Best new shows – quick links
SBS On Demand: best new shows
Matt Preston’s Plating Locally – 12 August
Series. Acclaimed food writer and broadcaster Matt Preston journeys in search of extraordinary local produce and the passionate people behind it. The series leaves the city behind to uncover the stories hidden beneath some of the region’s most remarkable ingredients.
From abalone farmed on living ocean reefs in Western Australia’s Margaret River, to the centuries-
old vineyards of the Barossa, the rugged coastline of Kangaroo Island, Tasmania’s cool-climate
Tamar Valley and New Zealand’s renowned Marlborough region, every stop reveals a deeper
connection between people, place and produce.
Minx Seasons 1 & 2 – 13 August
Series. Minx is set in 1970s Los Angeles and centres around Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond), an earnest young feminist who joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Binge: best new shows
The Great Australian Bake Off Season 9 – 11 August
Series. Turn your ovens on and grab your aprons – it’s time for Season 9 of internationally beloved baking format, with The Great Australian Bake Off.
Two Weeks in August Season 1 – 12 August
Series. The show some critics are describing as the White Lotus of the UK. Follows Zoe, a woman hoping a holiday with her family and old friends will help her reconnect. Boxset drop.
Netflix: new this week
My Brilliant Career – 13 August
Series. Modern, rebellious Sybylla dreams only of writing. Choosing an exciting career over a safe marriage is easy – until she falls in love unexpectedly.
Starring Philippa Northeast, Christopher Chung, Anna Chancellor and Genevieve O’Reilly.
Don’t Say Good Luck – 14 August
Film (2026). Sophie Birenbaum is ready for the spotlight as the lead in her high school musical – until she’s suddenly facing more drama at home than on the stage.
Starring Sunny Sandler, Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield.
ABC iview: best new shows
Portrait Artist of the Year Season 2 – 16 August
Series. Hosted by actor Miranda Tapsell and comedian Luke McGregor, this inspiring eight-part series aims to have audiences captivated from the first stroke as 54 talented artists go brush-to-brush capturing some of Australia’s most recognisable personalities.
Falling – 16 August
Series. After years spent dedicated to service, a chance encounter and misunderstanding between Anna, a nun, and David, a radical priest, threatens to change everything they’ve ever known. As Anna begins a new life outside of the convent walls, and David battles to instigate change in a community that desperately needs support, they must each wrestle with their own desires, fears and secrets.
MUBI: new this week
Ancestral Visions of the Future – 14 August
Film (2025). Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese returns with his most ambitious work so far. The Lesotho filmmaker, known for the extraordinary This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, one of the most important African films of the last decade, has created a style that blends spiritual urgency with formal innovation. His films draw on oral tradition, shared memory, and the landscapes of southern Africa.
A Global Exclusive on MUBI.
Godzilla: King of Monsters – 14 August
Spotlight collection. In 1954, a giant monster emerged from Tokyo Bay, launching the longest-running franchise in cinema history. From atomic-age fears to epic monster battles, these films capture the anxieties and spectacle of their respective eras. Seven decades of kaiju cinema, spanning Honda’s original classics to the millennium series.
Includes: Mothra vs. Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters!, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack.
Joanna Hogg Spotlight – 14 August
A spotlight on the cinema of Joanna Hogg. Her characters often find themselves on unsteady ground — from Technicolour wonderlands to sun-kissed resort towns, a change of scenery can spell adventure or impending crisis. A filmmaker whose quiet precision continues to reshape British cinema.
Includes: Archipelago, Exhibition, Caprice, Unrelated.
The Assistant – 14 August
Film (2019). The film follows Jane, a recent college graduate and the youngest assistant at a major New York film production company, through a single workday. She arrives before dawn and leaves long after dark. During her day, she files papers, cleans the office, books flights, and manages the schedule of a boss who is never seen but whose presence is felt in every room and every conversation.
Australian director Kitty Green crafts a film that works through subtle details and suggestion. Julia Garner’s performance shows the strain of working in an environment built on complicity and pretending not to know.
