Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in August

Physical

From August 2nd, Apple TV+

Sheila Rubin is a successful fitness guru in 1980s San Diego, harnessing the powers of vanity and technology to create a best-selling fitness video. Now her fitness empire is growing, and she has finally found her purpose in life after years of marital boredom with her politician husband, and many battles with her personal demons. But now there’s a new aerobics queen on the scene: sitcom star Kelly Kilmartin, who has decided to jump into the fitness space. Rose Byrne returns as Sheila in this third and final season of the retro dramedy, with Zooey Deschanel as Sheila’s spandex-clad nemesis Kelly.

Heartstopper

From August 3rd, Netflix

It’s another term at Truham Grammar School, and a whole other set of relationship problems to solve. Nick and Charlie are now boyfriend and boyfriend, but while Charlie is happy to share his news with his best pals Isaac and Tao, Nick is finding it hard to make that quantum leap and come out to his family. Meanwhile, Elle and Tao’s mutual attraction is growing, but Tao is afraid of moving from friendship to romance, and Tara and Darcy have hit an obstacle with the L-word – love. Never mind – a class trip to Paris should sort it all out, right?

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart

From August 4th, Prime Video

Sigourney Weaver stars in this emotional family drama series set in the Australian outback, and spanning decades. Nine-year-old Alice (Alyla Browne) has lost her parents in a fire, and is sent to live with her grandmother June (Weaver). June runs Thornfield flower farm, and it’s here that Alice begins to blossom but also where she learns more about her family’s dark past. Alycia Debnam-Carey stars as grown-up Alice, who suspects that something more is going on behind the rosy facade of Thornfield, but little suspects the danger she will soon be in.

Only Murders in the Building

From August 8th, Disney+

Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are back as cross-generational sleuthing team Charles, Oliver and Mabel in series three of Disney’s lockdown hit. The trio have little in common except that they live in the same apartment building and share a passion for true life crime. They have a starry cast in tow for this third series, including Meryl Streep and Paul Rudd as Broadway actors Loretta Durkin and Ben Glenroy. They are starring in Oliver’s new production, but when Ben’s burgeoning career is cut short by his death, it’s up to the others to unmask the backstage killer.

Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in May

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Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop

From August 9th, Netflix

Women have largely been written out of the story of hip-hop, and this new series sets out to create a gender rebalance in the genre, focusing on some of the most influential women working the mic both past and present. The four-parter will profile such formative figures as MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Rah Digga, Sha-Rock and Roxanne Shante, along with contemporary stars such as Latto, Tierra Whack, Saweetie and Coi Leray. The programme makers say they want to “recontextualise” these women by “reinserting them into the canon where they belong”.

Painkiller

From August 10th, Netflix

Matthew Broderick stars Richard Sackler, the slick, cynical former president and chairman of Purdue Pharma, the company at the centre of the opioid crisis in the US, in this explosive true-life drama. Sackler was central to the development of Purdue’s pain relief drug OxyContin, which was aggressively marketed to Americans as the ultimate panacea. The fictionalised series tracks the rise of the billionaire Sackler family as they set about building their drug empire on the back of ordinary people’s pain – and the investigators who tried to hold them accountable.

At Home with the Furys

From August 16th, Netflix

How does a restless world-champion boxer settle into his retirement? This new reality series follows Tyson Fury as he finds himself at home with his wife, Paris, and six kids – “all frigging crazy” – and coming up with all sorts of mad wheezes to keep busy, including camping trips, lavish weekends away and a tour to meet his fans. But Fury’s not enjoying being out of the limelight and is yearning to get back in the ring. “I’ve gone from topping the bill at Wembley to picking up dogs**t on a run,” he moans. Will he resist the temptation to put the gloves back on? Or will his family life finally tip him over the edge? We’ve got a ringside seat for this one.

Shelter

From August 18th, Prime Video

Four high schoolfriends, a mysterious disappearance, a creepy old house and a crazy old lady are just some of the ingredients in the mix in this new series based on Harlan Coben’s best-selling novel. Mickey Bolitar’s life changed when he witnessed the death of his dad. Now his mom is in rehab, he’s staying with a very annoying aunt, and attending a new school in New Jersey. But when a crazy old lady tells him his dad is alive, and his new crush Ashley disappears, Mickey and his friends have to put their fears aside and find out the truth about what’s going on behind the town’s sleepy facade.

Star Wars: Ahsoka

From August 23rd, Disney +

Our kids have turned into Jedi junkies, waiting with fevered anticipation for the latest Stars Wars spin-off series to arrive. Doesn’t matter that the plots are the same – a new evil is emerging in the galaxy, and only (insert made-up name here) can stop it – what matters is they’re getting their annual fix of the Force, and getting to spend time in that lovely galaxy far away. Rosario Dawson stars as the ex-Jedi knight with the snaky pigtails, and the series is set after the fall of the Empire – but don’t worry: there’s another nasty lot in black helmets ready to take up the baton.

A Murder at the End of the World

From August 29th, Disney+

Emma Corrin stars as a new type of detective, more Lisbeth Salander than Miss Marple, in this smart new murder mystery series set in a remote retreat where the cell phone signal is probably dicky. Darby Hart has all the tech and hacking skills of a Gen Z sleuth, but also some good, old-fashioned powers of deduction. She’ll need them to solve this mystery. Clive Owen plays a reclusive billionaire who invites Hart and eight other guests to his gaff (bit of a Glass Onion vibe here). No prizes for guessing one of the guests is found dead, and nobody but Hart seems convinced it was murder. Hart will have to convince her fellow guests of the danger before the killer strikes again.