We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
If you love local history: National Treasures (TVNZ+, September 17)
The fascinating local series that celebrates the everyday taonga of our world is back for a second season. Scotty and Stacey Morrison are joined by Oscar Kightley (all national treasures in their own right) and a team of experts as they reveal the intriguing and often emotional stories behind a variety of unique historical objects. This season’s taonga include cheese rolls, war medals and… Thingee?
“It’s impossible to come away from an episode of National Treasures without looking at every object in your house in a more sentimental light,” Alex Lodge wrote for The Spinoff during season one. “The afterglow leaves us as an audience considering our own role as kaitiaki of treasures and stories. This is the lasting impression of National Treasures…it reminds us to not only look back, but also to look around at the present moment and celebrate the living.”
If you love a tense British thriller: Nightsleeper (ThreeNow, September 16)
This BBC thriller drops on ThreeNow just days after it screens in the UK, and rest assured, it’s about to take us on one heck of a ride. When the overnight train from Glasgow to London is hacked, the passengers are trapped on board, including police officer Joe (Peaky Blinders’ Joe Cole). As the train hurtles towards impending disaster, Joe must make contact with a cyber security director and uncover the passengers on board who are helping the hijackers. Expect a nail biting (if not slightly formulaic) thriller.
If you love the Bird of the Year: The Penguin (Neon, September 20)
The Penguin is the next chapter in The Batman saga, but you don’t need to be a DC Comics fan to enjoy this dark and gritty HBO drama. Colin Farrell is unrecognisable here as Batman baddie Oswald “The Penguin” Cobb in a series that explores his character’s rise to power in the Gotham City criminal underworld. The early reviews look good, with Variety calling it a “mesmerizing crime drama that moves beyond Batman” while Collider reckons it’s “The Sopranos with supervillains”.
If you love royal scandals: A Very Royal Scandal (Prime Video, September 19)
I’m not sure we needed two dramas in six months about Prince Andrew’s Newsnight interview, but here we are with A Very Royal Scandal. Much like Netflix’s Scoop, A Very Royal Scandal revisits the story of how a BBC news team secured an interview with the Queen’s second son in 2019 to discuss his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This time, Michael Sheen takes on the royal role, while Ruth Wilson channels the intensely focused BBC journalist Emily Maitlis. Maitlis served as executive producer on the series, which promises to “demonstrate the power of journalism through a pivotal moment in British history”.
If you like twisted reality television experiments: The Contestant (Disney+, September 20)
Earlier this year Polygon called The Contestant, a documentary about a bonkers 1998 Japanese reality show in which a man was left alone in a room for a year and forced to survive only off magazine competition winnings, the most twisted thing you’ll see this year. It comes out on Thursday, so in the mean time you can listen to This American Life delving into the fascinating saga back in 2014. Must watch for fans of reality TV.
The rest
Netflix
Cocomelon S11 (September 16)
Culinary Class Wars (September 17)
Deon Cole OK Mister (September 17)
Missing (September 17)
Envious (September 18)
I am Georgina S3 (September 18)
Live from the Other Side with Tyler Henry (September 18)
What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates (September 18)
Chances Are You and I (September 19)
Chief of Station (September 19)
Dear Zoe (September 19)
Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (September 19)
Para Bettina (September 19)
The Queen Villains (September 19)
Twilight of the Gods (September 19)
Blood Legacy (September 20)
Colin Hay Waiting for my Real Life (September 20)
His Three Daughters (September 20)
Klass 95 The Power of Beauty (September 20)
South Solitary (September 20)
The Resident (September 20)
Strawman (September 21)
TVNZ+
Tulsa King S2 (September 16)
National Treasures S2 (September 17)
Amsterdam (September 17)
Aloha (September 17)
The Northman (September 17)
Hunted Australia: Million Dollar Heist (September 19)
Frasier S2 (September 19)
Fallen (September 21)
ThreeNow
Nightsleeper (September 16)
Fear Factor S1-2A (September 20)
Neon
Jeffrey Dahmer: Mind of a Monster (September 17)
Fortunate Son (September 18)
My Big Fat Fabulous Life S1-5 (September 19)
MoviePass, MovieCrash (September 16)
EDTV (September 17)
Venom (September 19)
Lights Out (September 20)
Mile 22 (September 20)
The Penguin (September 20)
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween (September 21)
The Last Rifleman (September 22)
Prime Video
American Assassin (September 17)
A Very Royal Scandal (September 19)
WNBA: Indiana Fever At Washington Mystics (September 19)
He Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal (September 20)
Ingebrigtsen Born To Run (September 20)
Fabrizio Copano Stand Up (September 20)
Can You Keep A Secret? (September 22)
Disney+
Child Star (September 17)
After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun (September 18)
Wayne Brady: The Family Remix (September 18)
Agatha All Along (September 19)
The Contestant (September 20)
The Judge from Hell (September 22)
Apple TV+
La Maison (September 20)
Hayu
Real Housewives of Salt Lake City S5 (September 19)
Acorn/AMC+/Shudder
Candice Renoir S10 (Acorn TV, AMC+, September 16)
The Tailor of Sin City (AMC+, September 19)