Apple TV: best new shows
Women in Blue (‘Las Azules’) Season 2 – 12 August
Spanish-language series. Season 2 follows María (Bárbara Mori), now promoted to lieutenant, as she finds herself torn between the rules she’s sworn to uphold and a relentless pull toward the truth when the body of a student activist is discovered, and the Azules are pulled into an investigation that reaches back to the student massacre of 1968.
Before they can make sense of what they’ve found, the body of a person connected to that brutal chapter of history is found, sending shock waves through the department. Someone is delivering justice straight to the police’s door, and the Azules are the department’s last hope of stopping the killer.
As María, Valentina (Natalia Téllez), Gabina (Amorita Rasgado) and Ángeles (Ximena Sariñana) fight battles both inside and outside the precinct, buried truths rise to the surface and they’re forced to confront an uncomfortable question: in a system plagued with corruption, what is the cost of fighting for their ideals?
HBO Max: best new shows
Stalked – 13 August
Series. Across three gripping episodes, Stalked presents the experiences of women from across Aotearoa New Zealand whose lives were profoundly affected by stalking, shining an unflinching light on the early warning signs of stalking, the patterns of obsession and escalation, and the systemic failings that have left victims unprotected, often until violence erupts.
Plainclothes – 15 August
Film (2025). A police officer works undercover to lure and arrest men who display lewd behaviour in public restrooms. However, he soon finds himself torn between duty and desire when he develops a secret connection with one of his targets. Written and directed by Carmen Emmi.
Starring Tom Blyth, Russell Tovey and Maria Dizzia.
Shark Week 2026 – 16 August
Series. The ocean’s most formidable apex predators are back—bigger, bolder and more thrilling than ever—as Discovery’s Shark Week returns. This highly anticipated week-long event delivers 20 jaw-dropping premieres across every night, packed with pulse-pounding action, epic breaches and high-stakes encounters.
Featuring pioneering technology, groundbreaking investigations and unbelievable stunts, each special dives deep into the mysterious world of sharks, bringing audiences closer than ever to their raw power, intelligence and untamed nature.
Prime Video: best new shows
Reacher Season 4 – 12 August
Series. Based on the 13th book in Lee Child’s global best-selling series, Gone Tomorrow, in the fourth season of the action-packed series, when a chance encounter with a distraught stranger on a subway goes horribly wrong, Jack Reacher (Alan Ritchson) is drawn into a complex and deadly game that pits him against ruthless foes from the highest echelons of power.
Stan: best new shows
Pure Average – 10 August
Series. With a massive global following of over 11 million, Australia’s favourite digital icon, entrepreneur, and author Bridey Drake is pulling back the curtain on fame, flaws and finding yourself. This new six-part comedy docuseries offers a hilarious and deeply personal look into success, self-worth, and the beautiful chaos of being anything but perfect.
Led by one of social media’s most magnetic and authentic voices, Bridey Drake: Pure Average offers audiences unprecedented access to the influencer behind the screen, revealing the highs, lows, and hilariously unpredictable moments that have shaped her extraordinary journey – from an average outback girl to the founder of a global pyjama empire.
BritBox: best new shows
The Rumour – 13 August
Series. In The Rumour (based on the novel of the same name by Lesley Kara), Joanna, played by Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great & Small, For Her Sins, Switches at Birth), moves to a small town in search of quiet life with her son Alfie, played by Eiden-River Coleman.
She is increasingly suspicious of the community after uncovering a rumour about a local child killer hiding in plain sight. Joanna seizes the chance to bond with the local mums by sharing it but things take a turn for the worst as it unleashes a wave of paranoia and suspicion.
Starring Rachel Shenton (All Creatures Great & Small, White Gold, Switches at Birth), Joanne Whalley (Edge of Darkness, The Signing Detective, Willow), Emily Atack (Iron Sky, Lies We Tell, The Inbetweeners), Liza Sadovy (A Real Pain, A Small Light, Patience), and Carryl Thomas (Emmerdale, Family Affairs, Silo).
Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams – 14 August
Series. Former professional cricketer and current TV presenter Freddie Flintoff is determined to prove anyone can play cricket whatever their background.
