James R | On 02, Aug 2015

Disappointed by True Detective? NOW isn’t letting that stop its plans to keep you inside the house this summer, with a wave of promising TV for Entertainment Membership subscribers (£6.99 a month – although if you sign up before 27th September, NOW is offering new customers a £1 monthly trial).

There are acquisitions by Sky, from a new HBO series starring Oscar Isaac to David Duchovny’s new period drama, not to mention the return of The Americans to ITV Encore. Older series join the line-up for binge-watching value too, including Season 1 of The Strain.

For Movie Pass members (£9.99 a month), there’s an equally big August line-up, from The Maze Runner (just in time for the sequel hitting cinemas) and Interstellar to the entire Star Wars saga, exclusive to Sky Movies and NOW.

Here are the top TV shows and films coming to NOW in August 2015:

TV

Show Me A Hero – 17th August (Sky Atlantic)

Oscar Isaac stars in the new TV series from The Wire’s David Simon. The six-part drama – directed by Paul Haggis – follows a New York mayor in the 1970s. Support comes from Alfred Molina, Catherine Keener, Jon Bernthal and Winona Ryder.

Aquarius: Season 1 – Tuesday 11th August (Sky Atlantic, 9pm)

NBC’s gritty drama stars David Duchovny as Los Angeles homicide detective Sam Hodiak, whose investigation into a missing girl leads him into the dark activities of a strange cult run by a small-time but charismatic leader Charles Manson, portrayed by Gethin Anthony (Game of Thrones). The 13-episode series is set in 1967 at the height of ‘the summer of love’ and years before Manson notoriously masterminded the horrific Tate-LaBianca murders. The show kicks off with a double-bill.

The Americans: Season 3 – Wednesday 19th August (ITV Encore)

ITV snapped up the exclusive rights to Season 3 and 4 of The Americans a couple of weeks back, which means that the show will return to ITV (but now on ITV Encore – only available to non-pay-TV customers through Sky’s NOW) this month. The period drama follows the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in Washington DC, shortly after the election of Ronald Reagan. Head this way for a quick catch-up of events.

Boardwalk Empire: Seasons 1 to 5 – Thursday 6th August (Catch Up)

Atlantic City. The Dawn of Prohibition. A playground for Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), who runs things with a taste for illegal booze, violence and good hats. The whole of HBO’s series returns to NOW as a TV box set from Thursday 6th August, with all five seasons available to binge on for two months.

The Spoils Before Dying – Thursday 6th August (FOX)

Will Ferrell stars in this jazz noir spoof set in the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles. He plays legendary author-turned-director Eric Jonrosh, who wrote the titular murder mystery in a fit of youthful intoxication. The Spoils Before Dying began at the end of July on FOX, with Episode 3 on Thursday 6th August and the first episode available until the 22nd. Expect laughs. And jazz.

The Enfield Haunting – Saturday 1st August (Catch Up)

Sky’s scary mini-series, which follows the real-life case of a haunting in the 1970s, stars Timothy Spall as Maurice Grosse, a paranormal researcher who strikes up a connection with young Janet (Eleanor Worthington-Cox), when he investigates the strange happenings at the Hodgson family home. Matthew Macfadyen plays Guy Lyon Playfair, Grosse’s sceptical co-investigator. The cast’s chemistry, combined with the script’s gentle strain of sorrow, makes this moving as well as creepy.

True Blood: Seasons 1 to 7 – Thursday 13th August (Catch Up)

Based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, the Golden Globe-nominated series is created by American Beauty’s Alan Ball and finally reached the end of its run in September last year. Now, almost a year after the show drew to a close, all seven seasons of True Blood will be added exclusively to Sky and NOW’s online TV box set collection.

True Blood follows Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), a telepathic barmaid living in the small town of Bon Temps, Louisiana, whose life is turned upside down when a vampire (Stephen Moyer) walks into her life and introduces her to a strange new supernatural world.

Zoo – Sunday 16th August (Sky 1, 9pm)

A new global thriller, based on the book by James Patterson, follows American zoologist Jackson Oz (James Wolk, Mad Men), who witnesses strange behaviour in the wild animals he studies in Botswana. Jackson manages to save one person from a vicious lion attack: Chloe Tousignant (Nora Arnezeder, Safe House), a French Intelligence agent. Together with safari guide Abraham (Nonso Anozie, Game of Thrones), they begin to investigate the evidence behind the increasing number of animal attacks around the planet.

The Strain: Season 1 – Monday 17th August (Catch Up)

Update: The Strain: Season 1 will now be added on Thursday 20th August

Guillermo del Toro’s trilogy of vampire novels was brought to our screens last year with House of Cards’ Corey Stoll starring as Dr. Ephraim Goodweather, the head of the Center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. Eph and his colleagues find themselves investigating a viral outbreak following the mysterious death of a plane full of people. Re-imagining vampires as a deadly plague in the modern age, the show wins points for its truly creepy creature designs. Now, before Season 2 returns on UKTV’s Watch (available on Sky), the whole of Season 1 is available as a box set to catch up with.

Movies

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – Saturday 1st August

Oh you, pretty Chitty Bang Bang… Yes, we shall be singing this to ourselves non-stop for the next 30 days.

The Judge – Friday 7th August

Robert Downey Jr. stars in this drama about a hotshot lawyer returning home to reconnect with his father, who is suspected of murder.

Enemy – Friday 7th August

This mind-bending thriller from Denis Villeneuve takes the idea of a doppelganger and runs with it, adding to Jake Gyllenhaal’s current run of excellent film roles.

The Maze Runner – Friday 7th August

Ever wished that someone had remade 90s horror Cube for kids? Meet The Maze Runner, another young adult novel series that has been turned into a film franchise – but unlike the others, this sees our teens wake up trapped in a gigantic maze, where new boys arrive via a mysterious elevator. Until one day, a girl turns up. The cast (including Thomas Sangster and Will Poulter) face the sci-fi premise with straight faces, while the creatures scuttling through the labyrinth are genuinely unsettling.

Star Wars – Saturday 8th August

Because what else is there to do at the weekend, other than watch all six Star Wars films back to back?

Men, Women and Children – Friday 14th August

Jason Reitman turns his gaze to the online age with this drama starring Rosemarie DeWitt, Jennifer Garner, Dean Norris and Adam Sandler.

Interstellar – Friday 21stAugust

What’s the secret to interstellar travel? Christopher Nolan can’t decide if it’s gravity, love or something else entirely in this muddled sci-fi epic, which stars Jessica Chastain, Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey, but the visuals and world-building on display are undeniably beautiful to witness.

The Book of Life – Friday 21st August

The rulers of the underworld wager on which one of two boys will win the heart of the girl they love in this beautifully animated family film.

Annie – Friday 28th August

Quvenzhané Wallis follows Beasts of the Southern Wild with another charming lead role in this adaptation of the Broadway musical, directed by Easy A’s Will Gluck.

Pride – Friday 28th August

Lesbians and gays support the miners in this heartwarming take on a true story, which sees one group of social outcasts stand side-by-side with another during the 1984 miners strike. Simply lovely.

Saturday 1st August
Shrek
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Chicago
27 Dresses
Aladdin and the King of Thieves
The Departed – 1st August
Deception – 1st August

Friday 7th August
Dolphin Tale 2

Friday 14th August
And So It Goes
No One Lives
Tinker Bell & The Legend of the NeverBeast

Saturday 15th August
Armageddon

Thursday 20th August
Pretty Woman

Friday 21st August
Ouija

Monday 24th August
Proof of Life

Friday 28th August
This Is Where I Leave You
Supremacy

Add to Watchlist