Our TV experts have picked the 20 best shows and films to stream this weekend, from the final series of a Netflix favourite to a gripping true crime drama
With so much at your fingertips it can often feel like a never-ending task to decide what to watch when relaxing at home.
Thankfully, our TV experts have rounded up the top 20 shows and films to stream this weekend, including a compelling sports documentary and the fourth series of an award-winning kitchen drama.
Squid Game (Series 3)
The Korean murder-game drama returns for its final series
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
The Korean TV show about contestants challenged to play deadly variations on classic children's games returns. After a cliffhanger end to the show's second run, it's back with a blockbusting third series which sees Player 456 (Lee Jung-jae) continuing his struggle to bring the games down from within.
Reeling from the killing of his friend Jung-bae at the end of series two, he's back within the game world facing new threats from a fresh raft of killer playground games as well as a new intake of merciless players, each one determined to win at all costs. He also moves closer towards finally learning what the audience already know: the identity of the games' mysterious and deadly front man. It's another nailbiting series that nudges the high-concept thriller show in new and disturbing directions. (Six episodes)
Smoke (2025 series)
Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star as arson investigators in a fiery nine-part whodunnit from Dennis Lehane
Year: 2025
Certificate: 18
Smoke has a lot going for it. With a script from Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) based on true crime podcast Firebug, and starring Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett as a pair of arson investigators, this gripping nine-parter is essentially a whodunnit about fire.
Egerton is Dave Gudsen, a plodding journeyman investigator with literary aspirations, and the jolly stepdad to his wife's teenage child. He's an everyman with an edge, while Smollett plays something very different. Detective Michelle Calderone wound up in arson for reasons unknown but everyone seems to think it's a punishment because the clear-up rate for cases there is so low. There's no glory in short but, when a string of fires suggest a pair of arsonists are at work, Michelle is determined to make the best of her situation - and catch the culprits.
With a cracking, twisting script that's always two steps ahead of you, great performances, tense fire scenes and a casually top-tier soundtrack, Smoke is one to watch. Lehane and Egerton previously teamed up to great effect for Apple's Black Bird and this has all the hallmarks of being just as gripping, with a strong wider cast that includes Rafe Spall, Greg Kinnear and John Leguizamo. (Nine episodes)
The Gilded Age (Series 3)
Marriage and divorce are key themes in this series of Julian Fellowes' 1880s New York drama about old and new money
Year: 2025
Social climbing has always been a big part of Julian Fellowes' drama about old and new money in 1880s New York. It's at the core of it, actually, as it's in how the plans of nouveau riche social climber Bertha Russell (The White Lotus's Carrie Coon) irritate the Manhattan aristocrats that this show is at its most fun.
In series one, Bertha's mere presence in society is enough to tick off Agnes van Rhijn (The Good Fight's Christine Baranski) and co. In series two, Bertha put the money of her rail tycoon husband to work by backing a fancy new opera house, much to the chagrin of the aristocrats who preferred their fusty old one. Great swathes of that series were then devoted to the size of the guest lists for the rival opening nights.
All that sets the stage neatly for series three, in which Bertha's social ascension agenda moves up a gear and, no spoilers as to exactly how here, but it's safe to say she's got the British aristocracy in her sights. The third series is set in winter and, as a whole, deals with the pressure to make a marriage work and what happens when it doesn't - and where that leaves both the woman and the man in the aftermath, both to each other and society.
Other lighter storylines weave in between this, including the continuing saga of that nifty clock invented by one of the servants and the mild-mannered domestic upheaval that results when Agnes must surrender control of the van Rhijn purse to Ada, her once meek sister. Ada is played by Cynthia Nixon who, by virtue of appearing in both Sex And The City and And Just Like That, is no stranger to stories of women in New York. The 1880s wardrobe is a little different, though. (Eight episodes)
The Bear (Series 4)
The series about a Chicago restaurant returns for a fourth series
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
The Bear has been a hugely talked about show ever since it began. Awards followed all that and, after a divisive third series that finished poised on a knife edge, this fourth course is something to salivate over. When we left the crew of the Chicago sandwich shop at the end of series three, the restaurant's rising acclaim in the real world contrasted with the chaos behind the scenes - including meltdowns and rapidly vanishing cash reserves.
