What to watch on streaming in October: The best TV shows and movies coming to Netflix, Disney, Apple and more

IT: WELCOME TO DERRY (HBO Max, 27th)

Watch out for those red balloons. This Stephen King series exists in the same universe as the Andy Muschietti It movies from 2017 and 2019, and the filmmaker was part of its development, plus Bill Skarsgard returns as the homicidal clown.

The series is a prequel, set in 1962 and starting with the arrival in Derry of the Hanlon family and the disappearance of a young boy. If the trailer is anything to go by, supernatural shenanigans are afoot and Pennywise will spare no one. Creepy AF.

THE LOST BUS (Apple TV+, 3rd)

If you want to watch something chill, Paul Greengrass is not your guy. The British filmmaker has helmed nailbiters including the second and third Bourne movies, United 93 and Bloody Sunday. He doesn’t do easygoing.

So it goes for film The Lost Bus, based on a non-fiction book about the deadly 2018 Camp Fire wildfire in California, the most destructive in the state’s history and which killed 85 people. The story coalesces around a bus driver (Matthew McConaughey), a teacher (America Ferrera) and the two dozen school kids in their care as they try to survive the inferno.

NOBODY WANTS THIS S2 (Netflix, 23rd)

Nobody Wants This was the force nobody saw coming, most definitely not to the extent it took over screen culture for at least two weeks when the first season came out a year ago.

The rom-com series starred perennial charmers Kristen Bell and Adam Brody as an unlikely new couple navigating the challenges of modern dating, especially when one is a sex podcaster and the other is a rabbi. There are new showrunners this year with experienced hands Jenni Konner (Girls) and Bruce Eric Kaplan (Six Feet Under) on board.

BLUE LIGHTS S3 (SBS On Demand, 9th)

This British police drama is one of the great slightly-under-the-radar shows that has more fervent fans than you expect. Set in Belfast, the series started with following rookie cops on the force as they deal with a city still plagued by tensions and crime gangs.

Now two years on the job, Grace (Sian Brooke), Tommy and Annie are less deer-in-headlights but have to reckon with the support structures that enable the criminals – the dodgy accountants and lawyers who facilitate international crime rings that have an impact on the city.

VICTORIA BECKHAM (Netflix, 9th)

Sure, there were many moments in the David Beckham docuseries but the one that everyone – absolutely everyone – remembers is the scene of Posh insisting she was from a working class family despite being dropped off at school in a Rolls Royce.

Of course she was going to get her own documentaries, and from the same folks that did her husband’s, charting her rise and dominance in British and global culture. Among the luminaries who appear are Anna Wintour, Donatella Versace and Tom Ford.

THE DIPLOMAT S3 (Netflix, 16th)

After two fast-paced, kind-of-unhinged seasons of political drama The Diplomat, the Keri Russell-fronted series picks up mere moments after that cliffhanger. Allison Janney may have broken out as press secretary C.J. Cregg, she’s now president Grace Penn – that’s quite the promotion.

The Diplomat has always hinged on not just its compulsive, conspiracy-laden plotlines but the complexities of marriage between ambitious people. This season will get more into that, while adding a new couple – Janney’s prez and the First Gentleman, played by fellow West Wing alum Bradley Whitford.

DOWN CEMETERY ROAD (Apple TV+, 29th)

Apple is really cementing itself in the Mick Herron business and we are here for it. This adaptation is from another book by the Slow Horses author, and has as its leads, Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. So far, an undeniable mix.

The story is set in the suburbs of Oxford where a house explodes and a girl disappears. A suspicious neighbour (Wilson) hires a private investigator (Thompson) to unravel what turns out to be a complicated conspiracy.

NOUVELLE VAGUE (Netflix, 10th)

Richard Linklater likes to be busy so Nouvelle Vague is one of two films he has releasing in the second half of this year. The man is nothing if not prolific, and we love him for it.

Nouvelle Vague premiered at Cannes in May and is a black-and-white, French language film that charts the 1959 production of Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, one of the most iconic works of the French New Wave (hence the title). Zoey Deutch plays Jean Seberg with Guillaume Marbeck as Godard.

