Looking for something new to watch this weekend? The Mail’s TV experts have sifted through hundreds of programmes to bring you the 20 best shows and films to stream on demand right now…
Heads Of State
John Cena and Idris Elba star in a globetrotting action movie
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Prime Video
When Air Force One is blown up, US President Will Derringer (John Cena) and UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) find themselves trapped together in hostile territory. Can the mismatched pair – Derringer is a former action movie star, while Clarke cut his teeth in the SAS – learn to work together well enough to be able to survive until help reaches them? Or will the forces of a mysterious conspiracy hunt them down and kill them?
A broad and brash comedy action movie powered by the charisma of Cena and Elba, this is a slice of pure motion picture silliness. Priyanka Chopra Jonas features too as an MI6 agent detailed to keep the two world leaders alive, with added support from a cast that also includes Paddy Considine and rising star Jack Quaid.
All told, Heads Of State isn’t up there with the best action comedies ever made, but set your expectations to medium and you should have a decent enough time thanks to the efforts of the cast. (113 minutes)
Hill
Intimate portrait of British F1 racing driver Damon Hill
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
‘People had been asking me if I was going to be a racing driver like my dad. The truth is I never wanted to become a racing driver.’ Given that statement from Damon Hill, you can only wonder what kind of career he would have had, had it been his dream from the start – because what he did was pretty darn impressive, winning 22 Grands Prix and the 1996 Formula One World Championship.
The shadow of Damon’s suave and daring father, Graham Hill (winner of two Formula One World Championships and 14 Grands Prix, as we’re counting), looms large at the start of a profile directed by BAFTA-winner Alex Holmes. It looms both because of his achievements in life and in the manner of his death, in a plane crash after retiring from racing, which Damon says left the family with a lot of debt – and which they learned about from a TV newsflash.
Holmes’s understated film eschews talking heads to flip between interviews with Hill and his wife, Georgie, mixing that with home movie and archive footage to create a portrait of a life lived in and out of a parent’s shadow. It’s a personal film but there’s also a lot of racing insight in there, too. (90 minutes)
All The Sharks
Entertaining contest in which experts try to snap as many pictures of sharks as they can
Year: 2025
Certificate: pg
Watch now on Netflix
Slightly mad shark-themed programming has long been a summer TV tradition but, in the past, channels like Discovery and National Geographic have been responsible for most of it. The high point (or low point, depending on your perspective) came in 2017, when Discovery pitted the sprint swimming skills of Michael Phelps against a great white. The shark won but, to be fair, not by much.
In 2025, Netflix have started to get in on the game, both with the somewhat serious documentary Shark Whisperer and with the somewhat insane contest All The Sharks, in which four teams of experts find and photograph as many sharks as they can. The rarer the shark, the more points they earn for each snap and the overall winner banks $50,000 for their chosen charity. The host is Tom ‘The Blowfish’ Hird, a marine biologist and lover of heavy metal who is entirely suited to the job. (Six episodes)
Tour De France: Unchained
Documentary series following the highs and the lows of the epic bike race
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive series introduced a whole new layer of fans to the sport, using beautifully shot and edited films and incredible behind-the-scenes access to bring the drivers and support staff to vivid, combative, soap-opera life. Now the team who made it is hoping to pull off the same trick for the Tour de France. Rivalries are ramped up and brought to the fore as this exciting series follows teams from the 2022 edition of the cycle race as they compete in the 21 stages of the 2,000-mile odyssey, taking us from the preparation all the way through to the finish line in Paris.
‘You put on the number, you’re a different man,’ remarks one of the contenders as the action unfolds and the strain of competing at such a high level starts to become clear. You won’t even need to be a lycra-clad cycling fan to enjoy it all either, honest – because the skill of these shows lies in how they bring the human stories to the fore and, as a result, make them accessible to everyone. And, even if you remember who won, it still makes for an addictive viewing journey. The first series, which covers the 2022 race, felt rather surface level but the second – which moves on to 2023 – is more rewarding.
The third and final series takes us behind the scenes on the 2024 race, which ended with (spoiler alert) Slovenian Tadej Pogacar taking the overall win. This was Tadej’s third victory, having also finished top of the Tour in 2020 and 2021 – and he’s only 26. Another significant strand for this closing series is the final Tour of Mark Cavendish. The ‘Manx Missile’, then 39, bowed out with victory in the fifth stage – his 35th stage win overall. (Three series)
The Sandman (Series 2)
The second and final series of the fantasy epic about the god of dreams
Year: 2025
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Netflix
As this second and final run begins, the god of dreams Morpheus (Tom Sturridge) has largely set his kingdom to rights after the enforced absence that began series one. But there are still enemies swirling around him – not least members of his own Endless family as well as assorted demons, eternal beings and gods – and his own past actions may well come back to haunt him.
