Everything Coming to BritBox & Acorn TV in October 2026

We are only a few months away from 2027, the 20th anniversary of the twin launches of Netflix and Hulu. The former began offering a streaming alternative to its DVD-by-mail business in February; the latter launched six months later as a joint service owned by three of the American broadcast “Big Four” networks in a desperate attempt to give viewers a legal way to stream over-the-air shows the next day. At the time, PBS was the only way to regularly watch British shows – it would be almost five years before broadband reached a point where VPNing iPlayer became a practical way to watch anything.

A lot has changed in 20 years. Not only are there multiple services dedicated to bringing over British TV series; finally, someone is trying to bundle them together as a unit. Amazon is not nearly as competent as it thinks it is (if it were, it would have launched “Streaming Service Cable” in 2021 and instantly dethroned Netflix). However, with MGM+ desperately in need of help, it’s starting to realize the value of bundling it with the matching streaming services it already offers as add-ons (BritBox, AMC+, Starz, the PBS Masterpiece Channel) into a custom, targeted package.

Personally, I am not signing up for this five-in-one service because it lacks National Theatre at Home and Acorn TV – though to be fair, AMC+ needs the boost more. (I’m also not really into giving Amazon any more money than strictly necessary.) But the fact that it exists reminds us we are in the time of The Great Rebundling, and that in another decade, the streaming landscape will look very different from what it is now.

Let’s review everything coming to said dedicated niche streaming services in October 2026.

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Our second in this series of occasional reminders: Acorn TV premiered both Blue Murder Motel and The Assassin on the final two Mondays of August; both aired new episodes straight through September and will follow with early October finales.

The Graham Norton Show Season 34

One of the few reasons BBC America still has to keep its moniker: The Graham Norton Show Season 34 debuts with new episodes at the top of October, all of a week after its premiere on BBC One. Guests for the first round of episodes include several actors doing the awards season rounds, including Tom Cruise, Florence Pugh, Lolly Adefope, John Bishop, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Andrew Garfield, Olivia Colman, and Alexander Skarsgård.

The Graham Norton Show Season 34 premieres on BBC America and AMC+ on Thursday, October 1, 2026.

Kill Jackie

In the tiniest bit of synergy, Zeta-Jones’ reason for being on Graham Norton is to promote her newest series, Kill Jackie, which also premieres on AMC+ at the top of the month. Based on The Price You Pay by best-selling author Aidan Truhen (the pen name of Nick Harkaway), the series looks to be a more gangster-laden riff on Killing Eve, with Jones putting all that stunt training she received during her blockbuster movie era to good use.

Kill Jackie will premiere on AMC+ on Friday, October 2, 2026, and will stream one episode a week on AMC+ through mid-November.

Signora Volpe Season 3

Signora Volpe, the luxurious Italian-set odd-couple detective series starring Silent Witness Emilia Fox, is back for Season 3, as Fox’s character, former MI-6 agent Sylvia Fox (no relation!), gets back to her life after Season 2’s finale saw her abducted and nearly killed by thugs working for her ex-husband. Bonus: viewers get travel-ad-perfect views of the stunning Lazio and Umbria regions. The result is peak escapism and crime-solving all in one very pretty package.

Signora Volpe season 3 premieres on Monday, October 5, 2026, on Acorn TV and will debut one episode a week through the end of the month.

This Is Not a Murder Mystery

This Is Not a Murder Mystery is a Belgian-produced, English-language series set in the 1930s, where a group of Surrealist artists trying to become famous find themselves trapped with a serial killer. The mystery is an Agatha Christie-esque riff, set on an English country estate, with everyone a suspect, from Salvador Dalí to René and Georgette Magritte.

This Is Not a Murder Mystery premieres Monday, October 12, 2026, and streams weekly through mid-November.

The Red King

Following in the footsteps of The Assassin, The Red King is another series that had a weekly rollout on AMC+ in the latter half of 2025 when it should have gone straight to Acorn; now it’s moving there, bag and baggage, as if it never premiered here before. Created by Toby Whithouse and starring Anjli Mohindra, Marc Warren, and Adjoa Andoh, the series is a contemporary police procedural crossed with The Wicker Man. Once again, the weekly rollout transfers intact.

The Red King premieres Monday, October 19, 2026, and continues with weekly episodes through the end of November.

Yaga

Technically Canadian, Yaga gets grandfathered in because it fits the AMC+ “Gangsters & Ghouls” brand that includes Interview with the Vampire, Sanctuary: A Witch’s Tale, Domino Day: Lone Witch, and The Midwitch Cuckoos. Carrie-Anne Moss and Hudson Williams star in this horror series based on the Baby Yaga myth.

Yaga will debut on AMC+ on Friday, October 23, 2026, with two episodes, followed by one a week before, culminating in a two-part finale at the end of November.

Wolf

The other series that probably should have at least had a shared rollout on Acorn TV, Wolf arrived on Shudder and AMC+ at the tail end of December 2025. One of the biggest BBC horror series from 2025, it stars Sacha Dhawan, Iwan Rheon, and Ukweli Roach. Roach leads the cast as DI Jack Caffery, a cop obsessed with his brother’s death, who crosses paths with the wealthy Anchor-Ferrers, who have many secrets to hide. In a sign this series does belong on Shudder, and this is more of a “whoops, should have shared it earlier,” Acorn TV isn’t getting a weekly rollout of the six-part series, just a binge drop.

Wolf premieres with all episodes on Monday, October 26, 2026.

