All’s Fair
From November 4th, Disney+
Kim Kardashian heads up a cast of strong, glamorous go-getting women – nothing unusual about that. But while The Kardashians totter through another so-so series of their reality show, Kim is changing things up a bit, leading a star-studded cast in a legal drama revolving around an all-women law firm. The tagline? Never settle. Kardashian plays high-flying divorce lawyer Allura Grant, who is sick of the patronising, testosterone-fuelled firm she works with. So she decides to set up her own law firm, and gathers a team of serious women to join her on her new venture. The series co-stars Naomi Watts, Sarah Paulson, Niecy Nash and Teyana Taylor, all with exotic names like Liberty, Emerald, Milan and Carrington. Of course, they need an elder lemon to deal out wisdom, and Glenn Close fills that role. And just to keep your attention, there’ll be guest appearances throughout the series from the likes of Elizabeth Berkley, OT Fagbenle, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Ed O’Neill, Brooke Shields and Jessica Simpson.
Death by Lightning
From November 6th, Netflix
In the past year we’ve seen an assassination attempt on US president Donald Trump, and the killing of one of his Maga acolytes, Charlie Kirk, which has roiled American political and civic life and emboldened Trump to trample even harder on democratic norms. This historical drama takes its title from a famous quote by the 20th president of the US, James Garfield: “Assassination can no more be guarded against than death by lightning.” It tells the story of Garfield’s brief term as president in 1881, and how his self-professed greatest admirer, Charles Guiteau, became his killer. Michael Shannon stars as dark horse Garfield, a man from humble beginnings who rose to the highest office in the land, only to be cut down less than a year later by an assassin’s bullet. Matthew Macfadyen co-stars as Guiteau, an attention-seeker with delusions of grandeur who believes killing the president will confer immortality on him.
The Vince Staples Show
From November 6th, Netflix
What’s daily life like for a rapper and actor trying to make a name for himself in the entertainment business? Pretty damn surreal, if The Vince Staples Show is anything to go by. But no sooner have you recovered from the mad goings-on in the first series than a second series arrives hot on its heels, and it finds our hero going on a wild rollercoaster ride in hot pursuit of inner peace and tranquility. Good luck with that, bro. Once again, Staples plays a version of himself, a rapper who’s kinda famous, sorta rich and maybe a criminal - or maybe not. The series follows his everyday life in Long Beach, California, although any resemblance to real events is purely satirical. The first series featured five episodes, each zipping along at under half an hour; the budget – and the surrealism – has been ramped up for the second series, so expect things to get even weirder.
Pluribus
From November 7th, Apple TV+
The makers of Breaking Bad have created a new series, but this one promises to completely twist the laws of physics out of shape. Rhea Seehorn from BB spinoff Better Call Saul stars in this sci-fi series as Carol, the most depressed person in the world. She’s got good reason to be glum: the rest of the human race has been hit by a mysterious wave of happiness, but somehow she has remained immune to the universal jollity that has engulfed the world. If she was depressed before, now she’s on a real downer, having to put up with relentlessly happy-clappy family, neighbours and friends, whose unrelenting efforts to cheer her up only make things worse. Even the US president rows in, promising to recruit the best scientific minds to find out what makes Carol different and “cure” her. It soon becomes apparent, though, that the world is killing itself with kindness, and she’s the only one who can save humanity from happiness.
RM Block
Palm Royale
From November 12th, Apple TV+
Get your Jackie O sunglasses on – the denizens of Palm Beach are about to dazzle us again with outrageous outfits, psychedelic interiors and bonkers behaviour in the second season of the social-climbing comedy. Kristen Wiig returns as Maxine Dellacorte, a woman determined to worm her way into the exclusive world of Palm Beach high society in 1969. But in this social game of Snakes & Ladders, Maxine is back to square one, ostracised from Palm Beach high society following a very public meltdown. Maxine will have to draw on all her reserves of scheming and backstabbing if she’s going to get back in the exclusive zone, but this time she’s setting her sights even higher – becoming the top dog in the Palm Beach pack. Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Carol Burnett and the rest of the socialites are back for second helpings of high society hi-jinks.
The Beast in Me
From November 13th, Netflix
Homeland star Claire Danes returns to our screens in this eight-episode thriller that swaps geopolitics for psychological tension. Danes is sure to deliver a commanding central performance as a writer who becomes obsessed with her new next-door neighbour, who may or may not have murdered his wife. Danes is Aggie Wiggs, an acclaimed author who has dropped out of the public eye following the death of her young son. She’s living as a recluse, and suffering a bad case of writer’s block, but when well-known property developer Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) – formerly a suspect in the mysterious disappearance of his wife – buys the house next door, Aggie becomes fascinated with his story, and is inspired to start writing again. “We are, all of us, drawn to monsters,” goes the trailer’s voiceover. “We flirt with death to prove we’re truly alive.” As Aggie delves deeper into Nile’s past, however, she’s in danger of joining Nile’s wife in the where-are-they-buried-now file.
