The best TV to stream next week – from I Am: Celine Dion to The Bear
THE weather might be warming up – at last! – but if you still fancy a night in with some good TV, you’ve come to the right place.
Once again, The Sun’s TV Mag has pulled together all the top tele you should be checking out over the next seven days.
NETFLIX
That ‘90s Show – Available from Thursday
Get set to hop into that TV time machine and head back to 1996. It’s summertime in Point Place, and Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) has gone to stay with her grandparents once again, which gives her the chance to reunite with her friends.
But there’s a ticking time bomb threatening to split the gang, thanks to that near-kiss Leia had with Nate. What will happen if – okay, when – Leia’s boyfriend Jay, and Nate’s girlfriend Nikki, find out about it?
Aimed at anyone who’s too young to remember the ’90s, this second series isn’t up there with That ’70s Show, but it provides some easy laughs and cute nostalgia.
A Family Affair – Available from Friday
Zara Ford (Joey King) worked for two years as an assistant to entitled, selfish movie star Chris Cole (Zac Efron). But if that wasn’t challenging enough, imagine how she feels when she one day walks in on her former boss in bed with her mum! Awkward.
With Zara’s mother Brooke (Nicole Kidman) determined to enjoy this unexpected romance with the younger Chris, complications of love, sex, identity and family relationships soon arise.
This is a fun, feel-good film that reunites Zac and Nicole (they played lovers in 2012’s The Paperboy) while also giving Nicole a chance to show off her sharp comedic skills.
Owning Manhattan – Available from Friday
Many of us are unable to find decent homes to rent and thousands of young people are moving back in with their parents. Yet, strangely enough, the reality TV sub-genre of “glossy people selling hugely expensive houses to very wealthy people” shows no signs of going anywhere.
Here’s another new iteration hoping to grab a slice of Selling Sunset’s commission – Owning Manhattan follows SERHANT, a real estate brokerage that was set up at the height of the pandemic, when uncertainty reigned.
The founder, Million Dollar Listing: New York star Ryan Serhant, has closed more than $8billion in sales and his ambitious, hungry and glamorous team are eager to seal their own deals, while making a name for themselves.
The Whirlwind – Available from Friday
Political intrigue and bloody power struggles are the order of the day in this nail-biting 12-episode thriller from South Korea. When the country’s Prime Minister, Park Dong-ho (Sul Kyung-gu), makes the fateful, drastic decision to murder the President – seemingly in the name of justice – it sparks an epic and fierce battle of will between Park and the nation’s deputy Prime Minister, Jeong Su-jin (Kim Hee-ae).
With both Park and Jeong fuelled by their own agendas and desire for power, neither is willing to back down. But with tensions rising, can either of them emerge triumphant – or unscathed?
The Mole – Available from Friday
Whether it’s The Traitors, The Trust, The Fortune Hotel or Rise And Fall, there’s no denying that deception, plotting and subterfuge are having a real moment on TV.
Now, another show that’s all about scheming returns to streaming. The second season of The Mole revival heads to Malaysia, where 12 players must complete missions while also working out who among them is The Mole.
As for said furry rodent, their role is to covertly sabotage their fellow players. This could get very messy, and as one contestant, software engineer Muna, says: “I didn’t fly all the way to Malaysia to play nice.” Let the mind games begin.
Worst Roommate Ever – Available from Wednesday
Flatmates can sometimes be annoying, but the appalling roomies who featured in the first season of this chilling real-life documentary series went way beyond that, often turning out to be violent, manipulative, abusive or serial con artists.
Back for a second series, the show will reveal the true stories of another selection of fiendish flatmates who seemed innocent enough at first but soon started to make their victims’ lives a nightmare.
Among them is Scott, a man whose strange behaviour started with walking into his flatmate’s room in the middle of the night and knocking things off shelves, before quickly leaving, and then gradually got even worse… Prepare to be put off communal living.
DISNEY+
The Bear – Available from Thursday
Who’s hungry for thirds? Yes, chef! One of the best dramas of recent times returns for season three, reuniting us with troubled but brilliant chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney (Ayo Adebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and the rest of the dysfunctional team at Chicago restaurant The Bear.
Will Carmy have recovered from the traumas of the restaurant’s soft opening? Can he repair his relationships with girlfriend Claire (Molly Gordon) and “cousin” Richie, after big bust-ups at the end of the last series?
Details are being kept under wraps but Disney+ has teased: “As Carmy pushes himself harder than ever and demands excellence from his crew, they do their best to match his intensity. Their quest for culinary excellence propels them to new levels and stresses the bonds that hold the restaurant together…” We can’t wait to tuck in.
