October’s upcoming K-dramas in 2024 are nothing if not diverse, with everything between heart-breaking, raunchy, existential and more. Kicking things off is Spice Up Our Love, a spin-off of the ongoing No Love No Gain starring Han Ji-hyun and Lee Sang-yi.
Family dramas My Merry Marriage and Family By Choice are also set to premiere, along with thrilling crime offerings like Stranger spin-off Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard and Doubt. Meanwhile, Kim Tae-ri will return to the small screen in Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born as a pansori singer in a fierce rivalry with The Glory‘s Shin Ye-eun.
Penthouse‘s Kim So-yeon leads A Virtuous Business, a boundary-breaking drama about a group of women venturing into the adult toy business in the nineties. Elsewhere, Nam Yoon-su will star in Love in the Big City as a gay man struggling to find acceptance from his mother and society. The anticipated second season of Netflix‘s Hellbound will also arrive in October.
Here’s all the upcoming K-dramas premiering in October 2024 on Netflix, Disney+ and more
Spice Up Our Love
A spin-off of No Gain No Love, this upcoming mini-series will focus on the love story between Seo Yeon-seo (Han Ji-hyun), a dietitian and CEO Kang Ha-joon (Lee Sang-yi). The series begins when Nam Ja-yeon, a web novelist who only writes R-rated stories finds herself transported into the fictional world of one of her novels as its female lead. Desperate to escape back into the real world, she tries to leave by rebelling against its plot, triggering a character death and even playing out the story’s steamy ending.
Episodes: 2
Cast: Lee Sang-yi, Han Ji-hyun
Director and Screenwriter: Kim Hye-young, Cho Min-jung
How to watch: Spice Up Our Love premieres October 3 on TVING, and will also be available to stream on Prime Video
My Merry Marriage
Upcoming family drama My Merry Marriage is about love and happiness across generations. Pak Ha-na (Vengeance of the Bride) stars as Maeng Kong-hee, a strong-spirited woman and a designer at Jayce Fashion.
Meanwhile, Park Sang-nam plays Gu Dan-soo, the grandson of the Jayce Fashion chairman. After living abroad for years, he returns to Korea as the successor to the company, per his grandmother’s wishes. Upon his return, he unexpectedly reunites with his childhood friend, Kong-hee at work.
Episodes: 120
Cast: Park Ha-na, Park Sang-nam
Director and Screenwriter: Kim Sung-geun, Song Jung-rim
How to watch: My Merry Marriage premieres October 7 on KBS1
Family by Choice
Family by Choice tells the tale of a group of friends, who spent their teenage years together as a family, reuniting in adulthood. The upcoming series stars The Sound of Magic’s Hwang In-youp as Kim San-ha, Bae Hyeon-seong as Kang Hae-joon and Jung Chae-yeon as Yoon Joo-won.
The trio were raised together by the boys’ fathers, but the boys later leave in search of their biological families. The trio reunite ten years later, but Joo-won struggles to overcome her resentment towards the boys for leaving her behind.
Episodes: 16
Cast: Hwang In-youp, Jung Chae-yeon, Bae Hyeon-seong
Director and Screenwriter: Kim Seung-ho
How to watch: Family by Choice premieres October 9 on JTBC
Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard
Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard is a spin-off of Stranger that focuses on the story of prosecutor Seo Dong-jae (Lee Joon-hyuk). Despite his ambition, his career suffers as a result of being labelled as a corrupt prosecutor. Caught up in a complicated redevelopment case, he takes on the case of the murder of a high school student.
Episodes: 10
Cast: Lee Joon-hyuk, Park Sung-woong
Director and Screenwriter: Park Gun-ho, Hwang Ha-jung, Kim Sang-won
How to watch: Dongjae, the Good or the Bastard premieres October 10 on TVING
Doubt
Led by Han Suk-kyu, Doubt follows legendary criminal profiler and single father Jang Tae-su (played by Han), who paved the way for profiling in South Korea. While working on a murder case, he soon realises that his daughter Ha-bin (Chae Won-bin) is involved. Struggling to reconcile his duty as a profiler and his devotion to his daughter as the case progresses, Tae-su begins to question everything in his life.
Episodes: 10
Cast: Han Suk-kyu, Chae Won-bin
Director and Screenwriter:
How to watch: Doubt premieres October 11 on MBC
Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born
Set in the 1950s after the Korean war, this coming-of-age musical drama follows Yoon Jeong-nyeon (Twenty Five Twenty One’s Kim Tae-ri), an impoverished pansori singer who sneaks into the luggage compartment of a travelling theatre troupe to get to Seoul.
Upon her arrival in the city, she becomes a trainee for the company after proving her talent. As her skills and confidence grow, Jeong-nyeon finds herself in a fierce rivalry with fellow trainee Heo Young-seo (The Glory’s Shin Ye-eun) as they vie for a place in the troupe.
Episodes: 12
Cast: Kim Tae-ri, Shin Ye-eun
Director and Screenwriter:
How to watch: Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born premieres October 12 on tvN, and will also be available to stream on Disney+
A Virtuous Business
Based on the 2016 UK series Brief Encounters, A Virtuous Business follows four women in the rural village of Geumje in 1992 who embark on a journey of friendship and sexual liberation when they start doing door-to-door sales of adult toys. The series stars Penthouse’s Kim So-yeon as Han Jung-sook, a beautiful housewife who jumps into the business after facing financial difficulties.
She is joined by Oh Geum-hee (The Frog’s Kim Sung-ryoung), a wealthy but bored housewife who decides to help Jung-sook. Also part of the business are Seo Young-bok (Reply 1988’s Kim Sun-young), who wants to provide for her four children and Lee Joo-ri (Lee Se-hee), a single mother and owner of a beauty parlour looking to bring excitement into her life.
Episodes: 12
Cast: Kim So-yeon, Kim Sung-ryoung, Kim Sun-young and Lee Se-hee
Director and Screenwriter: Jo Woong, Choi Bo-rim
How to watch: A Virtuous Business premieres October 12 on JTBC, and will also be available to stream on Netflix
Love in the Big City
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Park Sang-young, Love in the Big City follows the friendship between a pair of roommates: a gay man by the name of Go Yeong (Extracurricular’s Nam Yoon-su), who struggles with getting his mother’s acceptance, and a woman, Mi-ae (Lee Soo-kyung). After letting go of the love of his life, Go Yeong follows a stranger on vacation to Thailand where he reflects on his wounds and finds himself.
Episodes: 8
Cast: Nam Yoon-su, Lee Soo-kyung, Jin Ho-eun, Oh Hyun-kyung
Director and Screenwriter: Hur Jin-ho, Hong Ji-young, Son Tae-gyum, Kim Se-in, Park Sang-young
How to watch: Love in the Big City premieres October 21 on TVING
Hellbound season two
Following the events of season one, Hellbound season two revolves around the resurrected Park Jung-ja (Kim Shin-rock) and reappearance of mysterious religious leader Jung Jin-su (Kim Sung-cheol).
With the return of those previously condemned, religious factions that formed in season one like New Truth and the Arrowheads must now reckon with their beliefs. Meanwhile, other investigate the possibility of changing the fates of those who have been dragged to hell.
Episodes: 6
Cast: Kim Sung-cheol, Kim Hyun-joo, Kim Shin-rock
Director and Screenwriter: Yun Sang-ho, Choi Kyu-suk
How to watch: Hellbound season two premieres October 25 on Netflix