2019 is officially the year of the woman taking over TV - both in front, and behind of the camera. From groundbreaking dramas on taboo subjects, to gripping biopics of formidable women, here's all the exciting TV dramas and thrillers featuring female stories that we'll be watching this year, including some returning favourites...
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1
Channel 4's Pure
Sophia Spring//Channel 4
Newcomer Charly Clive stars as Marnie in Channel 4's groundbreaking series about a young woman suffering from a form of OCD which manifests itself in distressing intrusive thoughts.
The six-part drama - adapted from Rose Cartwright's acclaimed biography - also features Peaky Blinders actor Joe Cole and Fleabag's Anthony Welsh.
Pure begins on Channel 4 on Wednesday, January 30 at 10pm.
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2
BBC One's Gentleman Jack
Matt Squire//BBC
Doctor Foster's Suranne Jones stars as Anne Lister, a formidable woman of the 19th century who was an English landowner, diarist, mountaineer - and often labelled as the first modern lesbian.
Created by award-winning Happy Valley writer Sally Wainwright, Gentleman Jack follows Anne as she positions herself into high society and plans to marry a woman.
Gentleman Jack airs on BBC One later this year.
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3
HBO's Mare of Easttown
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Kate Winslet will return to TV for the first time since her Emmy-award winning role in HBO's Mildred Pierce back in 2011.
Winslet teams up with HBO once more for Mare of Easttown to play a detective in a small Pennsylvania town. Her character investigates a grim murder while her personal life crumbles around her.
Mare of Easttown will air on Sky Atlantic later this year.
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4
HBO's Big Little Lies season two
HBO
Our favourite women of Monterey return after that unfortunate incident with Alexander Skarsgard's abusive husband Perry.
Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern reprise their roles in the award-winning HBO drama which will continue to explore friendship, marriage and parenting - and the "malignancy of lies".
Meryl Streep is also joining the cast, and we can't wait.
Big Little Lies returns to Sky Atlantic later this year.
Orange is the New Black's Natasha Lyonne stars as a young woman on her journey as the guest of honour at a seemingly inescapable party one night in New York City.
Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland also co-wrote the eight-part series with Lyonne.
Russian Doll will premiere on Netflix on February 1, 2019.
The 10-part series is inspired by the world's obsession with true-crime stories and the recent boom in podcasts dedicated to unsolved crimes.
Barber's psychological thriller tells the story of a woman who has spent a decade trying to escape the spotlight after her father was brutally murdered.
Reese Witherspoon and Spencer serve as executive producers.
Are You Sleeping airs later this year on Apple TV.
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7
ITV's Cheat
ITV
ITV's taut thriller follows university professor Leah (Katherine Kelly) and her student Rose (Molly Windsor), who are involved in what at first appears to be a simple case of academic deception, but which quickly heads out of control and ends in fatal consequences.
The four-part mini series will keep audiences guessing from the start, exploring just how far we're prepared to stand up for what we believe, and at what cost.
Cheat will air on ITV later this year.
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8
TNT's I am the Night
TNT
India Eisley plays a young woman named Fauna Hodel who was given away at birth and begins to discover the mysteries of her origin.
Inspired by true events, Fauna meets a ruined reporter - Chris Pine - and together they follow a sinister trail to uncover a man involved in some of Hollywood's darkest debauchery, and possibly, its most infamous unsolved crime.
Wonder Woman's Patty Jenkins directs, and Hodel co-writes the six-part series.
I am the Night will air on TNT soon.
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9
Apple TV's Dickinson
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Hailee Steinfeld stars as the title role in this comedy biopic about the brilliant 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson.
The series is described as a comedic look into Dickinson's world, exploring the constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of an aspiring writer who doesn't fit in to her own time through her imaginative point of view.
Dickinson will air on Apple TV later this year.
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10
ITV's Liar season two
JOSS BARRATT
Downton Abbey's Joanne Frogatt returns as teacher Laura who is trying to rebuild her life after being sexually assaulted by a surgeon named Andrew.
Season one's finale concluded with a huge cliffhanger - and we're presuming season two will explore how that came to be.
Liar season two returns to ITV later this year.
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11
Fleabag season two
BBC/Two Brothers Pictures Ltd.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge's brilliant anti-hero is back, and this time she's seeking counsel from a priest who jolts her into seeing the world in a different way.
Olivia Colman will be reprising her role as evil stepmother, Bill Paterson as hapless Dad, Sian Clifford as cold big sister Claire, and Brett Gelman as creepy brother-in-law Martin.