I say this every week, but it never stops being true – there's no such thing as a slow week in the world of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, two titans of the streaming world. Each platforms knows it needs constant additions to hold people's interest, let alone their hard-earned subscription cash.

That means that nary a week goes by without them both adding something pretty interesting to their respective libraries. This is a great example, too, with Netflix adding one of its biggest new series of the year, and Prime Video serving up some properly steamy romance – two shows that are sure to be hits. Check them out, with one surprise extra, below, along with trailers and release dates.

The Whisper Man

• Streaming on: Netflix from Friday 28 August

This dark thriller, based on a best-selling novel, has a pretty stacked central cast, in the form of Adam Scott, Robert De Niro and Michelle Monaghan. It looks impressively twisty and unpredictable, too, with a plot that revolves around the question of what would happen if a notorious serial killer, imprisoned for life, somehow got out and started out for revenge.

The show theorises that he'd probably go after the family of the cop who put him in prison – and in this case that means taking on his son, since De Niro plays the older retired cop, and Adam Scott is his estranged adult child. Watch the trailer and you'll get a pretty quick sense of how the movie's going to feel to watch, which is to say, grimy and scary.

The Last Sunrise

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from Wednesday 26 August

If you want something a little more encouraging to pick you up midweek, then Amazon's got a romance that could do the trick. The Last Sunrise is also a movie, so it's a one-off binge to fill an evening, and stars Maia Reficco as Ry, a young American who relocates to Spain with her mother in the hope that it could help her chronic illness.

She discovers a coastal wonderland that promises a whole heap, along with a specific boy who she can't help but be magnetised towards. Their relationship will start out testily thanks to her outsider status, but it clearly won't take long for them to fall for each other, even despite some complications.

All the Truth in My Lies

• Streaming on: Netflix from Friday 28 August

This one won't capture the same number of eyes and headlines as the other two on my list for the week, but it still looks like a pretty charming addition to Netflix's library. It's a five-episode miniseries in Spanish, portraying the chaotic hen party of a bride with her friendship group. What's meant to be a campervan trip in a small group soon balloons past that.

As new additions join the party and love triangles start to take centre stage, this looks like a fun exploration of how relationships and friendships change as we age. I think it's a safe bet that it'll end in a heartwarming way, even if there's some emotional strife on the way to that conclusion.

Netflix has made a whole heap of original productions in the last decade, starting from a modest position and rapidly growing into one of the biggest TV producers in the world. Now it has its fingers in all sorts of pies, including the ability to make genuinely brilliant animated shows like Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Blue Eye Samurai.

With that first show getting a second season very soon, it's fitting that Netflix has taken this opportunity to also unveil a second outing for Blue Eye Samurai, one that takes the story in a really interesting new direction. The first teaser trailer dropped this week, and makes it clear that you can expect new things from the new material when it arrives in early 2027.

The show's taking a big swing by putting its main character Mizu in a whole new world – as she travels from Japan all the way to London, in search of answers and the continuation of her path of revenge. She continuing to hunt down the white men who ruined her young life, and this time she's going to have to do so in unfamiliar environments.

The teaser actually shows us very little of that, of course – it gives us a glimpse of the London skyline and confirms that Mizu is on her way there, but is more concerned with the harrowing voyage she'll take to actually make it. This will clearly involve a huge storm and a near-death experience on the high seas, but we can only assume she'll make it through.

While animated shows can sometimes be niche pursuits for the best streaming services, Blue Eye Samurai became a huge critical and audience darling – its Rotten Tomatoes scores prove that point. Critics gave it 97% on average, while audiences basically agreed, at 94%.

Those are the sort of numbers that Netflix executives probably dream about at night in their LA mansions, so it's perhaps not a huge surprise that we're getting more of the show more than three years on from its first run. Hopefully it can maintain that level of quality, too.

Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are in a basically never-ending battle to be not just the best streaming service, but crucially the biggest, and that means that both platforms need constant additions to keep subscribers sated. There's a pretty good chance that you have access to one of those two massive streamers, frankly.

So, each time a week starts, I take a look at everything (and I mean everything) that's being added to these two huge platforms, and filter that long list right down. Below, you'll find the three additions you should know about – rather than the dozens you can safely ignore. They've got trailers and release dates, too, for your convenience.

Outer Banks Season 5

• Streaming on: Netflix from 20 August

Outer Banks is something of a mystery to me – a show that's got all the way to a fifth season on Netflix, and which has a fairly big fanbase. I've never seen it, but having watched multiple seasons' trailers it looks like a really fun treasure-hunting adventure, a bit like The Goonies aged up for a more teenage audience and with quite a lot more edge to it.

The show's heroes, a gang of friends that style themselves The Pogues, are always on the back foot, with nasty forces and law enforcement typically teaming up to try to rob them of their hard-earned treasure, and this seems to be their last hurrah. They'll go out doing what they love – searching for more mysterious lost booty, and having a great time together.

Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 20 August

The world isn't short of magnetic personalities, but when it comes to the sporting arena, we do live in an era of increasingly guarded and media-trained athletes. That's why it could be fascinating to get a proper look behind the curtain at Novak Djokovic, unquestionably one of the all-time greats of tennis, but quite a private individual.

He's got a documentary with Prime Video coming this week, and it promises to give some insight into the psychology of a player who's managed to stay at his peak for an absurd length of time. He's not just an also-ran nowadays, often still penetrating to the late stages of major tournaments, so this could be a really fascinating behind-the-scenes profile for fans of the game.

Blood Sacrifice

• Streaming on: Netflix from 20 August

There's nothing like a good Scandi-noir to get the blood pumping, and Blood Sacrifice could be a great example of the genre done well. It's a whodunnit, effectively, playing out around Stockholm as a serial killer methodically targets police officers for murders then arranges their bodies artfully.

That's enough to make any other police officer nervous, let alone the detective tasked with chasing the killer down with few leads. He'll enlist the help of his father, a retired investigator, and soon find himself drawn into a typically dark and frankly scary game. This looks like it could be a breakout hit, and Netflix's success with previous subtitled shows should stand it in good stead.

The 'romance set in the surroundings of high school or college sports teams' genre is quickly becoming one of the biggest sub-genres in the streaming world – people can't seem to get enough of steamy locker-room love affairs. Heated Rivalry really kicked things off, but Off Campus underlined the trend this year, too.

Neither of those shows were made by Netflix, notably, so it's perhaps not a huge surprise that it's been working on something of its own – and this time it's going for a new sport. Crew Girl sets up a fairly familiar love triangle, but where the school athletes are all elite rowers, with all the training and discipline that comes with the territory.

The show stars Miku Martineau as Teagan Tao, a hugely talented young rower who's forced to move schools when her parents' home life falls apart for depressing reasons. She's enrolled into a fancy new school by her mum, but soon discovers that it only has a men's rowing program, with no way for her to have a boat of her own.

That is, until she starts to realise that the men's team is having trouble finding a reliable cox to steer and organise them through competitive races. The first trailer makes it clear that she'll make it her mission to become their cox, and in the process she'll find sparks flying with more than one member of the team.

There's no point in a good romance like this without a triangle, after all, and it seems like Teagan will have her affections split between two different men. One, as tradition dictates, is the bad boy who starts off aggressive with her, while the other seems to have no flaws but perhaps lacks a little edge.

Who can say who'll she'll end up with? Part of the fun of this sort of show is the journey, rather than the destination, which can generally be guessed at pretty easily. Netflix viewers in need of some steamy fun can check out Crew Girl when it arrives on the streaming service on 10 September, in a little under a month's time.

If you're going to reel in a massive star to front a new movie for your giant streaming service, why not get them to play two roles at once? I'm not talking about on-screen twins, either – Ben Affleck is pulling double duty in Netflix's newly unveiled movie Animals, since he's both playing the lead and actually directing the whole thing.

Affleck isn't a prolific director, but he has a few good movies to his name, and many critics think very fondly of The Town, which he made back in 2010 – so there's plenty of evidence to suggest that he could do a great job here. Like that film, Animals looks like a gritty portrayal of crime and criminality, but it has its focus on the apparent victim, rather than the criminals.

Affleck plays Mark Kimball, a politician who's fighting a mayoral election in Los Angeles while trying to balance his home life – but it looks like that home life is in for a reckoning. The teaser trailer uploaded by Netflix this week doesn't outright confirm that his kids are going to get kidnapped, but it does everything but say that explicitly.

It looks like he's going to be haunted by phone calls from the kidnappers as they try to presumably extort something out of him, and we can see the growing strain this'll exert on him and his wife (Kerry Washington) as the trailer unfolds. Stephen Yeun looks like he plays Kimball's fixer or security man, but there's at least one fascinating figure in the trailer.

We don't really know who she is, but Gillian Anderson gets an extremely glamorous entrance, and seems to be running the rule over Kimball. Is she a crisis manager? A fixer herself? Part of the criminal element? Any number of options could be accurate, and she might just be the movie's ace up its sleeve.

Intriguingly, the film's getting a rare simultaneous release – Netflix is putting it in cinemas as part of a limited run on 9 October, but it's also going to put it up for streaming subscribers on the very same day. That's a curious strategy, but we can't really know how it'll play out until that day arrives.

Every so often, one of the biggest and best streaming services will drop a trailer that makes me stand up and pay a little more attention than usual. Sometimes that's because it's managed to reel in an even bigger star than the norm, and sometimes it's because the film's been showered in awards on the festival circuit. Gentle Monster is another type entirely.

While it was shown as part of the competition at both the Cannes and Toronto Film Festivals, it didn't come away with any major prizes – but the first trailer for the movie is out now on YouTube, and makes it look pretty phenomenal. It's coming to Netflix on 18 November, after a couple of weeks in cinemas starting on 30 October.

The film stars Léa Seydoux as a young mother whose world is absolutely rocked when the police turn up at her house one day to take custody of her partner and to search his belongings. While the trailer is understandably vague about exactly what they're looking for, it's not hard to draw some conclusions about the matter, and it's easy to see how it would make for a compelling drama.

