BBC Northern Ireland reveals Autumn 2025 highlights

With more than 24 hours of scripted drama as well as in-depth documentary and lifestyle programmes, many of them made by independent production companies, the new offering promises a rich mix of content for audiences both locally and across the UK.

Eddie Doyle, Senior Head of Content Commissioning, BBC Northern Ireland, says: “There’s a lot to look forward to on BBC Northern Ireland television this autumn and beyond. This high-quality new season of programming will provide a distinctive collection of exciting scripted content, returning favourites, landmark documentaries and a rich blend of lifestyle and factual series – looking at everything from extraordinary homes and gardens to life in our rural communities and coastline towns.

“The programmes reflect life, both past and present, in this part of the world and are a testament to the storytelling and creative talent of this place. We are grateful to Northern Ireland Screen, our BBC network colleagues and local suppliers who have helped us bring these programmes to BBC audiences.”

Among the upcoming highlights are the new documentary series Titanic Sinks Tonight and Farm 999 and the return of popular programmes Hope Street and House Of The Year.

Drama

Leonard And Hungry Paul is a new 6×30 series produced by independent production company Subotica for the BBC and based on the award-winning, best-selling novel of the same name by Rónán Hession and adapted by Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson. The show boasts a top tier cast including Alex Lawther (The End Of The F***ing World, ALIEN: EARTH), Laurie Kynaston (Fool Me Once, Sandman) and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls, Screw).

Tall Tales & Murder is a new six-part drama commissioned for two series by BBC Northern Ireland and RTÉ, in association with Screen Ireland. The show is written by Stuart Carolan – the writer and creator of RTÉ’s smash-hit crime drama Love/Hate, and is co-created with double EMMY and Directors Guild of America Award winner Chris Addison (The Thick Of It). Tall Tales & Murder is produced by Avalon (Catastrophe) in association with Ireland-based Metropolitan Pictures (KIN). The story is based on the much-loved eight-book Dublin Trilogy by Caimh McDonnell.

In the new series of comedy-drama Faithless, Sam Amin (Baz Ashmawy) is still clinging on and coping with life as the solo parent to three headstrong daughters. Series two is produced by Grand Pictures and will star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell (Derry Girls) and Jayne Wisener (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street).

In another eventful year of drama, Hope Street returns with series five and reaches a milestone – its 50th episode. There are two new faces in Port Devine: Constable Donal Gallagher, played by Cameron Cuffe (Krypton) and Doctor Sasha Cookson, played by Jenn Murray (The Lovers). Hope Street is made by Long Story TV and is commissioned as part of the partnership between the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen.

Documentary

BBC Factual and BBC Northern Ireland have commissioned a new four-part series detailing the sinking of the Titanic, with support from Northern Ireland Screen, for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer. Titanic Sinks Tonight is made by Stellify Media.

Set in the borderlands between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, The Disappearance Of Captain Nairac is a feature-length documentary which explores how the young officer’s life and death echoes the sometimes complex and violent history of the UK and Ireland. The film is made by BAFTA winning director Alison Millar and journalist Darragh Macintyre with support Northern Ireland Screen.

Following Hunting The Catfish Crime Gang and Hunting The Cybersex Crime Gang, BBC Northern and BBC Three have commissioned a new documentary film Hunting The Manosphere (WT) in which James Blake goes beneath the surface of the so-called Manosphere to understand how ordinary boys and men are being impacted and affected by online communities. It will be made by Northern Ireland production company Strident with support from Northern Ireland Screen.

Kegworth: Flight To Disaster (WT) is a compelling and emotional retelling of a disaster that reshaped aviation safety in the UK — and left lasting scars on those who survived.

Girl Fight is a three-part observational documentary series by Below The Radar. It follows female fighters based at a mixed martial arts gym in Ballymena as they strive to overcome hardship both inside and outside the combat sports cage.

Surgery In The Sun (WT) is made by Alleycats TV and features journalist Aoife Moore who goes behind the TikTok posts and newspaper headlines to try to understand why more and more people are travelling to Turkey for cosmetic surgery.

The Rise Of Hip Hop In Northern Ireland (WT), produced by Lindsay Entertainment and Yolk Films, is a new documentary for BBC Northern Ireland that tells the untold story of a genre ‘born from resistance and self-expression’ and how it took root in an unlikely corner of the world.

Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Farming can be one of the most dangerous professions in the UK. Farm 999 is a new BBC Daytime and BBC Northern Ireland co-commission, which looks at this often unseen aspect of rural life as farmers strive to feed the nation and protect the environment. The 15-part series is presented by Steph McGovern and made by Stellify Media with support from Northern Ireland Screen.

House Of The Year is returning to BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer, with design expert and TV personality Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen back to host the new series with judges Jane Larmour, James Fairley and Patricia McGinnis.

Greatest Gardens is a new series which features award-winning garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and renowned plant expert Carol Klein, who will be joined each week by celebrity guests including Penny Lancaster, Dame Prue Leith, Patrick Grant, Fred Sirieix and Katie Piper. The series is produced by Waddell Media.

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