Best new shows – quick links
BritBox: best new shows
Sister Boniface Mysteries Season 4 – 26 August
Series. The Vespa-riding, genius Catholic nun is back, and this time she’s facing down killer scarecrows. The award-winning Sister Boniface returns to the rural English village of Great Slaughter for another season of cozy mysteries set in the 1960s, in this spin-off of Father Brown.
Played by Lorna Watson, Sister Boniface splits her time between her duties at the convent, her winemaking, and her role as scientific adviser to the local police. Season four is the show’s weirdest and wildest yet, sending the team into a string of increasingly outlandish cases: a fatal game show, a deadly town-wide women’s strike, and yes, those murderous scarecrows.
Starring Lorna Watson (The IT Crowd, Christmas at the Riviera, Forget Me Not), Jerry Iwu (Sex Education, Innocent, Halal Daddy), Max Brown (Downtown Abbey, Paradise Lost, Beauty and the Beast), and Ami Metcalf (Allied, Pan, Crawl).
Unforgotten Season 6 – 27 August
Series. This BAFTA Award-nominated drama follows a team of London detectives as they investigate complex cold-case murders and disappearances, each season built around a single buried mystery and the unlikely lives it pulls back into the light.
Season 6 centres on a chilling cold case after dismembered human remains are dredged up from Whitney Marsh. Detectives DCI Jess James, played by Sinéad Keenan, and DI Sunny Khan, played by Sanjeev Bhaskar, work to piece together the victim’s final years, slowly drawing in a handful of seemingly unconnected strangers, each hiding a link to his death they’d rather keep buried.
Starring Sinéad Keenan (Little Boy Blue, Doctor Who, Being Human), Sanjeev Bhaskar (Yesterday, The Kumars at No. 42, The Sandman), Jordan Long (The Gentleman, Kingsman, Dune), Carolina Main (Fan, Old Jack’s Boat, Blood), Hiten Patel (Animal, This England), and Pippa Nixon (John Cater, Containment, Censor).
Netflix: new this week
The Whisper Man – 28 August
Film (2026). When his young son vanishes, a widower enlists help from his estranged father, a retired detective who put away the serial killer now linked to the case.
Starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan, Adam Scott and Hamish Linklater.
Prime Video: best new shows
The Last Sunrise – 26 August
Film (2026). Based on the beloved novel, The Last Sunrise follows Ry (Maia Reficco), a college student with a chronic illness, on a summer escape to Mallorca with her mother (Eva Longoria).
As she unexpectedly falls for Julián (Fernando Lindez) and begins to embrace living in the moment, her worsening condition and long-hidden family secrets threaten to unravel everything before the summer ends.
Apple TV: best new shows
Dark Matter Season 2 – 28 August
Series. In Season 1, the series followed Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), a physicist, professor and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life.
Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the mind-bending landscape of lives he could have lived.
Season 2 picks up with the Dessens as they settle into a quiet life in a world that finally seems safe until the unimaginable forces them to run once again. As Jason’s obsession with the Box deepens, Daniela’s (Jennifer Connelly) growing paranoia pushes her to the brink, threatening to tear their fragile stability apart.
Elsewhere, Amanda (Alice Braga) and Ryan (Jimmi Simpson) join forces in a desperate attempt to find their way home. With Blair (Amanda Brugel) determined to stop him, Leighton (Dayo Okeniyi) relentlessly chases his grand vision of creating a perfect world.
Stan: best new shows
The Undeclared War Season 2 – 27 August
Series. Tensions are high in the new season of cyber-thriller The Undeclared War when the elite Malware Department at GCHQ has to manage the devastating aftermath of a Russian cyber-attack. Just when it seems the UK has gained the upper hand, Danny and the team uncover a far more dangerous threat.
Returning cast members include Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), Hannah Khalique-Brown (Black Doves), Alex Jennings (The Crown, This Is Going To Hurt), as well as new cast member Siân Brooke (Blue Lights).
HBO Max: best new shows
Double Lives of Suburban Wives – 27 August
Series. A new series that re-examines what life in suburbia looks like in the digital age. The series follows six couples in the St. Louis area whose everyday routines from carpools and cul-de-sacs to church and community gatherings coexist with a second, more private side of their lives.
Beneath the polished façade, they’ve built lucrative and unconventional second lives, forging an unexpected bond rooted in navigating lives that many people would never expect.
The Robot Chicken Adult Swim Special – 30 August
Special. To celebrate 25 years of Adult Swim, The Robot Chicken Adult Swim Special brings together an unforgettable lineup of the network’s most iconic characters aboard a cruise ship for a chaotic anniversary celebration.
Featuring fan favourites from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Metalocalypse, The Venture Bros., Black Jesus and more, this special delivers the signature stop-motion comedy and outrageous humour that only Robot Chicken can.
MUBI: new this week
Hello World? – 25 August
Spotlight collection. Aimed at teenagers, students, and twenty-somethings, this collection of coming-of-age films speaks directly to the experiences of young audiences. Classic titles and new releases come together in a heartfelt exploration of transitional moments – the new chapters young people face, and the friendships that help shape who they become.
Includes: Gasoline Rainbow, All These Sleepless Nights,, Shiva Baby, Actual People, Tendaberry, Toxic.
ABC iview: best new shows
The Cage – 30 August
Series. Two casino workers discover they’re both stealing from the same safe, entangling them with each other, the gangster they’re robbing, and the police.
Binge: best new shows
The Ark Season 3 – 25 August
Series. Sci-fi drama The Ark follows the remaining crew of a spacecraft known as Ark One, attempting to survive after a catastrophic event.
Possession Season 1 – 27 August
Series. This British supernatural thriller, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Jonny Lee Miller, follows a lawyer who travels between Bristol and Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim, only to find dark family secrets. Full series drop.
SBS On Demand: best new shows
Wear It Purple Day 2026 – 28 August
Collection. A celebration of diversity, Wear It Purple Day raises awareness and empowers LGBTQIA+ young people in Australia.
Homebodies: Darcy (Luke Wiltshire) returns home to look after his estranged mother (Claudia
Karvan) and discovers her unusual housemate (Jazi Hall): the teenage ghost of his pre-transition
self. Darcy must face the past or risk losing himself completely.
What It Feels Like For A Girl: a wild, anarchic Y2K spin on a coming-of-age drama, inspired by the
acclaimed memoir of the same name by the award-winning writer and journalist Paris Lees.
New movies include:
• Janet Planet
• To Freely Flourish
• A Useful Ghost
• Dicks: The Musical
• Love Lies Bleeding
• We Were Dangerous
• The Swimmer
La Vuelta a España – 22 August to 13 September
Live and On Demand. All the action from the 2026 edition of La Vuelta as the final Grand Tour of the year sets off from Monaco. The route will take the peloton through a mediterranean and mountainous landscape across 21 stages and a total of 3275 kilometres.
