David Farnor | On 13, Aug 2023

Netflix. Amazon Prime Video. BBC iPlayer. NOW. Apple TV+. Paramount+. All 4. There’s so much TV to watch these days in so many places that it can be hard to keep up. Every month, we boil down what’s on the box to the essentials you need in your streaming queue.

We’ve sorted through All The TV to bring you your August watchlist – what’s worth watching and where you can stream it online in the UK.

 

 

Week 1

 

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under: Season 3

Gentlemen in Australia and New Zealand, start your engines once again!

Physical: Season 3

Rose Byrne returns for one last chapter as Sheila Rubin, who is transforming from quietly tortured housewife to fitness entrepreneur. Zooey Deschanel joins the cast as rising celebrity exercise goddess Kelly Kilmartin, who becomes not only a professional threat, but manages to get in her head. Will Sheila prevail, or will Kelly’s presence in her life undermine the hard-earned healing and stability that Sheila has worked fought so hard for?

Heartstopper: Season 2

The coming-of-age comedy, based on the webcomic by Alice Oseman, follows Charlie and Nick, who meet at school and become friends before gradually developing a romantic relationship. Season 2 will once again see Charlie (Joe Locke) and Nick (Kit Connor) back in the blue and yellow halls of Truham Grammar School for Boys. Based on Volume 3 of the graphic novels, with lots of additional new material, the sophomore chapter will also follow Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell) as they face unforeseen challenges and Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) as they work out if they can ever be more than friends. And, to cap it off, there are exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris and a prom.

 

 

Week 2

 

Only Murders in the Building: Season 3

Season 3 finds Charles, Oliver & Mabel (played by Steve Martin, Martin Short & Selena Gomez) investigating a murder behind the scenes of a Broadway show. Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) is a Hollywood action star whose Broadway debut is cut short by his untimely death. Aided by co-star Loretta Durkin (Meryl Streep), our trio embarks on their toughest case yet, all while director Oliver desperately attempts to put his show back together. Curtains up! Episodes 1 and 2 arrive together, followed by episodes weekly.

Strange Planet: Season 1

This 10-part adult animation is based on the bestselling graphic novel and social media phenomenon of the same name. It provides a hilarious and perceptive look at a distant world not unlike our own. Set in a whimsical world of cotton candy pinks and purples, relatable blue beings explore the absurdity of everyday human traditions. Episodes 1 to 3 arrive together, followed by episodes weekly until the finale on 27th September.

Painkiller: Season 1

This fictionalised retelling of real events explores some of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in America, highlighting the stories of perpetrators, victims, and truth-seekers whose lives are forever altered by the invention of OxyContin. Directed by Peter Berg, starring Taylor Kitsch.

Cruel Summer: Season 2

Set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest, the next chapter of “Cruel Summer” follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.

We Are Newcastle United: Season 1

Narrated by Newcastle United’s all-time leading goalscorer Alan Shearer, the series will offer a unique insight into the club’s ongoing evolution under head coach Eddie Howe, offering exclusive access to the club’s decision makers and following the Magpies’ 2022/23 season from close quarters. With Howe’s squad chasing European qualification in the league after reaching their first cup final for 24 years, the series will explore how the decisions made by the club off the pitch impact their fortunes on it.

Billions: Season 7

The financial drama returns for a final season – and so does Damian Lewis as Bobby Axelrod, with the stakes rising from Wall St to the world. Enemies become friends, loyalties are tested, old wounds are weaponised, alliances are turned on their heads and betrayal takes on epic proportions. Episodes arrive weekly.

 

 

Week 3

 

The Bold Type: Season 1 to 5

This US drama follows a trio of 20-something women, who work at Scarlet Magazine. Fighting their way up the media ladder, it’s a frothy, funny, fantastic drama about women supporting each other to reach success. That, in itself, would be cause enough for celebration, but Sarah Watson’s show manages to weave its central portrayal of friendship with a whole host of topical themes and weighty issues – all wrapped up in the rewarding sight of a new generation working hard to find its voice. All four previous seasons arrive along with the premiere of the fifth and final season.

The Chosen One: Season 1

Imagine for a moment… You’re 12 years old and one day you discover that you possess the same powers as Jesus Christ. Meet Jodie, a kid who finds himself in awe as he starts to develop incredible and divine abilities. The events and revelations that follow lead the young prodigy and his crew of friends to embark on a supernatural coming of age journey through the Baja region that could change their reality and everything the world believes. Will he rise to answer the divine call?