The Sandman may be tainted by the sexual misconduct allegations aimed against the creator of the original comic book, Neil Gaiman, but this is still fantastic fantasy television – imaginative, beautiful to look at and peopled with some of the best acting talent around. Kirby Howell-Baptiste, Mason Alexander Park and Gwendoline Christie are among those returning alongside new additions such as Jack Gleeson, Freddie Fox and Adrian Lester as the story concludes with 12 final episodes released in two batches, with the second half arriving on 24 and 31 July. (12 episodes)
Ghosts US
Ghosts share their afterlife with a couple who inherit a dilapidated mansion in the US version of the hit British comedy
Year: 2021-
Certificate: 12
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
There’s hours of fun to be had with this bright and breezy sitcom in which the laughs come from a group of eccentric spectres – such a strange and eclectic bunch that there is never a dull moment.
Samantha (iZombie’s Rose McIver) inherits a distant relative’s creaky old country mansion and moves in with her husband Jay (Utkarsh Ambudkar). The house is definitely a fixer-upper, but that’s just the start of their problems. After a bump on the head, Sam acquires the ability to see and hear the mansion’s ghosts – and they’re a rambunctious, needy bunch.
This US version of the hit British show follows an identical format but the ghosts, who have died at various points in history, are tweaked for US audiences: instead of a trouserless MP there’s a pantless stockbroker, and instead of a basement filled with plague victims, the ghosts all died of cholera. (Four series)
Such Brave Girls
Dark, BAFTA-winning BBC3 comedy about a dysfunctional single-parent family
Year: 2023
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Watch now on Disney+
Imagine a dark version of Friday Night Dinner in which the dad has left and the remaining members of the family say every awful thing that comes into their heads. That’s the essence of Kat Sadler’s BAFTA-winning comedy, which also stars Sadler as one of two deeply dysfunctional sisters shrivelling under the ‘care’ of a mother whose good intentions melted away so long ago she’s probably forgotten she ever had them at all.
This is a comedy about the trauma of its three main female characters, but it isn’t one of those sad comedies without any jokes. There are many, many wickedly well-turned lines in Sadler’s autobiographical script, and the show as a whole, as directed by Friday Night Dinner’s Simon Bird, definitely has the rhythms of a sitcom – it’s just that the desperate subject matter may mean that one episode at a time is enough.
For its second series, things could finally be looking up for the family as Josie (Sadler) is attending art school – and she’s in love – while sister Billie explores a risky romance with an older man. On second thought, that last element could just be a disaster from the start… (Two series)
Shark Whisperer
Nature documentary following a marine conservationist’s efforts to preserve sharks
Year: 2025
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Netflix
Marine conservationist Ocean Ramsey (and yes that is her real name) has been a fierce advocate for the preservation of sharks since her days growing up on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Social-media images of her free diving with various species of the fearsome predators have brought plenty of attention to her cause – more than 100 million sharks are killed each year – but have also garnered her a fair degree of controversy.
Part directed by Academy Award-winner James Reed (My Octopus Teacher), this documentary doesn’t shy away from either aspect of her work, as it presents some quite jaw-dropping footage of Ramsey in the water with sharks of all sizes (including Great Whites) while also addressing those who question whether her work is simply attention-seeking showboating that ultimately just encourages people to take unnecessary risks around the ocean predators. (90 minutes)
The Old Guard 2
Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman star in an action fantasy sequel
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
The thrilling, action-packed 2020 hit The Old Guard introduced audiences to the comic-book universe of immortal warrior Andy (Charlize Theron) and her group of similarly ageless fighters, all dedicated to making the world a better place one battle at a time. This sequel picks up with Andy – now stripped of her ability to heal from any wound – struggling with her new-found vulnerability as she encounters some very old foes, including Andy’s former friend Quynh (Veronica Van) and the original immortal Discord (Uma Thurman).
An international cast that includes KiKi Layne, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Henry Golding has fun hefting everything from machine guns to axes in some impressive if rather busy fight scenes, but the main attraction here is watching action titans Theron and Thurman face off.
Still, it’s a shame that the film that surrounds them isn’t quite up to their level, especially seeing how long we had to wait for it. If there is a follow-up, let’s hope lessons are learned in that regard. (105 minutes)
To Catch A Stalker
Zara McDermott spends time with victims of stalking during active cases
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
It’s not unusual for a presenter to interview victims of crime after the events, but for this two-parter, Zara McDermott spends time with victims of stalking during ongoing and active cases. It makes for tense and, at times, quite harrowing viewing.