As Seydoux's character attempts to process what's happening, it looks like much of the film will concern itself with how a relationship changes and is strained by a betrayal like this. As she says to her mother at one point in the trailer, it's not like a long-term love has an off switch that you can flick when it's no longer convenient to have deep feelings for someone.

While she tries to figure out where her life goes from here, there's apparently another subplot that's not featured in the trailer to the same degree, since this is just a teaser. The lead investigator in the case turns out to have her own dramas unfolding, reckoning with the trauma of caring for her elderly father as his dementia advances.

It's all extremely emotional-sounding, and the teaser makes the movie look really considered and careful, so I'll be fascinated to see how it's received when it arrives later this year. Netflix generally only puts safe bets into cinemas, so that alone suggests it thinks it could have a critical darling on its hands.

The pace of the streaming world is sometimes something to behold. While the rest of us hunker down for yet another heatwave here in the UK, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video presumably sniff another opportunity to own our eyes and attention spans. If you're wondering what that means for you, the answer is more movies and shows coming to the best streaming platforms.

I've gone through the whole list of what's coming to both Netflix and Prime Video this week (and it's a long list), to pick out three total highlights for you. These new arrivals are the ones I think you'll want to know about, and all of them might make for a lovely bit of mid-week watching in the August heat.

Reacher Season 4

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 12 August

While it might not be the single biggest one in terms of budget or numbers, I do think that Reacher might nonetheless be Amazon's best original show ever. That's because it's incredibly true to the source material that it's adapting, giving us an on-screen version of Jack Reacher who really feels like a proper fit (as opposed to Tom Cruise, about a foot too short).

This time around he's going to find himself embroiled in quite a conspiracy, all kicked off when he tries to be a good samaritan after spotting a woman in distress on the subway. When she dies dramatically, he's unable to let sleeping dogs lie, and starts digging into the circumstances she found herself in. You won't believe this, but it won't take long until he's beating people up – hallelujah!

My Brilliant Career

• Streaming on: Netflix from 13 August

This looks like a really spirited new show for Netflix, adapting a beloved Autralian novel that might not be quite as well-known on other shores. It tells the story of Sybylla, a young woman in search of a direction for her life, at a time when the standard solution would be to simply get married. She decides instead to pursue her gift for writing, and to see the world.

Little does she know, though, that her attempts to get out and about will put her in the path of more than one suitor, meaning we're going to get plenty of steamy romance from My Brilliant Career despite Sybylla's apparent feminism. That's a great setup, and the costuming and performances seem top-notch. Could this be a new Bridgerton-level hit?

Don't Say Good Luck

• Streaming on: Netflix from 14 August

For a more traditional coming-of-age story, this movie starring Adam Sandler's daughter Sunny seems like it's going to be heartwarming and potentially tearjerking in equal measure. Sandler plays Sophie Birenbaum, who is desperate to make it in her high school's musical for the year, with all the social benefits it would bring.

That aim seems to become a little more modest when her home life starts to deteriorate thanks to her mother getting sick – throwing her own desires into perspective. It's a classic recipe for some life lessons, and the movie seems to be nice and sympathetic to how teenagers can be battered by these emotional situations. It looks charming, and comes out at the end of the week.

We all know that Grand Theft Auto VI is going to make absolutely filthy money when it comes out later this year – it'll probably make Spider-Man: Brand New Day's box office records look like child's play. Still, I didn't have a slot on my bingo card for Rockstar successfully monetising the title's gameplay reveal.

That seems to be what it's managed, though, because Netflix just confirmed that an "extended look" at the game will drop on its streaming platform on 27 August, with the strong implication of exclusivity.

Despite that implication, though, the same footage will be up on YouTube six hours after it hits Netflix, as confirmed by Rockstar's own YouTube channel. Still, you'd have to assume that Rockstar is making money from the partnership with Netflix, which is quite something to consider.

Right now you can head to Netflix's site to see the placeholder page where the footage will debut, which confirms that it's basically being treated like a standalone movie in terms of Netflix's catalogue. It even has a list of tags about what the "series" is like: "Slick, Rousing, Adventure, High-Octane, Imaginative, Cars, Action Thriller, Movie".

Some of those are more obviously applicable than others, dare I say. Still, this is obviously a big deal, and it's a significant enough marketing beat to get its own teaser trailer.

This teaser also confirms that the footage will go live on Netflix at 3:00 PM ET, meaning 8:00 PM BST here in the UK – so it's very much in a headline slot for your evening's entertainment here in Europe.

The YouTube version of the extended look will be out six hours later, at 9:00 PM ET or 2:00 AM BST, which is much less sociable. If you're a Netflix subscriber, that's not your problem, of course, but it might mean I end up watching it the next morning, on 28 August.

This also means that we're almost certainly not getting any other new looks at the game before the end of August, so that should put a whole load of rumour-mongering to bed. Strap in for a long month before the footage drops, though, and a whole heaping of hype in the meantime.

A Netflix Premium subscription is not cheap. At £18.99 / $26.99 per month, it's one of the priciest streaming tiers there is. And that includes competitors.

Disney+ Premium is £4 / $8 cheaper, so £48 / $96 less expensive per year, for example. So, as a Netflix Premium subscriber I really want to make the most of my membership. That includes the ability to watch 4K content wherever I want.

However, that's not really been possible. While most apps support 4K HDR, including Dolby Vision where possible, viewing through a Chrome browser hasn't. Until now, at least.

Netflix finally streams 4K video through Chrome, allowing Premium subscribers to view Ultra HD shows and movies without having to leave the browser window. There are limitations and caveats still, but it's a welcome start.

As discovered by @saurax04 on X (via The Mac Observer), Chrome on Windows 11 now supports 4K (3840 x 2160) streaming. PC owners have previously had to use Edge or the dedicated Netflix app for Windows to get the best quality. But now Chrome users can watch UHD content without having to switch browsers or load additional software.

Sadly, this hasn't yet arrived on Mac, and you will require a decent enough Windows 11 laptop or desktop – ie. with a minimum of GeForce GTX 1050 or Radeon RX 400 graphics. It's a sign of things to come though.

It's also worth noting that some Mac models will already run Netflix in 4K (and Dolby Vision) through Safari. Surely Chrome will soon follow.

How much does Netflix Premium and the other tiers cost?

Netflix recently simplified its tier structure, with just three plans available generally.

Standard with adverts is priced at £5.99 / $8.99 / €7.99 / AU$9.99 per month and gives you access to 1080p streaming with 5.1 surround sound. As the name suggests, content is ad-supported and the number of devices you can stream on / download to is limited to two.

Standard costs £12.99 / $19.99 / €14.99 / AU$20.99 per month and is the same as the above, but without the ads.

And finally, Netflix Premium will set you back £18.99 / $26.99 / €21.99 / AU$28.99 per month. It ups the simultaneous device count to four and the picture quality to 4K HDR (Dolby Vision). You also get Dolby Atmos audio where supported.

When you're one of the biggest and best streaming services on the planet, there's no such thing as a week off. Both Netflix and Prime Video's execs know that their subscribers expect pretty much constant new arrivals, and rightly so after a few years of price hikes and the arrival of ads.

So, if you're a subscriber to either or both of these platforms and you're eyeing up some empty evenings this week, you're in the right place. I've taken a fine-toothed comb through everything being added to each streamer, and I've picked out three highlights that I think are particularly interesting. These are the additions to Netflix and Prime Video to know about this week.

The Last House

• Streaming on: Netflix from 7 June

I really like the look of this one – a horror movie that also has clear sci-fi themes but seems to potentially contain two distinct parts. In the first, a family wakes up on a regular day only to discover that their house has been mysteriously sealed so they can't leave. They're not the only ones, either, with all their neighbours similarly locked-in.

The trailer then shows us a period some time later, with the world overgrown by plants and few survivors managing to stay alive in their homes. It's entirely possible that the family will finally be able to venture outside, but also that they might encounter the beings responsible for their imprisonment, and I'm eager to learn more about either.

Sterling Point

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 5 August

All the biggest streamers have realised that romantic shows and movies are a huge attractor for audiences right now, and Sterling Point looks like an interesting twist on that format. Rather than being purely about finding love, it's also about discovering that your family might have more stories swirling in it than you realised.

The show's main character is a young woman who's surprised by a major bequest when her grandfather dies – a cottage in Sterling Point. When she gets there, she discovers that another young woman has also been left the property: a half-sister she never knew about, from the mum who died when she was younger. Secrets won't take long to spill out from there.

One Hundred Years of Solitude: Part Two

• Streaming on: Netflix from 5 August

This sensational South American series is midway through adapting one of the most celebrated novels of all time, and the second part promises to take the story to soaring new heights (and the depths of drama). Netflix is clearly proud of the series, since it's breaking out the final part to give it a premiere laster in the month.

Until then, though, this week will see the arrival of the rest of the second season, which continues the story of the Buendía family as eras pass and characters age and have families of their own. If you were into the first part of the show, this will be a must-watch when it arrives midweek.

Netflix seems to have a bit of a thing for recapturing the hysteria that greeted Jaws way back when it came out. While there have been movie sensations since then, of course, the sense that a film could genuinely change a generation of movie-goers' attitude to the sea seems like a taller order.

After already scoring one huge hit earlier this year with Thrash, reminding people that sharks are indeed terrifying, Netflix now has a new series on the way centring on a threat in the water. Below is a slightly different proposition, though, as its first teaser trailer makes clear – this might not even be a shark movie at all.

Below stars Josh Hartnett as a dad living in a rural fishing community, eking out a soulful existence. When his daughter comes home to visit, he's thrilled to see her, and it looks like she might have a new boyfriend in tow, too. Introducing him to the world of hard work and seafaring graft that he lives in could be a challenge.

What's even more of a challenge, though, is finding out that there's something stalking the boats and swimmers in the area – something causing disturbances that can't really be explained. The teaser goes out of its way to avoid clarifying what that might mean, and while the natural assumption is that it's a shark (or more than one), that's hardly confirmed.

