Peter Capaldi, Matt Lucas, Pearl Mackie

Preacher, Blake 7, Futurama

Peter Capaldi's twelfth Doctor had a rockier start than most — remember at the beginning when he was all glower and eyebrows? — but everything majestically managed to click into place during his last run. So, how do you top a 4bn-year epic like series high Heaven Sent? Simple. You bow out. Not only will this be Peter Capaldi's last year as the Doctor, but it also promises to be the swansong of showrunner Steven Moffat. This makes sense, since the secret of Doctor Who's longevity is its ability to regenerate both on and off camera, but it smarts nevertheless. Although not everyone's cup of tea, Moffat is largely responsible for blasting the show's margins wide open, increasing both scale and worldwide popularity. And in Capaldi, the Doctor has had perhaps its best actor yet; a surging, simmering roil of contradictory emotions. But before we say goodbye, we have a full season to get through. A new companion in Pearl Mackie's Bill Potts. A returning friend in Matt Lucas's Nardole. Old foes in the form of the Daleks and the Cybermen. And, yes, a robot with emojis for eyes, because Doctor Who is still technically a show for kids. This promises to be an excellent goodbye.

Justin Theroux, Liv Tyler, Margaret Qualley

Under The Dome, Lost, Bloodline

After a first year that featured too many silent, smoke-inhaling cults and too few explanations for many viewers’ liking, Damon Lindelof’s stark, opaque series about a group of people left behind after a rapture-like event burst into life with season two, which relocated the action from the subdued setting of upstate New York to a far more visually vivid town in Texas, and in the process found ways of depicting loss, faith and grief that didn’t just involve people looking glumly into the middle distance. The HBO drama has upped sticks again for its third and, sadly, final season, which sees Justin Theroux’s troubled cop Kevin Garvey head to Australia in anticipation of another rapturous event. The opening two episodes (which have already aired) indicate that this peculiar and frequently profound show might just be the very best we have on television at the moment, and that Lindelof might just have learnt the lessons from the botched ending of another mystery-soaked show of his — Lost.

David Thewlis, Ewan McGregor, Carrie Coon

Broadchurch, Fortitude, Deadwood

Showrunner Noah Hawley has found new and inventive ways to find bleakness and betrayal in small-town America during the first two seasons of his anthology adaptation of the Coen brothers' mid-90s classic. In the first season, Martin Freeman's insurance salesman Lester Nygaard battled a middle-aged funk and a looming murder charge, while a hitman played by Billy Bob Thornton pottered around. In the second, the luckless Blumquists, played by Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst, tried to avoid the grizzly fate dished out to a good number of the town's residents. The third turn sees the focus turn to Emmit, the Parking Lot King of Minnesota, the kind of local man done well who is perfectly suited to a rapid decline at the hands of Fargo's writing staff. Ewan McGregor plays Ray, his brother who is the kind of family liability that seems destined to cock things up for Emmit. The other problem is David Thewlis, playing VM Varga, a Lynchian-style loner and true believer in capitalism, who wants a piece of the parking lot action. Who said valet parking was a boring job?

Britt Robertson, Alphonso McAuley, Ellie Reed

The Mindy Project, New Girl, 2 Broke Girls

Girlboss bills itself as based "loosely" on real events and that seems about on par for Netflix's new comedy series. The show, which premiered on 21 April, follows a Hollywood-ized version of Sophia Amoruso, founder of fashion brand Nasty Gal, as she goes from struggling salesgirl to owner of a multi-million dollar fashion empire. Britt Robertson embodies Amoruso, lending an I'm-so-adorably-quirky sensibility to the real-life entrepreneur, who got her start selling vintage finds on eBay. Some of plot comes from Amoruso's best-selling book, similarly titled #Girlboss, but there's an air of fictionalization for the sake of entertainment throughout. The first season, created by Pitch Perfect writer Kay Cannon and executive produced by Charlize Theron, spans 13 episodes, which follow Amoruso through her trials and tribulations (which include pushing a car up a San Francisco hill when it runs out of gas and telling off a thrift shop owner for not knowing his own merchandise). Robertson is likeable in this onscreen version of Amoruso, but some of the Nasty Gal story isn't necessarily reflected here — including their recent bankruptcy and the lawsuit filed against Amoruso for allegedly firing pregnant employees. Still, it's a fun story about a feminist up-and-comer who won't take no for an answer. Girlboss is basically the whimsical cousin of The Mindy Project or New Girl.