This series sees genius head chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) trying to mend his obsessive ways, while sous chef Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) mulls over whether it's time to move on. Of course, staying might not be an option for any of them: the money is running out fast and Uncle Jimmy (Oliver Platt) may decide to pull the plug on the project at any moment. White, Edebiri and the amazing Ebon Moss-Bachrach as foul-mouthed front of house boss Richie are all fantastic in a sizzling drama with a genuinely unique flavour. It does need to learn the merits of getting on with a story, though. (Ten episodes)
Serena Williams: In The Arena
Tennis legend Serena Williams shares a personal account of her career milestones
Year: 2024
'It's lonely at the top... at the end of the day I wasn't there to make friends, I was there to win,' Serena Williams says, narrating her own story in this exhaustive, but far from exhausting, eight-part series.
It certainly wasn't always about winning for Serena as she explains how it felt, as a youngster, being in the shadow of her sister Venus, not with any bitterness, but with love and a smile. As part of a poor black family growing up in the LA neighbourhood of Compton, the Williams sisters were always going to stand out the minute they started playing pro tennis in the 1990s, spurred on by their dad Richard, who referred to Serena back then as a 'pitbull'.
Both Serena and Venus are winners, but are also charming and self-effacing, especially as they reminisce about their early career, with Venus describing her sister's pro-debut as 'so cute'... and Serena laughing off how bad it was.
It's definitely a bit of a puff piece, but even carefully managed and presented, Serena's story is still a belter and as thrilling as her exhilarating on court style. (Eight episodes)
Transaction
Transgender egomaniac Liv causes havoc in the strange world of the supermarket nightshift
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
From semi-finalist on The Voice UK in 2016 to Britain's second most famous trans comic (after Eddie Izzard), Jordan Gray has never hidden her light under a bushel - and she isn't about to start in this new sitcom, based on her 2020 online series for Comedy Central.
She stars as Olivia, Liv for short, a lazy, self-indulgent shut-in who ends up working the nightshift at a supermarket, to the relief and chagrin of her long-suffering flatmate and new co-worker Tom. Tom is pleased Liv has a job, but he now won't have anywhere to escape from her anarchic shenanigans, which she unleashes on her new workplace with 'discount Halloween mask' glee.
Liv was given the job to appease a baying mob of transactivists after Nick Frost's store manager Simon made a mistake with some marketing. Liv is now unsackable - imagine the optics if she walked or was fired? - and she takes full, chaotic advantage of her privilege.
There's a lot that's inherently funny in the set-up, not least how absurd it all is, and Gray's guts and energy are impressive. It's with some relief, though, that the egomania of her character is softened by the ensemble cast, including Frost as the manager guaranteed to insert foot in mouth, Francesca Mills (Silent Witness) as the super-nice Millie, and Thomas Gray as Liv's bestie Tom, who does most of the work of taking the cartoon character out of her and making Liv more real. (Six episodes)
M3gan
A killer doll's on the rampage in this cinema hit
Year: 2022
Certificate: 15
When she suddenly has to become the caretaker of her orphaned and traumatised eight-year-old niece Cody, genius cybernetic engineer Gemma (Get Out's Allison Williams) struggles to meet the girl's emotional and physical needs. But she has a solution: the innovative doll-like robot M3gan that Gemma has been working on. At first, pairing the two seems like a brilliant idea, but it slowly becomes apparent that M3gan will do absolutely anything to protect her new friend and there's nothing Gemma can do to stop her.
An immensely creepy slice of slasher horror that was a big hit in cinemas and on social media, the latter courtesy of the 'M3gan dance', this brings the spirit of Chucky firmly into the age of Siri and Alexa. (102 minutes)
Ironheart
An all-new armoured hero suits up in this Marvel live-action series
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Marvel fans have encountered Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) before, as a supporting player in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but now the renegade tech genius and armour maker gets her own six-part adventure show.