Malice
From November 14th, Prime Video
Comedian and all-round nice bloke Jack Whitehall as a malevolent, scheming Mr Ripley type who insinuates himself into the lives of a rich couple and proceeds to rip their lives apart? Stay with me here – this might actually work. Whitehall plays charismatic, confident tutor Adam, with David Duchovny and Carice Van Houten as Jamie and Nat Tanner, the wealthy couple Whitehall targets for his charm offensive. They meet on a holiday in Greece, but it’s not long before Adam is ensconced in the couple’s London home, and is gaslighting them to beat the band. Why is Adam so obsessed with the Tanners and why is he determined to take them down? Someone will have to do a bit of digging into the past to find out, and they might well be punished for their nosiness. It’s up to Jamie to save his family from destruction – but has Adam dug his claws in too deep? “This role is unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” says Whitehall. “Moving from comedy to playing a character so deliciously dark and complex was exhilarating.” Hope it will be for the viewers too.
A Man on the Inside
From November 20th, Netflix
Undercover grandad is back and redefining the concept of active retirement in the second season of the comedy crime series starring Ted Danson. Danson plays retired widower Charles Nieuwendyk, who’s looking for something more than working at a supermarket to occupy his time and stave off the loneliness. In the first series, he takes a job with a private investigator, infiltrating a retirement home as an inmate to solve a crime. In this new series, Charles goes undercover again, this time posing as a professor at the prestigious Wheeler College. His job is to find out who is blackmailing the college’s president Jack Berenger (Max Greenfield), and whether it has anything to do with billionaire graduate Brad Vinick (Gary Cole), who is planning to make a big donation to the college. But there’s a siren call threatening to distract him from his task: music teacher Mona (Mary Steenburgen), a free-spirited soul who gets Charles’s heart singing again, but who also may well be the blackmailer he’s looking to unmask.
The Beatles Anthology
From November 26th, Disney+
Next time Dad complains that the kids are spending too much time watching endless Star Wars spinoffs on Disney+, just remind him that he happily spent the entire Christmas watching The Beatles sitting around the studio twiddling their guitars on Get Back. Now Dad is about to disappear again because Disney+ is launching the restored and remastered Anthology series tracing the Fab Four’s journey from the working-class streets of Liverpool to total global domination to their acrimonious break-up. It’s all told in the Beatles’ own words, with incredible restored footage from every stage of the band’s career. Dad’s already got the Anthology on DVD, but the original eight-part series has been expanded with a brand-new ninth episode featuring behind-the-scenes footage of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr reuniting in the mid-1990s to work on the Anthology series. No surprise to find the hand of Peter Jackson on this restoration, or that Giles Martin is the man behind the new audio mixes. And just to ensure Dad won’t be seen again until Easter, there’s a restored and expanded 12-lp vinyl collection to go with it, plus a Beatles Anthology 25th anniversary book.
Stranger Things 5
From November 27th, Netflix
We’ve watched the kids of Hawkins, Indiana grow up into young adults over four seasons of Stranger Things. We’ve also watched them being attacked by all sorts of scary monsters from that alternative reality known as the upside-down, hell-bent on preventing them from reaching adulthood. But, just like the 1980s, all good things must come to an end, and so we come to the final reckoning, and the show’s creators, the Duffer brothers, are promising an ending of epic proportions. It’s autumn 1987, and Hawkins has been quarantined by the military, who of course haven’t a clue how to deal with the paranormal apocalypse that is about to rain down on the town. So it’s up to the gang - Will (Noah Schnapp), Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo), Max (Sadie Sink), Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin), Nancy (Natalia Dyer), Jonathan (Charlie Heaton) and Steve (Joe Keery) – to hunt down the evil Vecna and kill him before he sucks out everybody’s life-force. But Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) is still in hiding, being chased by every government agency around, and the anniversary of Will’s disappearance into the upside-down is approaching, bringing up dark memories, but also summoning even darker forces. They have some help from the older generation – Joyce (Winona Ryder), Hopper (David Harbour) and Murray (Brett Gelman) – but they too will be tested to the limit by the terrifying new threats about to emerge from the slimy depths. We’re gonna miss those kids after everything goes back to right side up.