In fact, the weird imagery in the teaser includes an extended sequence involving a floating house, and it all seems to suggest that there might be something a little more supernatural going on. Again, I don't have any confirmation of that, and Netflix's own blurb about the movie is intentionally vague, but there's definitely more than a whiff of the horror genre about how the trailer is cut.

That all makes Below quite intriguing, as does the fact that it's a limited series rather than a movie. We should get a few hours of mystery and thrills from it when it arrives on 8 October, so drop a reminder in your calendar if you're curious to find out just what is going on.

Netflix has a big month ahead of it – August brings a whole new list of films and shows being added to the service, and anyone who's looked over the full range knows that there are too many to really process. That hasn't stopped me, though. I've taken a deep look into what's coming and filtered out all the chaff.

That means you'll find five genuine highlights below, each one worthy of your interest. Check them out with trailers embedded for your convenience, as well as details of when they'll start streaming, so that you can circle the relevant dates in your diary if you're really motivated.

The Last House

• Streaming from: 7 August

This is a wild-looking one – a horror movie that definitely has elements of sci-fi playing around in its web. The Last House stars Greta Lee and Wagner Moura as a husband and wife who wake up one day, get their kids ready like normal, then discover that they've been sealed in their house.

In fact, it doesn't take too long for them to realise that this might be happening to everyone, a sort of pandemic-style lockdown being enforced by seemingly supernatural forces. Whether the source is alien or paranormal, I can't be sure, but the trailer makes the movie look properly unsettling, and it could be quite a hit when it arrives early in August.

The Whisper Man

• Streaming from: 28 August

Another scary-looking thriller rounds out the month on Netflix's side, but it's probably the most high-profile addition of the whole month. The Whisper Man makes me think of Zodiac every time I watch its trailer – something about the oppressive atmosphere of Fincher's film is summoned up by the rain and grottiness of this new movie's setting.

Adam Scott plays a father whose son goes missing, and he soon realises that it's the work of a serial killer who'd been locked up for a long time but might now be out and about. He's forced to turn to his estranged dad (Robert De Niro, no less), who once put that killer away, and there are clearly plenty of secrets to be spilled about what happened all those years ago.

My Brilliant Career

• Streaming from: 13 August

If you want something a little more light-hearted, don't worry – Netflix isn't exclusively making scary stuff this month. This lovely series set in Australia, for example, might scratch the itch of any costume drama fan. It's the story of a spirited young woman who doesn't want to conform to expectations.

Rather than simply waiting to be courted and married, she decides to see the world as best she can, and to make the most of her talent for writing while she does it. Of course, that's too simple – the fact that love is going to land in her lap while she does so should make things more complicated.

Don't Say Good Luck

• Streaming from: 14 August

Another romantic-looking movie, but set in a very different time, Don't Say Good Luck pits all the normal travails and challenges of adolescence against a common but no less sad tragedy. Adam Sandler's daughter Sunny stars as a teenager whose mother is extremely sick, but who has her own regular problems to compartmentalise at the same time.

That's a familiar story for so many of us, and it looks like the film's approach should be really heartwarming, as she goes through moments that are normal but also at times extraordinary. Growing up can be brutal, as most of us know, but this looks like it might do a good job of capturing some of the sheer joy that comes our way during the process.

Outer Banks (Season 5)

• Streaming from: 20 August

One of Netflix's most long-running ongoing shows is coming to an end this month, with Outer Banks finally taking a bow. Its story of treasure hunters and fierce rivalries has taken some surprising twists over the years, and had some shocking enough moments, but now it looks like it's all about to end.

The Pogues have one last heist in their sights, but with more power than ever arrayed against them, they're going to have to rely on each other and their wits to get through everything. The big question is whether they'll all make it, or whether some of them will be left behind while the others ride off into the sunset once more.

Nary a week goes by without a big addition to the libraries of the world's biggest and best streaming services – it's a vital part of their plan to become people's default destination for entertainment. While the summer months are sometimes a little slower in the TV world, on streamers it's a different story.

That said, this is an interesting week for the twin dragons of Netflix and Prime Video, and the shows and movies they're adding are arguably a little less high-profile than some recent weeks. I've taken a look at every new project they're uploading, to pick out three intriguing highlights that you'll want to know about regardless.

The Bombing of Pan Am 103

• Streaming on: Netflix from 30 July

This looks like quite a heavy one, but as a co-production between Netflix and the BBC, The Bombing of Pan Am 103 might be one of the more important shows released this year. It tells the story of the Lockerbie bombing, but does so from multiple angles. It'll take in not just those on the plane, but also those on the ground in the UK and US, trying to investigate an unthinkable situation.

With a long time span to focus on and plenty of sensitivity given the very real event that it's portraying, everything points towards this being an extremely memorable show. That said, it's not going to be the easiest watch, for obvious reasons, so factor that in while you plan your evenings.

Batman: Caped Crusader Season 2

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 31 July

Prime Video brings the caped crusader back for a second season of this animated series, and it's got a great reputation. Fans of The Animated Series have been waiting for a real successor for quite some time now, and this version might just be the closest thing we've ever got.

It shows a version of Batman set in the golden age, without all the technology and gizmos that became associated with the character in some more recent portrayals. That arguably keeps the show simpler and more faithful to the detective roots, with mysteries forming a key role in its drama.

Final Project

• Streaming on: Netflix from 29 July

This interesting-looking Spanish-language show takes a look at cyberbullying and the toxic environment that high school can become for students if they're targeted by malicious classmates. Tamara is an alternative teenager who has become the butt of constant jokes and abuse from some popular kids.

Her final project for the year takes a twist when tragedy strikes Tamara, but the trailer makes it pretty clear that this might all be part of her plan to get revenge on her tormentors. This might sink without a trace, but don't be surprised if it becomes a sleeper hit, either – Netflix has form on that front.

Are we past the nepo-baby era? By that I don't mean are we now fine with them, but I am curious as to whether people still care as much about the whole concept. Rightly or wrongly, it seems clear that they're here to stay, and Netflix's latest movie is a great example of that – starring none other than Adam Sandler's daughter in the lead role.

To do her proper justice, though, it's Sunny Sandler (what a name), and this isn't exactly her first rodeo. She's had roles in multiple of her dad's movies over the years, including You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah recently, and a small part in Happy Gilmore 2. Now she's the lead in Don't Say Good Luck, which looks like a very different proposition.

The first key point is that the movie doesn't star Adam Sandler – it's a totally fresh project, and Sunny Sandler seems to be the key to it. She plays Sophie Birenbaum, a high schooler going through all the regular stress of school life, as she tries to get a role in the school musical without making a fool of herself.

The real meat of the emotion in the movie, though, comes from the fact that Sophie's mum (Melanie Lynskey) gets what sounds like a cancer diagnosis. That's a devastating turn, and it clearly rocks her dad (Max Greenfield) too, as you'd expect. Sophie's attempts to maintain some normality while dealing with this traumatic process will clearly be pretty emotional to behold.

In fact, this first trailer makes the movie look incredibly sweet, and full of that adolescent lack of confidence that can be so affecting to watch when it's done right. Sunny Sandler might be in this position because of her father's fame (that's quite hard to argue with, to be honest), but from the glimpses we see here, she's clearly going to be quite a performer in her own right.

Plus, she might have the bravery to do what her dad did and pick some weird projects – that's the only way to end up in something magical like Punch-Drunk Love, after all. I'm not saying Don't Say Good Luck is in that bracket, but it'll be interesting to see how it's received. It hits Netflix on 14 August.

Over the last decade or so, Netflix has repeatedly succeeded in predicting what people want from the biggest streaming service on the planet, and one of its biggest successes has been knowing that romance is hugely popular. People want steamy love stories, and they want them regularly.

It's already got more than one giant franchise out of this tactic, with Bridgerton standing out as the jewel in its crown, and now we're getting another new one – My Brilliant Career. The story of a precocious young woman in Australia starts in 1900 and looks like a classic take on what it was like to be of marriageable age at a challenging time for women.

Philippa Northeast stars as Sybylla, that gifted young woman, who sees herself as an untameable writer, but has to contend with the expectations of her family, who see marriage as her only way to economic security. The problem for Sybylla is that they're not entirely wrong – her chances of becoming a writer are slim, despite her undeniable talent.

She decides to humour them and meet some young men, all the while intending to see as much of the world as she can to fuel her writing. Little does she know, though, that she'll meet more than one man who does indeed ignite something in her, which is the one twist she wasn't expecting.

One of those men is a familiar face – Christopher Chung from Slow Horses, in a role that's the polar opposite of his more famous one. Rather than a repulsive IT support worker, he's a hunky romantic lead, with Jake Dunn playing his main rival. It looks like a classic love triangle as Sybylla is faced with a choice between the two.

Her other option, of course, is to ignore them both and stick to her craft, so it'll be fascinating to learn how it all unfolds – as someone who obviously hasn't read the beloved Australian novel this is all based on. The show hits Netflix on 13 August and looks like it'll bring some stunning costumes with it: get this one in your diary.

The advent of a new week means an age-old question for those with subscriptions to Netflix, Prime Video or both – what's coming out? These huge streamers know that the only way to keep us all satisfied is by maintaining a steady stream of new shows and movies for us to pick from, after all.

If you tick one of those boxes and you're wondering what new stuff there's going to be for you to watch this week, you're in the right place – I've taken a look at everything coming down the pike, and picked out three highlights. In a world where there's no World Cup action any more, these could be life-savers for your evenings, to be honest.

72 Hours

• Streaming on: Netflix from 24 July

This looks like about as much of a throwback comedy as you can reasonably expect from a big streaming service right now – Netflix is going broad-brush with a Kevin Hart movie about blokey exploits. He stars as a middle-aged man who finds himself accidentally added to the messaging group of a bunch of younger guys going on a stag trip.

He decides to throw caution to the wind and turn up to see what happens, and from there has what looks like a fairly wild three days. It seems fairly obviously inspired by The Hangover and its sequels, but with that age-gap dynamic providing a twist. Ridiculous, for sure, but possibly some fun low-maintenance silliness for an evening later this week.