Thomas Middleditch, TJ Miller, Josh Brener

Halt and Catch Fire, Arrested Development, The IT Crowd

At the end of last season, Richard (Thomas Middleditch) and the rest of the Pied Piper gang found themselves out of both funding and luck, and pretty much back where they started — in Erlich's (TJ Miller) basement. Long time fans of Mike Judge and Alec Berg's tech satire weren't surprised: one of the great joys of Silicon Valley is its shaggy dog tale circularity. Every season the Pied Piper guys almost make it to the promised land of limos, private jets and pool parties and every year they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Yet the gang's failure to progress never matters — not when the lines and relationships between characters are this good. Season three kicked off with everyone rallying behind Dinesh's (Kumail Nanjiani) new video app, which has built followers by word of mouth. Everyone except Richard, that is. The gang's resident geek god just isn't that into the app, as foul-mouthed entrepreneur Russ Hanneman (Chris Diamantopoulos) spells out to him in one of the opening episode's funniest (and crudest) scenes. Will this spell the end for our motley crew? We're not telling, but suffice to say as tensions rise Erlich remains self-regarding, Bighead (Josh Brener) is still bemused, Gilfoyle (Martin Starr) and Jared (Zach Woods) steal every scene they're in, and Silicon Valley is still the best and most tightly written comedy on air.

Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson, Johnny Flynn

The Knick, The Crown, Mad Men

It’s been a tough few years for Ron Howard at the box office. His third Dan Brown thriller Inferno, Vince Vaughn comedy The Dilemma and nautical epic In the Heart of the Sea all left both critics and audiences cold and while his Hunt/Lauda F1 drama Rush was well-reviewed, it was another box office failure. Following in the footsteps of other fallen directors who’ve chosen to lick their wounds on the small screen, he’s taking on the life of Albert Einstein in an ambitious new series for National Geographic. It’s the first scripted series for the channel and with Howard casting Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush and Oscar nominee Emily Watson, it’s quite the splashy debut. The show will follow Einstein at two key points in his life, as he struggles to get a teaching job and later becomes one of the world’s greatest minds. The second season has already received a green light, set to focus on another key figure from history, suggesting that the network is confident about the quality of the first and that we will potentially never ever escape the ever-popular anthology format.

Kevin Bacon, Griffin Dunne, Kathryn Hahn

Transparent, Gilmore Girls, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

When Chris Kraus's novel was released in 1997, the world wasn't ready for its protagonist of the same name who, stuck in a sexless marriage, pursues a man named Dick after an imaginary one-night stand. Kraus's depiction of a middle-aged woman wrestling with the complexities of loneliness, desire and intellectual stimulation was given a lukewarm reception at the time; now, of course, her character has turned into a modern-day feminist totem, a pioneer of the "female gaze in literature". It's the kind of intricate role that now makes excellent fodder for a dramedy — and I Love Dick will be steered by Jill Soloway, best known for her tender exploration of family in Emmy-winning series Transparent. She's called I Love Dick a "tool of the matriarchal revolution", starring Kathryn Hahn as film-maker Kraus who encounters Dick (played by Kevin Bacon). This being Soloway, it's a smart reimagining of the book: while some of the subtleties of Kraus's ideas might not translate, there are still scenes that will draw a wry smile — including one that imagines the male obsession depicted on film and TV shows from the point of view of the woman, from fantasies of bulging biceps in white t-shirts to being pleasured in a bathroom As proof that there's room, beyond the golden-era of streaming, for TV to still innovate and that there are still a multitude of characters left to explore, I Love Dick stands to attention.

