Our TV critics have picked the best 19 shows and films to stream this weekend from a crime bestseller to a nerve-shredding oil rig disaster. What's on your watchlist?
Looking for something new to watch this weekend? The Daily Mail's TV experts have sifted through hundreds of programmes to bring you 19 of the best shows and films to stream on demand right now.
The top hits available to watch include a thrilling murder mystery, a royal battle for the ages and a big-budget military action series.
So grab the TV remote, put your feet up and prepare to make the most of what is on offer this weekend.
The Thursday Murder Club
Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren star in an adaptation of Richard Osman's hit book
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
At a quiet retirement home in the south of England, a quartet of pensioners meet each week to discuss cold crimes and research investigative avenues that the police might have missed. But what happens when they find themselves involved in a murder mystery of their own? Will the OAPs be able to solve it before the PCs? And just how much danger will they put themselves in to do it?
Few book adaptations have been as keenly anticipated as this movie version of the first in Richard Osman's best-selling detective series. And it won't disappoint, with Home Alone and Harry Potter director Chris Columbus delivering a fantastically faithful and fun movie. Having an absolute dream cast doesn't hurt proceedings either, with Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Celia Imrie and Ben Kingsley simply perfect as the four crime-cracking retirees. (118 minutes)
King & Conqueror
Thrilling historical drama set in the lead-up to the Battle of Hastings
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
You know the date, 1066, as the battle of Hastings, but what do you know of what came before? Excluding the Bayeux tapestry, there's been little else to bring this specific seam of pre-Plantagenet English history to life and now you can thank Game of Thrones for making this kind of treachery and war mongering popular again.
The series opens on brief and brutal scenes of the famous battle of 1066 before snapping back to the years before as an uneasy peace settles over England after prolonged civil war. We are introduced to Godwin, the Earl of Wessex (Geoff Bell) and his son Harold (James Norton) as King Edward the Confessor (Eddie Marsan) settles onto the throne, his mother Lady Emma (Juliet Stevenson) whispering at his side. In France, Duke William (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) has had a similarly long fight to retain his hold on Normandy. These two men have a date with destiny on the battlefield, but this is the story of how they went from being allies, friends even, to lethal opponents.
There's an awful lot of cunning by candlelight, women and men with plans and ideas, and brutal violence where life is cheap. Earthy and grubby, as the medieval period should be, the lighting is cinematic and the dialogue clear as a whistle. The cast is superb, with special mention to Juliet Stevenson who has enormous fun delivering lines like 'power isn't given, power is taken' and, although there aren't any dragons, this definitely has more in common with the slippery scheming and full-pelt action of Game Of Thrones than the cerebral observations of Wolf Hall. (Eight episodes)
Thunderbolts*
Florence Pugh stars in a dry-witted Marvel movie about underdog superheroes
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
One of the best Marvel superhero team movies in a good long while, the dry-witted Thunderbolts* has a lot to recommend it, not least Florence Pugh as the ex-Black Widow assassin Yelena - a member of a band of misfits who are the world's only option in the absence of the Avengers.
Other members of this bantering band of underdogs include Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier (from the Captain America movies), Wyatt Russell's John Walker (from The Falcon And The Winter Soldier TV show), and Olga Kurylenko and Stranger Things' David Harbour as Taskmaster and Red Guardian, both from the Black Widow movie.
The interconnectedness of the Marvel movies and TV shows can feel like homework, as that description of where all these characters come from implies - but the truth is that you can watch these movies in isolation, they just make slightly less sense. This one's definitely worth seeing for Pugh if you missed it at the cinema and, as for the asterisk? That'll make sense when you watch. (127 minutes)
Disaster At Sea: The Piper Alpha Story
Survivor accounts of the world's most deadliest oil rig disaster
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
On 6 July, 1988, flames engulfed offshore oil rig Piper Alpha after a series of explosions, claiming the lives of 167 of the 226 men on board. This powerful three-parter tells the story through the testimony of some of the 61 men who defied the odds and made it off Piper Alpha alive, as well as the rescue workers fighting to save them.
Their words (spoken by actors) were recorded at the inquiry into the disaster that took place six months later while events were still fresh in their minds, and the trauma still visibly and audibly raw. It's powerful stuff that, combined with dramatised scenes, brings home the minute-by-minute fear and chaos as the disaster unfolded.
We also hear from the families of the Piper Alpha workers who describe what it was like to have fathers and husbands working offshore and to share in their loss as the scale of the disaster struck home. With a detailed examination of the causes, as well as a look at the wider North Sea oil boom, this paints a complete and devastating picture of the world's deadliest oil rig disaster. (Three episodes)
Atomic
Alfie Allen and Shazad Latif star in an offbeat adventure about uranium smuggling
Year: 2025
Alfie Allen and Shazad Latif star in Sky's offbeat adventure about two men in way over their heads. Based on the non-fiction book The Atomic Bazaar and unfolding over five rollercoaster episodes, Atomic opens with drug-runner Max (Allen) and haunted wanderer JJ (Latif) at odds in the desert - but circumstances conspire to drive them closer and, before you know it, they're involved in a story of international uranium smuggling and, potentially, a nuclear explosion the size of Hiroshima.
