David Farnor | On 07, Oct 2018

Netflix. Amazon Prime Video. BBC iPlayer. NOW. Walter Presents. 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.

October is here and, just in case you had any plans for a social life, we’re here to help you reorganise your diary, because the month ahead contains all the TV, from the return of Doctor Who and Making a Murderer to The Walking Dead and The Man in the High Castle – not to mention the arrival of The Little Drummer Girl and The Haunting of Hill House. Viewing schedule too packed? We’ve sorted through All The TV to bring you your October watchlist – what’s worth watching, why and where you can find it online in the UK.

Doctor Who

Jodie Whittaker steps into the TARDIS with winning charm, as Doctor Who enters a momentous new era with its 11th season – not only with Whittaker’s Time Lord, but also a brand new showrunner in Broadchurch’s Chris Chibnall.

Flight of the Conchords Special: Live in London

New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk parody duo – Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement – reunite for this comedy special, filmed at London’s Hammersmith Apollo this summer. Old classics such as Foux Du FaFa get an airing, along with two new instant classics, including a song detailing a steamy office romance and show-stopping number involving a seagull.

The Walking Dead: Season 9

October means one thing for horror fans: the return of The Walking Dead for more zombie-smashing, flesh-eating thrills. With Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan still simmering as a background threat, and Samantha Morton joining the cast as a new villain, there’s more than enough intrigue afoot, but this season, everyone will be watching for the departure of Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes – prepare for an emotional farewell.

The Romanoffs

This new anthology series from Mad Men’s Matthew Weiner features eight separate stories about people who believe themselves to be descendants of the Russian royal family. Set in seven countries around the globe, it kicks off with a double-bill of two episodes, before new chapters arrive weekly on Friday. The Violet Hour stars Marthe Keller, Aaron Eckhart, Ines Melab and Louise Bourgoin and The Royal We stars Corey Stoll, Kerry Bishe, Janet Montgomery and Noah Wyle. One is set in Paris, where an ancestral home holds the key to a family’s future. The other sees a couple whose marriage is in a rut find their own temptations.

Making a Murderer: Part 2

The highly-anticipated second chapter of the critically acclaimed documentary series, which followed the unprecedented journey of Steven Avery from DNA exoneree and reformer to convicted murderer, will take us back to the Midwest to catch up on his case. Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos have exclusive access to Avery and his co-defendant and nephew Brendan Dassey, their families and the legal teams fighting for justice on their behalf. Over the course of 10 new episodes, Making a Murderer Part 2 provides an in-depth look at the high-stakes postconviction process, exploring the emotional toll the process takes on all involved.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

“I’m not an evil person. But these are desperate times.” That’s Sabrina Spellman introducing herself in the all-new Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Netflix’s take on the familiar teenage witch imagines her origin and adventures as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit. Judging by what we’ve seen so far, it’s going to be something truly special.

Riverdale: Season 3

Getting ready for the arrival of Netflix’s new-look Sabrina the Teenage Witch? The perfect warm-up is The CW’s Riverdale, which returns to Netflix weekly this autumn, serving up new portions of dark secrets, implausibly good-looking teens and smalltown politics. This season, Archie’s in trouble, Jughead and Betty are getting their Serpents on, Veronica’s family is falling apart, and there’s a flashback episode to dish the dirt on everyone’s parents when they were younger.

Daredevil: Season 3

If Marvel’s other Netflix series weren’t dark enough for you, Daredevil Season 3 looks set to top them all with its shadowy third season. We rejoin Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock as he reemerges after several months missing as a broken man, putting into question his future as both vigilante Daredevil and lawyer. But when his archenemy Wilson Fisk (Vincent D’Onofrio) is released from prison, Matt must choose between hiding from the world, or embracing his destiny as a hero – all while dealing with the discovery of a new masked vigilante a little too close to home.

The Man in the High Castle: Season 3

Fake news packs a real punch in the third season of Amazon’s dizzying ambitious series, which blends alt-history, science fiction and political conflict to remarkable effect. Led by a superb cast, including Rufus Sewell, this third run challenges your sympathies and explores the power of propaganda with nuance, scale and gripping storytelling. Read our full review

The Haunting of Hill House

This modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson’s legendary novel explores the lives of the five siblings who grew up in the most famous haunted house in America. Now adults, they’re reunited by the suicide of their youngest sister, which forces them to finally confront the ghosts of their own past, some of which lurk in their minds, and some of which may not. With Oculus and Hush director Mike Flanagan at the helm, and with multiple episodes for him to play with, this grippingly scary box set will have you torn between binge-watching and hiding behind the sofa.

Get Shorty: Season 2

Season 2 of the comedy crime caper gets rolling as gangster Miles Daly (Chris O’Dowd) struggles in reconciling his ambitions as a filmmaker and a family man with his skill set as a career criminal. Jeopardising his Hollywood dreams further is washed-up producer Rick (Ray Romano), who unbeknown to Miles has agreed to wear a Federal wire. Worse still, the pair have attracted the attention of a brutal prison gang leader with a Patrick Swayze obsession. The whole box set is available on Sky Box Sets and NOW from 11th October, when Episode 1 of Season 2 is broadcast. Season 1 is also available on-demand.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend: Season 4

You have to admire Rebecca Bunch (Rachel Bloom) for wanting to deal with the repercussions of the very long string of decisions – good, bad and alarmingly questionable – that she’s made since she took flight from New York City and landed in West Covina three seasons ago. For this award-winning musical’s final season, her actions have had unintended consequences for her West Covina friends – Nathaniel feels betrayed by her, Josh is taken aback by her, and Darryl is parenting her baby – but Paula, Heather and Valencia remain staunchly by Rebecca’s side even as they’re busy finding their own identities. Will everyone be content to stay in the nest with Rebecca? Or will they start to transcend the sunbaked, boba-strewn purgatory that is West Covina? Expect redemption, recovery, responsibility, rebirth, renewal and reality to collide with a catchy tune.