HEDDA (Prime, 29th)

Tessa Thompson was the lead of writer and director Nia DaCosta’s first feature, the fantastic Little Woods, so it’s an absolute delight to see them reunited on a new project, a filmic reimagination of one of the great dramas of the stage, Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler.

Trapped in a gilded cage of a marriage and life she doesn’t want, Hedda (Thompson) plays with the people around her including the gender-flipped former lover Lovberg (Nina Hoss).

STEVE (Netflix, 3rd)

It feels like a deliberate choice on Cillian Murphy’s part to follow up Oppenheimer with roles in smaller productions, but then the Irish thespian has always geared towards what’s interesting over giant budgets.

Steve is one of those projects, in which Murphy plays a teacher at a school where the students face a number of challenges. The film is adapted from a Max Porter novel, Shy, and it’s not the first time Murphy has worked with Porter’s words, having previously starred in a stage play of Grief is the Thing with Feathers.

LOOT S3 (Apple TV+, 15th)

Never underestimate the power of Maya Rudolph to make you cackle with wild abandon. Then there’s Alan Yang, a writer with a great talent to pierce the shield around your heart. Funny and warm – that’s the good stuff right here.

Loot takes what could be a ridiculous character – a multibillionaire with, at first, no purpose, who learns to expand her perspective and her world, but without ever losing the things that make her fun and distinct. The show also has an incredible costuming department, which does not get enough attention.

JOHN CANDY: I LIKE ME (Prime, 10th)

More than three decades after his death in 1994, John Candy’s legacy still looms large, and his films including the likes of Uncle Buck, Stripes and Planes, Trains and Automobiles, remain favourites that are rewatched on a constant loop.

This documentary film was the opening night selection at the Toronto International Film Festival (Candy’s hometown) and tracks his life from his rise in comedy circles to his death at the age of 43, using some never-before-seen footage and outtakes.

ELSBETH S3 (Paramount+, 13th)

When it comes to weekly crime procedurals that inject of a pop of colour into your life, Elsbeth is the reigning queen. Her positivity, her canniness, and a nose for sniffing out bad dudes makes the show worth a weekly appointment.

This season, Elsbeth returns with a familiar face, The Good Fight’s Sarah Steele reprising her role as Marissa Gold, as well as guest stars including David Cross, Amy Sedaris, Julia Fox, William Jackson Harper and Stephen Colbert playing a fictional late night TV host.

THE WOMAN IN CABIN 10 (Netflix, 10th)

There was a time not long ago when it seemed like every mystery novel had the words “woman” or “girl” in the title, usually existing somewhere (at the window, on the train), and The Woman in Cabin 10 is very much of that era, but now made into a film starring Keira Knightley.

Following a familiar template, the woman in question is a journalist onboard a luxury yacht who sees a passenger being thrown overboard in the middle of the night – except when she reports the incident, no one is missing. Is she a reliable narrator, and is she next?

HOW ARE YOU? IT’S ALAN (PARTRIDGE) (HBO Max, 4th)

In the three and a half decades since Steve Coogan, along with writer Armando Iannucci, debuted Alan Partridge, the character has little of his sharp wit. It’s been six years since the character was last on screen (but has been on audio and on stage), and it’s usually interesting to see how they evolve with age.

In this six-part series, Alan has spent the past year in Saudi Arabia and finds it difficult to readjust to life in Norfolk, where he has set out to make a documentary about mental health in Britain. With himself something under a cloud, can he discover why he’s in such a funk?

THE WITCHER S4 (Netflix, 30th)

The viewers who like The Witcher really like The Witcher, and many of them were apprehensive of the production recasting the title role after Henry Cavill parted ways with the show, allegedly over creative differences.

Liam Hemsworth is now Geralt of Rivia, he of the messy long locks and righteous purpose, and will have two seasons to convince those opinionated fans that recasting was the right move for the further adventures of monster-fighting.

THE LAST FRONTIER (Apple TV+, 10th)

Creator Jon Bokenkamp loves to tell a story about catching a bunch of bad dudes and even after 10 seasons of The Blacklist, he’s not done. Enter: The Last Frontier, a crime drama set in Alaska where a crashed prison transport plane means fleeing villains need to be round up and re-captured.

