of too. Formula 1: Drive to Survive first hit our screens in 2019 and has since been one of the most popular docu-fiction series on Netflix. Since its launch three years ago, it has had four successful series following the lives of professional Formula 1 drivers in the midst of peak competition time. It has been renewed for another eagerly anticipated season, but those making the 92,450 monthly searches about the series will have to wait until sometime in 2023 to watch it.

Another real-life show making the top 20 list is Selling Sunset, which is well-known for sending social media into a frenzy when each season is released. Again, Netflix has confirmed that the reality hit has been renewed for seasons six and seven, but fans of the LA real estate show will have to hold tight until an official release date is announced. 

Completing the top 20 list is the reality hit show, Tiger King, as there are 52,000 global searches for the next season every month. The real-life drama (which feels too weird and incredible to be true) has already seen great success with the first two seasons following the feud between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin, and fans are patiently waiting to hear if a third season is happening.

Disney Plus most anticipated shows

Google search data proves that Marvel fans are amongst the most dedicated, as the top four most anticipated shows are all products of the American comic book and entertainment company. Loki, which follows the life of the God of Mischief after the events of Avengers: Endgame, is due for a second season in the next 12-18 months and it’s already being searched for nearly 242,000 times each month. 

The Mandalorian season two is the second-most anticipated TV show produced by Disney Plus with 115,250 monthly searches worldwide, followed by WandaVision (starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany) in third place. Fourth on the list is Hawkeye, which only launched on the platform in November 2021 but already has fans anxiously waiting for Hawkeye season two. 

Following the top four action-packed series is the light-hearted comedy Big Shot at number five on the list, as a result of 18,050 monthly searches for the second series. Luckily for fans of the show that details the life of a basketball coach who takes the job as a sports teacher at a private all-girls school in a moment of desperation, Big Shot season two is confirmed!

Amazon Prime’s most anticipated shows 

The Jack Ryan TV series first hit our screens in 2018 and has been praised for recreating the ‘Ryanverse’, which was first created by Tom Clancy, the author of the Jack Ryan books. Searches for Jack Ryan season three are made 171,620 times every month. Fans are inevitably more excited about it since Amazon Prime announced season three is coming soon and season four will be the finale. 

Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne are the stars of Amazon Prime’s second-most anticipated show, Carnival Row, which is releasing its second season this year. This is followed by the crime drama, Reacher, which is searched for 59,930 times each month around the world.

Completing the top five Prime shows that fans are anxiously waiting for the most are The Boys (an American superhero series) in fourth at 46,260 searches, and The Wheel of Time is fifth with over 35,070 monthly searches for its second season. 

Only one reality show features on the top 15 list - there are nearly 11,500 searches for Clarkson’s Farm season two every month, which ranks it as the 10th most anticipated Amazon Prime show. It was praised by the farming community for showing the struggles they face in their day-to-day lives as celebrity Jeremy Clarkson starts to run his own farm. Clarkson’s Farm season two release date is not yet known, but it promises to follow Clarkson and his loveable rural guide, Caleb.

Hulu’s most anticipated shows

Hulu’s most anticipated show is Only Murders In The Building, starring Selena Gomez, Steve Martin and Martin Short, with over 67,000 monthly searches on Google made each month. Set in New York and following the lives of three unlikely friends, it’s a guaranteed giggle as you watch regular people become obsessed with a true-crime podcast. In fact, it’s been so well received that it’s scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

Little Fires Everywhere (based on the best-selling book by Celeste Ng) is second on the list. Following that is another series based on a book, Love Victor, which is inspired by Becky Albertalli's young adult novel, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Interestingly, another series based on a book is in fifth place too, with 26,050 monthly searches for The Handmaid’s Tale season five. 

Hulu is not available in the UK however many Hulu shows are available on Disney+.

The most anticipated shows on Apple TV

Although Apple TV’s own content is fairly new in comparison to Netflix and Amazon Prime, it’s getting a lot of attention for the quality of its own productions. Ted Lasso tops the most anticipated list with over 178,000 monthly searches for its third season. The show features Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein. 

