10 of the most captivating new indie films to watch this autumn
While the weather outside continues to blow an icy gale, there’s nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a brilliant new TV show – luckily, there are plenty to choose from this winter that will see you well into spring. From Helena Bonham Carter’s turn as Noele Gordon in Russell T. Davies’ Nolly to small screen adaptations of Fleishman is in Trouble and Daisy Jones & The Six, here’s our pick of the must-see new TV series to catch over the coming weeks.
Succession (Season 4)
There are few TV shows that whip up the sort of frenzied excitement that Succession does, and that’s only set to continue with the upcoming arrival of the fourth season – which it has just been announced will also be its last. Fans of the series have been left on tenterhooks since the season 3 finale in December 2021, when a brutal betrayal blew the show wide open. But what can we expect from this final season?
It’s set to be a bumpy ride for the Roys, with the show’s creator Jesse Armstrong revealing that there will be “a lot of hard rendering and conflict.” As the sale of media conglomerate Waystar Royco to tech visionary Lukas Matsson (played by Alexander Skarsgård) moves ever closer, the looming prospect of the takeover whips up seismic levels of angst and familial division among the Roys, and there are power struggles aplenty. So, business as usual, then. There’s little doubt that Armstrong and his team will pull off yet another TV tour de force for the show’s grand finale.
Sky Atlantic, 26 March 2023
Ted Lasso, Season 3
As was always intended, series three is rumoured to be the last for the much-loved Apple Original series, which charts the highs and lows of a season at AFC Richmond. The third season of Ted Lasso is set to revolve around the stand-off between wayward Nate (Nick Mohammed), now West Ham Manager, and Ted (Jason Sudeikis), as AFC Richmond finds themselves promoted to the bright lights of the Premier League.
The 12-episode season will centre around the newly-promoted team as they find themselves facing tougher opposition than ever before and risk becoming a laughing stock as the British media pegs them as coming last in the league table. Ted, meanwhile, is still battling pressures at work as well as personal issues at home, Rebecca (Hannah Waddingham) is focused on defeating Rupert and Keeley (Juno Temple) navigates being the boss of her own PR agency. There are immense pressures both on and off the pitch but, as ever, Team Lasso is determined to give it their best shot.
Apple TV+, 15 March 2023
Shrinking
Though it may be hard to believe, this new Apple TV+ comedy will mark Harrison Ford’s small screen debut, at the tender age of 80. Ford stars alongside Jason Segel (who also produces the show) in this 10-part series about grieving therapist Jimmy Johns (played by Segel). As a struggling Jimmy begins to break the rules of his profession, putting all ethics and training aside, he starts telling his patients what he really thinks – with startling consequences.
Ford, meanwhile, plays down-to-earth “blue collar shrink” Dr Phil Rhodes, whose recent Parkinson’s diagnosis changes his relationship with those around him. With a whip-smart script and brilliant performances from the two leading actors, we have a feeling Shrinking won’t be Harrison Ford’s last TV appearance.
Apple TV+, 27 January 2023
You & Me
This new three-part London-based drama, You & Me – executive produced by TV heavyweights Russell T. Davies and Dominic Treadwell Collins – offers up a contemporary take on the much-loved British rom-com, and the very real struggles that can be faced in the modern world. Harry Lawtey (best known for his turn as hedonistic banker Robert Spearing in Industry) plays Ben, a young northern lad in London who finds his life changed forever when catastrophe strikes on the happiest day of his life.
Alongside Lawtey, Pieces of Her’s Jessica Barden plays Emma, a rising theatre star who hides tragedy behind her success, while Sophia Brown – soon to dazzle in The Witcher: Blood Origin – is Jess, a young woman whose life takes an unexpected turn when she’s running for a bus. When a chance encounter leads their three lives to collide, they find themselves offered a second chance at love – but will they take it?
ITVX, 23 February 2023
Liaison
This six-part thriller starring Eva Green and Vincent Cassel is the first French and English multi-language Apple Original series for the streaming giant – and if the success of Netflix’s French stars Lupin and Call My Agent are anything to go by, Liaison is set to be a surefire hit.
The show’s enigmatic synopsis reveals this will be “a high-stakes, contemporary thriller exploring how the mistakes of our past have the potential to destroy our future”. You can expect plenty of action sequences and plot twists aplenty, as well as espionage, political intrigue and a passionate love story (well, it wouldn’t be a French production with it). Created and written by Spiral’s Virginie Brac, this is definitely one to add to your must-watch list.
Apple TV+, 24 February 2023
The Last of Us
It’s no easy task to take a popular video game and turn it into a successful television show, but this clever sci-fi series has done just that. Already being touted as one of the finest shows you’ll see this year, the moving post-apocalyptic drama blends horror and heart to win over critics and fans alike.
Set in a zombie-ravaged America, the premise of The Last of Us revolves around a terrifying parasitic fungus that’s used rising temperatures to evolve and switch hosts, moving from ants to humans. Pedro Pascal stars as Joe, a Texan construction worker who has a sideline in the hidden market. He’s tasked with transporting 14-year-old Ellie (brilliantly played by Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey) west across the ravaged US – there’s a chance that she might be the saviour the world has been waiting for.
Sky Atlantic, showing now
Fleishman is in Trouble
When Taffy Brodesser-Akner released her debut novel, Fleishman is in Trouble, in 2019 it became an instant bestseller – now, it’s getting a big-name TV adaptation. Jesse Eisenberg stars as the titular Toby Fleishman, a Manhattan-based hepatologist recovering from a bitter divorce from his equally high-flying ex-wife Rachel (played by Claire Danes). But when Rachel disappears without a trace after leaving him with their two kids, he realises he needs to take a closer – and more honest – look at what really happened to their marriage to be able to track her down.