Ransom County: Season 2

• Streaming on: Netflix from 23 July

When this show's first season came out, I said that it looked like a direct rival to the Yellowstone dynasty being built by the folks at Paramount+, and I stand by that comparison now that Ransom Canyon has an imminent second season. The show continues to focus on similar dynamics and storylines, giving us an insight into the complicated life of a rancher.

That said, there are some important differences – namely, that this show is much more focused on the relationships and love lives of its characters, and less on the politics and brutality of land ownership and disputes. So, again, it's a pretty low-maintenance watch, and if you enjoyed the first season, you'll doubtless be pleased to see it return.

The Wild Robot

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 24 July

This one's not a Prime Original, but in a lean week for Amazon's streamer, it's a pretty fantastic addition, especially for family viewing. Telling the story of a long-lost robot awakening into a world full of animals and trying to work out what its place in that tableau might be, it's a beautiful story.

It's got all the touchpoints you might want right now, including a focus on the dangers of technology compared to our natural roots, but also a touching optimism. Plus, the art style of its 3D animation is really gorgeous, with designs that are almost like painting shifting in front of your eyes.

As we recently reported, the UK government is considering changes to the UK TV Licence to make it more relevant to today's services, with the potential of even lowering the fee for British households.

These proposals include adding streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ to the licence, meaning you'll need one to stream content – even if you're only using your mobile phone.

But what does the TV Licence cover now, when is it mandatory, and how much does it cost?

We answer these questions and more in this handy guide to the UK TV Licence as it stands, with one eye on how it could change in the future.

Why do I need a TV Licence?

Rather uniquely, the UK's main broadcaster – the BBC – is a public funded organisation rather than commercial. That means it doesn't carry adverts, but is paid for through a form of taxation – ie. the TV Licence.

Each household that watches live TV in the UK is required to pay a fee (monthly or yearly) and the government then dispenses that money to the Beeb to spend on its programming and operations.

Where it can become confusing for some is that while the BBC is the beneficiary of the TV Licence fee, it is mandatory to pay it even if you only watch other channels.

Indeed, all live TV is covered by the TV Licence, including the vast array of TV channels in the electronic programme guide – whether free or paid-for via the likes of Sky or Virgin Media. The same is true when watching live TV content on YouTube or Prime Video in the UK.

The licence is also required if you watch and stream content on BBC iPlayer, even if it's not live (ie. on demand).

What aren't currently covered by the TV Licence are sole streaming services when not viewing live TV content. For example, you can watch Stranger Things or Squid Game on Netflix without needing a TV Licence, but if you watch a live show such as WWE Raw or Smackdown, you will.

So, do I need a TV Licence to watch Netflix and Amazon Prime Video?

As mentioned above, you don't generally need a TV Licence to watch content streamed via the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV. Not even YouTube.

But, that depends on what you watch. If you watch any live shows broadcast on the streaming platforms, you do need one. And considering each of them is moving more and more into live TV, they are entering a grey area.

This is where the UK government's new proposals come in. It is already proving hard to encourage all households to purchase a licence, with only a reported 80% in the UK said to be paying already.

That's a lot lower than the amount of households thought to be watching the BBC or other eligible television programming – that's reportedly 94%.

The shortfall is an issue for the BBC, which is growing having to cut budgets and jobs as its funding shrinks. Which is why both the BBC board of governors and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are considering different plans to alter the licence to suit changing trends.

This could lead to streaming services being covered by the TV Licence completely, regardless of whether you are watching live TV or on demand content. In that scenario, you will require a TV Licence no matter what, where or on what device you watch.

We're keeping a close eye on any further developments, and will update in due course.

How much does a TV Licence cost in the UK?

A UK TV Licence currently costs £180 per year which covers an entire household. That includes student or shared accommodation if you watch TV in a single shared area. Businesses also need at least one TV Licence to show live TV content in the office or in hotel rooms.

If you only have a black and white TV, you only have to pay £60.50 per year.

Note, if you are found to be recording or watching live TV without a TV Licence, you can be fined up to £1,000.

And finally, what has the BBC ever done for me?

As part of its drive to get more UK households paying for a TV Licence, the BBC has made its own commercial titled: "What has the BBC ever done for me?"

Starring comedian and presenter Romesh Ranganathan, it looks at the most popular programming and initiatives that are synonymous with the corporation, to remind viewers exactly how much it might mean to their daily lives.

It's well worth a watch.

It took me a few minutes to work out what movies I was reminded of when watching the new trailer for Netflix's The Whisper Man, but I made it there in the end. The first, and most impressive, is David Fincher's Zodiac, but I also think there's more than a little of Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners in the mix too. That's quite a cocktail.

The film, based on a best-selling novel (which is always a good sign plot-wise) takes a look at a fictional serial killer who seems to target children, at least as far as the trailer makes clear. Having been taken down years ago, he's somehow made it out of prison to start another rampage, and that brings generations of law enforcement into the game.

Adam Scott is one of the current kings of streaming at the moment, largely thanks to his absolutely explosive popularity in Severance, and he's here playing a far more regular joe – Tom Kennedy, who's unlucky enough to have his son kidnapped by the Whisper Man after his re-emergence.

Or is it just bad luck? Tom's father, played by Robert De Niro, happens to be the retired detective who put the killer behind bars years ago, which paints a target on his back. Tom's forced to patch things up with his distant parent in a desperate appeal for help. Meanwhile, in the actual police force, Michelle Monaghan plays the current detective assigned to the case, full of grit, determination and insight.

That makes the film look like a three-hander of great actors, but the most striking thing about the trailer, to me, is how grim the tone is. It's full of dim lighting and rainy nights, and looks oppressively colour-graded. That's what brings Zodiac and Prisoners to mind – two films about crime sprees that leave you wondering if there's any good in the world by the time they're over.

Hopefully, Netflix's story might have a slightly more optimistic ending than those two movies, but if it can get close to the same levels of quality, it'll be doing outstandingly well. The film drops on the streaming platform on 28 August, so there's well over a month left for the hype to build further.

The UK government is considering plans to reduce the cost of a UK TV licence, yet still fund the BBC and public service broadcasters, enabling them to continue making quality programming.

The TV licence currently costs all viewers in the UK £180 a year, and it is mandatory if you watch any of the TV platform types, bar one. Currently, streaming services like Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ are largely exempt.

That's unless you watch live programming through them, such as sports coverage, then you have to have a licence. It's confusing and tricky to enforce, hence approximately 20% of British households still don't pay even though most should.

The new measures proposed are designed to recoup more money, yet also potentially reduce the bill for millions around the country.

As revealed by Deadline, the UK's culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, has revealed that the major US streaming services could be included in the TV licence requirements in future. Households will therefore need a licence to watch non-live content too, even on mobile devices, and by closing the loophole, it allows enforcement agencies to collect more fees.

Nandy also suggested that with more money being recouped, it could "cut the cost of the license fee for everybody".

An additional idea is that those who only watch streaming services could pay a reduced licence fee anyway, but they would still have to pay more than they do now.

Some aren't happy about the plans

This has apparently invited the ire of the Motion Picture Association, but the culture secretary hinted that if Netflix customers aren't asked to pay the licence fee, Netflix itself might have to foot the bill: "[They] would be reluctant to see additional charges on their consumers, but I think they would be more reluctant to see additional charges on their businesses."

That would lead to higher subscription fees anyway, and the government doesn't want to deter investment by the streaming giants in the UK.

Hopefully, the upshot of this will be that the British viewing public will continue to access the country's free TV services and pay a bit less for the privilege.

The proposals are in the consultation phase at present, so it might take a while to find out for sure.

Here in the UK, the heat shows no sign of abating, even if we're all going to spend the week telling ourselves that 29 degrees is way better than 32 (it just about is). That means it's a great week to continue cowering inside, avoiding that heat with some good streaming.

Sure, if you have a portable air conditioner like me, then you'll be even happier, but the best news is that this is a really strong week for the best streaming services on the market (or, at least, the biggest ones). I've checked out everything being added to Netflix and Prime Video this week, to pick out three highlights that you're going to want to know about.

The Hawk

• Streaming from: 16 July

This looks like a real throwback from Netflix and Will Ferrell, who's picking things up again to play a somewhat forgotten fictional golfer trying to get back to the top level to complete the grand slam of majors that he never quite managed in his pomp. This time, though, he's going to have to contend against his own son, who's become the buttoned-up pro he never was.

Ferrell's character is called Lonnie "The Hawk" Hawkins, giving his name to the whole movie, and the project looks like an old-school comedy in the vein of Anchorman or Dodgeball, which means it might be fairly predictable, but also comforting. The real joy will almost certainly be in the ad-libs and seeing how far Ferrell is willing to take his performance – I'd bet way further than you think.

Heartstopper Forever

• Streaming from: 17 July

One of Netflix's most beloved series comes to an end not with another season, but with a feature film to send its characters off into the sunset. The story of Charlie and Nick's whirlwind school romance has captured millions of fans over the last few years, but with the two characters moving into a new phase of life, it's reached a natural stopping point.

That doesn't mean there's no tension to work out, though – far from it. With one going to university and the other staying at home, the big question will be how they keep their relationship going. Will they be up for the hard yards of long-distance love? Will one have to give up his dream for the other? Or will they call it quits? Expect this one to shoot up the charts as people tune in to find out when it arrives.

Ride or Die

• Streaming from: 15 July

If I had a dollar for every time a big streaming service made a movie about normal-seeming people who secretly live double lives as spies, I'd probably be able to buy a decent lunch by now – it's a topic that just can't seem to be left alone for more than a year without being brought back up. In fairness, this go-around from Prime Video does look a little more fun and inventive than some.

It stars Hannah Waddingham as that secret spy, alongside her best friend, played by Octavia Spencer, who's taken along for the ride when assassins target her bestie at the wrong moment. It's a classic fish-out-of-water gag that'll last for most of the movie, you'd guess, and Ride or Die will probably sink or swim based on the chemistry between those two leads.

There's no doubting the scale of Netflix's streaming empire – it's been built over the course of a decade or so, and it involves some of the biggest franchises you could care to name, even if some of them are now over. From Stranger Things to Squid Game, there are behemoths in its library – but what's it's biggest current show?

