Netflix, Disney, Apple, Max, Stan and more: The best TV shows and movies on streaming in April

THE LAST OF US S2 (Max, 14th)

Between The Last of Us and that death cap beef wellington, mushrooms have had a bad rap. Well, get ready to be terrified of fungi all over again. The second season of the apocalyptic zombie series is finally here, but, of course, that’s a very reductive way to look at this spectacular show.

Yes, it’s an end-of-the-world show with lots of action and some freaky special effects monsters, but it’s always been about the humanity that survives in the face of such horrors.

Pedro Pascal’s smuggler Joel and his guardianship over the young Ellie (Bella Ramsey) is an incredibly endearing surrogate father-daughter relationship, which will very much be tested in this next chapter.

For those in the know (ie. who played or know the game on which it was based), the arrival of vengeance-seeking Abby will change everything.

DYING FOR SEX (Disney+, 4th)

Based on the true story podcast of the same name, Dying for Sex stars Michelle Williams as Molly, a fortysomething woman who ends her unhappy marriage after she is diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. Before her death, there’s one thing on her bucket list she really wants to tick off, which is to have an orgasm with another person.

Also starring Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney, Jay Duplass and Sissy Spacek, Dying for Sex is a tender and funny story about one woman’s desire and curiosity-fuelled quest.

BLACK MIRROR S7 (Netflix, 10th)

How often have you said words to the effect of, “It feels like we’re living inside a Black Mirror episode”? The world is weird, dirtbag tech bros are making it worse and AI keeps giving you wrong answers on Google. Why not throw into this dystopian soup mix a new season of Black Mirror?

Charlie Brooker and his team are back with the seventh season, promising a bunch of different genres and styles across six chapters. There’s the anticipated sequel to the season four episode “USS Callister”, a couple of horror stories and at least one that’s going to make you cry, which will give you a break from weeping for our collective futures.

Some of the faces this season include Cristin Millioti, Billy Magnussen, Awkwafina, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Rashida Jones, Issa Rae, Chris O’Dowd, Tracee Ellis Ross, Harriet Walter and Will Poulter.

ANDOR S2 (Disney+, 23rd)

There have been many Star Wars streaming series in the past six years but only two have been truly great, and Andor is a very different proposition to The Mandalorian. Created by Tony Gilroy, Andor is what the rest of the Star Wars universe could be if it wasn’t so up its own arse about its tiresome mythology and the Force.

The Rogue One prequel is a pulsating and suspenseful political thriller centred on Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), of how a thief becomes a rebel against the Galactic Empire. For the second season, Ben Mendelsohn, Forest Whitaker and Alan Tudyk will reprise their characters from previous projects.

YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS (Apple TV+, 11th)

If Nicole Kidman is the hardest working woman in Hollywood, then Jon Hamm is her male counterpart. Old mate was in three movies and three TV shows last year. He’s following up that industrious era with a leading role in Your Friends and Neighbours, on which he is also an executive producer.

Hamm plays Andrew Cooper, a divorced finance guy who is unceremoniously dropped from his job and bound by a non-compete clause that makes impossible to get another gig.

Desperate to keep up appearances, and bring in enough money to fund his kids’ lifestyles, he starts thieving from his wealthy neighbours – but one of his nocturnal adventures lands him in a whole more trouble when he comes across a blood-soaked scene.

HACKS S4 (Stan, 11th)

Deborah Vance finally has what she wants – a gig hosting her own late-night show – but it wasn’t entirely on her terms. The legendary comic was blackmailed into giving her on-and-off mentee Ava the producing job.

Conflict will inevitably ensue between the two women who have one of the most complicated, evolving and intensely watchable relationships on any TV series, thanks largely to the wonderful and spiky performances from Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder.

If you’re not watching Hacks yet, you really, really should be.

NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH (Prime, 18th)

Adapted from Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan, Narrow Road to the Deep North is an expansive, multi-generational historical drama inspired by the author’s father’s experiences as a prisoner-of-war in World War II.

Starring Jacob Elordi, Ciaran Hinds, Simon Baker, Olivia DeJonge, Odessa Young and Thomas Weatherall, the series was directed by Justin Kurzel from scripts by his long-time collaborator Shaun Grant. The show premiered at the Berlin Film Festival to rapturously good reviews.

THE REHEARSAL S2 (Max, 21st)

In the almost three years since the first instalment of The Rehearsal, we are no clearer on how much of Nathan Fielder’s experimental series was real, scripted, a combination of both or something else entirely. It’s a total mindf—k.

Ostensibly, the show is about Fielder helping out volunteers who want to “rehearse” a big life decision, gaming out the different ways something could go, before they embark on the real thing. It varied from something as small as confessing a secret to a friend to as ambitious as raising a child. It became this meta (maybe?) experiment about regret and mistakes.

The second series is just as mysterious with the official logline declaring Fielder’s intent in tackling an issue that “affects us all”. OK then.

THE HANDMAID’S TALE S6 (SBS on Demand, 8th)

For many people, the question is more like, “Oh, The Handmaid’s Tale is still going?”. For those viewers who are still following the show, this sixth and final season was a long time coming. The most recent season wrapped up in 2022.

The fight against Gilead is coming to a head with all the major players in position as the conflict escalates. As in the previous two seasons, Elisabeth Moss also serves as a director on several episodes, including the finale, while Josh Charles joins the cast.

It may be the end but it’s not really. Margaret Atwood’s sequel novel, The Testaments, has already been greenlit as a follow-up series.

ETOILE (Prime, 24th)

Gilmore Girls and Marvelous Mrs Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino have danced in the world of ballet before, as devoted fans of the one-and-done Bunheads will remind everyone. Sherman-Palladino is still smarting over how quickly that show was cancelled, and she has been waiting for another opportunity to return to the barre.