The surrounding show is an intriguing hodge podge, blending notes of 1950s B-movies with a pulsing 1990s rave music soundtrack, and what holds it together is the uneasy bromance of Max and JJ. Bubbling under that is the mystery of who 'JJ' actually is and what he really cares about and that, along with the show's pace and scope, is likely to be what keeps you watching. Max seems like more of an open book - surprisingly nice, even, for someone who runs drugs for the cartels - but then the lesson of this series seems to be that you shouldn't judge books by their covers... (Five episodes)
The Great Art Fraud
How a superstar art dealer got caught out in a multi-million-pound fraud
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Inigo Philbrick had it all. From good American stock, he made his name as an art dealer, taken under the wing of Jay Joplin, one of the leading lights of the art scene, he had a jetset lifestyle and a Made In Chelsea star girlfriend, Victoria Baker-Harber. But all was not what it seemed: His success was built on an art fraud with upwards of £80 million fleeced from collectors.
Now out of prison, Inigo sits down to tell his story. From his arrival in London where he went to work at Joplin's famous White Cube gallery earning £2 bus fares, to taking home an annual salary over £500k and then going it alone. That's when he would he would get tangled up in a complex buying and borrowing scheme that he describes as 'putting me on steroids'.
Even if you know the outline of the case from the headlines, this two-part documentary goes deep into how Inigo's kingdom would crumble and tells his story in the wider context of the insular, elitist and unregulated art world. (Two episodes)
What Are UFOs?
Scientists take a data-driven approach to Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Year: 2025
Certificate: PG
The collection of scientists and military witnesses in this documentary agree on one thing: 'We cannot rule out extra terrestrials but we have no evidence.' In a climate that makes it near impossible to disassociate Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (the new name for UFOs) from aliens, it can be very difficult to treat UAPs seriously without sounding like a loon or a conspiracy theorist. But there is a growing appetite to change all that.
This documentary explores some of the most famous sightings and events, from Roswell and Project Blue Book to more recent sightings by US Navy pilots such as those nicknamed 'Gimbal' and 'Tic Tac', and goes some way to identify what they could be (spoiler: not alien spaceships). Ultimately, for the scientists, it comes down to data and they need more of it. A lot more. To come close to explaining whether aliens have made contact, or whether it's all just bunkum, it means numbers, not eyewitness accounts or grainy videos. (60 minutes)
Unspeakable (2019 TV series)
The story of lives torn apart by Canada's contaminated blood scandal
Year: 2019
Certificate: 12
The infected blood scandal in this country is, sadly, not the only one of its kind. While they are unconnected, the scandal in the UK has similarities with one that took place in Canada over the same decades. Through the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis C by contaminated blood supplies that, as in the UK, were given to haemophiliacs and came predominantly from imported blood products that were not adequately screened.
This eight-part drama depicts Canada's infected blood scandal from multiple perspectives, from parents and patients being told not to worry by doctors, to journalists and campaigners starting to realise what's gone wrong and the scale of the crisis. It balances the personal stories of some of those affected with the systemic and institutional failings that led to it.
The UK's contaminated blood crisis has the feel of a scandal on the scale of the Post Office and ITV has commissioned a new drama that will follow in the crusading spirit of Mr Bates vs The Post Office, telling the story of what is dubbed the 'biggest health scandal' in British history. (Eight episodes)
Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over
Stacey spends 72 hours seeing how unusual families and households live
Year: 2019-
Certificate: 15
Stacey Dooley has always been good at listening, being both fascinated and unassuming about what she finds out. And while she is honest about her feelings, it comes across as sincere rather than judgmental.
This show is a gift for the intrepid reporter, who spends 72 hours with some of Britain's more unusual families. From Mormons to cage fighters, no-rules families to eco-warriors, Stacey greets each sleepover with an open mind and an endearing and sensitive willingness to learn.
The sixth series comprises three new episodes, but the one that's got everyone's attention, and not necessarily in a good way, is the series opener in which Stacey enters the world of adult content creator Lily Philips, who is up there with Bonnie Blue for headline-grabbing, toe-curling, highly divisive content. (Six series)
The Gilgo Beach Killer: House Of Secrets
Inside the life of an alleged serial killer
Year: 2025
What does the house of a killer look like? They probably all look quite different, realistically, but it's still an oddly compelling question and the draw for a three-part true-crime documentary that's actually about an alleged serial killer. Family man and unassuming Manhattan architect Rex Heuermann is suspected of being the Gilgo Beach Killer - a long unsolved cold case involving 11 victims - and here friends and family reflect on what they know about him.