By sheer viewership, something like Bridgerton almost certainly has a major shout, but I'd put a small vote in for The Gentlemen right now, not least because it's about to get a second season that looks far bigger than the first. From director and writer Guy Ritchie, this classic mob tale seems to be going from strength to strength, and leaning into its fun characters and arch tone.

The show stars Theo James as Eddie, also known as the Duke, along with Kaya Scodelario as his business partner, Susie. Having inherited a huge set of property last season, only to discover that it was in fact, an underground weed empire that he almost certainly had to keep up himself, Eddie's now growing in his ambitions.

From the trailer, it looks clear that he's got his eyes on more revenue streams, and the Italian mafia might be the next in his sights. Whether that means a hostile takeover or a partnership is a little hard to gauge from the clips we get in the trailer, but it's obvious that this will involve some luxurious new locations.

Meanwhile, all the old faces from the last season (including the obligatory Ray Winstone and Vinnie Jones) are knocking about looking for violence and muttering dark lines. It looks like great fun, and a bit more ambitious than the already successful first season.

With this calibre of director signed up, and a cast that seems committed to the show, I'd think this would be one of the bigger hits for Netflix at a time when it's arguably starting to refresh its staple of shows. Whether the second season of The Gentlemen can capitalise on that opportunity will become clearer when it comes out on 3 September.

It was recently suggested that viewer engagement was dwindling on Netflix, with research showing that subscribers are becoming less willing to watch second seasons of its grandstand shows. Now it seems the streaming service is willing to take extreme measures in response.

The company reportedly has a number of ideas it's mulling over, and almost all of them would see the platform change dramatically.

According to The Wall Street Journal and "people familiar with the matter", Netflix is considering live channels of TV shows and movies from specific genres, which could run 24/7. That would add an area that's more like Pluto TV or, in the UK, the FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) channels you see on Freely and other streaming boxes.

There's also the possibility it will strike deals with rivals and offer their services through the Netflix app – much like Amazon does in Prime Video. You could therefore pay extra to subscribe to Paramount+ and watch its shows without needing to exit Netflix.

These are big, bold moves for a service that made its name on quality original content, such as Tiger King, Stranger Things, and Squid Game. But then, many of its biggest shows started when competition was less fierce.

There was no Apple TV, no Paramount+, and HBO Max was essentially US only. Even Disney+ is a relative newcomer in comparison.

A new Netflix competitor is on its way

And things are only going to get spicier for Netflix over the coming year. Comcast's Sky has announced an acquisition of ITV in the UK, which will result in a new "streaming giant" for the country.

Its own buyout for Warner Bros. Discovery also failed, after Paramount offered a greatly improved bid and it withdrew. Something needs to change for Netflix to continue in its position as market leader, it seems.

We just wish it was the, frankly ridiculous, price for 4K viewing.

Netflix has a bunch of extremely proven tactics to turn to when it comes to generating big hits for its never-ending audience of streaming converts. From adapting hit novels to reeling in major stars, it seems to know that some moves just tend to work out – and another approach it favours is working with some creators repeatedly.

Tyler Perry is just about as prolific as they come – a writer, actor and director whose personal net worth has placed him in rarefied air (meaning he's a genuine billionaire). That's because he knows his audience inside out, and knows what they want from him – nice, simple stories about family, love and betrayal. That's what Why Did I Get Married Again? seems to offer.

The film stars some staple characters from Perry's universe, since it's a threequel folling on from Why Did I Get Married (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010) – so we're seeing the couples from those movies later in their lives, now settled into parenthood and watching their kids go through the relationship trials and tribulations that they know so well.

In fact, two of their kids are getting married to each other, which means there are all sorts of minor and major tensions to work out about who's in charge of what for the wedding, the core partnership itself, and how the older couples all get along with each other as their lives change. It looks like heartwarming stuff, but particularly for those who enjoyed the last two movies years ago.

Honestly, movies in which parents reflect on how they brought their kids up, and in which those kids have moments where they realise how they're like their parents or different from them, are absolutely bankers when it comes to emotional climaxes. Expect catharsis and almost certainly a happy ending – although the trailer makes it obvious there will be some fun twists along the way.

The film's being added to Netflix on 9 September, so it's still a good couple of months away, but that just underlines the fact that Netflix knows this one could be a big hit. It normally reserves this sort of slow build up for its bigger properties, after all.

When Netflix first showed off a teaser trailer for its new smash-hit of a show, I Will Find You, I immediately had a good sense that it would do well. As I wrote at the time, Netflix has (along with some of the other best streaming services out there) figured out a pretty reliable formula to develop really solid shows that people want to watch.

That formula? Enlist best-selling thriller authors, and either adapt their existing work, or get them to pen new plots full of twists and turns. After all, there's no one quite like an etablished author to tell you how to make sure that a story keeps audiences gripped from start to finish.

In the case of I Will Find You, that author is Harlan Coben, who had already worked on a healthy grab bag of shows and movies for Netflix, and who is quietly but clearly one of its biggest assets right now. The show stars Sam Worthington, a longtime and very reliable star, but also Britt Lower, who shot to fame thanks to her big role in Severance on Apple TV.

Worthington plays a tortured father who finds himself in prison, convicted of the murder of his own son, but knowing full well that he never did any such thing. It's tearing him up inside, but everything starts to clarify when Lower's character visits him in jail.

She seems to have found proof that he didn't kill his son. It's not that she can show someone else committing the crime, but rather that she's found evidence that his son never died in the first place. If he's still out in the world, then it was actually a kidnapping, which changes everything.

I haven't watched the show yet, so I can't comment on its pacing or how that mystery unfolds, but it's clearly chiming with audiences, since it absolutely shot to the top of Netflix's in-house charts on release. Now, the streamer has confirmed that it's the biggest series launch of the year, having accumulated a massive 24 million views in just its first four days.

Those are numbers that even giants like HBO would probably dream of for the latest round of House of the Dragon, and it underlines the fact that when Netflix hits big, its scale is hard to match. The good news is that the show is out in its entirety, with no weekly schedule to stick to, so you can check it out now if this all has piqued your interest.

Another week, another heatwave – here in the UK temperatures are creeping up into certifiably uncomfortable position once more, which means it's still the time of year when you want to close the curtains all day to keep cool air inside, and watch some streaming in the evenings to keep your mind off the heat.

If you're a Netflix or Prime Video subscriber, then you probably already know that you have access to some of the biggest streaming libraries on the market, but they're always getting bigger. I've checked out the full list of everything being added to each this week, and have chosen three highlights for you to know about. Check them out below.

Little House on the Prairie

• Streaming on: Netflix from 9 July

This one's been getting trailers and teasers for weeks now, because Netflix likely hopes that it'll be a genuine smash-hit in the US, where it's one of those cultural touchstones that almost every child reads. This long-running series of books is getting a bigger-budget adaptation than the last time it was turned into TV, and if it runs for half as many seasons, Netflix will be over the moon.

Its story of a resilient, loving family moving across America at a time of real possibility but also real and present danger in the wilderness is a classic. It's going to be particularly fascinating to see how it approaches some more dated elements now that it's 2026, but it's almost guaranteed to be warm and wholesome in the extreme.

Jeff Arcuri: Nice to Meet You

• Streaming on: Netflix from 7 July

Jeff Arcuri is one of those algorithmic wizards – he's gone from a fairly small name in the comedy circuit to a big star thanks to a nearly never-ending succession of viral clips on Reddit and YouTube. His speciality is crowd work, and this entire Netflix special seems to be geared around audience interaction as a result.

He'll light-heartedly find out about some of the oddest characters in his audience, underlining the fact that basically all of us are at least a little weird when we think about it. Expect belly laughs and quick improvised ad-libs, plus a healthy dose of confessional material when the special drops midweek.

The Ghost in the Shell Season 1

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 7 July

One of the most iconic manga ever, and one of the most beloved anime adaptations, is getting a new lick of paint – The Ghost in the Shell is a brand new adaptation of one of the definitive works of cyberpunk sci-fi. It's a show rather than a movie, this time, and is apparently hewing even more faithfully to the material in the source manga than previous versions.

That'll delight fans, but it's sure to entice some new viewers with a funky and neon-soaked visual aesthetic that really looks extremely entertaining. Whether it can make its complicated plots about corporations and spying a little more intelligible will be interesting to see, too. We'll know more this week, as it's now super imminent.

Netflix has a pretty good modern history of spotlighting new series and movies from Korean creators, with Squid Game still standing out as one of its biggest launches ever, becoming one of its most iconic shows and gaining global popularity. So, when it puts a heap of budget behind a new Korean drama series, it's worth paying attention.

This month Netflix launches The East Palace, a new supernatural action thriller that looks like it has a heck of a lot going for it, including some pretty amazing-looking fight sequences, and it's finally got a proper trailer. We'd already really enjoyed the teaser, so it's great to get a longer look at the series.

The East Palace will star Nam Joo-hyuk as a demon-hunter who has the power to enter the spirit world to hunt down malevolent demons – which should clue you in fairly immediately to the fact that this is a proper supernatural series. He's drafted in by the local king to investigate the mysterious east wing of his palace, which seems to be housing all sorts of funky evil beasties.

He also finds an ally in the form of the king's daughter, who has the mysterious power to be able to perceive and indeed communicate with ghosts and demons herself, which makes her a highly useful person to know. Together, they'll have to unravel just why the demon world is targeting the palace and its residents.

While that plot sounds like good fun, it's the visuals that really capture the attention in this case – the show looks pretty gorgeous, with a really distinctive flair that looks nice and stylised. We see glimpses of what are likely to be quite lavish action sequences set in the gloaming of the spirit world, which could be massively entertaining.

It's also clear that the show will have some horror elements, which shouldn't surprise given its subject matter. That could see it enter as a really compelling new take on a few different genres, so be sure to keep an eye out for it when it launches on 17 July.

Netflix has quietly become quite a talent factory here in the UK, specialising in finding young British actors and propelling them to massive fame when they star in shows and movies that go viral or climb the charts. While he wasn't the main star of Netflix's Sex Education, it's clear that Conor Swindell is using that show as a springboard.

