The best new TV to stream next week – from Robbie Williams’ Netflix documentary to 007: Road To A Million
IF you’ve exhausted all your favorite TV shows, fret not, as we have an entirely fresh batch of suggestions for you.
Once again, The Sun’s TV Mag has compiled a binge-worthy collection of TV shows and films that you should add to your watch list for the next week.
NETFLIX
Robbie Williams – Available Wednesday
Depending on your point of view, Robbie Williams is either a clownish and cocky former boybander-turned-cheesy crooner, or one of the most talented, if misunderstood, solo artists this country has ever produced. Which is closer to the truth? This intimate and frequently emotional four-part series aims to strip away the public image to show us the human being underneath.
Boasting unprecedented access to the man himself, and his nearest and dearest, we get to watch as he reflects on more than a quarter of a century in the spotlight – and the toll it’s taken on him. Much like the recent David Beckham documentary series, it’s unthinkable that the man himself didn’t have final say over the finished product, so whether we do get to see the real Robbie is debatable. That said, this is still an illuminating, entertaining portrait of someone who’s lived a remarkable life, and an absolute must-watch for Robbie’s millions of fans.
The Killer – Available Friday
Whether it’s Seven, Fight Club, Gone Girl or Zodiac, acclaimed director David Fincher knows how to put together a riveting and darkly stylish psychological thriller. He brings his usual flair and skill to The Killer, a nail-biting neo-noir, which stars Michael Fassbender as a troubled professional assassin who becomes drawn into an epic and explosive intercontinental manhunt after a hit goes badly wrong. With a strong supporting cast that includes Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard and Tilda Swinton, not to mention a generous helping of Hollywood-tastic action thrills, it’s right up there with Fincher’s best.
Escaping Twin Flames – Available Wednesday
Trawling internet dating sites looking for someone you might want to spend the rest of your life with can be demoralising. So it’s little wonder that any organisation claiming to be able to help you find your soulmate and guarantees harmonious union with them, is going to get people’s attention. That’s what Twin Flames Universe says it can do. On the surface, this online spiritual community, run by Jeff and Shaleia Ayan, sells courses in how to have that happy relationship. However, former members claim it preys on vulnerable people and manipulates them. Filled with alarming stories of alleged coercion and exploitation, three-part series Escaping Twin Flames lifts the lid on the Universe, speaking to survivors and also revealing the efforts of family members to rescue their loved ones from the organisation’s grasp. Scary.
DISNEY+
Culprits – Available Wednesday
Family man Joe (Nathan Stewart-Jarrett) is leading a quiet and happy life in Washington State with his partner and their two kids, when his secret past comes back to haunt him. Joe, it turns out, used to be part of an elite heist crew back in Britain, which once pulled off a huge job, stealing millions of pounds. He had hoped to put that all behind him, but when a ruthless killer starts bumping off members of the crew, Joe is forced to return to Britain, confront the past and his former criminal boss Dianne (Gemma Arterton), and find a way to stop the mysterious murderer. Holding the distinction of being one of the first UK original series on Disney+, this eight-parter is frenetic, action-packed, and a whole heap of heist-flavoured fun.
The Santa Clauses – Available Wednesday
We know, we know, it’s only November and we’re already telling you to watch Christmas-themed telly. But nothing gets you in the mood for the festivities more than Tim Allen playing Santa Claus, right? He’s back for a second series of this spin-off from the much-loved movies, and having failed to find a successor to take over the role of the man in the big red coat, Scott Calvin decides that in order to go into retirement, he needs to train up his son Cal to become boss of operations at the North Pole as the new Santa. Great family fun.
APPLE TV+
The Buccaneers – Available from Wednesday
Bodices are ripping, cultures are clashing and there’s yet another Mr Darcy-esque take on a ripped man emerging from the water in this 1870s-set period drama with a modern twist. A group of five fun-loving, new-monied American women, led by Nan St George (Kristine Frøseth), arrive in London from New York for the debutante season with the specific intention to bag themselves cash-strapped husbands with aristocratic titles in a good old-fashioned money for status exchange. But what if they genuinely fall in love? If you loved Bridgerton, add this eight-part series to your watch list immediately.
