TV and Culture Guide: What to Watch, Read and Listen to in June
There's plenty to look forward to this month…
SQUID GAME
Netflix
If you’re not caught up on this dystopian survival thriller yet, act fast. New episodes will come to Netflix on 27th June, which is great news because we’ve been on the edge of our seat since season two came to a dramatic end.
LOVE ISLAND
ITV and ITVX
As the ITV show prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary, the new series of Love Island will kick off on Monday 9th June. Love it or hate it, Maya Jama will return as host and we await the line-up of this year’s singles looking for love.
THE BEAR
Disney+
Your next course is served. Season four of popular comedy-drama The Bear is coming to Disney+ on 26th June. Binge-watch now to prepare.
NOT GOING OUT
BBC One and BBC iPlayer
We can’t wait for the return of Lee Mack’s multi-award-winning, which is now the UK’s longest running UK sitcom currently on air having aired 100 episodes. New episodes will air this June and we’re already promised more in 2026 too! The story will jump ahead several years with the couple moving away from their suburban home.
We Loved
WHEN SALLY KILLED HARRY
Lucy Roth
I’ve been loving local writer Lucy Nichol’s novels over the past few years (The Twenty Seven Club is a particular favourite of mine), but this one is different, which might explain why When Sally Killed Harry (Lucy’s debut thriller) is written under a pseudonym, Lucy Roth. A feminist revenge thriller to be more specific, this novel is anything but a rom-com (a revenge-com, maybe). It has everything you want from a chaotic page-turning thriller – a titular character you love to hate, twists and turns you don’t see coming and dark humour holding it all together. In an age of online dating, Sally wakes up in the Big Apple with what she thinks is a rotten hangover until she realises she’s been drugged and conned. When she discovers she’s not the only victim, it’s time for revenge.
Faye Dixon, Arts Editor
SUNRISE ON THE REAPING
Suzanne Collins
For those of us of a certain age, The Hunger Games were the must-read books of our formative years (following on from Harry Potter and Twilight). Being back in the dystopian world of Panem for this prequel centring on Haymitch Abernathy is disconcerting (like waking up in your teenage bedroom), but again Suzanne Collins has produced a suspense-filled story, with more touching moments and classical references than I had remembered. Perhaps a reread of the original trilogy would have helped me grasp more of the details which sow the seeds of what comes next – but this is a great addition to what has become a classic dystopian series.
Kate Foley, Assistant Editor
On Our To-Read List
THE GHOSTWRITER
Julie Clark
Ghostwriter Olivia Dumont has spent her entire professional life hiding the fact that she is the only child of a famous author who is equally famous for being the prime suspect in the death of his siblings. She reluctantly agrees to ghostwrite his last book… but is he finally ready to tell the truth? Publishing on 3rd June, this is a new standalone thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight, perfect for fans of Gillian McAllister.
LOVE FORMS
Claire Adam
In this heart-wrenching new novel, hitting bookshelves on 19th June, a mother searches for the daughter she left behind. After giving birth to a baby girl at a young age, Dawn leaves her with nuns to be given up for adoption. But 40 years later a woman gets in touch with Dawn claiming that she could be her daughter.
Criminally-Good Audiobooks
SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION
Read by everyone’s favourite narrator and Sherlock Holmes superfan, Stephen Fry, this collection is a whopping 72 hours long and contains every single one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories (and novels). A joy.
TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY
Hear John le Carré’s classic Cold War thriller in which former spymaster George Smiley has been brought out of retirement in order to hunt down a Russian mole. Narrated by the great Simon Russel Beale, this twisting tale still feels relevant today.
THE CUCKOO’S CALLING
Go back to the beginning of Robert Galbraith’s Strike stories, brought to life by Robert Glenister, ahead of the release of the next book later this year. When a troubled model falls to her death from a Mayfair balcony, private investigator Cormoran Strike takes on the case.
New Music
I FORGIVE YOU
Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo sophomore album I Forgive You will be music to our ears on 6th June – the perfect break from listening to the Wicked soundtrack back-to-back. Expect a blend of genres throughout the generous 20 tracks on this album.
IDOLS
Yungblud
Doncaster-born singer-songwriter Yungblud is back with a new album on 20th June. His fourth studio album will be released in two parts, and this is the first.
AMERICAN HEART
Benson Boone
American Heart is the upcoming second studio album from American singer-songwriter Benson Boone, releasing on 20th June. Given his previous singles, we’re expecting great things.