Now he's fronting up another series for Netflix, and like Sex Education it's got a very British flavour to it, but with a much darker story. This is The Bombing of Pan Am 103, a retelling of the harrowing Lockerbie bombing, taking in the story from multiple perspectives, including Swindell's on the ground as what seems to be a local policeman.

The first trailer for the show came out this week, and revealed that it'll drop on Netflix this month, on 30 July – which is a bit of a surprise. Given the talent in the cast, I'd have thought Netflix would give this a little more publicity and hype-building time. As well as Swindell the show will have Patrick J. Adams, Merritt Wever, Eddie Marsan and more, so it's clearly quite a big project.

Those cast members will help to give the series an international flavour, as we see not just what it was like to be in Lockerbie during the crash and its aftermath, but also how the American authorities swung into action to investigate how such a disaster could have happened, and to chase down those it suspected were responsible for what was ultimately proven to be a bombing.

Famously one of the widest murder investigations ever, the police and crime scene work that went into working out how Lockerbie happened is well worth a retelling, although this is also something that's still relatively fresh in the memories of many living Brits. It'll be fascinating to see how historically accurate the show stays, and the trailer makes it look like that accuracy will be a priority.

For it to be unveiled like this with just a month before releasing would have been a bad sign in the days of traditional cinema releases, but it's harder to know what to expect in the streaming era. It's perfectly possible that this one could be a sleeper hit, with a compelling story to tell and the lure of a trans-Atlantic tone.

As a new month starts, it's tradition here at T3 to take a look at what's coming down the pike from the biggest and best streaming services on the market, so that people can get a sense of what they can look forward to. We're just on the very cusp of July right now, and if you're a Netflix subscriber, you're in the right place.

I've taken a deep look at everything coming to Netflix in July, from new TV series to original movies, and I've limited my picks below to Netflix Originals. That helps to ensure that you'll get access to them regardless of what country you're watching in. Read on to find out five of the best coming your way.

Little House on the Prairie

• Streaming from: 9 July

First up is a Netflix revival of a genuine classic of children's literature in America, one that tells part of the foundation myth of the whole country, frankly. Little House on the Prairie tells a story of American migration, and the challenges that faced families who uprooted their lives in the hopes of finding prosperity.

From the trailers we've seen so far, it might also approach that myth with a little more context and compassion than some other historical versions of it, emphasising the place of native people rather than erasing them or making light. Still, this should be wholesome family-friendly fare, and possibly a very relaxing and cosy watch, if it's anything like previous long-running versions of the story.

Enola Holmes 3

• Streaming from: 1 July

This one might already be available to watch by the time you check out this list, frankly. Enola Holmes has fairly quietly become a bankable franchise for Netflix, after two previous movies did big numbers with Millie Bobby Brown in the lead and titular role as Sherlock Holmes' younger sister.

She's back again this time, and planning an intimate wedding in Malta, only to have her plans upended when her older brother is mysteriously kidnapped. Rightly sensing that it might take a formidable foe to get the drop on such an intelligent mind, Enola will swing into action and take things into her own hands as she tries to put things right and get married in peace.

The Hawk

• Streaming from: 16 July

This looks like a pretty bold swing from Netflix, bringing in the iconic Will Ferrell to front a comedy series in the hopes of boosting its own credentials in that genre. It looks a bit like the Anchorman approach, but taking on professional golf instead of newscasting. Ferrell plays Lonnie 'The Hawk' Hawkins, an ageing ex-pro who's become something of a joke.

He still has major ambitions, though, despite having been arguably replaced by his own son on the pro circuit. Lonnie has a long way to go before he can compete at that level again, though, so expect funny training montages and plenty of on-course action as he makes his way back to the top of the game.

Heartstopper Forever

• Streaming from: 17 July

Another long-running Netflix series gets a send-off here, with Heartstopper upgrading from a final season to a movie, to see its characters off into the sunset. That said, the big question is whether they'll do so happily in love, or after a heartbreaking break-up. Some fans will be sad they're only getting a couple of hours more, though.

Still, it looks like a pretty brilliant continuation of what came before, with Nick and Charlie reckoning with how their relationship is going to work as one of them goes to university and the other doesn't. Those are classic questions, and there's every chance they're treated sensitively here – pray for a happy ending, people!

72 Hours

• Streaming from: 24 July

Sometimes a broad comedy that's over and done in two hours is just what you want on a hot July day, and that's what you'll be getting from 72 Hours, which looks about as mainstream as you could like. It stars Kevin Hart in a fairly preposterous story. He's a middle-aged professional who gets added to a chat about a bachelor party by accident.

He decides to go for the hell of it and winds up spending a crazy weekend with men half his age, trying to recapture his youth and keep up with their antics. Things escalate even further beyond that, from the look of things, but the real question is whether the jokes are any good. We'll know more by the end of the month.

The world of streaming never, ever sits still – and there's plenty coming down the pike as we leave June and enter the month of July. This week we've finally had the UK heatwave abate, which means it might be more straightforward to stay inside of an evening and watch some fun new shows and movies without melting.

On that note, I've taken a look at all of the new additions coming to Netflix and Prime Video this week, since they're the two biggest streaming services out there, and picked out three highlights that I think will interest people. There's a really broad set of genres to enjoy this week, so check them out below with trailers and details on which day they'll arrive.

Elle

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 1 July

This charming prequel series takes a look at Elle, the star of Legally Blonde, but winds the clock back to her high school days for a different era. Reece Witherspoon has been replaced with Lexi Minetree, who frankly looks almost impossibly like a young Witherspoon, and the whole show is unsurprisingly going to open with explosions of pink colour.

Things will get more drab when Elle is forced to move to Seattle, though, where she finds it much harder to fit in and make friends. With a savvy mind and an eye for detail, though, it looks like helping to uncover a local legal scandal might just be the making of her reputation – and it could put her on a new course in life.

Enola Holmes 3

• Streaming on: 1 July on Netflix

Enola Holmes has quietly become one of Netflix's biggest franchises, after two movies that clearly did really quite massive numbers for the streaming service. It's now got another sequel coming out, starring Millie Bobby Brown again as Sherlock Holmes' younger sister Enola.

This time around she's trying to organise her wedding in Malta, of all places, but gets severely distracted when Sherlock is kidnapped. For someone to get one over the most intelligent detective in the world, something must have really gone wrong, and it'll be up to Enola to put things together and work out what's happened and how she can put things right.

Human Vapor

• Streaming on: Netflix from 2 July

My final pick is a niche one, but I think it looks really promising and might have the potential to break out and become a cult hit. This Japanese series will follow a bizarre, possibly supernatural series of killings that starts when an expert turns into gas live on TV, rightly terrifying people.

As detectives rush to work out how something so seemingly impossible could have happened in front of so many people, they start to uncover evidence of twisted schemes and abandoned projects. It looks really dark and fun, and the special effects as people die seem fascinatingly impressive, so don't be surprised if this one does better than you might expect.

Heatwave or no heatwave (and here in the UK, it's outrageously warm), the streaming wars continue without any let-up. In fact, those people lucky or farsighted enough to already have an air conditioner or cooling fan set up in their home will probably be looking for more streaming content than usual, as they cower inside to avoid the heat outside.

Well, if that sounds like it might describe how you're planning to spend your weekdays over the next few days, then you might, in turn, be wondering what's being added to the likes of Netflix and Prime Video this week. I've scoured through each listing to pick out three highlights getting added this week, so that you know what you can binge if you need to.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2

• Streaming on: Netflix from 25 June

One of Netflix's very biggest shows is back this week, with a run of new episodes that almost certainly cost tens of millions to make, but at least do look likely to be impressively gorgeous and grand in scale. Following Aang and his friends as their adventures around the different kingdoms continue, it looks like we'll get more action and element-bending CGI than before.

That's good, too, because it's been a long wait for a new season, in a way that arguably has undermined the momentum of the show a little. That's a problem that's slightly plaguing Netflix at the moment, but it hopefully shouldn't change the fact that we've got a really enticing season to watch here.

Little Brother

• Streaming on: Netflix from 26 June

For those looking for more of a one-off to help them unwind one evening, Netflix has another big addition, a new comedy starring John Cena as part of his continuing renaissance as an actor. He's always been game to try fun material, and that looks like a great way to describe Little Brother. In the movie, he plays a guy with a successful family life who finds things going very wrong when a connection from high school returns.

That connection is played by chaotic comedian Eric Andre, a performer so unpredictable that there will almost certainly be some jaw-dropping moments in the movie. Whether he's allowed to be truly profane could be a big determining factor in the film's success, frankly. We'll know more when it drops on Friday.

See You At Work Tomorrow!

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 22 June

There's no two ways around it – Prime Video is having one of its leaner weeks this week, especially by comparison with Netflix, but that doesn't mean it has nothing to offer. Korean dramas and comedies have quietly become global cult sensations in recent years, and Prime Video is adding a new series called See You At Work Tomorrow! .

It's about the complicated dynamics of workplace demands and the search for love, and it seems to have its focus on a few different potential couples as they work out whether they could possibly be something together. This could be a really charming little show to distract you from the heat, so give it a look if you're in the mood for some lighter fare from today onwards.

The scale of the streaming industry now means that it can be quite hard to keep a grip on what franchises are doing huge numbers without you even realising it. That's a label I would use for Outer Banks, a show that Netflix has turned into a cult, but one that I've never dipped my toe into. Now it's getting a fifth and final season and fans seem to be rabidly excited.

The trailer dropped earlier this week, and gives us a look at the surviving members of the central cast as they try to reckon with a major event at the end of last season. It confirms again that this is the end of the road for them, but makes it clear that we can expect some fairly explosive action as things come to a head.

For the uninitiated, Outer Banks started as a sort of modern take on The Goonies, starring improbably beautiful teenagers in North Carolina who hear tales of a legendary treasure that's eluded searchers for generations. Now, seasons later, that treasure has been found and lost, confiscated and stolen, and the central feuds between two young groups of treasure hunters has deepened with time.