The series picks up with Riri back in Chicago after returning from Wakanda, trying to move ahead with her life and her studies at MIT. However, an encounter with charming criminal Parker Robbins aka The Hood (Anthony Ramos) sets her on a path that sees her and the suit of Tony Stark-style armour that she's built facing off against enemies driven by magic as much as tech.
Produced by Black Panther and Sinners director Ryan Coogler, this is a vibrant, stylish Marvel show that deserves attention. Thorne is all no-nonsense charisma as the young black gizmo genius, with enjoyable support from a fantastic young cast that includes Ramos, Solo's Alden Ehrenreich, Lyric Ross, Regan Aliyah and Manny Montana. (Six episodes)
Renegade Nell
Sally Wainwright's family adventure about a super-powered highwaywoman
Year: 2024
Certificate: 12
Sally Wainwright is one of our finest screenwriters. Over the years she's given us great shows like At Home With The Braithwaites, Last Tango In Halifax and Happy Valley to name but three. Renegade Nell, her eight-parter for Disney+, feels like her entry into the genre of family-friendly TV adventure serials, telling the story of a young 18th-century highwaywoman with special powers.
Derry Girls' Louisa Harland plays the gutsy Nell who, in moments of peril, is able to slow down time like Neo in The Matrix and stop bullets with her bare hands. Nell is very British - she says things like 'have you learned nothing from the last time I duffed you all up?' - as is the show, with an array of familiar UK acting faces in supporting roles such as Adrian Lester, Joely Richardson and Pip Torrens, along with Ted Lasso's Nick Mohammed as a diminutive fairy at Nell's side. The moments when we're not with Nell do sag a little - the plotting of her enemies simply isn't as interesting - but she's on-screen a lot so it's a small problem in context, and the excellent action sequences are both unusual and a lot of fun.
It wasn't quite enough for audiences though, and there will be no second series. (Eight episodes)
The Shadow
Compelling German-language mystery set in Vienna
Year: 2023
Certificate: 12

This German mystery drama is set in Vienna and finds journalist Norah Richter (Deleila Piasko) tumbling into a kaleidoscopic nightmare not unlike Holly Martins in The Third Man. She's not looking for Harry Lime, though, but instead a man called Arthur Grimm after she's told by a beggar woman that she will kill him at Vienna's famous Prater fairground on a specific date - August 13. The clock starts counting down, with 41 days remaining.
Norah's never heard of Grimm but as the series unfolds we are teased that he could be somehow linked to a childhood friend of Norah's who died on August 13. Or perhaps to Wolfgang Balder (Dark's Andreas Pietschmann), the controversial artist Norah is reluctantly assigned to profile for her magazine. As Norah is beset by strange events, her own sanity becomes less clear in a thoroughly beguiling mystery that only gets bigger and more compelling. (Six episodes)
Gladiator II
Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal and Denzel Washington star in the epic sequel
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Set a decade and a half after the death in the Colosseum sands of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe), this spectacular sequel returns to the streets and gladiator pits of the Roman empire for more behind-the-scenes power struggles and gritty swordfights in front of baying crowds.
Irish actor Paul Mescal (Normal People) takes centre stage this time as Hanno, an exiled Roman noble forced into slavery as a gladiator following the death of his family. Director Ridley Scott successfully conjures up the thrilling atmosphere of his original 2000 movie, drawing a fine tortured performance from Mescal - who has the athleticism to go with his formidable acting skills - while also filling the film with excellent turns from the likes of Pedro Pascal and the mighty Denzel Washington, the latter having a fine time as a retired gladiator-turned-fearsome political powerbroker. (148 minutes)
Saltburn
Emerald Fennell's darkly hilarious, class-conscious thriller
Year: 2023
Certificate: 18
Emerald Fennell became widely known when she took over as head writer on Killing Eve from Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Also an actress (she was Emmy-nominated as Camilla on The Crown), Fennell has since blazed a trail into Hollywood, winning an Oscar for her screenplay for 2020's Promising Young Woman. The boldly twisty, darkly comedic thriller Saltburn is her sensational follow-up to that.