Aziz Ansari, Noel Wells, Eric Wareheim

Love, The Mindy Project, Parks and Recreation

In his book Modern Romance, Aziz Ansari inspected — with the help of academics — the modern world of dating, from Tinder to chat-up lines to repeated rejection. There were few jokes to be found in the best seller, but he took that forensic approach to romance in this decade, and managed to find the funny with the first series of Master of None, along side co-creator Alan Yang. Like Louie, it wasn't just straightforward laughs and was loosely auto-biographical. That line became even more blurred as Ansari's parents played themselves, and in the process stole quite a few scenes from their son. There's been an 18-month break between seasons, which Ansari put down to allowing the writing staff to live normal lives before throwing themselves into the show. "We covered so much stuff in season one and wanted to make sure the ideas we had in season two were equally interesting and the episodes were just as ambitious," he said. That ambition takes the action to Italy, which is where Dev headed to after breaking up with Rachel (played by Noel Wells) at the end of season one.

Ellie Kemper, Tituss Burgess, Jane Krakowski

Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Modern Family

With the harsh light of hindsight, you have to admit that Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt floundered a little in its second season. The gags were still there, as was the day-glo sense of unbridled optimism, but it lacked the clear-sighted sense of purpose that it demonstrated first time around. After all, when a mole woman has confronted and defeated her oppressor, where are you supposed to go next? Season two tried exploring Kimmy's family life, and that didn't really work, so it looks like this year they're going to refocus on the ensemble. The first trailer for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's new season barely featured Schmidt at all, instead favouring an astonishing clip of Titus Andromedon walking the streets of New York in full Lemonade get-up. However, with confirmed guest stars including Maya Rudolph, Rachel Dratch, Laura Dern and Ray Liotta — plus the return of Jon Hamm's Reverend Richard Wayne Gary Wayne — hopes are high for a return to form. Even if it isn't, you'd still take a world with an underpowered Kimmy Schmidt over a world with no Kimmy Schmidt at all. In fact, at this stage, I'd pretty much take a full series about Mikey's nightmarish puppet grandmother.

Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright, Michael Kelly

The West Wing, The Good Wife, The Thick Of It

Strikingly, the first teaser for season five of this drama about a Machiavellian sociopath who slimes his way up the greasy pole to the Oval Office (sound familiar? Of course it doesn't) was released on Trump's inauguration day. Could this mean the makers are poised to unleash an topical critique of the Republican incumbent? Ideally with Robin Wright's Flotus battling Macy's over dropping her clothing line, and Kevin Spacey's Potus chillaxing during a bare-chested bear hunt with Lars Mikkelsen's scary Putinesque Russian demagogue? Let's hope. Some have already drawn parallels between the chaotic election bid of President Frank Underwood (initials, FU, geddit?) and Trump's own unconventional campaign, and between the former's declaration of all-out war on terror group ICO at the end of season four and Trump's foreign policy posturing, but Spacey has said that any similarities were unintentional. That said, Spacey added: "President Frank Underwood would willingly stand behind Donald Trump — in order to push him in the right direction." In season four, FU's life hung in the balance after he was shot by a crazed journalist; in season five, warns Michael Kelly who plays FU's aide Doug Stamper, fans might "lose characters that you love". What could that mean? Could it be curtains for Frank and his replacement by his no-less diabolical wife? In the BBC version on which the Netflix drama is based, Frank was assassinated by a sniper hired by his wife.