An Autumn to Die For Documentaries

• Monday, October 5: The A-Z Killer (2 episodes)
• Monday, October 12: The Flight Attendant Murders (4 episodes)
• Monday, October 19: Wrongly Accused (10 episodes)
• Monday, October 26: The Hunt for the Chameleon Killer (3 episodes)

Unlike Acorn TV, BritBox has a ton of shows carrying over from September, including the brand new series Agatha Christie’s Tommy & Tuppence, the second season of Showtrial, and Cooper & Fry Season 1. BritBox Premier subscribers also have more episodes of Antiques Roadshow Season 49 and The Travel Show Season 9.

Celebrity Escape to the Country Season 2

Escape to the Country is to BritBox as House Hunters is to HGTV. However, much like Antiques Roadshow, the BBC version is far better, simply because the housing stock sometimes dates back to 1066 and all that. Also, instead of idiot Americans, the people looking for houses are British celebrities you may or may not recognize.

Celebrity Escape to the Country Season 2 debuts on Friday, October 2, 2026, with two episodes, followed by one a week through mid-November.

Ludwig Season 2

If The Other Bennet Sister was BritBox’s defining hit costume drama, then Ludwig is its defining hit mystery series. The David Mitchell-led series (in which he plays identical twins, one of whom is conveniently missing) only gets better in Season 2, with brand-new guest stars, brand-new mysteries, and more on the hunt for Ludwig’s missing twin brother.

Ludwig Season 2 debuts on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, and will follow with one episode a week through mid-November. A BritBox Premier early release has not yet been announced.

Time Season 3

Originally a limited series about the dreadful experience of a men’s lockup for prisoners and guards alike, Time’s massive ratings turned it into an anthology series, with Season 2 moving the action to a women’s lockup, and now Season 3 to the boys’ YOI – Young Offenders Institution. If you thought it was hard to watch how unforgiving, traumatizing, and uncaring the British justice system can be when those caught in it are adults, wait until you see it with literal children.

Time Season 3 debuts on Thursday, October 22, 2026, and streams one episode a week through early November. We expect that all episodes will be available to stream on premiere day for BritBox Premier subscribers.

Would I Lie To You? Season 19

It’s been a minute since Season 18 of Would I Lie to You? crossed the pond in July 2025 as part of BritBox’s initial round of beefing up its game show offerings. A year and change later, Season 19 is here, and notably is the only show on this list that hasn’t moved to a weekly release instead of a binge dump.

All 13 episodes of Would I Lie to You? Season 19 arrive on BritBox on Monday, October 26, 2026.

BBC Select Documentaries

• Thursday, October 1: The Showjumper Murder Season 1 (2 episodes)
• Thursday, October 8: Suez: 24 Hours that Broke the British Empire Season 1 (2 episodes)
• Thursday, October 15: Human Season 1 (5 episodes)
• Thursday, October 22: Murder in Concrete Season 1 (2 episodes)
• Thursday, October 29: Wonderland: Secrets of the Spymasters & Spies Season 1 (4 episodes)

SOKO Lintz Season 2

The success of SOKO Potsdam on PBS Passport under the title Luna & Sophie (and now Partners in Crime: Potsdam Homicide) has created a window for other SOKO series to transfer over from their German networks. The “franchise procedural” (think CSI or NCIS) airs nearly a dozen variants set in various cities across Germany and its neighbors. MHz Choice began bringing over the newest version, 2023’s SOKO Linz, set in Austria, in May 2026. Now, six months later, Season 2 follows. The show is already up to Season 3 overseas, so there is more to come.

SOKO Linz Season 2 debuts on Tuesday, October 6, 2026, and will follow with one episode a week on Tuesdays through the end of December.

The Fifth Step

The Fifth Step, a brand new comedy from playwright David Ireland, originally premiered in May 2025 at the Soho Theatre. Starring Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) and Martin Freeman (The Responder) as Alcoholics Anonymous newbie Luka and his sponsor, James, the story of addiction and the 12 Step method – with its focus on “the fifth step” – was such a hit that it debuted in cinemas in November 2025, and is now only coming to streaming a year later.

The Fifth Step will debut on streaming on Thursday, October 1, 2026.

War Horse

I checked and double-checked: this is the 2026 production of War Horse that played at the National Theatre in London, and literally just closed on July 31, 2026. Whether it’s because the show is a perennial favorite, Hadestown’s success, or a belief that people will always tune in to watch the horse puppet, the show is coming straight to streaming in October. Michael Morpurgo’s beloved story, directed by Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, stars Tom Sturrage (The Sandman) in the lead role,

War Horse will debut on streaming on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

The Audience

The Audience was originally supposed to debut in June 2026, but hit a rights snag and never turned up. (This is unfortunately common with niche services, especially where they have to negotiate each show individually.) However, the new announcement suggests there was a good reason for the delay: the release will be global, not just in select countries.

Helen Mirren (Mobland) stars as Queen Elizabeth II in the Olivier Award- and Tony Award®-winning hit production that inspired Netflix’s The Crown, directed by Stephen Daldry.

The Audience will debut worldwide on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Murdoch Mysteries Season 20

Canada’s longest-running period-set case-of-the-week show, Murdoch Mysteries, is back for a record-setting Season 20. The series started airing day-and-date in America on Ovation in October 2024; so for those who haven’t cut the cord and still have channels that go that high, Yannick Bisson, Thomas Craig, and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee return for another 22 cases to solve with their newfangled forensic scientific method. The series will air episodes weekly (with breaks for the holidays) through May on the CBC and Ovation. Season 20 episodes will arrive on Acorn TV for streaming viewers in early 2027.

Murdoch Mysteries Season 20 will debut on Ovation on Monday, October 5, 2026, with new episodes arriving weekly on Mondays through the end of May 2027.

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