It's the class-conscious story of Oliver, a dedicated, up-by-the-bootstraps student at Oxford who's invited back to the estate of his laid-back, posh friend for summer. The estate is called Saltburn and it's the kind of place you dress for dinner, and the occupants - including riveting characters played by Rosamund Pike and Richard E. Grant - are fascinated by him. We won't say more about what comes next because this is the kind of movie you want to go into knowing as little as possible, but be prepared for the odd horrific moment among it all - and to not like anyone on screen. (131 minutes)
Outrageous
The story of the six socialite Mitford sisters in 1930s Britain
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
You might already be familiar with the blue-blooded Mitford family and its six socialite sisters, from the 2019 adaptation of Nancy Mitford's novel The Pursuit Of Love, or from countless books and biographies, or from reputation alone. Upper-class and of very mixed affiliations, the Mitford sisters are notorious for their links to Hitler (Unity) and the British fascists (Diana). In contrast, celebrated novelist Nancy was a pacifist, Jessica a journalist and communist, Deborah a duchess and Pamela the more private, down-to-earth one.
Based on the biography by Mary S Lovell and opening in Unity's 'coming out year' of 1931, this suitably decadent six-part series charts the circumstances that set the sisters on their unique, diverging paths. As women from a middling aristocratic family they were expected to marry, and marry well. And when we first meet them, it's only Diana (Joanna Vanderham) who has a husband. But that's also where the scandals start.
A bubbly evocation of a family of eccentric toffs, you get a real sense of how much fun it would be to hang out with them, and while the gorgeous frocks and talk of suitable husbands give it the feel of other more frothy period dramas, the social and political context - the proximity of Hitler, Oswald Mosley and the Second World War - certainly does not. Narrated by Nancy (Bridgerton's Bessie Carter) and seen largely through her writer's eye, it positively rips along, an intoxicating true story full of scandal, romance and radical ideas.
Let's hope it returns for a second series, if only to give Vanderham the chance to find out what happened to Diana in the end. The actress claimed that, in her research for the role, she stopped reading about Diana's life at 1936 - so as to be in the same boat as her character. (Six episodes)
Countdown
Supernatural's Jensen Ackles stars in an anti-terrorist action show
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
When an agent for the Homeland Security division of the US government is killed in Los Angeles, a special covert task force is set up to investigate, headed by tough security expert Nathan Blythe (Grey's Anatomy's McSteamy, aka Eric Dane). Drafted in alongside mismatched agents from assorted agencies is maverick LAPD detective Mark Meachum (Supernatural's Jensen Ackles).
He's a bit of a loose cannon, but that might just be what the team needs when their investigation leads them towards a conspiracy that threatens all of LA. After his stint as an evil superhero on The Boys, it's great to see Ackles back in stubbly good guy territory here, bringing the full force of his trademark twinkly-eyed action hero charm to bear on a slick and enjoyable action series that thrillingly melds elements of 24 with shows such as NCIS and FBI. (13 episodes)
Mafia (2025 series)
Based-on-truth drama about the rise of organised crime in Sweden
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
'Swedish gangster drama' isn't a big genre in TV. Shows from that part of the world tend to be more about preserving law and order than breaking it, but Mafia is a strong exception to that rule. Set in the Sweden of the 1990s and inspired by true events, it follows the rise to wealth through crime of Yugoslav immigrant Radovan 'Jakov' Jakovic (Peshang Rad).
In episode one Jakov falls into tobacco smuggling to make ends meet while, on the police side of the story - we couldn't have a Swedish series totally about criminals, after all - we follow Gunn Thörngren (The Boys' Katia Winter), who realises that cigarette smuggling, while seen as relatively innocuous by her colleagues, actually brings in big money; the kind of money that bankrolls organised crime.