Just as important, though, is the fact that local law enforcement has become an enemy to our main characters, with some corruption and seediness seeping into things. Now that the original treasure arc is largely resolved, this season should be more about getting our characters the send-off their fans want.

That said, plenty of fans out there think the show might have been best served by ending after Season 3, when that original arc was basically wrapped up, so this season has a challenge on its hands. It has to justify the show continuing a little longer, while also being entertaining enough to be more than just an extended finale.

We'll know whether it meets that brief when it drops on 20 August, in a couple of months' time, but even if it's a damp squib you can still expect it to do some huge numbers in Netflix's charts. After all, the huge streamer doesn't renew shows out of sentimentality – this one has a major fanbase to rely on.

I love a good genre mashup; whether a show is one half sci-fi and another half whodunnit, or horror inflected with comedy, it's always really fun to see material that doesn't just stick to one lane. In the streaming era, I'd argue that some of the biggest platforms (like Netflix) are starting to realise that these blends can work really well for audiences, too.

That would explain some of the logic behind its new show The East Palace, a Korean drama that does things quite differently. At points in its debut trailer you could think that it's going to be a traditional prestige historical drama, but as things go further you'll start to see that it's got heavy dashes of fantasy too, and a little horror to spice things up.

Set in a fictional but deliberately credible historical era, the show will star Nam Joo-hyuk as Gu-cheon, a ghost-slayer. His unique power is that he can in fact transform into a ghost himself (and it's him you'll see with a cluster of swords on his back in the trailer's latter stages) in order to slay demons and ghosts, before returning to his corporeal form.

He'll apparently be teaming up with a courtly lady, Roh Yoon-seo as Saeng-gang, who can hear the dead and indeed communicate with them, making her a very useful asset to him. They're going to be hired to investigate paranormal situations and hauntings associated with the titular East Palace, to try to figure out what on earth's causing so much trouble there.

Beyond that (much of which is from the show's blurb), the trailer is actually fairly ambiguous – we don't really get a look at a main antagonist, for example, which doubtless will exist when it's available to stream on 17 July, in a month's time.

Regardless, though, it looks really sumptuous and has oodles of visual character to boast about, including some CGI sequences that look absolutely draw dropping from the glimpses we see in tightly-edited sequences. Whether the show can live up to the promise this trailer gives off, we'll find out in due course.

Netflix, like many of the best streaming services apart from it, has been slowly but surely building up quite a repertoire when it comes to steamy romance dramas. It figured out quite a few years ago that audiences absolutely love a bit of relationship drama, and it's built out more than one mega-franchise from that genre. One of the first big hits for its efforts was Heartstopper.

This very British story about coming of age and coming out in the UK while at school became a huge fan favourite and ran for three seasons before Netflix decided that the best way to send it off wasn't a fourth season. Instead, we're getting a finale film, and it just got its first trailer ahead of arriving on 17 July.

Heartstopper Forever will pick up the story of Nick and Charlie as they head into a genuinely pivotal part of their lives, at the end of school. They're deciding what's next for them individually and as a unit, with Nick making ready to go to university and Charlie finding himself more and more as his introversion falls away.

As anyone who had a teenage relationship will know, though, these sorts of thresholds in life tend to bring a huge amount of angst and worry with them – and that looks to be guaranteed from the trailer. Nick's clearly feeling all sorts of anxiety about what his life looks like without Charlie right there by his side, and Charlie in turn is worried about their codependency.

Of course, that all sounds a bit worrying and negative, but I have a pretty good feeling that Heartstopper won't take the route of a super sad ending. Worst case we might get a relationship break while Nick sorts himself out an uni, but I reckon we get a rosier outcome for this pair. Netflix knows just as well as the original author of the graphic novels that the show's based on that people don't really want super depressing endings, after all.

If you're a huge fan of the series, you'll want to circle 17 July in your diary or get a calendar reminder in there – it's likely to be a big day for the romance genre on streaming.

I've never held back from heaping praise on Apple TV's commissioning team over the last few years because of the way it's consistently taken fun bets on interesting new sci-fi ideas, so it's only fair that Netflix gets a proper nod for unveiling an equally intriguing project. It's just trailed The Last House, which looks like a fascinating blend of sci-fi and horror elements.

The original movie will star Wagner Moura (fresh from an Oscar nomination for The Secret Agent) opposite Greta Lee, as a pair of parents whose life is upended when they discover they can't leave their home one morning. From the looks of the first trailer, though, it's not that they're under house arrest – something far more sinister is actually unfolding.

In fact, it looks like the sealing-in doesn't just happen to our family – it might be happening to everyone, putting their survival skills to the test in a very unique way since they can't get outside. We see a timelapse of how the family manages, including some indoor crop cultivation, but the movie seems keen to underline the fact that it's not just a survival story.

The supernatural storm happening outside the house when it gets sealed is clearly something otherworldly, and it looks fairly heavily implied that the movie might just have aliens in it. These aren't confirmed or even glimpsed on-screen in the trailer, but as it ends we see that the characters might be getting stalked by something in their home.

There are some really arresting images in the trailer, too, including a look at the outside world once nature has reclaimed it after a few years of people being locked inside. That brings up shades of The Last of Us, although this looks like it's going in a different direction.

In fact, when you think about it for more than a second, the film might end up being a fairly direct allegory for the lockdowns we all endured during the height of the coronavirus pandemic a few years ago. Literally being locked in while nature heals outside, and being forced to rely on each other for help and companionship? Horror story stuff!

The Last House arrives on Netflix on 7 August, so it's a little way off, but that might mean we get another look at before too long.

We're finally getting into the proper summer weeks now, and that means that plenty of countries around the world are getting hot enough to make you want to cower inside with the lights turned down once the evening finally cools down – which means streaming is on the menu. The rest of June gives the likes of Netflix and Prime Video some major new competition – the World Cup.

If you're not a big football fan, though, the best streaming services on the market still have some excellent new additions to offer up. You might find it a little harder than usual to find people to talk about them with, but that might feel refreshing, if anything. I've picked out the three big arrivals you need to know about, so check them out below.

I Will Find You

• Streaming on: Netflix from 18 June

This thriller looks like it's almost guaranteed to be a hit on Netflix when it comes out later in the week, with a really top-level cast but also a plot that seems laser-targeted to hook people in. It stars Sam Worthington as a father wrongly convicted of killing his son, serving out his jail time knowing he's innocent.

When he's visited by a mysterious character (Britt Lower of Severance fame) with evidence that his son isn't even dead, let alone that he did the crime, he's faced with a burning need to get out of prison and set things right. It looks like we'll get a blend of prison breakout action, but also some good old-fashioned whodunnit investigating, which could make this a really strong debut in the Netflix charts.

Your Fault: London

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 17 June

Prime Video has made a total mega-franchise out of the Our Fault movies, having already concluded a Spanish-language trilogy. It's now releasing the second part of its English-language reimagining, which relocates the action to London but still stars step-siblings Noah and Nick, with their forbidden romance now starting to get incredibly heated.

The second movie will open with them in the throes of love, having finally gotten together last time around, but there are storm clouds on the horizon. With Noah going to university and encountering all sorts of new people, and Nick getting drawn further into the underworld of racing that he loves so much, they're going to have a fight on their hands to stay together.

Voicemails for Isabelle

• Streaming on: Netflix from 19 June

If you want some steamy romance with a little less complicated legality involved, then check out Voicemails for Isabelle on Netflix at the end of the week, which seems a little more traditional (in a good way). It starts Zoey Deutch as a young woman who recently lost her sister, struggling to make her way through adult life without one of her biggest support pillars there to help.

She occasionally leaves voicemails on her sister's old phone number as a way of still feeling connected and acknowledging her grief, but she doesn't realise that the number has been reassigned to a very eligible young bachelor. He starts to fall for her while feeling bad about the access he's getting to her confessionals, but I have a feeling the end for these two will be decidedly romantic.

Whenever Netflix chooses a new IP to be a big TV project, it doubtless has an almost scientific method behind the scenes. After all, we're now years into the streaming era and it's adapted a whole host of books, mangas and games into shows, many of which have done enormous numbers for it. Still, though, that doesn't stop every project from being at least some sort of a risk.

Take the latest big novel series that it's adapting, which just so happens to be one of the most influential and best-selling in American history: Little House on the Prairie. The books have already been made into one long-running and much-loved series, but now Netflix is updating things with a higher budget and doubtless the hope that it'll run for ages, too.

After a teaser a couple of weeks ago, we got a proper trailer this week to showcase a bit more of what awaits the Ingall family when they upend their life and migrate to the prairie of Minnesota. Those huge open expanses promise the possibility of a better life for them all, but also hold clear and present dangers that need to be tackled head on.

The trailer shows us how the family will indeed be prepared for the challenges of life on the frontier, but it also makes clear that they'll only survive and thrive if they can make connections and find friends to rely on. That won't be hard, though, since anyone who's read even just the first book will know that the whole Ingall clan has hearts of gold – they're good people to their core.

It'll be really interesting to see how much appetite people have for this sort of quasi-Western historical drama, which is so much less absurd and thrill-a-minute than many competing shows. The whole attraction of the series is likely to be its slower pace and more gentle storytelling, although the trailer still shows us wolves and other frightening parts of outdoor life.

The show clearly also aims to tackle the question of indigenous Americans and the way they were treated in this period of history. Whether it can do so with total clarity, or if it'll sugarcoat things a little for the wide family-friendly audience it's courting. I'm fascinated to see how that unfolds, when the show arrives on 9 July, in just under a month's time.

When you tot up a list of Netflix's biggest series in your head, you'll probably default to some expected answers like Squid Game and Stranger Things, but it can be easy to forget that it's also spawned some impressive movie franchises of its own. True, the majority of Netflix's original movies don't get sequels, but at least one of its series is still going strong.

Enola Holmes debuted back in 2020 and looked at the time like a fairly transparent attempt to capitalise on some of Netflix's biggest acting contracts. It took Millie Bobby Brown from Stranger Things and Henry Cavill from The Witcher and stuck them in a film together, and the result was a hit with audiences. Now, six years later, we're getting a threequel.

