The best new TV to stream next week – from Luther: The Fallen Sun to Social Media Murders
WHETHER it's a film or a TV series - there's plenty of options for you to binge on this week.
The Sun's TV Mag has a round up of all the best new TV to watch across the main streaming services.
NETFLIX
Luther: The Fallen Sun - Available from Friday
Four years since Luther was last on our screens, Idris Elba is pulling on maverick detective’s long grey overcoat once again. This time, rather than giving us a full series, the show is back as an all-action, nerve-shredding film, picking up from where we left Luther at the end of season five.
Our troubled hero is behind bars and in disgrace – but when dangerous psychopath David Robey (Andy Serkis) begins terrorising London, Luther escapes in order to take him down. He quickly finds himself in a deadly race against time: can he manage to get his man before the police, led by smart young detective Odette Raine (Cynthia Erivo), catch up with Luther and throw him back in prison? Explosive, dark and dramatic, it’s a thrilling return.
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage - Available from Sunday
Not content with cornering the market in on-demand telly, this week Netflix is trying something new and exciting. For the very first time, the platform is planning a global live streaming event – a stand-up special from comedy legend Chris Rock.
Taking to the stage in Baltimore, Rock will treat the world – as well as an audience at the top-secret venue where the show is being filmed – to an unseen routine.
Whether that will address the infamous slap he received from Will Smith at last year’s Oscars – a moment he’s yet to directly respond to in any great detail – we’ll just have to wait and see. But be warned: if you want to watch the show as it streams, you’ll need to stay up very late, or set your alarm clock, as the time difference between here and the US means it’ll be live for us Brits at 3am.
MH370: The Plane That Disappeared - Available from Wednesday
Most read in Streaming
It’s a mystery that refuses to be solved. On 8 March 2014, midway through its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in China, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 suddenly vanished, along with its 239 passengers.
Immediately, a massive and far-reaching search was launched across the South China Sea and the southern Indian Ocean, in the hope of finding the aircraft, which was presumed crashed. But despite the painstaking and costly hunt, few traces of the plane have ever been discovered.
This new three-part documentary series examines the tragedy, looking at everything from the official evidence to the many wild and far-fetched conspiracy theories that have swirled ever since the flight disappeared, as well as talking to those who are still desperately searching for answers.
You - Available from Thursday
Has Joe (Penn Badgley) finally met his match? If you’ve watched the first half of the fourth season of this blacker than black comedy-drama, you’ll know that the serial-killing stalker has been trying – and failing - to build an uneventful new life in London.
The problem is – and this is a big spoiler! – it turns out that there’s another mystery murderer at large, bumping off people around Joe and seemingly trying to frame him.
The second half of the season lands this week and finds Joe on a mission to bring down his nemesis while also trying to stop love interest Kate (Charlotte Ritchie) from becoming the killer’s next victim. Expect plenty more twists, turns and bloody violence before the series finishes.
PARAMOUNT+
School Spirits - Available from Friday
Cobra Kai's Peyton List stars in this supernatural teen thriller as a murdered high-school student who’s now a ghost in limbo.
Assisted by her fellow teen spirits at an Afterlife Support Group, she's determined to solve her own killing. Last year's drama The Rising had a similar set up, but this is a more snarky take on the concept, playing off all those American high-school tropes we know and love.
As one character neatly puts it: "High school used to feel like an eternity - and now it actually is."
The Challenge: World Championships - Available from Thursday
If you're not on board The Challenge bandwagon yet, now's the time to succumb to the gung-ho reality competition. The usual format sees contestants compete against one another in various extreme challenges to avoid elimination, but now - much like the arms of some of the players - it's gone super-sized.
The first-ever global crossover tournament in the history of the franchise is an absolute beast of a show. Winners and top competitors from the UK, US, Australian and Argentinian versions of the show, plus previous cast members of shows including Survivor, are all prepared to battle for dominance.
Girl In The Basement - Available from Tuesday
Heavily based on the horrifying true story of Elisabeth Fritzl, which shocked the world in 2008, the girl in the basement in this film is called Sarah.
Played by Stefanie Scott, the teenager is imprisoned by her father in a room beneath the family home for over 20 years. Horrifyingly, she is raped by him and gives birth to several of his children while held captive.
Also starring Judd Nelson and Joely Fisher, the subject matter is undeniably grim and utterly heartbreaking, but true-crime fans will no doubt want to watch.