Sanditon: Season 3

The lavish period drama inspired by Jane Austen’s final, unfinished novel will conclude in its final series. Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) returns to Sanditon with her fiancé in tow but is forced to come to terms with her unresolved feelings for Alexander Colbourne (Ben Lloyd-Hughes). He, devastated, tries to move on and open his heart to another. But as they keep getting drawn together, can they keep on ignoring their feelings?

Shelter: Season 1

Harlan Coben’s latest thriller tells the story of Mickey Bolitar and his new life with a mom in rehab, a dead father, an annoying aunt, and a new school in New Jersey.

 

 

Week 4

 

Ghosts US: Season 2

CBS’ US remake of the hit BBC comedy sees a couple inherit a crumbling mansion – and a gaggle of ghouls, from a 1920s lounge singer to a 1960s hippy.

Star Wars: Ahsoka: Season 1

After the fall of the Empire, “Star Wars: Ahsoka” follows the former Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy. Ahsoka stars Rosario Dawson, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ray Stevenson, Ivanna Sakhno, Diana Lee Inosanto, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen and Eman Esfandi. Episodes 1 and 2 arrive together, followed by episodes weekly.

Invasion: Season 2

From producer Simon Kinberg, who serves as showrunner, and David Weil, Invasion is a sweeping, character-driven science fiction drama series that follows an alien invasion through different perspectives around the world. The 10-episode second season of Invasion picks up just months later with the aliens escalating their attacks in an all-out war against the humans. The trailer gives a suspenseful sneak peek into the new season, as aliens and destruction abound, answers are relentlessly pursued and the fight for the world’s survival continues.

Ragnarok: Season 3

Adam Price’s series is a coming-of-age thriller fused with environmental themes and Norse mythology. Season 3 will conclude the saga with an epic final battle of gods, as Magne’s fortitude faces its ultimate trial and he navigates the many relations he has forged in his small town. Who is his friend? Who is his enemy?

Who Is Erin Carter?: Season 1

A British woman’s tranquil life in Barcelona spirals out of control when an armed robbery at a supermarket exposes her secret… and violent past.

 

 

Week 5

 

The Woman in the Wall

This six-part thriller written by Joe Murtagh (Calm with Horses) and starring Ruth Wilson examines the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking scandals – the inhumane institutions known as The Magdalene Laundries. Wilson stars as Lorna Brady, a woman from the small, fictional Irish town of Kilkinure who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house. Chillingly, Lorna has no idea who the dead woman is, or if she herself might be responsible for the apparent murder. That’s because Lorna has long suffered from extreme bouts of sleepwalking ever since she was ripped from her life at the age of 15 and incarcerated in a convent. There, Lorna gave birth to her daughter Agnes, who was cruelly taken from her and whose fate Lorna has never known.

Starstruck: Season 3

Season 3 of the romantic comedy picks up as Jessie explores a single life. She navigates the pressures of adulthood and is left questioning what she’s really looking for. All episodes arrive at once.

The Tower: Season 2

The Tower II is based on Kate London’s brilliant second novel, and is adapted by screenwriter Patrick Harbinson (Homeland, Fearless, 24, ER). Starring alongside Gemma Whelan as DS Sarah Collins is Tahirah Sharif as PC Lizzie Adama, Emmett J Scanlan as DI Kieran Shaw and Jimmy Akingbola as DC Steve Bradshaw. The series opens with Lizzie returning to Farlow station. Her boss and former lover, DI Kieran Shaw (Emmett J Scanlan), partners her with Arif Johar (Michael Karim). Their first call is to a domestic violence complaint against Mark Brannon (Charley Palmer Rothwell), who is accused of beating up his girlfriend, Georgina Teel (Rosa Coduri) and terrorising their young daughter Skye.

Screw: Season 2

Channel 4’s hit prison series returns, with Nina Sosanya (His Dark Materials, Good Omens, W1A) once again leading the cast as Leigh Henry, senior prison officer in charge of C Wing at Long Marsh Prison. After the Season 1 finale, our team of embattled prison officers are determined to make a fresh start. But as those behind the cell doors of C Wing know only too well, moving on isn’t always simple. With changes at the very top and fresh faces on the wing, Leigh’s new bond with Rose (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell – Derry Girls) – and the secrets they share – will be tested to the limit.

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