January had a slew of great new TV shows, but these are a few that may have been overlooked by audiences!
January was a busy month for new TV shows, both network and streaming. Netflix scored nicely with hits Run Away, His & Hers, and the fast-growing YA skate drama Finding Her Edge. We got a new Star Trek show in Starfleet Academy, and the Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is already huge.
However, with so many shows coming out on so many platforms, it was easy for some fine TV series to be ignored. Some were just promoted poorly, while others were lost in the mix. These are seven great TV shows audiences didn’t see in January, but there’s still time to check them out!
PONIES
Despite having a big name in former Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, this Peacock series seemed to slip by most viewers. That’s too bad, as it’s a fantastic watch as a spy thriller as well as a nice exploration of female friendship. Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson are 1970s secretaries who, following the deaths of their CIA agent husbands, are sent in as spies in Moscow.
The show deftly balances the pair's comedy of being over their heads with shocking turns, a retro feel, and a classic Cold War setting. Clarke and Richardson make for a stellar pair, and the finale sets up a second season that hopefully arrives to continue this great spy romp.
Streaming on Peacock
Agatha Christie’s The Seven Dials
With so many mystery adaptations abounding, it’s easy to overlook one. Even if it is based on a novel by the most famous mystery writer of all time. To be fair, even many Christie aficionados overlook The Seven Dials as a lesser work by her. Which is why it’s impressive that Netflix was able to adapt it so well.
Mia McKenna-Bruce was delightful as the quirky noblewoman who becomes an amateur sleuth when a murder occurs at a palatial estate. With just three episodes, the story wasn’t padded out, and it took some fun turns and became more of a spy thriller. It deserves far more viewers to be one of Netflix's first successes of 2026.
Streaming on Netflix
Steal
It’s always great to get a good heist story. Mixing it with a growing mystery is even better. That’s what makes this Prime Video series a breezy watch. Sophie Turner is among the employees of a London bank taken hostage by a pack of thieves who force them to transfer billions of pounds from the accounts of poor people.
It’s not long before the audience learns there’s a lot more going on than there seems. Turner, in particular, is fantastic in her role as a woman playing a dangerous game of survival with worse players. Just what the thieves are truly after is surprising, and the ending makes this a show worthy of stealing your attention.
Streaming on Prime Video
The Nowhere Man
Starz has a lot more to offer viewers than Outlander or Spartacus. With the Power franchise dying down, there’s room for another urban action series. Bonzo Khoza plays a former soldier coming home to Johannesburg and wanting a quiet life. That’s ruined when he gets involved in a home invasion and on the bad side of a criminal gang.
There’s plenty of action to go around, yet also addresses issues of race, class, and especially a former mercenary wrestling with his past. Khoza makes for a compelling lead, and the South African setting makes it more exotic. It’s another underrated Starz series that deserves much more attention.
Streaming on Starz
Sandokan
It’s been too long since we got a good old-fashioned pirate TV show, so this Italian-made series is notable. Can Yaman plays the title role of a 19th-century pirate who’s bemused when he’s named a supposed fighter for freedom. A clash with a pirate hunter, meeting a lovely lady and a quest for treasure may change his mind.
The series is in English with a compelling cast including Ed Westwick and John Hannah. The gorgeous setting is perfect for the adventure and Yaman delivers a star-making performance as the roguish anti-hero who grows into a champion. It’s getting a second season, so it's a great time to climb on board.
Streaming on Netflix
A Thousand Blows
Steven Knight is best known as the creator of the hit period drama Peaky Blinders. Somehow, his follow-up series doesn’t get the same mainstream attention. That’s surprising, as it’s just as compelling, showcasing a gritty 1880s London with the real-life all-female Forty Elements gang clashing with the gangster running a boxing ring.
It’s a mix of crime drama, sports drama and melodrama with season 2 upping the ante. That includes a mysterious woman sweeping into town, harder fights, and the ladies pulling off their biggest scheme yet. This show deserves to be up there with Blinders as a fine period crime piece that should be watched.
Streaming on Hulu
Riot Women
Amid BritBox’s collection of crime shows and dramas, a wild and bawdy comedy stands out. Five women in Yorkshire, feeling overwhelmed by middle age and ignored by society and their own families, form a punk rock band. It’s an easy avenue to humor with plenty of jokes on punk rockers battling menopause and landing gigs.
Scratch the surface, and you get a more compelling story of these women overcoming their problems, making surprising connections, becoming a true band, and silencing the doubters. It will be getting a second season and hopefully build up the audience, as this new rock TV show should be making far more noise.
Streaming on BritBox.