For All Mankind is second on the list, followed by The Morning Show in third place with nearly 27,100 searches for the third instalment of Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon acting as morning news hosts.

The most anticipated shows on HBO Max

With 40,550 global monthly searches, And Just Like That… tops the list as HBO Max’s most anticipated show.

The spin-off series to the iconic Sex and The City launched earlier this year and gave fans the chance to catch up on the lives of Carrie, Charlotte, Miranda and Samantha. In March this year, HBO Max confirmed the spin-off show has been renewed, which explains why fans are so excited about the release. 

Peacemaker, based on a DC Comic, is the second-most anticipated show on the streaming platform, where viewers watch the main character fight for peace no matter what the cost. This is followed by Raised by Wolves, which has 18,030 monthly searches for its next season, Hacks is fourth, and Station Eleven is fifth on the list.

HBO Max is not available in the UK however many HBO Max shows are available on Sky and NOW.

For many of us, streaming services are the best and easiest way to watch TV shows and films at home. But with so many streaming services available, monthly subscription fees can add up quickly. Here’s how to save money on your streaming services and make sure you always have access to the best content without paying too much.

What is TV streaming and how does it work?

TV streaming is any on-demand service that allows you to pick and choose which titles you want to watch and when you want to watch them. And if you’re new to the world of TV streaming, don’t worry. It’s usually very simple and straightforward to get started, so you can stream TV shows and films to your TV or smart device with just a few clicks.  Platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney Plus and NOW are online services that you can access either via a computer or smart device or with TV stream devices and smart TVs.

To stream TV shows and films, you’ll need a reliable broadband connection, but most streaming platforms don’t use up a huge amount of bandwidth unless you’re streaming in HD or 4K. We’d recommend a fibre broadband connection of at least 30-40Mbps if that’s possible where you live. Each streaming service gives you access to a different library of content, with most of them producing their own exclusive, original content that you can only watch with a subscription to their service. 

How many streaming services do you need?

Deciding which streaming service to get and the number of streaming services you need will depend on which TV shows and films you just have to watch. Each streaming service has its own collection of content, some of which is exclusive but some of which can be found on other platforms.

This means that, at any given time, your household will probably have more than one subscription to a streaming service, with the average household having around two or three. And at an average monthly cost of between £5 and £10 a service, you could be spending £20-£40 a month on your streaming subscriptions.

How can I save money on streaming services?

Most of us use streaming services to watch TV and films at home, but the cost quickly adds up. You don’t need to miss your favourite TV shows but you also don’t need to be out of pocket each month.

1. Figure out which services to cancel and when

First things first, take stock of all your current streaming services and note the last time you watched content on them. If it’s been more than a month, you should probably cancel that service straight away. Don’t worry, unlike traditional pay-TV services, all the major streaming services are flexible monthly subscriptions.

See if you could get better broadband for streaming and save money on your bill at the same time.

So if you cancel your subscription now and decide tomorrow, next week or next month that you want to renew it, it takes just a few clicks and you’ll be back streaming in minutes.

How to cancel Netflix

If you find that you haven’t really been using your Netflix subscription in the last month, it’s fairly easy to cancel. Using your browser, navigate to the Account section of your user profile. You’ll then see a clear prompt to Cancel Membership.

How to cancel Amazon Prime Video

The main difficulty in cancelling your Amazon Prime membership is that they are typically annual memberships. While you can pay monthly, the benefits and discounts of annual membership are so heavily pushed when signing up that most of us are on a 12-month contract. This means that you’ll be able to cancel your Amazon Prime subscription renewal, rather than cancelling your membership immediately. 

Note: If you haven’t used your Prime membership, you are eligible for a full refund of the current membership period and Amazon will process the refund in three to five business days.

How to cancel Disney Plus

If you’ve subscribed to Disney Plus directly, it’s a simple matter of navigating to your Account section, scrolling down to the subscription section, and then clicking cancel.

