New Girl

If the words "pixie", "kooky" and "Zooey Deschanel" are a turn-off, then this is not for you. If you're a fan, however, this is a breezy riff on the apartment-sharing sitcom that should sit well on a Friday night. Post-breakup Zooey splits the rent with three guys who don't know what to make of her singing, crying and Dirty Dancing marathons. From 6 January, Channel 4.

Birdsong

Abi "The Hour" Morgan adapts Sebastian Faulks's first world war romance. Eddie Redmayne and Clémence Poésy star as the young lovers. January, BBC2.

Homeland

Claire Danes plays an unreliable CIA agent who doesn't quite believe the official story when marine Damian Lewis turns up after years being held captive by al-Qaida. Is he a hero – or has he been turned? February, More4.

Euro 2012; the Olympics

If you're not a sports fan, you may want to take a long break this summer as the BBC and ITV outside-broadcast units go into overdrive. Euro 2012 kicks off in June; a few weeks later, London's Olympic village opens its doors to the BBC, with the Paralympics continuing until 9 September. On the BBC squad: Sue Barker, Gary Lineker and Clare Balding; ITV have Adrian Chiles and Clive Tyldesley. Euro 2012: 8 June – 1 July; Olympics: 27 July – 12 August.

Richard II, Henry IV (Parts I and II) and Henry V

Three big-budget Shakespeares: Rupert Goold directs Ben Whishaw as Richard II; Richard Eyre directs Jeremy Irons as Henry IV; and Thea Sharrock follows with Tom Hiddleston as Henry V. Courtly intrigue from Simon Russell Beale and Rory Kinnear. BBC, summer.

Bad Sugar

Being pitched as "Grey Gardens, the sitcom", this spoof about a mining village is a Britcom all-star dream team: Julia Davis, Olivia Colman, Sharon Horgan and Peter Serafinowicz star, with a script from Peep Show's Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong. Will it be the show that Lizzie and Sarah (the most baffling case of a pilot that wasn't picked up) could have been? In production, C4.