Twenty Arabic shows to watch this Ramadan

Ramadan promises to be another blockbuster season for Arabic television with the region’s biggest broadcasters and streaming platforms releasing shows nightly.
In addition to offerings from the likes of MBC, Abu Dhabi TV and Dubai TV, this year streaming platforms TOD and Yango Play enter the fray with their own exclusive content for Ramadan.
Air times are not available yet as most channels prefer to reveal them hours before the holy month begins (which is likely to be Monday or Tuesday).
Here are 20 shows, in alphabetical order, to tune into this month.
The sequel to the hit 2021 Ramadan drama 2020, the new Lebanese series finds police captain Sama (Nadine Njeim) rebuilding her life with her daughter.
But with the re-emergence of criminals intent on revenge, Sama finds herself back on the beat again.
Omar Al Mula and Faten Ahmed star in this historical drama that follows an Emirati sailor who helped establish one of the Gulf’s most important maritime trade routes during the height of the Second World War.
Egyptian action star Ahmed El Sakka stars as Nassar, a professional thief who vows to leave his past behind after falling in love.
Of course, it is not as easy as it seems and Nassar finds himself on the run from a criminal syndicate who won’t take no for an answer.
Set in the 11th century and inspired by a true story, the series explores the secret world of the Order of Assassins, a shadowy group renowned for spectacular and grizzly work. The cast includes Karim Abdel Aziz and Myrna Noureldin.
The Kuwaiti maritime drama is set in the 1940s and centres on the exploits of a large ship ferrying between Kuwait and Zanzibar.
Yasmine Sabri and Ahmed Beder star in this Egyptian series, which follows the travails of a woman recently released from prison for murder.
With the crime committed to save her brother’s life, she is surprised by the ingratitude of her family and is soon on the run once again with her victim’s brothers plotting revenge.
The Gulf drama features an ensemble cast led by Kuwaiti actress Elham Al Fadalah and Saudi Arabia’s Turki Al Yousef.
The intertwining plotlines laced with frayed marital and family relationships aim to provoke a wider discussion surrounding the kind of sacrifice needed to sustain a family and community.
Egypt’s Amir Karara stars as a doctor who gets more than he bargains for when entering the cut-throat antiquities trade.
Deception and retribution power this Egyptian drama.
Set in Cairo’s historical neighbourhoods of El Gamaleya, local strongman Abd Rabeh is on the lookout for a man who betrayed him.
The series stars Ahmad Al Awadi and Dina Fouad.
After the success of its debut season last Ramadan, the taut Syrian drama returns with a new cast led by Rashid Assaf and Abdel Moneim Amiry.
Once again, the plot is expansive and multi-stranded as it relates to discovering a financial scandal so corrupt, it threatens to overthrow traditional norms of Syrian society.
Mohamed Mostafa stars as Emirati athlete Majed in the sports drama about his quest to become a mixed martial arts champion. Some of the barriers he has to overcome include family and friends who don’t share the same self-belief.
Syria’s Basel Khayat and Lebanon’s Carmen Bsaibes star in the romantic drama about a couple whose love is tested by adversity and tragedy.
Egyptian lawyer and wife Ne’ma (Mai Omar) does all she can to keep her unscrupulous husband out of jail.
After finding out he has been unfaithful, Ne’ma plans her revenge.
Set in a traditional rural community in Jordan, the series follows the life of Abdul Hay, a lead dancer in a popular folk group.
Facing criticism from family and friends due to his profession, Abdul Hay’s life is thrown into further turmoil with the seizure of his inheritance by his brother-in-law.
The series features Mohamed Al Abady and Juliet Awwad.
The Arab world’s most notorious television prankster returns.
As always details of this year’s set-up are tightly under wraps, but what one can safely assume is it will be another series of elaborate stunts to scare regional and international celebrities out of their wits.
Khairiah Abulaban and Khaled Abdel Aziz lead an ensemble cast in this Saudi comedy about a domineering father who forces his married children to all live under one roof.
Hilarity ensues once they decide to join forces and flee the family nest.
When his wife suffers a tragic accident, an anaesthetist (played by Eyad Nassar) desperately resorts to illegally hiring a surrogate to carry their baby.
He soon finds himself tangled in the dark underbelly of this illegal practice.
Set in Damascus in the 1950s during the French mandate of Syria, ex-boxer Taj (Taim Hassan) is accused of collaborating with the French authorities. Disgraced and ostracised, he goes on the offensive to clear his name.
The ensemble Kuwaiti series, led by Hasan Al Ballam and Abdel Rahman El Aqel, follows the lives of the traders at a traditional souq.
Zaman Al Ajaj is the first original Ramadan drama produced by TOD, a subscription streaming platform owned by Qatar broadcaster BeIn.
The show is set in the vague past in a nondescript village in the Gulf. It follows the arrival of the mysterious Widjan (Mona Hussain) who, through a mix of cunning and self-preservation, manages to ingratiate herself within the community to the dismay of village leaders Geith (Jassim Al Nabhan) and brother Hamza (Hussain Almahdi).