APPLE TV+
For All Mankind – Available from Friday
After the heart-stopping events of the season three finale, the sci-fi drama rockets into the new millennium and picks up in 2003, where Ed Baldwin (Joel Kinnaman) and co are ageing, but not out of the space race. It’s eight years since our last visit to Happy Valley and tensions are simmering on the sprawling international base which threatens the new focus of the space programme – to capture and mine mineral-rich asteroids that could change the future of both Earth and Mars. As in previous seasons, the 10-part series takes real events and gives them an alternate twist.
PRIME VIDEO
007: Road To A Million – Available from Friday
Reality shows don’t get more creative than this. In a genius move, Succession’s Brian Cox – who would, in TV Mag’s opinion, make a brilliant Bond baddie – takes on the role of The Controller, a villainous figure lurking in the shadows who challenges contestants to work in pairs to overcome physical and mental endurance tests in a range of iconic Bond locations, including the Scottish Highlands, Venice and Jamaica. With a whopping £1million at stake, the tasks will become increasingly intense, which clearly fills Brian with glee as he exercises his “license to put the hopeful participants through the mangle”.
PARAMOUNT+
Lawmen: Bass Reeves – Available from Sunday
This rootin’, tootin’ shoot-‘em-up drama anchors on a Wild West legend – the formerly enslaved Bass Reeves, who escaped his miserable fate to become one of the first black Deputy US Marshals in America in 1875. David Oyelowo stars as the post-Reconstruction era peacekeeper who apprehended over 3,000 of the most dangerous criminals in the Indian Territory without ever being wounded. “I’m the law of this land,” he says in a suitably rasping drawl. “I’m Deputy US Marshal Bass Reeves and your wicked days are done.” Donald Sutherland and Dennis Quaid also star.
PARAMOUNT+
NCIS: Sydney – Available from Friday
Having already spawned two US spin-offs – Los Angeles and New Orleans – in its 20-year history, the NCIS franchise is going Down Under. Set against the backdrop of Sydney’s breath-taking harbour, it focuses on rising international tensions in the Indo-Pacific and blends US NCIS agents and Australian Federal Police into a special taskforce devoted to fighting naval crime in the most contested area of ocean on Earth. However, it’s not all plain sailing when AFP sergeant Jim ‘JD’ Dempsey (Todd Lasance) clashes with NCIS special agent Michelle Mackey (Olivia Swann) over who should take control of a case.
ITVX
The Great Erection Deception: The Stiff Nights Story – Available from Thursday
What do you get when a Mormon and vegan come together? In this particular case, a sex supplement that isn’t quite as organic as it claims to be. As part of ITVX’s ‘Cons and Swindles season’ this documentary talks to all the key players in the story that rocked the pharmaceutical world. When an unlikely partnership that produced a supposedly all-natural stimulant to compete with Viagra and provocatively named Stiff Nights, it couldn’t flop. However, on closer examination by America’s Food and Drug Administration, it was found to contain sildenafil, the generic name of the drug marketed as Viagra…
ITVX
The Football Fraudster – Available from Thursday
As a footballer, Oldham Athletic and Congo midfielder Medi Abalimba enjoyed the high life, and after his career ended, he wasn’t ready to give that up. So he posed as sports stars and respected businessmen to fleece multiple victims out of enormous amounts of cash so that he could reside in swanky mansions and -fivestar hotels, holiday in luxury resorts and travel in a chauffeur-driven Bentley when he hadn’t chartered a helicopter. We hear from some of those he conned, including Love Island’s Georgia Steel, and forensic psychologist Donna Youngs explains how and why he got away with it for so long.
HAYU
The Real Housewives of Potomac – Available from Monday
We’ve already been slammed with a double whammy of those Beverly Hills and Miami ‘Wives on Hayu in the last couple of weeks, but save some precious viewing time for the ladies of Potomac who are back to bring all the drama Maryland has to offer. As if things weren’t fiery enough, newbie Nneka Ihim, a Nigerian-American lawyer from a well-to-do family who has just purchased a multi-million dollar house in the heart of Potomac, arrives to add some extra spice. Will she steal Candiace’s crown as the show’s ‘grande dame’? She’ll have a fight on her hands.