Lucrecia: A Murder In Madrid – Available from Thursday
In 1992, Dominican immigrant Lucrecia Perez was murdered in an abandoned nightclub in Madrid, shot dead while she was eating her dinner by a rogue civil guard, accompanied by a gang of neo-Nazis. It was a killing that would later be classified as Spain’s first officially recognised hate crime, and it became headline news for a long time afterwards, the nation trying to come to terms with what had happened and why.
Thirty-two years later, this four-part series, which features previously unpublished archive material and first-person testimonies, remembers the appalling murder, exploring its deep significance in Spain and the after-effects.
Diane von Furstenberg: Woman In Charge – Available from Tuesday
Belgian designer Diane von Furstenberg has been at the forefront of fashion for 50 years, revolutionising the way women dress back in the 70s with her iconic wrap dress.
A passionate advocate for gender equality, Diane has always stood up to the fashion establishment, balancing her remarkable career with raising children and taking on cancer.
Now, her incredible and inspiring story – did you know she is the child of a Holocaust survivor and married a German prince? – is told in this feature-length documentary, which features interviews with Diane herself, plus family, famous friends like Oprah Winfrey and colleagues, and a wealth of archive material. An in-depth portrait of a genuine cultural titan.
PRIME VIDEO
My Lady Jane – Available from Thursday
My Lady Jane is billed as “a radical retelling of English royal history,” in which King Henry VIII’s son Edward doesn’t die of tuberculosis, and Lady Jane Grey and her rascally husband Guildford aren’t beheaded. Newcomer Emily Bader plays Jane Grey, Killing Eve‘s Edward Bluemel is Guildford Dudley, while Jordan Peters plays King Edward.
The supporting cast are top tier, with Dominic Cooper, Anna Chancellor, Rob Brydon and Jim Broadbent as series regulars. If you enjoy rollicking, irreverent period shows like The Great or Marie Antoinette, then prepare yourself for a right royal treat that’s sweary, filthy and rips up the rules.
I Am: Celine Dion – Available from Tuesday
Celine Dion’s millions of fans worldwide were shocked in 2022 when the mega-selling artist announced that she had been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder that causes muscular aches and rigidity.
The following year, this debilitating condition forced Celine to cancel all of her 2023 live shows, prompting huge concern among those followers.
However, Celine is a fighter, as revealed by this personal and inspiring documentary, which follows the icon – who gave us anthems including My Heart Will Go On – as she battles her illness. Filled with Celine’s trademark warmth, humour and resilience, it’s raw but also inspiring.
APPLE TV+
WondLa – Available from Friday
In the far-distant future, smart teenager Eva (voiced by Jeanine Mason) spends all her time in a secure underground bunker, alone apart from a robot called Muthr (Teri Hatcher), who cares for her.
Eva’s quiet and uneventful life is upended one day when the bunker is attacked and she’s forced to emerge onto Earth’s surface for the first time. Stepping out into a bright and colourful new world, she finds all manner of strange creatures – but no humans.
Joining forces with giant water bear Otto (Brad Garrett) and grumpy alien Rovender (Gary Anthony Williams), Eva sets out on an epic quest to discover if she’s the last remaining human on Earth. A hugely imaginative seven-part adventure, based on the bestselling books by Toni DiTerlizzi.
Land Of Women – Available from Wednesday
It’s been a long while since Eva Longoria played a leading role in a big, glossy small-screen drama. But here she is, starring as Gala, a New York empty-nester living a very comfortable life in the Big Apple.
Everything changes one day when loan sharks show up and it emerges that Gala’s husband is up to his neck in financial wrongdoing. Fearing for her family, Gala flees Manhattan with her mother and daughter, hops on a plane to Spain and hides out in the rural, picturesque town that her mother left 50 years ago, hoping to lead a much quieter life.
But before long, deep family secrets are unearthed. Also starring Spanish acting legend Carmen Maura – a Pedro Almodovar favourite – this warm and witty series was shot in both English and Spanish, and will be available in both languages.
PARAMOUNT+
Beacon 23 – Available from Thursday
When Aster’s (Lena Headey) spaceship is destroyed on the very edge of the known universe, she’s rescued by Halan (Stephan James), the apparent keeper of a nearby stellar lighthouse, Beacon 23.
Slowly but surely the pair, thrown together and alone aboard the Beacon, find out that each of them is not quite who they claim to be, and that the discovery of a mysterious mineral could play a big part in both their stories.
Will they learn to trust each other – and work together to uncover the truth about the powerful mineral? An intriguing, if not exactly original, sci-fi series that should provide plenty of thrills for anyone who thinks that space is the place.
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