As a crime, stalking is defined as a pattern of ‘fixated, unwanted, obsessive and repeated’ behaviour, and we see and hear exactly what that means for the women Zara meets. Jen, for example, has been harassed for three years, and her stalker is about to be released from his third stint in prison. The police, who are also featured here, are clearly doing their best, but it’s hard for Jen to feel reassured. (Two episodes)
7/7: Homegrown Terror
Documentary about the 7/7 London terror attacks, 20 years on
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
Twenty years after the London attacks on 7/7, this documentary from Sky takes an in-depth look at the what, how and why of a day that ended with 52 people dead and more than 700 injured. Some of the detail about the attack in the first-hand testimony still feels raw two decades on and the reliving of it clearly taxes the survivors. Some of the other details are those smaller turns of fate that only became important due to what came later. One man recalls how, when leaving his girlfriend on the morning of the attack after a row, she remarked, ‘Don’t die on the way to work.’ (‘I like to think I followed her instructions to the letter,’ he reflects.)
After dealing with the first attack, the series moves on to focus on the failed second two weeks later, and the manhunt that resulted in the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes. As well as providing the perspective of survivors, the series uses previously unseen archive footage and features illuminating testimony from those close to the attackers, including the father of one, the close friend of another, and a Brit who attended a training camp with one of them. (Three episodes)
Attack On London: Hunting The 7/7 Bombers
Documentary series investigating the 2005 attacks in London and their aftermath
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
On 7 July 2005, four suicide bombers attacked the London transport system, triggering explosions on the Tube network and a double-decker bus that killed 52 people and injured more than 700. It was followed by a failed second attack two weeks later.
Made to mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks, this four-part documentary series traces the events of those days and the manhunt that followed as the authorities attempted to track down anyone involved in the bombings, charting a heightened state of security that tragically contributed to the police shooting of an innocent man, Jean Charles de Menezes.
It’s a detailed, utterly compelling and somewhat cinematic look at some very dark days indeed, featuring interviews with figures including survivors of the attacks, explosives officers, investigators, security officials and even the then-prime minister Tony Blair. (Four episodes)
Smoke (2025 series)
Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett star as arson investigators in a fiery nine-part whodunnit from Dennis Lehane
Year: 2025
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Apple TV+
Smoke has a lot going for it. With a script from Dennis Lehane (Shutter Island) based on true crime podcast Firebug, and starring Taron Egerton and Jurnee Smollett as a pair of arson investigators, this gripping nine-parter is essentially a whodunnit about fire.
Egerton is Dave Gudsen, a plodding journeyman investigator with literary aspirations, and the jolly stepdad to his wife’s teenage child. He’s an everyman with an edge, while Smollett plays something very different. Detective Michelle Calderone wound up in arson for reasons unknown, but everyone seems to think it’s a punishment because the clear-up rate for cases there is so low. There’s no glory in short but, when a string of fires suggest a pair of arsonists is at work, Michelle is determined to make the best of her situation – and catch the culprits.
With a cracking, twisting script that’s always two steps ahead of you, great performances, tense fire scenes and a casually top-tier soundtrack, Smoke is one to watch. Lehane and Egerton previously teamed up to great effect for Apple’s Black Bird and this has all the hallmarks of being just as gripping, with a strong wider cast that includes Rafe Spall, Greg Kinnear and John Leguizamo. (Nine episodes)
Trainwreck: The Cult Of American Apparel
Documentary looking at the rise and fall of the US clothing brand
Year: 2025
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
Provocative, youth-orientated and fiercely unafraid to take risks, American Apparel was one of the fashion success stories of the early 2000s, with the growth of its brand of clothes and its dedicated stores combining to make it one of the biggest players in the clothing world.
A lot of that was attributed to the unconventional business tactics and management style of its founder Dov Charney, who ran the company like a freewheeling cult boss. Beneath the acclaimed and controversial ad campaigns and the shiny, happy success story, though, was a darker reality that came to light as the firm spiralled towards eventual bankruptcy in 2015.
This fascinating documentary looks into how the charismatic Charney’s maverick approach failed to address flaws in the firm’s business model and how he fell from grace amid a welter of sexual harassment suits from former employees. (54 minutes)
Abbott Elementary
Warm-hearted sitcom set in a school that won a clutch of Emmys
Year: 2021
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Disney+
Can you hear that jangling sound? That’ll be the noise made by the Emmy awards that this sweet, good-hearted and incredibly funny show has picked up. Shot in an The Office-esque mockumentary format, Abbott Elementary follows the staff and pupils of Philadelphia’s Willard R. Abbott Elementary School, an underfunded educational establishment with its own idiosyncratic approach to teaching.