Like Amazon Prime, if you’ve signed up for an annual membership, you won’t be able to cancel immediately as you’ve already pre-paid for the year. The other complication will be if you subscribed to Disney Plus via Sky.

How to cancel Disney Plus on Sky

Sky TV customers are able to add Disney Plus to their Sky subscription fairly easily via the MySky app. Just as you would add on BT Sport or other additional TV services, you can add Disney Plus to your monthly Sky TV package by simply toggling on the Disney Plus option.

However, it’s slightly more complicated to cancel Disney Plus on Sky, as you’ll need to contact Sky directly to change your TV subscription. In this case, you’ll need to call the Sky downgrade number below to remove Disney Plus from your subscription. There’s also a 31-day notice period to cancel, so it’s not quite so simple to cancel Disney Plus on Sky.

How to cancel Disney Plus on Amazon

If you signed up for Disney Plus via Amazon Prime, you’ll have to follow slightly different steps, but you can cancel online without having to call anyone.

How to cancel Apple TV Plus

You can cancel your subscription to Apple TV Plus a couple of ways. Firstly, by navigating to your profile tv.apple.com. 

Another way to cancel your Apple TV Plus subscription is on your iPhone. 

Note: If you’re using the free trial you got after purchasing an Apple product, cancelling will immediately revoke your access to Apple TV+. You’ll need to wait until the free trial is about to end before cancelling, so set a reminder the day before so you don’t forget.

How to cancel Britbox

Similarly, if you’ve subscribed to BritBox directly you can cancel by simply going to your account profile.

If you signed up via your Apple ID or Google Play account, you’ll need to cancel your subscription on those platforms.  For Apple, follow the same steps as cancelling Apple TV+ detailed above. For Google, visit this Google support page and click Cancel a Subscription.

2. Plan your TV show binge-watching

Since you’re able to cancel and restart most streaming subscriptions as and when you need them, it makes sense to be a little more strategic about what you watch and when. By timing your subscriptions to when TV shows and films are released, you can be sure you never miss an episode without paying for multiple services at the same time.

For example, if you know you’re going to binge-watch the new season of Bridgerton or The Crown when they’re released, you’ll need to make sure you have a live Netflix subscription for those months. And depending on how many hours of TV you watch a night, you may not even need any of the others during those months.

This could save you around £20 a month, or £240 a year. Use our “What to watch” tool to help you plan which subscriptions you need so you can watch all the latest and upcoming TV shows and save money on your streaming services.

2. Make the most of free trials and free platforms

Unfortunately, two of the biggest streaming services, Netflix and Disney Plus, have stopped offering free trials to new customers. But you can still try out some of the other big streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, NOW and BritBox for free.

If that’s not enough, there are actually a number of streaming services available in the UK with a huge selection of content that you can access for free. Services like All 4, My5, UKTV Play and BBC iPlayer allow you to watch TV shows and films without ever having to pay a penny – you will have to watch some ads, though. Read more about how to get streaming services for free with our dedicated guide.

3. Share your subscriptions with friends and family

The act of sharing streaming login details with family and friends became so common that platforms quickly began integrating individual profiles into their interfaces. Streaming giants like Netflix and Disney Plus understood that families and friends would share access to their subscriptions, and in doing so are far more likely to keep their subscriptions for much longer.

However, for the last couple of years, there have been several rumours that Netflix will be phasing out this option, with trials taking place in different regions around the world testing out restrictions and additional charges for adding profiles. So while you’re still able, make the most of being able to share your subscription with family and friends. 

4. Use promo codes and discounts 

Keep an eye out for promotions and discounts. You’ll sometimes be able to grab a promotional code or renewal code that will lower your monthly TV subscription price, but the most common discount to use is a student discount. Amazon Prime in particular offers a student discount on its monthly subscription fee, costing £3.25 a month instead of the usual £7.99 for regular Prime membership.

See if you could get better broadband for streaming and save money on your bill at the same time.