Etoile is set in New York City and Paris and follows two ballet companies swap talent in a bid to make the artform relevant again to TikTok-distracted modern audiences. The cast includes Charlotte Gainsbourg, as well as Sherman-Palladino alums Yanic Truesdale and Luke Kirby. Keep an eye out for the inimitable Kelly Bishop, who is slated to appear in the series.

BRETT GOLDSTEIN: THE SECOND BEST NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE (Max, undated)

We all know him as the surly but generous Roy Kent on Ted Lasso but some of Brett Goldstein’s best moments have been his awards acceptance speeches. The man is a loose unit but definitely in a calculated way. Now, that’s the mark of a great comedian.

Goldstein has long been a stand-up but until now, none of his shows, starting with his set at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2010, have been filmed and released for posterity. The Second Best Night of Your Life is set to be his first.

DOCTOR WHO S15 (Disney+, 12)

Doctor Who as a TV series has had almost as many lives as its title character, so its seasonal naming convention is confusing – this is both the 15th season (of the revival era) as well as the second season of the Disney tenure, and also the 41st overall.

Either way, the irrepressibly charismatic Ncuti Gatwa returns as his version of the Doctor, an energetic Time Lord with immense magnetism and a good heart. Millie Gibson’s Ruby will come back despite parting ways with the Doctor while the new companion, Belinda, will be played by Varada Sethu. Guest stars include Alan Cumming, Christopher Chung (Slow Horses) and Archie Panjabi.

THE LISTENERS (Binge, 1st)

This well-reviewed BBC series starring Rebecca Hall and directed by actor and filmmaker Janicza Bravo (Zola) has finally found its way to Australia, four months after its British premiere.

Adapted by Jordan Tannahill from his own book, the UK-set drama is centred on a school teacher who begins to hear a mysterious hum that seemingly no one else can, which eventually drives a separation between those who do and those who don’t, and delves into questions of truth and conspiracy.

THE BONDSMAN (Prime, 3rd)

In The Bondsman, there isn’t six degrees separating Kevin Bacon from the devil – Lucifer is his boss.

A high-concept, high gore series, Bacon plays a bounty hunter who is brought back from the dead to do the thing he’s good at: track down bad dudes. Except these fleeing miscreants are demons and if Bacon’s Fred Herbert doesn’t send them back to hell, he’ll be fired, and in this case, that’s literal.

30 DAYS OF LUST (SBS on Demand, 3rd)

In this German comedy, Freddy and Zeno are high school sweethearts on the verge of turning 30. They’ve been together for 15 years and while they’re content, even in the bedroom, one of them comes up with an unusual proposal.

What if they could have sex with whoever else they want, but only for the next 30 days? What would the experiment reveal about themselves and their relationship? And what happens when it’s day 31?

G20 (Prime, 10th)

OK, in any other circumstance, this movie sounds absolutely ridiculous. World leaders are gathered at a G20 summit in Cape Town when terrorists infiltrate and take over by holding everyone hostage. Naturally, the US president, a former soldier, goes full commando to take them all down.

So, the part about G20 that actually makes it seem like it could be totally kick-arse is the president is being played by Viola Davis, EGOT winner. Now, who wouldn’t want to see that?

CAREME (Apple TV+, 30th)

Careme est tres francais et c’est tres delicieux. If there was a peoples who could marry together historical political intrigue and gourmet cuisine, it is surely the French.

This series is based on the real-life Antonin Careme, who was born to a poor family with at least 15 children, and went on to become a renowned pâtissier serving the upper echelons of Parisian power during Napoleon’s time.

There are plenty of shots of divine, mouth-watering creations but also a dramatic plot about political scheming as he’s recruited into a dangerous conspiracy. The series stars Benjamin Voisin and Lyna Khoudri.

PULSE (Netflix, 3rd)

For fans of medical procedurals, the industry is really going through a purple patch right now. Everywhere you look, some character is wearing scrubs or a doctor’s coat. Pulse is going to struggle to best the excellent, taut drama of The Pitt, but it’s going to try.

The series is set in a Miami emergency room (naturally, there’s going to be a hurricane subplot), revolving around the personal lives of the doctors and nurses, as well as the day-to-day challenges of the hospital. It stars Willa Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Jessie T. Usher and Justina Machado.

DOC (7plus, 22nd)

Oh, hey! Another medical drama. See? Told you there was a resurgence.

This American series is based on an Italian show and is centred on a doctor named Amy Larsen, who has a big important job as the chief of internal medicine at Westside Hospital. When she awakens from a serious car accident, she discovers she’s lost the past eight years of memories.

Getting her life back to normal is a particular challenge when you can’t reconcile what “normal” was right before the accident, including that she is no longer married to the man she still considers her husband.

THE SECRET DNA OF US (SBS on Demand, 17th)

At its most base level, our DNA is made of up nucleotides, but it’s far more complex than scientific sequencing. Unlocking what’s in our DNA gives us insights into who we are and how we came to be through the stories of our ancestors. None of us are where we are by chance.

This Australian series hosted by journalists Marc Fennell and Rae Johnston and ancestry expert Brad Argent, takes audiences to four Australian places (Bairnsdale, Surry Hills, Geelong and Bathurst) where locals have their DNA tested and discover something about their history, and in the process, the story of Australia.

GOVERNMENT CHEESE (Apple TV+, 16th)

Set in 1969, Government Cheese follows Hampton Chambers, a hustler and inventor just out of prison and determined to start over with a power drill that sharpens itself. But Hampton can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble, perhaps unwittingly.

There are his past problems as well as a whole lot of present and soon-to-be future ones, including a criminal cabal who claims he owes them money.

It stars David Oyelowo, Simone Missick, Bokeem Woodbine, Sunita Mani and Adam Beach.