The man for the job is Jason Clarke as the US Marshal in charge of tracking down the fugitives, along with a supporting cast that includes Haley Bennett, Dominic Cooper, Simone Kessell and Alfre Woodard.

ONE MORE SHOT (Stan, 12th)

Most people trapped in a time loop is looking for a way to break the cycle, but not Minnie (Emily Browning), who discovers a magic bottle of tequila lets her reset her timeline to the moment she arrives at a 1999 New Year’s Eve party where the ex-boyfriend she wants back introduces her to his new squeeze.

Minnie is dead set on ensnaring him, so cue more and more outlandish schemes as she keeps downing tequila shots. This Australian comedy also stars Aisha Dee, Sean Keenan, Pallavi Sharda and Ashley Zukerman.

KING & CONQUEROR (SBS On Demand, 12th)

At first glance, a historical epic about the clash between Harold, Earl of Wessex and William, Duke of Normandy may seem like any other drama about chainmailed men on horseback, rushing at each other with sharp swords.

Until you tweak that this William is better known by his other moniker, William the Conqueror and that this eight-part series culminates in the Battle of Hastings, which changed the course of English history. The show stars James Norton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Clemence Poesy.

MR SCORSESE (Apple TV+, 17th)

Originally intended to be a film, this documentary about the life and work of Martin Scorsese later morphed into a five-part series because, well, Marty has done a lot, since the time he was a student at New York University to now, a superstar of cinema off- and onscreen.

The project has been years in the making and is directed by Rebecca Miller, who in addition to being the filmmaker of Maggie’s Plan and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee, is also the daughter of Arthur Miller and married to Daniel Day-Lewis. Dare we suggest she has some extra insight into men driven by art?

THE CHAIR COMPANY (HBO Max, 13th)

We’ve said it before, Tim Robinson is not for everyone, but if you gel with his specific brand awkward, cringe and, arguably, antagonistic comedy, then you’re going to get a lot of that with The Chair Company.

Robinson, collaborating again with Zach Kanin, created and stars in this eight-episode series in which he plays a man who stumbles onto a conspiracy after a workplace incident. It also stars Lake Bell, Sophia Lillis and Lou Diamond Phillips.

TELL ME WHAT YOU REALLY THINK (SBS On Demand, 14th)

What’s that old saying about politics and religion being off-limits topics at any civilised dinner party? Who needs etiquette rules when you can delve deeply into conversations we should be having?

Marc Fennell will host this new series staged around a dinner table and tackling what used to be taboo in polite society, to get at what, as the title suggests, everyone really thinks about ADHD, menopause, ageing and body size.

THE TWITS (Netflix, 17th)

Netflix signed a deal with the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2018 and then went on to just buy the whole thing in 2021, which gave it access to the at-times-controversial, late British author’s catalogue.

But it has been slow-going. Since then, it’s released the movie adaptation of the Matilda musical and Wes Anderson’s series of short films including the Oscar-winning The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.

The Twits is the first animated feature out of that contract, which comes from Phil Johnson, who did Ralph Breaks the Internet, and features the voice talents of Margo Martindale, Natalie Portman, Emilia Clarke and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan.

STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST (Apple TV+, 24th)

Apple is firmly in the Ben Stiller business after the platform’s successful partnership with the actor and filmmaker with Severance. It’s no surprise they backed his documentary about his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.

The two were a formidable comedic duo, starting with their syndicated short program in the 1970s, and even going on to have their own, albeit fleeting, sitcom in 1986. Meara died in 2015 and Stiller in 2020, leaving Ben and his sister Amy to sort through a lifetime of memories and the impact their parents had on them, their families and their art.

END GAME WITH TONY ARMSTRONG (ABC, 21st)

Since he left his chair on ABC News Breakfast, double Logie winner Tony Armstrong has been working on different projects, and this new one seems particularly significant. In End Game, Armstrong will explore racism in sport.

Featuring appearances from the likes of Adam Goodes, Rio Ferdinand and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon, Armstrong seeks practical solutions that could be introduced to better Australian sports.