Everything Coming to BritBox & Acorn TV in July 2026

You know it’s not a great month for British debuts – at least in quantity – when even the Acorn TV and BritBox only have a couple of entries apiece. As we noted last month, the 250th anniversary landing on July 4th means streaming services have gone all in on American history-oriented fare for the summer, including BritBox, even though they tend to be a bit more “King George” oriented about it. (Even BritBox Premier is bringing a documentary to the party titled Wild Horses, the Rockies and Me. Thankfully, the Rockies extend to Canada, so it’s not totally American.)

However, perhaps taking advantage of the reduced debut output from the competition, this July features both MHz Choice and National Theater at Home with brand-new debuts. Having four different streaming services makes this the most diverse list of niche offerings we’ve done thus far, which is very exciting. (We even went back to doing the streaming services in alphabetical order for the occasion!) We’re also noticing a trend in this month’s BBC Select documentaries – everything on our list for July worth watching is a docuseries. We’ll keep an eye out to see if this is a one-time fluke or if the BritBox Premier extra is changing tactics.

Let’s review everything coming to the dedicated niche streaming services in July 2026.

All the new carryover series for Acorn TV this month are wild – Wild Spring and Harry Wild. July is also the wrap-up for Murdoch Mysteries Season 19, but don’t worry, the show’s already renewed for Season 20.

Inspector Ellis Season 2

Acorn may not have much in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality, July is a rockstar. The biggest title is the return of Sharon D Clarke as Inspector Ellis, with Andrew Gower as her partner in crime-solving, DS Chet Harper. The series has a slightly different format – four one-hour episodes comprising two two-part mysteries, instead of Season 1’s three feature-length installments. It works out to about the same length, just divvied up better, and easier to slot into American TV schedules, a necessity if Inspector Ellis is going to eventually debut on PBS Passport.

Inspector Ellis Season 2 will premiere Monday, July 6, 2026, with new episodes streaming weekly through the end of the month.

The Ridge

Once again, I ask, and the universe provides. The Ridge, which we first reported on back in 2025 and recently listed among the BBC dramas we needed to see cross the pond, graces this month’s Acorn TV debuts. A joint production between Scotland and New Zealand, it stars Karen Pirie favorite Lauren Lyle, who travels from the Highlands to attend her sister’s wedding down under, only to discover that murder got there first. Here

The Ridge will premiere Monday, July 27, 2026, with new episodes streaming weekly through the end of August.

BritBox may not be debuting much in July, but it’s got more than enough carryover series to make up for it. There’s Beyond Paradise on Tuesdays, the new adaptation of A Woman of Substance on Wednesdays, and Trigger Point on Thursdays. It’s almost, but not entirely unlike, a real TV schedule!

Escape to the Country Season 33

I appreciate BritBox’s desire to bring over reality shows like Escape to the Country (and the pre-Brexit companion, Escape to the Continent), which were popular on Netflix back in the day. If you’ve never watched, it’s the U.K. answer to HGTV’s House Hunters, except one of the three houses is usually a relic of the 15th century or something. The only issue is that this half-hour show runs on the BBC 50 weeks a year, so it’s 25 hours doled out in awkward chunks since BritBox isn’t streaming it weekly.

Escape to the County Season 33 debuts with six episodes on Friday, July 10, 2026, and then follows weekly on Fridays with four episodes a pop for the next three months through the end of September.

Return to Paradise Season 2

We are thrilled that BritBox is doing the sane and sensible thing by running all three Paradise variants back-to-back, with the finale of one overlapping the premiere of the next. This month, it’ll be the “We Have Paradise at Home” spinoff, Beyond Paradise Season 4, leading into the “We Could Try Having Paradise Where There’s Already A Continent’s Worth of Acting Talent” Australian spinoff, Return to Paradise Season 2.

Return to Paradise Season 2 will premiere on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, the same day Beyond Paradise Season 4 concludes, and will stream weekly through mid-August.

(Please note: this is only for the U.S. Canadians will have to wait a little bit longer.)

Gone

Much like The Other Bennet Sister ended just as Woman of Substance began, and the three Paradise series overlap their finales and premieres, Gone will arrive just as Trigger Point wraps up at the end of July. The six-part police procedural (another one I yelled about, only for it to magically appear) stars Eve Myles (Torchwood) and David Morrissey (Sherwood) in a cat-and-mouse game between a dogged police investigator and her suspect.

Gone will debut on Thursday, July 23, 2026, with three episodes on BritBox, followed by one episode a week through mid-August.

A Woman of Substance (1984)

This isn’t exactly a premiere, more of a “the rights finally came free.” The original 1984 two-part A Woman of Substance miniseries, which aired only in New York City in the U.S. at the time, joins the BritBox remake. Since the streaming service didn’t get the original version before the premiere, BritBox is doing something rather clever, airing the two original installments alongside the final two episodes of the remake.

The original 1984 two-part A Woman of Substance miniseries debuts Wednesday, July 29, and concludes, along with the new remake, a week later on August 5, 2026.

BritBox Premier Documentaries

• July 1: Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job Season 2 (8-episode series)
• July 7: 7/7: The London Bombings (4-episode series)
• July 9: Canal Boat Diaries Season 6 (10-episode series)
• July 16: Tom Read Wilson’s Magnificent Tour of Europe (3-episode series)

Zorro

MHz Choice did that thing PBS Passport did with Season 2 of Patience, waiting until well into June to confirm that Zorro would debut on the final day of the month. Much like the PBS list, we publish this one well before the final day of the month, so we’re putting it in with July. This latest adaptation stars Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin (The Artist) as the famous vigilante, here reimagined as a retired swashbuckler who has rededicated himself to helping others through political and civic improvement.

Zorro will premiere on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, with two episodes on MHZ Choice and stream weekly through mid-August.

Summerfolk

Last, but oh-so-certainly-not-least, National Theater at Home has a brand-new title arriving in July: Summerfolk, Maxim Gorky’s razor-sharp play about privilege and denial. Called a “bold new production,” and directed by Robert Hastie, the play was staged at the Olivier Theatre. It stars Sophie Rundle (Gentleman Jack), Gwyneth Keyworth (Death Valley), Daniel Lapaine (Van der Valk), and Paul Ready (A Gentleman In Moscow).

Summerfolk will start streaming on National Theater at Home beginning Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

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