We track Jakov and Gunn's linked fortunes across a six-parter that's written with wit, depth and a sensitivity to the times - specifically, the fallout from the Yugoslav Wars - and which always has the capacity to surprise. At one point, during the hold-up of a petrol station, one of the gangsters worries that the getaway car is registered in his name. So he just drives off. It's a telling point about his character but it's also quite funny in the moment. (Six episodes)
Trainwreck: Poop Cruise
Documentary examining an infamous 2013 cruise liner trip to Mexico
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
When the Carnival Triumph cruise ship set off from Galveston in Texas in February 2013, it's 3,100 passengers thought that all they had in store was a luxury four-day cruise down to Mexico and back. The outward trip went without incident, but on the return leg, a fire in the ship's engine room struck.
Soon the ship was drifting without any propulsion. Internal power systems were affected and so, unfortunately, was the ship's plumbing. With toilets backing up and overflowing into the hallways, food running short and passengers on the verge of mutiny, the cruise turned to utter anarchy and sparked an international media furore.
Archive footage, testimony from passengers and crew and cellphone video allows this enjoyably gross documentary to bring the so-called 'poop cruise' to life, in all its icky glory. (55 minutes)
Murderer Behind The Mask
True-crime documentary about the hunt for an Irish killer
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12

Could a successful Dublin architect really be a fiendishly clever murderer? That's the question that the Irish police are forced to ponder when a surprise discovery made by a group of fishermen up in the mountains leads officers investigating the case of a missing woman to the door of Graham Dwyer. And once they identify the seemingly happily married father of two as a serious suspect, just how are they going to prove that Dwyer has gone beyond a fetish for violent sexual acts into actual murder?
Eye-witness testimony and in-depth access to information from the police investigation brings to life the battle to bring Dwyer - a ferociously intelligent killer who believes he's covered his tracks completely - to justice, in a creepy and gripping two-part documentary that has strong echoes of drama series The Fall. (Two episodes)
Frozen: The Broadway Musical
Filmed version of the Broadway stage production of the hit Disney movie
Year: 2025
As the sequels, spin-offs short movies, making ofs and sing-a-long versions connected to Frozen prove, audiences just can't let it go. Sorry, couldn't resist... Which means that fans will be delighted that they can now also watch the Broadway theatrical version of the tale of Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Olaf the snowman in the comfort of their own homes.
Full of stage spectacle and some stunning practical effects, it's a vivid and exciting retelling of the story of the 2010 animated movie with a live cast of singers and dancers. It's more than just a simple rehash of the story though - alongside songs such as Do You Want To Build A Snowman, For The First Time In Forever and - of course - Let It Go, there are also 12 new songs written specially for the stage version. (112 minutes)
Side Hustlers
Female founders hoping for their big business break
Year: 2024
The Apprentice, but for girls only, this is hosted by British businesswoman Emma Grede (who's had guest slots on Dragons' Den) and model Ashley Graham, who act as mentors and investors for six women who have 40 days to turn their side hustle into a full-time business.
The first step is pitch their ideas - and not all of them make the cut. As much as this is a warm and supportive environment for the female founders, many of whom have sob stories, not everyone can get the leg-up and investment money they need. For some of the crazier ideas (holy water anyone?), you can't really blame Grede and Graham for saying no.
This is a reality TV contest with a very familiar format that taps into the glorified rejection of the nine-to-five favoured by Gen-Z, and celebrates women fuelled by passion and determination to succeed on their own. (Two series)
Big Man
Stormzy plays a washed-up rapper in a 20-minute movie comedy shot entirely on a phone
Year: 2025
Certificate: pg
The big headline about this British short film is that it was shot on a mobile phone, but the real reason to watch is its star - Michael 'Stormzy' Omari. The acclaimed rapper plays a washed-up rapper called Tenzman, who has hilariously been reduced to haggling over font sizes for his name in gig billings and being scammed by children.
Stormzy brings a lot of deadpan style and sitcom dad-level grumpiness to the 20-minute project, which feels a little like an audition for a comedy series. It all ends in a rather sweet way with everyone learning a lesson on a trip to Brighton, but it's Stormzy's way with humour that's the main takeaway here - watching him being afraid of seagulls is the stuff of pure sketch comedy.
If only there was a scene at the end with Tenzman meeting the angry parents of the children he whisked away to Brighton without so much as a by your leave... (20 minutes)