The BBC presents all star cast and crews in three new productions

The return of two hit series, three interpretations of classic books and four new dramas will keep us all busy on normal telly for some time.

Seen very much as the poor relations to Amazon, Netflix and the giant US networks, BBC, ITV and Channel 4 nevertheless continue to churn out impressive series on their relatively limited budgets.

Featuring a raft of our favourite actors and introducing us to new faces, each channel has three new offerings either in production or coming soon. First up, the BBC.

Home of the period classic, the Beeb is bringing us an adaptation of Little Women, the go-to coming of age novel most girls were given at some point in their lives. (Back in my day, obviously). Louisa M Alcott was quite possibly the only author I’d ever heard of at the time apart from Enid Blyton and Johanna Spyri: Heidi was The Other Book for Girls my primary school gave out at prizegiving time. Except when they gave me a biography about Marco Polo … zzzz … I mean, exciting stuff, eh?

Anyhoo, let me introduce you to the stars of the show: the March sisters. Hot tempered tomboy Jo is played by newcomer Maya Hawke, Willa Fitzgerald (Scream: The TV Series) is domestic goddess Meg, Annes Elwy (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams) is the shy, gentle and tragic Beth, while Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies) portrays materialistic yet arty Amy, the youngest of the siblings.

The established star quality names are Oscar winner Dame Angela Lansbury (Murder She Wrote), as rich and cantankerous Aunt March, with Bafta winners Michael Gambon (Harry Potter) as benevolent neighbour Mr.Laurence, and Emily Watson (Apple Tree Yard) as Marmee, the girls’ mother and moral guide (said to be modelled on Alcott’s own mother).

The three part series is a joint production with Masterpiece on PBS, produced by the Golden Globe/Bafta winning Playground, and is created and adapted by the prolific Heidi Thomas (Call the Midwife, Cranford).

Continuing the Agatha Christie updates, Ordeal by Innocence is the next thriller in line for the talented Sarah Phelps treatment. Following on from the sublime And Then There Were None and Witness for the Prosecution, this new production again features original characters (i.e. no Marple or Poirot, nor even Tommy and Tuppence).

Another triple episode series sees the legendary Bill Nighy (Love Actually etc) joined by Catherine Keener (Get Out) Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark) Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey) Ed Westwick (White Gold) Luke Treadaway (A Street Cat Named Bob) and Morven Christie (The Replacement) among a large ensemble cast.

Mammoth Screen’s executive producer, Darren Timmer, says: “Sarah Phelps has excelled herself with this spellbinding adaptation of one of Agatha Christie’s most celebrated stories. A gloriously dark deconstruction of an apparently perfect family, we hope it delights and chills viewers when it airs!”

The did-he-or-didn’t-he whodunnit was one of Christie’s personal favourites and begins filming in Scotland this month under the direction of Sandra Goldbacher (Victoria). Producers Mammoth Screen have a further four Christie adaptations with Phelps in the pipeline.

Finally, modern day six part drama The Split comes from the multi award winning team of writer Abi Morgan (Suffragette, The Iron Lady) Executive Producer Jane Featherstone (Broadchurch, Humans), producer Lucy Dyke (Black Mirror, Ripper Street) and director Jessica Hobbs (Broadchurch, Apple Tree Yard).

With a cast that’s just as impressive as the production team, The Split is an authentic, layered and witty exploration of modern marriage and the legacy of divorce, centred around a family of female lawyers in London.

Nicola Walker (Last Tango in Halifax, Unforgotten) leads as esteemed divorce lawyer Hannah Defoe, and is joined by Meera Syal (Goodness Gracious Me) Stephen Mangan (Episodes), Stephen Tompkinson (DCI Banks), Fiona Button (Lip Service), Deborah Findlay (Leaving), Annabel Scholey (Being Human) and Barry Atsma (Hector And The Search For Happiness).

I suspect by the time I finish this blog series, they’ll all have made a ton of other announcements. I’ll try to keep up.