7 must-watch K-dramas to look forward to in October 2022

From the supernatural, to the historical and extraterrestrial, K-drama fans can expect to see a healthy mix of genres coming up in October’s premieres. Beloved idol actors D.O and Lee Hye-ri are both set to lead new series, the former the offbeat law procedural Bad Prosecutor and the latter supernatural comedy One Hundred Won Butler.

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Those who enjoyed Kim Hye-soo’s performance in February’s Juvenile Justice will be pleased to hear of the actress’ return as another powerful character in The Queen’s Umbrella, and Penthouse fans can look forward to seeing Han Ji-hyun in a new light in her first-ever leading role in Cheer Up.

Meanwhile, sci-fi fans can look forward to Netflix’s highly-anticipated original drama Glitch, which stars Vincenzo’s Jeon Yeo-been, as well as Yonder, a mini-series set in a near future where people may choose to abandon their physical bodies for eternal life on an alternate plane of existence.

Here are seven new must-watch dramas premiering in October 2022.

Cheer Up

Han Ji-hyun from the iconic Penthouse franchise takes on her first-ever lead role in Cheer Up, an upcoming youth romance drama set on a university campus. Han stars as Do Hae-yi, a bright and diligent student at Yeonhee University who is forced to prioritise work over her school life due to her family’s difficult financial situation.

Hae-yi’s life on campus changes after she joins the university’s nearly-defunct cheer squad for money, while the rest of its members hope to return the squad to its glory days of the past. Experiencing the joys of campus life for the very first time, she finds community with the squad’s captain, Park Jung-woo (Why Her?’s Bae In-hyuk) and fellow rookies Jin Seon-ho (Kim Hyun-jin) and Tae Cho-Cho-Her (ex-fromis_9 member Jang Gyu-ri).

Cheer Up will air on Monday and Tuesday nights from October 3 on SBS.

Bad Prosecutor

In his first television role since completing his military service, EXO’s D.O plays Jin Jung, a hot-headed prosecutor known for his poor manners and disregard for standard protocol. Despite his dubious reputation and unconventional methods, he harbours a strong sense of justice that makes him particularly effective at taking down crime and corruption.

Meanwhile, the cool-headed and professional Shin Ah-ra (Hospital Playlist 2’s Lee Se-hee) struggles to understand how her colleague has made it so far as a prosector. Despite their differences, she makes sure to watch over Jin Jung, making sure he does not land himself in trouble in their fight for justice.

Bad Prosecutor premieres October 5 on KBS2 and airs on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Icy Cold Romance

Starring Super Junior’s Choi Si-won, Icy Cold Romance is an upcoming friends-to-lovers comedy drama. Choi plays disillusioned plastic surgeon Park Jae-hoon, who has given up on both work and dating. Meanwhile, Lee Da-hee (Search: WWW) plays his best friend of 20 years, Goo Yeo-reum, who works as an unpopular variety show producer and is desperate to find success in both love and her career.

Yeo-reum gets roped into working on the set of her rival Kang Chae-ri (Love All Play’s Jo Soo-hyang)’s successful reality dating show. When she unexpectedly finds Jae-hoon participating as a cast member, she begins seeing her best friend in a different light.

Icy Cold Romance premieres October 5 on ENA, and will be available to stream on Viki.

Glitch

Netflix’s Glitch follows a young woman by the name of Hong Ji-hyo (Vincenzo’s Jeon Yeo-been), who teams up with a community of UFO watchers out of desperation after her boyfriend mysteriously disappears. With the help of the eccentric Heo Bo-ra (aka Nana), Ji-hyo finds herself caught up in a mysterious conspiracy that threatens to shift her entire understanding of the world.

The forthcoming sci-fi mystery series is written by Gin Han-sae, who previously worked on Netflix’s gritty teen crime drama Extracurricular in 2020. Glitch will also be director Roh Deok first-ever series, after working on films like The Devil’s Tattoo and Very Ordinary Couple throughout his career.

Glitch premieres on Netflix on October 7

The Queen’s Umbrella

Fans of February’s Juvenile Justice can look forward to The Queen’s Umbrella (also known as Shuroop). It stars Kim Hye-so as the powerful and loving Queen Im Hwa-ryung, who attempts to lead her sons down the right path to become respectable princes of the palace.

Idol actors Chani of SF9 and Yoo Seon-ho are set to play Princes Eui Sang and Gye Sung respectively, two of the palace’s five troublemaker princes, while their remaining brothers will be played by Moon Sang-min (My Name), Yoon Sang-hyun and Kim Min-ki (The King of Tears, Lee Bang-won). The Queen’s Umbrella will also reportedly star Rain in a special, as-yet-unnamed role.

The Queen’s Umbrella premieres on tvN on October 15, and will air on Saturday and Sunday nights.

One Hundred Won Butler

Supernatural comedy One Hundred Won Butler stars Girls’ Day’s Lee Hye-ri (My Roommate is a Gumiho, Reply 1988) as funeral director Baek Dong-ju, who uses her ability to communicate with the dead to help them fulfil their final wishes.

In order to carry out her tasks, she enlists the help of Butler Kim (Lee Jun-young), the sole employee of a daily errand service at a rate of 100 won per job. As he runs trivial errands for Dong-ju’s deceased clients, Butler Kim gets increasingly caught up in her strange project that transcends the bounds of life and death.

One Hundred Won Butler will air every Wednesday and Thursday on MBC from October 19.

Yonder

Yonder is adapted from the novel Goodbye, Yonder by Kim Jang-hwan. In this futuristic sci-fi drama set in the 2040s, Shin Ha-kyun (Beyond Evil) plays a Jae-hyun, a man who is overwhelmed with grief after the death of his wife, Yi-hu (Han Ji-min) from cancer.

One day, he receives an odd email inviting him to leave his physical body behind to live with his wife. Unable to overcome his grief, he accepts the offer and enters a strange new plane where the couple are able to live together forever. However, Jae-hyun soons begin to question if eternal life is truly what he desires.

Yonder premieres on October 14 via TVING.

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