A new drama from the maker of Peaky Blinders, the adventures of some haphazard spies and a sci-fi love story for the ages, these are the new shows and movies to stream this week.
I was always going to love this show, so take this with a wee grain of salt if you must. From the top, this tale of the Guinness family in 1868 Dublin is created by Stephen Knight, the man behind the very, very good Peaky Blinders. Then, there’s the cast. And again, look at them: James Norton (Happy Valley), Fionn O’Shea (Normal People), Emily Fairn (The Responder) and Anthony Boyle (if you haven’t seen him in Say Nothing, you must go watch that immediately – it’s on Disney+). The series is dark and violent and grimy and exactly the kind of thing to spend a weekend devouring, a glass of the black stuff is purely optional.
If you ask me, and I’m going to assume you would, given what this column is, Slow Horses is easily one of the best shows on telly today, with easily one of the best casts. Gary Oldman, Kristen Scott Thomas, Jonathan Pryce, Jack Lowden … oof, oof, oof and oof. Big guns, the lot of them. Now in the fifth season, the spy series based on the books by Will Smith (not that one, silly!) has won Emmy Awards and fans all over the shop, thanks to its witty dialogue, clever plot lines, thrilling twists and yes, fart jokes, as we follow some of the, uh, “less good” UK spies as they get into all sorts of mix ups and dangerous situations to try and save the world. If you haven’t already, start at the beginning, and enjoy the ride.
If you loved comedian Mae Martin on Taskmaster UK a few years back, well, this is absolutely nothing like that. Except for maybe that creepy puppet they had their dad make for a prize task. Martin created this miniseries, and co-stars alongside Toni Collette. Set in a lovely little town, of course nothing is really as it seems in Tall Pines because that would basically be a nice travel show. So when there is an escape attempt from an academy for troubled teens, it all kicks off. Colette is so good when she’s playing a little evil – and this is no exception.
And now for something completely different. This painfully romantic sci-fi story (yes, those two things can co-exist) imagines a test that perfectly identifies your soul mate. No swiping right, no awkward first dates, no heartbreak … good right? Except, what if you are in love with someone who is not scientifically yours? Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso) made this as a short film about a decade ago, and now he stars in the full-length film alongside Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later). The pair are best friends, except she has taken the test and found her perfect partner – and he hasn’t. Is it because he thinks they are actually meant to be together, When Harry Met Sally style? Perhaps. It turns out the path to love is never easy, even when the answer is at your fingertips.
From desperate men to desperate mothers. This UK five-parter promises Joanna (played by Rachel Shenton) a fresh start with her young son. But that would be boring. Instead, she finds a chilling rumour about another local, who may or may not be a convicted child killer, and she uses that as something to win over some new friends. But what did we all learn as children? Rumours and gossip are no good, that’s what. The cast also features Emily Atack (Rivals) and Joanne Whalley (Wolf Hall), and the series, based on the bestselling book by Lesley Kara, is a good lesson that bonding over bad news is usually always, well, bad news. But the show is juicy, melodramatic fun.
Another paragraph, another crime show. At least this time the premise promises to be one with a not-so-gentle hum of humour running through it. The always wonderful Ethan Hawke plays Lee Raybon, citizen journalist and “truthstorian”, whose efforts to uncover the real story tends to lead him straight into trouble. The series, based on the true story of Lee Roy Chapman, was created by Sterlin Harjo, who also made Reservation Dogs with our very own Taika Waititi, and is already a winner with critics, scoring over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Bridget Jones joined the New Zealand Herald in 2025. She has been a lifestyle and entertainment journalist and editor for more than 15 years.