HAYU
Top Chef - Available from Friday
While MasterChef is the king of competitive cooking shows here in Britain, Top Chef reigns supreme in the States. To celebrate its 20th series, the show is crossing the Pond for a special all-stars season.
Hosted by Padma Lakshmi and judged by US chef Tom Colicchio and Canadian cookbook author Gail Simmons – along with distinguished guests including Brit Angela Hartnett and Northern Irish chef Clare Smyth – this series brings together 16 competitors from various international versions of the show and pits them against each other in globally-inspired quickfire and elimination cookery challenges.
At the heart of it all is London’s marvellous, melting-pot cuisine, with everything from traditional pub food to modern Indian cuisine providing the inspiration for the ingredients the chefs will be working with. Can the likes of Brazilian winner Luciana Berry, who runs a catering company in London, cook up a storm worthy of being crowned Top Chef?
PRIME VIDEO
Live Italian - Available from Friday
Over three eye-opening and entertaining episodes, this new series immerses British celebrities in Italian culture and food, giving them first-hand experience of what it means to live like a genuine Italian.
The series starts with Jack Whitehall heading off on a culinary tour across Tuscany, making pasta and creating his own gelato along the way. In the second episode, Maya Jama hits the streets of Milan and Cremona to investigate the role of music in Italian culture – even attempting to train as an opera singer.
Then, finally, Lawrence Dallaglio teams up with Italian rugby legend Martin Castrogiovanni, who’ll challenge him to some traditional Italian sporting contests. A fun, laughter-filled guide to living la dolce vita.
Fisherman’s Friends: One And All - Available from Tuesday
Remember the 2019 film Fisherman’s Friends, which told the true story of a group of singing fishermen from Cornwall who hit the big time when they’re spotted by a music business executive?
Well, this is the follow-up, and finds the group struggling to adjust to their new fame while trying to come up with a second album and get ready for a dreams-come-true performance on the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival.
Starring James Purefoy, Maggie Steed, Imelda May and Dave Johns, it’s another picturesque - if rather predictable - does of feel-good fun, filled with memorable music and charming performances.
AMAZON FREEVEE
Moonshine - Available from Friday
From Malcolm In The Middle to Arrested Development, Schitt’s Creek to Succession, everyone loves a dysfunctional family comedy-drama. Now here comes another, this time all the way from Canada.
Moonshine follows the plotting and squabbling between the Finley-Cullen half siblings, who find themselves vying to take control of the family business, a summer resort in Nova Scotia.
At the heart of it all is Lidia (Jennifer Finnigan), the eldest of the siblings who’d been living in New York but starts questioning her whole life when she’s left the resort by her recently deceased aunt - much to the annoyance of the others. Blackly funny, this is a refreshing take on a familiar set up.
ITVX
Social Media Murders - Available from Thursday
The true-crime series continues with two more episodes investigating shocking murder cases in which the victim and perpetrator were in some way linked by social media.
This week’s first episode revisits the appalling 2019 killing of New Yorker Bianca Devins, whose murderer posted footage of the terrible crime online. Horribly, this would later leave her grieving family with the difficult task of having the images removed from the web.
The second episode focuses on the murder of Alice Ruggles, a 24-year-old from Newcastle who was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2016, after a relentless campaign of cyberstalker. Chilling.
WOW Presents Plus
Drag Race Sverige - Available from Saturday
The all-conquering Drag Race juggernaut shows no sign of slowing down, and so how Swede it is to welcome a Swedish version of the franchise.
Drag Race Sverige is hosted by drag artist Robert Fux, who grew up in Austria but has been part of the Swedish scene for many years. Competing for the title of Sweden’s first Drag Superstar are Admira Thunderpussy, Almighty Aphroditey, Antonina Nutshell, Elektra, Endigo, Fontana, Imaa Queen, Santana Sexmachine and Vanity Vain.
If the Swedes are as skilled at drag culture as they are at creating flat-pack furniture, we're in for a treat!
ACORN TV
Hidden Assets - Available from Monday
Detective Emer Berry (Angeline Ball, Keeping Faith) works for the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau and gets much more than she bargained for when she learns that a small-time drug dealer is receiving substantial funding in rough diamonds.
What is the link between this bizarre discovery and a series of bombings in Belgium? Heading to Antwerp, Emer has to team up with Police Commissioner Christian De Jong (Wouter Hendrickx, Undercover).
READ MORE SUN STORIES
A political conspiracy involving greed and terrorism drives this tightly plotted and well-written Irish crime thriller, which also boasts all the best hallmarks of compelling Scandi noir.
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