Legends (TNT)

Sean Bean returns to series television for this new thriller series, which sees the Game of Thrones star play an undercover operative who undergoes a major identity crisis. Heroes star Ali Larter also stars in Mr Bean's triumphant telly comeback, which is from the same team as Homeland.

Mob city (TNT /FOX UK)

Oscar nominee Frank Darabont teams with his Walking Dead cohorts Jon Bernthal and Jeffrey DeMunn - plus Prison Break actor Robert Knepper, Heroes veteran Milo Ventimiglia and Star Trek's Simon Pegg - for this glossy, star-studded tale of mobsters and coppers going at it in 1940s Los Angeles, which gets its UK debut in 2014.

True Detective (HBO)

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson lead the cast of one of 2014's most hotlyanticipated new drama series. The pair play two investigators on a hunt for a killer that spans 17 years. Also featuring Source Code's Michelle Monaghan as Harrelson's wife, True Detective looks moody and magnificent.

Penny Dreadfuls (ShowTime/ Sky Atlantic)

An incredible cast (Billie Piper, Josh Hartnett, Timothy Dalton, Eva Green) isn't the only thing that this monster-mash thriller - which blends the mythologies of Dracula, Frankenstein, Dorian Gray and more - has going for it. It's also sprung the minds of Skyfall dream team Sam Mendes and writer John Logan, while The Orphanage director Juan Antonio Bayona is behind the camera.