The book was praised for its frank and eye-opening take on themes such as gender roles, online dating, midlife crises and class anxiety, and the TV series stays faithful to the novel, offering the same astute observations. With an excellent supporting cast that includes Adam Brody and Lizzy Caplan as Fleishman’s best friends, it makes for sharp, compelling viewing.
Disney+, 22 February 2023
You (Season 4)
For season 4 of the hit Netflix show You, Penn Badgley’s murderous stalker Joe Goldberg will be praying on victims in a whole new location, decamping across the pond to London. There, he takes on the new persona of Jonathan Moore, a literature professor looking to reinvent himself in the capital. He almost succeeds in keeping a low profile – until he ends up reluctantly being pulled into the role of detective as a new killer starts picking off London’s wealthy elite.
In keeping with Joe’s new role and city, the show’s creators have revealed you can expect something different in terms of plot from this season, too. Following on from killing his wife, Love, at the end of season 3, the latest season is set to move from a relationship-focused thriller into a classic ‘whodunnit’, drawing inspiration from the likes of Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. What you can still expect, though, are plenty of Joe’s signature dark, twisted antics.
Netflix, part one will be released on 9 February, part two on 9 March 2023
Dreamland
TV comedy queen Sharon Horgan returns to our small screens with Dreamland, and if her recent shows are anything to go by, it’s set to be yet another darkly comic mega-hit. Based on Horgan’s 2018 BAFTA-winning short of the same name and set in the sun-drenched British seaside town of Margate, the show centres around multi-generational female relationships, exploring the secrets, lies, loves and aspirations within a family of four sisters.
Eldest sister Trish (Freema Agyeman) is pregnant for the third time, and this time she’s determined it’s going to be a girl. So determined, in fact, that she’s decided she going to ‘manifest’ her into being, joining forces with her two sisters Clare (Gabby Best) and Leila (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), their mum (Frances Barber) and their nan (Sheila Reid) at a ‘mani-festival’. But when their other sister, Mel – played by Lily Allen in her TV debut – unexpectedly returns to their lives, her appearance threatens to destabilise the entire family.
Sky Comedy, early 2023
Nolly
It’s a Sin’s Russell T. Davies carries on his mini-series hot streak with Nolly, a three-part show that explores the reign and fall from grace of the soap actress Noele Gordon, played brilliantly by Helena Bonham Carter. Famously dubbed the ‘Queen of the Midlands’, the drama follows events after the revered Crossroads actress was axed from the long-running soap opera, as well as looking at “how the establishment turns on women who refuse to play by the rules, the women it cannot understand and the women it fears”.
It’s a subject matter close to Davies’ heart, who started his career working on the soap. “One of my very first jobs in TV was a trial script for Crossroads,” he said in a statement. “I’ve wanted to write the story behind the scenes of the show for 40 years. At last, the truth can be told!” Written as a love letter to the legendary star, it promises to be a wildly entertaining ride through Noele’s most tumultuous years.
ITVX, 2 February 2023
Daisy Jones & The Six
Another much-loved book adaptation that has everyone talking, Daisy Jones & The Six is based on literary star Taylor Jenkins Reid’s cult novel of the same name. Produced by Reese Witherspoon through her company, Hello Sunshine, the musical-drama series follows the story of a rock band in the 1970s, loosely inspired by Fleetwood Mac.
Picture the scene: it’s 1977, and Daisy Jones & The Six – fronted by charismatic lead singers Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne – are on top of the world. Then, after a sold-out show at Chicago’s Soldier Field, they inexplicably call it quits. This is the story of how an iconic band imploded at the very height of its powers. An impressive cast brings the tale to life, including Riley Keough (Elvis’s granddaughter) as Daisy, Sam Claflin as Billy, Camila Morrone as Billy’s wife Camila and Suki Waterhouse as the band’s keyboardist Karen Sirko. It’s set to provide exactly the sort of high-octane, hedonistic glamour we need to see us into spring.
Amazon Prime, 3 March
The Power
Anything that stars Toni Colette is bound to be highly-watchable and The Power promises to be compelling viewing. The emotionally-charged thriller is an adaptation of British author Naomi Alderman’s dystopian novel of the same name, which imagines a world where teenage girls – suddenly and without warning – have the power to electrocute people at will.
The ten-episode series, the work of all-female directors, features a cast of remarkable characters from London to the US, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, including Margot Cleary-Lopez (played by Emmy nominee Colette). As mayor of Seattle, Cleary-Lopez finds herself catapulted into the political spotlight and a world where the balance of power has been turned on its head, with potentially catastrophic results.
Prime Video, March
Extrapolations
Few TV series can boast a cast quite as impressive as this new Apple TV+ drama, which tackles the severity of climate change. The cast list for Extrapolations reads like a who’s who of Hollywood’s finest: Meryl Streep, Sienna Miller, Marion Cotillard, Gemma Chan, Edward Norton, Kit Harington… They’ve all signed up for this thought-provoking anthology series, which takes a closer look at climate change and its consequences on humanity.
Created by Scott Z. Burns, the man behind the 2011 film Contagion, the series will reveal eight interconnected stories set over a 33-year timespan that imagine how we adapt and survive on Earth, with the first story starting in the year 2037. The interwoven tales – which explore love, work, faith and family from across the globe – will take a closer look at the intimate, life-altering choices that must be made when the planet is changing faster than the population. Set in a world where we get our energy from the sun, humans have set foot on Mars and cancer has been defeated, it’s a riveting, eye-opening watch.
Apple TV+, 17 March 2023