Melissa Leo, Ari Graynor, Clark Duke

Louie, Flophouse, Mad Men

Alongside the return of Twin Peaks, Showtime's big offering for spring and summer is a look into the lives of a group of struggling comedians. From Louie and The Larry Sanders Show to Curb Your Enthusiasm and Viceland's Flophouse, peering in at life after the punchline has provided us with some of its funniest and most pathos-filled TV of the last decade or so. Showtime's effort, which was unveiled alongside American Gods at SXSW this year, is a period piece with the action taking place in the golden age of LA comedy, the 1970s. Comedy idealist and matriarch Goldie Herschlag, played by Melissa Leo, tries to guide a group of younger comics through the industry's rigours from taming boozed up Hollywood crowds to making it on to the late-night circuit where Carson still ruled the roost. Like a lot of the recent comedy shows where there are Lols, there are also life lessons to be learned, and previews have all mentioned how the laugh to trauma ratio is close to an even split. Comedy does love tragedy afterall then.

Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne

Wentworth, Breaking Bad, Weeds

The finale of the fourth season of Jenji Kohan's prison dramedy left more than a few questions that need to be answered. Is Daya going to pull the trigger and kill abusive prison officer Humphreys? Is Bennett going to return to look after their child? How will the inmates and prison officials react after the riot? Will the Black Lives Matter-esque storyline that culimated in the death of Poussey continue into this season? Can things get any bleaker for the inmates at Litchfield? The answer is probably yes, very. Writing staff, cast and showrunners have released a few clues to the direction of the fifth of seven seasons, with things looking like they will get worse before they get better. Expect storylines about the prison's mental health services revolving around Healy, Lolly and Crazy Eyes. Prepare yourself for narratives about grief in prison with SoSo, Taystee and Bayley (the officer who killed her) left to pick up the pieces following Poussey's death, and for added Lols Nicky's battle with addiction will continue. Oh, and the prison may become overcrowded with an influx of new inmates. There's two school of thoughts on the heaviness of the storylines: one, it'll push the show to new heights, and two, not even the gallows humor it's become famous for will manage to offset the unremitting bleakness.

Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Maria Doyle Kennedy

Black Mirror, Mr Robot, The OA

For pure high-wire feats of acting, Tatiana Maslany’s performance — or rather performances — on Orphan Black takes some beating, so much so that when the star of BBC America’s cult sci-fi won best actress at last year’s Emmys ahead of a formidable field that featured Claire Danes, Keri Russell, Viola Davis, Robin Wright and Taraji P Henson, it was greeted less with surprise and more with a cry of “finally!” Anyone as yet unfamiliar with Maslany’s versatile turn in the show might want to catch up sharpish: after five seasons and a far higher number of clones — the vast majority of whom are played by Maslany — Orphan Black begins its final run of episodes in June. Going by the promos you can likely expect a wedding between two major characters and for top clone Sarah Manning to continue taking the fight to the nefarious Neolution organisation. Can she stop them from obtaining the secrets of cloning biology? Let’s hope so, because the last thing Maslany needs is yet more clone characters to portray.

Alison Brie, Marc Maron, Kate Nash

Orange is the New Black, Transparent

One of the concerns with so-called “peak TV” is that the landscape will become so oversaturated that networks would inevitably run out of truly original ideas. It’s why we still have approximately 342 shows based around feisty lawyers and no-nonsense doctors. So Netflix deserves a slow clap for commissioning a new comedy set in the world of female wrestling in the 1980s. Boasting Orange is the New Black’s Jenji Kohan as executive producer, the show gives Alison Brie a chance to lead for once (she was previously left with supporting turns in Community and Mad Men) as an out of work actor who grows tired of auditioning for thankless secretary roles. A chance encounter leads her to GLOW, a new cable show based on Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, and a surprise new direction in life. Despite the unique setting, it sounds like a standard fish out of water tale but GLOW is a surprisingly grimy, incredibly funny look at a flawed, often unlikable woman refusing to follow the conventional path that’s been set out for her. A family life isn’t of interest yet (she tells a settled friend that her baby only loves her because her “boobs are full of food") while a successful career remains paramount. It’s refreshing, rude, rough around the edges and gives a great actress the chance to play something other than a secretary.