'There's so much evidence against you I don't even believe you and you're my best friend,' says one of the contributors about Heuermann - who, it is important to remember, insists on his innocence through his lawyer. 'The idea that the wife didn't know anything is hard to believe,' opines another contributor, and this series hears from Heuermann's wife and their children and even Rex himself over the phone. While it has the feeling of a circus, it's an undeniably compelling one. It all goes back to us wanting to know the answer to one question: How can you know if someone is a killer? (Three episodes)
The Jury: Murder Trial
BAFTA-winning legal experiment that re-stages a real-life murder trial - with not one but two juries
Year: 2024
Certificate: 12
This compelling, BAFTA-winning show is sure to get you talking. It's the recreation of a murder trial. The twist is that we follow the jurors as they deliberate throughout - something which is strictly prohibited during actual proceedings. In the first series, there were two sets of 12 jurors, all chosen completely at random, just as they are in the real world.
Series two pared it down to just one jury, but that didn't detract from the purpose of the show, to shed light on how our justice system works, or it's entertainment value. Because it is entertaining. Both of the anonymised real trial cases are far from clear-cut or black and white. And as you listen in on how the juries deliberate you can't help but ask yourself if you would really be comfortable letting a jury of peers like these decide your fate. (Two series)
KPOPPED
Familiar music stars give their songs the K-Pop treatment in this music battle contest
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
PSY, the man who spread K-Pop across the world with Gangnam Style, helps to host an initially bewildering music battle show in which familiar stars have just 48 hours to K-Pop their songs. Megan Thee Stallion and Patti LaBelle are first up, getting half each of the Korean girl group Billlie to help with tweaking the staging and singing of Savage and Lady Marmalade respectively. In episode two it's the turn of Spice Girls Mel B and Emma Bunton, who are joined by Itzy to perform Korean twists on Wannabe and Say You'll Be There. They don't compete though - both Emma and Mel sing in each song.
The show takes us through rehearsals to the final performance as the stars get to grips with a different kind of choreography, and sometimes it's a bit of a shock. Megan Thee Stallion had expected the K-Poppers to be 'walking on marshmallows and having fun and having dance parties all day' but discovers the prepping to be more like 'boot camp'. It's not just about the music, either - it's a cultural and culinary education for the stars too, as they're taken out and about in Seoul, a place that's faintly familiar territory for Emma and Mel, who last visited in 1997.
As a show there's something a little fanatical and propagandist about it all - you'll never hear the word 'K-Pop' more often across a half hour in your life - but everyone is clearly having a lovely time. (Eight episodes)
The Terminal List
Chris Pratt and Taylor Kitsch star in a big-budget military action series
Year: 2022-
Certificate: 18
Jack Carr is a former US Navy SEAL sniper and special operations team leader, whose debut novel led to a frenzied bidding war for the screen rights. Amazon were the winners, and big-budget action thriller The Terminal List, named after Carr's book, is the result.
Chris Pratt stars as Navy SEAL James Reece, the sole survivor of a covert assassination mission that went spectacularly wrong, wiping out the rest of his platoon. On his return to America, Reece soon finds that somebody is out to destroy him, while he begins to realise that his recollection of events doesn't match the official line.
There's more to the eight-part first series than shooting, fighting and explosions though as, with Reece wrestling with survivor guilt and paranoia, it also mines a seam of psychological drama. The big-name cast includes True Detective's Taylor Kitsch as Reece's CIA officer buddy Ben, and Crazy Rich Asians' Constance Wu as journalist Katie.
The first series is followed in 2025 by seven-part prequel Dark Wolf, also starring Kitsch and Pratt and joined by Brit Tom Hopper (Black Sails) in a story that follows Ben when he was still a SEAL. As with the first series, Dark Wolf can take itself very seriously at times and it's left to Pratt, a past master of wisecracks (see Guardians Of The Galaxy) to deliver little jolts of army humour. (Two series)
Two Graves
A grandmother embarks on a journey of revenge in this violent Spanish three-parter
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves,' goes the old quote from which this Spanish three-parter takes its name. It's the story of grandmother Isabel who, after the police give up on looking for her granddaughter Verónica, who vanished two years ago, embarks on a mission to avenge the fate of the teenager and her friend Marta, a quest in which she is joined by Marta's edgy father (Immaculate's Álvaro Morte).
What could in other hands have become a kind of older female version of Taken is given extra depth by Kiti Mánver as Isabel, a woman frustrated by the limits of the authorities and determined to seek justice on her own terms. 'What are you doing with that hammer?' asks one of the roadblocks on her road to answers. He soon finds out and, despite the high level of violence here, it's hard not to find yourself cheering Isabel on in her efforts.