Quinta Brunson (who also created the series) stars as optimistic and upbeat young second-grade teacher Janine, but watch out too for Sheryl Lee Ralph (who bagged an Emmy for best supporting actress in a comedy) as her jaded older colleague and Everyone Hates Chris’s now grown-up Tyler James Williams as the school’s new substitute teacher. (Four series)
Departure
Troubled plane crash officer investigates when an airliner goes missing
Year: 2020-2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
This series, following the fictional Transport Safety and Investigations Bureau, is a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for plane crashes. It’s set in shiny offices, all clean reflective surfaces, and has a lead investigator, Kendra Malley (The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi), with a tragic back story. Fighting concern that ‘it’s too soon to be back at work’, she dives into a case when a plane goes missing over the Atlantic Ocean. Is it an accident or an act of terror? (Three series)
Darby & Joan
A mismatched duo team up to solve crimes Down Under in a gentle comedy
Year: 2022
Certificate: pg
Watch now on Acorn TV
Watch now on U (UKTV)
Blend the postcard perfection of Death In Paradise with a classic mismatched buddy pairing and you get the idea of this cosily lovely Aussie mystery series about two retirees.
Joan Kirkhope is an English former nurse and Jack Darby is an Aussie ex-policeman, on the road with only his dog as company. The two end up reluctantly travelling together across Australia after literally colliding in the outback. When they’re not indulging in bickering banter, they get in the habit of solving whatever crimes come their way. And it turns out that crimes do keep coming their way.
As Joan, a widow on a mission to learn the truth about her husband’s death, begins to get the hang of investigating, she turns her newfound talent to discovering more about Jack’s mysterious past. This show stars a pair of talented screen veterans with Greta Scacchi playing Joan and The Thorn Birds’ Bryan Brown as grumpy old copper Jack. (Two series)
The Devil’s Leap
Ex-special forces dad protects his teen daughter in French survival thriller
Year: 2021-
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Channel 4
This French survival thriller – of two, two-part stories – starts with a father and his estranged teenage daughter trekking into the remote French Alps for some much-needed bonding. Teenager Sara (Maira Schmitt) would far rather be hanging out with boys and her dad Paul (Philippe Bas) is one of those gruff tough nuts with a heart. When their trip takes a turn for the perilous and scary, it helps that Paul is ex-special forces and intent on being France’s equivalent of Jean-Claude Van Damme before the Muscles from Brussels went full parody.
It’s all rather predictable, as clearly signposted as the actual signs warning of rock falls at the start of the hike. The pace, too, can be sluggish, though that does allow for moments to pause and soak up the beautiful scenery and for father and daughter to move beyond their fractious bickering and steadily forge a more meaningful connection.
The second two-parter finds Paul looking out for his autistic nephew, and leading a nature immersion course with his daughter that, naturally, goes spectacularly awry. (Four episodes)
Dora And The Search For Sol Dorado
Live-action movie adventure featuring Nickelodeon heroine Dora the Explorer
Year: 2025
Certificate: u
Watch now on Paramount+
It’s time to say ‘Vamonos!’ once again as Dora the Explorer returns for a second live-action adventure. Don’t worry if you haven’t seen 2019’s Dora And The Lost City Of Gold, though – this new film stands happily alone, recasting the leads and embarking on a new adventure that anyone with even a passing familiarity with the original adventures of the animated tomb raider will have no trouble understanding.
Samantha Lorraine takes on the role of the now-teenaged Dora Marquez as she and her talking monkey buddy Boots brave the Amazonian jungle in search of Sol Dorado. But without her inexhaustible magic backpack of tools and gadgets, will Dora be able to stop an ancient treasure falling into evil hands? A bright and cheery action adventure aimed firmly at younger viewers who enjoyed films such as Spy Kids. (96 minutes)
Roswell, New Mexico
Updated remake about aliens living in secret in the UFO-obsessed New Mexico town
Year: 2019-2022
Certificate: 12
Watch now on ITVX
If you were a teenager in the early noughties, you’ll likely remember the original show, Roswell, likewise based on the Roswell High YA books by Melinda Metz. Set in the town of the title, famous for the UFO crash conspiracies of the 1940s and beyond, the show mines that legacy as it explores how three aliens – each with a unique supernatural power – pass as humans.
This updated remake skews slightly more adult and certainly feels less teen soap. Instead of being high school students, the lead characters are now working-age adults, and it also draws some faint parallels between undocumented migrants and extra-terrestrial aliens finding life perilous in Trump’s America.
Human protagonist Liz (Jeanine Mason) returns to Roswell after a decade away and immediately runs into Max (Nathan Parsons), her high-school crush and one of the three aliens, who’s now a cop. They reconnect in a rather spectacular way and by the end of episode one, he’s told her the truth about who he really is, to the unease of his alien ‘brother’, the troubled Michael (Michael Guerin) and ‘sister’, the feisty Isobel (Lily Cowles).
A sci-fi hybrid that delivers solid genre-based thrills, with action and plenty of romance, making for four entertaining series. (Four series)
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