Informer

Informer is a complex, character-driven thriller about Raza, a young second generation British-Pakistani man from East London (Nabhaan Rizwan) who is coerced by Gabe, a Counter-Terrorism Officer (Paddy Considine) into informing for him. Gabe, who has a past he wants to remain secret, is joined by Holly, his new and ambitious partner (Bel Powley) whose endless curiosity becomes a threat to him. As the central counter-terrorism investigation heats up, the stakes for all three, their families and relationships, get higher and higher.

The Little Drummer Girl

Based on the novel by John le Carré, this series sees brilliant young actress Charlie (Florence Pugh) strikes up an acquaintance with an intriguing stranger while on holiday in Greece, but it rapidly becomes apparent that his intentions are far from romantic. The man is Becker (Alexander Skarsgård), an Israeli intelligence officer, who entangles her in a complex and high stakes plot orchestrated by Israeli Spymaster Kurtz (Michael Shannon). Set in the late 1970s, yet sharply contemporary, Park Chan-wook’s six-part thriller weaves a dynamic and exciting story of espionage and international intrigue; of love and betrayal. Read our spoiler-free review.

Butterfly

Created and penned by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Tony Marchant, Butterfly is a heartfelt and sensitive drama about the complex relationship between separated parents, Vicky (Anna Friel) and Stephen (Emmett J. Scanlan), and their division in opinion over how to support their youngest child, Max (Callum Booth-Ford). From a young age, Max has identified as a girl but has tried to suppress these feelings in an attempt to earn Stephen’s approval.

The Bisexual

Fresh from winning the Grand Jury prize at Sundance, Desiree Akhavan (The Miseducation of Cameron Post, Appropriate Behaviour) co-writes (with long-term collaborator Cecilia Frugiuele), directs and stars in The Bisexual, a new comedy drama which offers a raw, funny and unapologetic take on the “last taboo” – bisexuality – and the prejudices, shame and comic misconceptions that surround it. With Desiree’s trademark dry wit, the series takes a candid look at people’s approach to love and sex, and what the love and sex they’re drawn to reveals about them.

New Yorker Leila (Akhavan) is feeling lost in London having decided to go on a ‘break’ from her 10-year relationship with girlfriend and business partner Sadie (BAFTA-nominated Maxine Peake). Moving out of their shared flat but still faced with the fresh hell of seeing her ex every day at their joint tech company, Leila ends up renting a room from neurotic novelist Gabe (Brian Gleeson), a Hackney-dwelling 30-something dwarfed by the success of his debut novel which came out years ago and has long been forgotten.

Lore: Season 2

Amazon’s horror series returns to explore the real-life frightening and disturbing tales that give rise to modern-day myths and legends. Season 2 will feature new tales from the podcast the show is based on, as well as original stories not yet available in podcast form. The hybrid series will continue to feature narration, archive footage and animation alongside filmed segments – and with new showrunner Sean Crouch (The Exorcist), and the additions of Alicia Witt and Steven Berkoff to the cast, the potential for the show’s sophomore season to step up its spooky quality is high.

Elite

What happens in school stays in school. That’s the main lesson learned by the students of Las Encinas, Spain’s most exclusive school. But when one of the classmates turns up dead, everyone is under question. The series combines class tensions and shocking secrets, as three working class kids are admitted to Las Encinas after their academy was collapsed and the local council divvied up the students between other schools. They thought that they’d lucked out… but maybe they weren’t so lucky after all. Ackley Bridge meets Brick and Riverdale in Netflix’s classily shot Spanish original series.

There She Goes

There She Goes is a comedy-drama about a severely learning disabled nine year-old girl Rosie (Miley Locke), her dad Simon (David Tennant), mum Emily (Jessica Hynes) and brother Ben (Edan Hayhurst). All the stories and characters are drawn from the real life experience of writer Shaun Pye, whose daughter was born in 2006 with an extremely rare and to date undiagnosed chromosomal disorder.

Each episode shines a light on day to day life with Rosie – unique experiences from simply trying to take her to the park to trying to explain that every day isn’t her birthday. A second timeline set in 2006 shows the effect having a severely disabled child had on the family unit, how it threatened to disintegrate but ultimately brought them even closer.

The Gifted: Season 2

A new series set in the X-Men universe, The Gifted tells the emotional story of a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their teenage children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family seeks help from an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive.

Sally4Ever

Any TV show from Julia Davis is always worth putting on your watchlist. Catherine Shepherd stars as Sally who has lived a comfortable and dull-suburban life with David for 10 years. But on the day he asks her to marry him, she embarks on a wild affair with a young, charismatic actress, Emma (Julia Davis). The cast also includes Julian Barratt, Mark Gatiss, Sean Bean, Steve Oram and Joanna Scanlan. Need we say more?

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