Issa Rae, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis

Atlanta, Girls, Master of None

Like all the most refreshing comedies of the last few years, Issa Rae's sitcom began life as a web series. Awkward Black Girl, which the 32-year-old began uploading to YouTube in 2011, might have been aesthetically lo-fi but it was impressively masterly in its gags and characterisation — particularly in the case of titular protagonist J. With its TV incarnation, which made Rae the first black woman to have her own HBO show, came some high calibre talent — including Solange Knowles as music consultant, and music video luminary Melina Matsoukas as director. But despite the newfound glossiness, the main attraction was still surveilling Rae's gloriously relatable protagonist as she navigated a slowly cresting quarter-life crisis. Centring around gossamer dreams, disappointing relationships and fluctuating self-esteem, Insecure might be fairly conventional in its sitcom structure, but the way it counteracts film and TV stereotypes about black women that have been deeply submerged in the collective psyche is just one of the things that makes it a cut above your average comedy. That, and Rae's impeccable comic timing — which we'll get luxuriate in once more when the show returns for season two later this year.

Francois Arnaud, Dylan Bruce, Parisa Fitz-Henley

Hannibal, The Exorcist, True Blood

Demon possession, ouija boards and reanimation are just three of the delights on offer in the new venture from the minds behind True Blood. NBC's latest attempt to inject life into network TV's schedule looks like it owes a lot to the bizarro approach of Preacher. Like that show it's set in a small, mysterious town in the south, features a tall, dark hero (Francois Arnaud) and uses gross-out effects and the supernatural as main drivers of the action. Arnaud, who is a psychic, heads to the town of Midnight after a supernatural run in, and finds a place where similarly "special" residents are holed up in order to stay away from the world's glare. Like a mix between the X-Men and the Exorcist, the crew have got to stay hidden, avoid making unwanted headlines and possibly fight in order to remain undetected. It's hardly original, but it might be the most daring offering by a mainstream channel in the US this summer.

Aml Ameen, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai

Heroes, Luke Cage, Babylon 5

Here's a show that might truly fit the bill as "groundbreaking". It was the television debut of the Wachowski siblings; one of the most ambitiously global productions ever mounted; a show ballsy enough to cast Daryl Hannah in a minor role, and it brought a rainbow dildo and an eight-way orgy to Netflix. Sense8 is all of that, while at the same time proving itself a remarkably subtle piece about human intimacy hidden inside a high-concept superhero epic. The show revels in how confounding it is. In the first series, eight seemingly-unconnected individuals, all across the globe, find themselves experiencing each other's thoughts, memories, fight-scenes and — yes — orgasms. With the connected "sensate" including a hacktivist San Francisco trans woman, a troubled Chicago cop, a London-based junkie DJ, a soft-centred Berlin gangster and a closeted Mexican movie star, the results lead to inevitably high drama. Like any Wachowski work, Sense8 is as occasionally infuriating as it is visually stunning, and season two promises higher stakes, more sex and more violence.

Jeffrey Tambor, Jay Duplass, Gaby Hoffman

Arrested Development, Black-ish, Better Things

When we left the Pfefferman family at the end of the third season of Jill Soloway's comedy drama, matriarch Shelley was in the middle of an amateur cabaret performance that entwined Alanis Morissette's Hand In My Pocket with a monologue about the sexual abuse she suffered as a child. In the audience watching (and crying) were her adult children and now female ex-husband, whose historic betrayals Shelley never really recovered from. It's difficult to think of another show that could have come up with a moment as strange as that — let alone have executed it with the balance of class, poignancy and ludicrousness that Transparent did. Centering around Jeffrey Tambor's Maura (the trans parent of the title) and the rest of the troubled Pfefferman clan, the Amazon show's fourth season — due to materialise later this year — looks likely to continue what has been a hilarious and hugely sophisticated deep dive into patriarchy, privilege and familial trauma (subcategorical themes last series included synagogue politics, divorce, child abuse and the fetishisation of LGBT people). In a world of comedy dramas that are neither particularly funny nor dramatic, Transparent is a masterclass in pioneering and progressive television that still manages to be as irresistibly entertaining as any trash TV guilty pleasure.