Where can I watch my favourite TV shows online?

Here are some of the most-searched-for TV shows and movies and where you can find them.

Where can I watch The Lord of the Rings TV show?

The hype around this show started in 2017 when Amazon paid a record-breaking $250 million for the TV rights to the beloved franchise. Set in Middle-Earth, in an era preceding the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings films, this hotly anticipated TV show is certainly going to be epic. But will it end up just being an epic fail?

Costing around $465 million to produce (and that’s before any marketing or promotion costs) the LOTR TV show could end up being history’s first billion-dollar TV production. Are you planning to watch?

The Lord of the Rings will premiere on 2 September 2022 on Amazon Prime Video.

Where can I watch the new Game of Thrones show, House of the Dragon?

No franchise knows about epic fails better than Game of Thrones. But while the final season was a monumental disappointment, the upcoming prequel series House of Dragon is still highly anticipated. Following the story of the book Fire and Blood, which George R.R. Martin decided to write instead of finishing the Song of Ice and Fire series, the new show is set some 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

Featuring an impressive cast, including Paddy Considine, Olivia Cooke, Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith, could House of the Dragon restore our love for the world of Westeros?

House of Dragon will air on Sky Atlantic at some point in 2022.

Where can I watch The Crown Season 5?

Season 4 of The Crown was, in my humble opinion, the best yet. Ending with Diana well and truly trapped in her unhappy marriage, season 5 will apparently start in 1992 and run through 1997, covering her tragic death in Paris. Other important events that may be shown are the Queen's golden wedding anniversary, Tony Blair winning the general election, the deaths of Princess Margaret and the Queen Mother, and William and Kate’s first meeting at St Andrew's.

The Crown Season 5 will premiere in November 2022.

Where can I watch Better Call Saul Season 6

The much-loved prequel to Breaking Bad, which follows the show’s trusty but troubled lawyer Saul Goodman, will enter its sixth and final season in 2022. Over the last seven years, we’ve seen Saul venture further and further into the criminal world, and we’re desperate to finally find out how he’ll land his inevitable role as Albuquerque’s most notorious defence lawyer. Who will Saul meet in the Breaking Bad universe next?

What carnage will Lalo get up to this time? And most importantly, *what happens to Kim?* Find out on Netflix this year.

Where can I watch Succession?

Succession is another popular HBO show, currently filming its third season. You can watch the exploits of the Logan family via Sky or NOW on Sky Atlantic.

Where can I watch Love Island?

The ITV reality TV show that’s taken the world by storm since it premiered in 2015 is pretty much all the TV world talks about each summer. Love Island airs on ITV, but if you want to watch past seasons you’ll need to subscribe to the ITV/BBC streaming service, Britbox.

Where can I watch Friends?

For now, Friends is still available to stream on Netflix in the UK. Even those of us who know the entire series word-for-word, rewatching Friends is a source of great comfort. Friends has bounced from network to network over the years, appearing on terrestrial and satellite TV channels before making its way to streaming services. Streaming rights in the US are a little more complicated, as while Friends originally aired on NBC who now have their own Peacock streaming service, it was produced by Warner Bros, owners of HBO. As such, Friends moved from Netflix to HBO Max. And had the reunion special gone ahead, it would have been streamed on HBO Max as well.

Where can I watch The Office (US)?

At the moment, you can watch The US Office on Amazon Prime Video. Even if you were a fan of the UK original series from Ricky Gervais, there’s no denying that the US Office far surpassed the UK original, and remains one of the most rewatched series in the world.  Like Friends, The Office first aired on NBC, and as such rights to the show have since returned to NBC in the US, and it was one of the headline shows when it first launched Peacock. 

Where can I watch The Handmaid's Tale?

Channel 4 has had the exclusive rights to The Handmaid’s Tale since its first season, and it will be the first place to watch season 4 when it is released. Unfortunately, at the time of writing there is still no official UK release date. You can catch up on all the previous seasons on Amazon Prime Video while you wait.