If Mánver looks familiar in the lead, that would be understandable - she's popped up in a lot of things over the years, more recently the TV series Money Heist, Cable Girls and Gran Hotel. (Three episodes)
Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
Surprising real-life story of anonymous cyberbullying at a US school
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
One of the worst things about cyberbullying is how easy it is to hide. This documentary from the US tracks a particularly upsetting case of a teenage girl and her boyfriend who find themselves the targets of vulgar text messages from an anonymous phone number. Who could be sending them, and why? The ordeal drags on for months and, when the authorities finally become involved, they discover something highly unexpected about the whole affair.
Such is the hooky twist of this true-crime documentary, ably directed by genre expert Skye Borgman (Abducted In Plain Sight, Girl In The Picture), and featuring a satisfying balance of shock and detail. Let's hope that some lessons can be learned from this case in the future when it comes to digital anonymity, in schools and beyond. (94 minutes)
The Darkness (2024 series)
Nordic noir with a troubled detective investigating an ice-cold case
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
There's a husband and wife team behind this Nordic noir, set in Iceland. It's directed by Lasse Hallstrom (known for his ABBA videos and Oscar-nominated films including The Cider House Rules) and stars his wife, Swedish actress Lena Olin (Chocolat and Riviera) in the lead.
She plays veteran detective Hulda Hermannsdóttir, whose last investigation before retirement is the very coldest of cold cases when the body of a young woman is found in a glacier. Hulda isn't retiring voluntarily and is keen to throw herself into work as she struggles to come to terms with the suicide of her daughter one year ago.
Hulda is joined by new partner Lukas, who's arrived from England and is played by Jack Bannon (Pennyworth). And there's another Brit on the cast too, with Shetland's Douglas Henshall as one of Hulda's neighbours. Fans of Shetland will find a lot to like about this dark slice of crime set in a similarly bleak and beautiful location. (Six episodes)
Hot Milk
Emma Mackey and Fiona Shaw star in a drama about mother-daughter secrets
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
One of those quiet movies that lets the acting do the talking, Hot Milk stars Sex Education's Emma Mackey and the great Fiona Shaw. Sophia (Mackey) is looking after her controlling mother (Shaw) on the Spanish coast. They're there to seek a cure for the illness that keeps her from walking and triggers strange pains, but are there any answers to be had?
Sophia is slowly flying apart with the stress of it all, and finds comfort in the arms of Ingrid (Vicky Krieps) and danger in the sea, where she is stung by jellyfish. Is the jellyfish sting a metaphor? Such are the questions you find yourself pondering in the quiet stretches of Hot Milk, but it's in its moments of outburst - when things just become too much for Sophia and she lashes out - that you're jolted back to the reality of what the film is actually about: secrets, lies, and the things we'd rather bury than remember for the sake of other people.
The ending, when it comes, may provoke some frustration. So be ready for that. (93 minutes)
Aema
1980s-set Korean drama series inspired by real events
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
It's 1981 and the Korean movie industry is booming. It's also the most sexist and misogynistic environment imaginable, which makes it a nightmare for award-winning actress Jeong Hui-ran (Lee Hanee). Despite turning down the lead role in Madame Aema, the country's first mainstream erotic movie, she still finds herself contractually obliged to play a supporting character in the movie.
At odds with the film's first-time director, its flamboyant and manipulative producer and the entire Korean filmmaking process, she finds an unexpected ally in Shin Joo-ae (Bang Hyo-rin), the starlet who replaced her in the lead, and together the two set out to bring down the system. Bright and playfully satiric, this period drama series mixes behind-the-scenes swipes at filmmaking cliches with a genuine feminist agenda as its female leads prove themselves to be the smartest people on either side of the lens. (Six episodes)
Alison & Larry: Billericay To Barry
The Gavin & Stacey stars have a jolly journey from Essex to Wales
Year: 2023
Alison Steadman and Larry Lamb starred in Gavin & Stacey as Pam and Mick, the Essex-dwelling parents of Gavin. For this jaunty series, the pair travel from the county of their fictional counterparts to Stacey's home of Barry in Wales - but they're not taking the M4 and stopping for a quick bite at the services on the way. Oh, no.
Indeed, this three-parter takes the scenic route to such an extent that you frequently forget the pair are going anywhere at all and, as with many of the best travelogues, the joy of watching isn't so much in the places as the people.
Steadman and Lamb have known each other for years (they met on 1997 BBC comedy The Missing Postman), and the easy camraderie they have across their journey is a pleasure to watch. There are frequent references to Gavin & Stacey along the way, including behind the scenes stories, a wander in Epping Forest with Billericay-born Russell Tovey (who played Budgie on the show) and a cheeky narration from Joanna Page, who played Stacey. (Three episodes)
