What are you going to be watching this week? We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.
The biggies
The Crown (season six, part one on Netflix from November 16)
Afterall these years, The Crown finally gets to the moment we’ve all been waiting for with both excitement and dread: that one fateful night in Paris. While the last season was perhaps its least compelling and most meandering so far, this final season (or at least the first, 1990s-set, half of it) has the potential to be the best yet. The only downside is that it’s not the whole season; the second half drops in mid-December. / Sam Brooks
Alone UK (on TVNZ+ from November 13)
My Real Pod co-host and Rec Room editor Duncan Greive went on a solo 20-minute tear a few weeks ago about how much he loved the intrepid reality series Alone, so I think I’m finally going to commit to this new UK season. From what I can recall, it’s a bunch of survivalists dumped, alone, in the middle of the wilderness with a GoPro and not much else. The person who lasts out there the longest wins 100k, and I think sometimes there are wolves. / Alex Casey
Queer Academy (on TVNZ+ from November 14)
Created by Re: News’ Liam van Eeden and hosted by Celebrity Treasure Island winner James Mustapic, Queer Academy celebrates all the good things about being queer. Each episode explores a lesson that audiences can learn from the LGBTQIA+ community, from how fashion can help people find themselves to why queer people have sexual health better figured out. / SB
The notables
A Murder at the End of the World (on Disney+ from November 14)
Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the co-creators of Netflix’s underrated The OA, are back with an Agatha Christie-esque series with a twist. The Crown’s Emma Corrin is Darby Hart, a talented hacker and amateur sleuth who is invited along with eight other guests to participate in a reclusive millionaire’s retreat in Iceland. Obviously, someone is found dead, and it’s up to Darby to prove it was murder. Clive Owen, Alice Braga, Joan Chen and Marling herself also star. / SB
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (on AppleTV+ from November 17)
Did you know there was a MonsterVerse? I sure didn’t, and yet now we are both burdened by that knowledge. This new series follows on from the events of the 2014 movie Godzilla. Two siblings, following in their father’s footsteps, uncover their family’s connection to the secret organisation known as Monarch, which leads them down a rabbit hole to buried secrets. If any of that means anything to you, congratulations. Someone has made a show for you./ SB
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (all seasons on TVNZ+ from November 18)
You know what’s a good rule of thumb? If Billie Piper is in a show, you should watch that show. Another good rule of thumb? If Lucy Prebble (Succession, I Hate Suzie) is involved in a show, you should also watch that show. Secret Diary of a Call Girl holds up way better than you might expect from its name and premise – if you’ve never seen it, here’s your chance to jump in. / SB
In this British film, which is absolutely not adapted from the Leonard Cohen song of a similar name but instead from Alan Bennett’s play of the samename, a small Yorkshire community fights back when the geriatric ward is threatened with closure, inviting a news crew to film the preparations for a concert honouring its most distinguished nurse (Jennifer Saunders). The cast of UK heavy-hitters is rounded out by Dame Judi Dench, Russell Tovey and Derek Jacobi. / SB
Exmas (on Prime Video from November 17)
I can’t believe it took until 2023 before we got a film title that used this very simple pun. Shame on all of us. This holiday-themed romcom from BuzzFeed Studios which is a company that apparently exists and makes films, stars Robbie Amell as a guy who surprises his family at Christmas, only to find them already celebrating with his ex-fiance (Leighton Meester). Will they or won’t they? I think they will, personally. / SB
The Notebook (on Neon from November 19)
I have tried to write this blurb for what feels like every day for a year, and simply cannot find the words for The Notebook. The Rolling Stones once said, “There’s no way to endure the movie without earplugs and a blindfold”. The Guardian once said “Dentistry in the Renaissance could not have been more painful than watching this.” But Ryan Gosling also once said “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird,” and I think it’s important that we consider all perspectives here. / AC