The film picks up some time after the events of the second movie, with Enola (Sherlock Holmes' spirited younger sister) living in bliss with her love Tewkesbury. When he proposes that they actually marry, though, it kicks off a chain of events that she has little control over. Firstly, it looks like the ceremony will have to happen in Malta for some reason (not just because of tax breaks for movie projects, either).

Once they're actually on the Mediterranean island, though, it would seem that Sherlock's going to go and get himself kidnapped, leaving Enola in the lurch with another major mystery to solve. Frankly, from a viewer's point of view, one can only hope that the film actually gets to that moment really quickly, since the more time spent sleuthing, the better.

The fact of the matter is that this series could run and run from here – after the first movie I wouldn't have said they had loads more material to uncover, but now that Enola's character is pretty established, it's just a matter of writing more mysteries. With Henry Cavill clearly game to pop in for a few days' filming each time, and Mille Bobby Brown basically a co-founder of Netflix at this point, what's stopping them?

Well, probably the big executive viewership counter in the sky, for one. It's clear that Netflix is brutal with whether shows and movies deserve sequels, based entirely on engagement when they release – so it'll be pivotal to observe how Enola Holmes 3 performs when it comes out on 1 July.

The neverending quest for streaming supremacy is one that surely consumes execs at both Amazon Prime Video and Netflix. The latter is the world's biggest streaming service, but it knows full well that it can't rest on its laurels if it wants to stay that way. So, each and every week it and Prime Video race to put up more, better new content for people to watch.

If you're looking at a relatively clear schedule of evenings this week, and you're wondering what new material might be arriving on either platform for you to watch, you're in luck. I've combed through the release schedules to pick out the three new arrivals on Prime Video and Netflix that you need to know about, and you'll find them here with trailers and release dates for your convenience.

Every Year After

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 10 June

Amazon's almost certainly backing a winning horse in the form of Every Year After, which adapts a best-selling romance novel and looks like it could spawn a new franchise all on its own. It stars a young woman who's back in the small town she used to spend her summers in, and unexpectedly finds herself reconnecting with the ex-boyfriend she bonded with back then.

He's got a new partner, though, and she's having trouble figuring out what she wants from life, which is almost certainly the foundation for a pretty compelling tussle between what they want and what they think is right. Expect some seriously steamy moments and plenty of anguish in this new show dropping midweek.

Outlast: The Jungle

• Streaming on: Netflix from 10 June

Netflix isn't the only streaming service that likes to take turns at competing with hugely long-established shows from network TV, and this new reality TV series looks like it's aimed directly at Survivor, which is an institution in the US. It puts a load of very beautiful people into challenges that will test their endurance and teamwork.

From raft-building to hunting and gathering, it looks like some of the challenges on show will be really tough, but the really interesting side of things is the more inter-personal one. With alliances quickly forming but rules allowing for team-switching whenever you like, people's loyalties are likely to be pretty fluid.

The Rest Is Football

• Streaming on: Netflix from 10 June

In case you're living under a rock, it's the World Cup starting this week, which means the ultimate feast for football fans. Gary Lineker's podcast empire has seen him go from strength to strength since leaving the BBC, and now he's been licensed by Netflix to produce daily podcasts in video form, reacting to the biggest games and talking about those still to come.

With co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, he's going to welcome a wide array of impressive footballing guests, too, and the episodes will come out at 6AM every morning, making this the perfect way to start your footballing day if you're in the UK. Lineker's media empire might only just be getting started, frankly.

After its acrimonious split from EA Sports, FIFA claimed that it would go it alone with future football games – a move that many expected would result in a new partnership with Konami and its PES / eFootball franchise.

However, it came as a bit of a shock to learn that a few years later, Netflix would be picking up the slack instead. Now we can see exactly what it had in mind.

It has unveiled that the long-awaited new FIFA game will be released on 11 June, to coincide with the launch ceremony and first match of the World Cup in North America. And perhaps the most surprising news is that it will be completely free to play.

FIFA World Cup: Launch Edition will be available to all Netflix subscribers no matter the tier, and it can be played using a mobile phone as the controller. As it runs through the Netflix app, you'll be able to play it on pretty much any smart TV or via a streaming device, and up to four players can join in.

We've not tested it ourselves yet, but the gameplay looks similar to FIFA games of yore (and the EA Sports FC series). Netflix does point out though that this is a "streamlined football simulation game", so don't expect it to compete with Ultimate Team or eFootball for hardcore footy game action.

It's been developed by Delphi Interactive, which is a fairly new studio that's only previously collaborated on 007 First Light with IO Interactive. But it is fully licensed, has the real-life World Cup stadiums, teams and player names, and is, again, completely free to play.

Also, considering this is called the "Launch Edition", it suggests that a more feature-rich game might be in the pipeline too. So we'll see if that comes to fruition once the World Cup is done and dusted.

If you're interested in the business behind streaming, here's one tiny, perhaps obvious little trick. You can broadly tell how much power a showrunner or writer has by whether they get a mention in the full title of a show. Tyler Perry's a great example, since his output almost always has his name attached, and now you can add thriller-writer Harlan Coben to the elite, too.

Harlan Coben's I Will Find You might be known by just I Will Find You by 99% of the people who end up watching it, but that doesn't stop the fact that the author's name is clearly a big deal at Netflix after a series of successful outings for the streamer. This new show got a proper full trailer this week, and what a scary-looking time it promises to be!

The show stars Sam Worthington as David, a grieving father who's been convicted for killing his son, while knowing that he did no such thing. When he's approached in prison by a visitor, he's initially reluctant but then unable to ignore her. She's Rachel, played by Severance's Britt Lower, and she seems to have proof that his son never died in the first place.

What was treated as a murder might have been a kidnapping, and that means David has to immediately consider how he's going to get out of prison to start investigating. From the looks of this trailer, the show will therefore divide into a few genres, with at least part of its runtime shaping up as a Prison Break-style escape story.

Once he's out, it would seem we'll be getting more of a traditional mystery thriller from then on, but there are some really intriguing questions floating around even just from the teaser and this new trailer. One of them is quite who Rachel is, and why she knows so much about David's case, and the bigger question is who exactly the abductor is, and what their motivation could be.

It's all very enticing stuff, and I have a pretty good feeling that this will do numbers on Netflix when it comes out – it has all the right ingredients to be a mainstream success. It drops on 18 June, so it's about two weeks away, which means you don't have long to wait to see if I'm right.

Netflix just unveiled one heck of an interesting-looking original movie, and its cast alone makes it easily worth paying attention to, even if you don't have time to check out its frankly bonkers trailer. In the Hand of Dante is coming on 24 June, and promises to tell an era-hopping story of obsession with a deliberate arch noirish tone.

The movie stars Oscar Isaac as Nick, seemingly a modern-day scholar obsessed with the works of Dante Alighieri, whose most famous work was the Divine Comedy, in which he described the nine circles of hell. Nick dreams of knowing the unknowable about the great writer, but never expects to have his wish answered.

In a noir-inspired black and white timeline, which seems to be set in the present day, Nick is accosted by the literal Italian mob in New York and offered the chance to find and study the lost original manuscript of The Divine Comedy, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fraught with danger.

On the way to finding it, he'll clearly fall in with Gal Gadot as a femme fatale, and once he gets his hands on it, all manner of shenanigans will break loose. What's more interesting, though, is the fact that we'll also get glimpses of historical scenes, in which the mainline cast take on new roles, with Isaac filling in as Dante himself, for instance. These scenes are contrasted with the present day by being presented in vivid colour, too.

The whole thing looks completely surreal and quite beautiful, but the cast list bears dwelling on. We've got, alongside Isaac and Gadot, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Al Pacino, Jason Momoa and, most amazingly of all, Martin Scorsese in yet another cameo, this time in a nearly ludicrous Gandalf-like beard and long-hair combo.

That's one heck of a list of actors, and it's enough to make me curious about the film despite frankly very middling early reviews. It's sitting on a hugely dividied 43% score on Rotten Tomatoes after reviews from film festivals last year, which might just mean that it's interesting enough to bear some proper inspection if you have a Netflix subscription.

Streaming never lets up – and with the heat finally dissipating here in the UK, it's a lot more bearable to imagine staying in to binge some TV this week than last week. If you're subscribed to either Netflix or Prime Video, which are very much the two biggest streaming services out there, then you might be wondering if there's anything new coming to either.

Well, I've gone and looked into that very question for you, and found some pretty juicy news, ensuring that you should be able to pick from the three highlights below. They run a gamut of genres, too, so there should be enough variety to keep anyone satisfied. You'll find a trailer for each, too, to help you get a sense for what it offers.

Clarkson's Farm Season 5

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 3 June

I'm fairly sure that when Amazon greenlit Clarkson's Farm for the first time, years ago, it probably didn't anticipate the show going on to be this sort of massive success, and a franchise that probably drives Prime subscriptions in its own right. It's become a sensation, and has launched Clarkson into the hearts of many non-motorheads for the first time.

He's still a rambunctious fellow, though, and has sharp edges, as his presence and input into massive farming protests in recent UK history demonstrate – and these will be covered by the new season of the show. He's become a lightning rod for debate about the industry, and the new episodes will likely keep that ball rolling.

Office Romance

• Streaming on: Netflix from 5 June

Sometimes Netflix knows that people don't actually want movies that shoot for the stars and look to collect awards and acclaim – they want silly romances between beautiful people against pretty backdrops. That's what's offered up by Office Romance, which has a very utilitarian name and stars Brett Goldstein opposite Jennifer Lopez.

He's a lawyer working for her, but sparks won't take long to fly between them and the romance that the title hints at is clearly going to explode fairly quickly. In fact, this doesn't look like a movie that takes itself particularly seriously, so strap in if you want a nice, uncomplicated story to enjoy one evening this week.

The Legend of Vox Machina S4

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 3 June

Another Prime Video franchise that has done better than I would ever have anticipated is Vox Machina, which adapts the first Critical Role campaign into an animated show and makes it even easier to watch and digest. It's tremendous fun, making for a far more concise story than that mammoth broadcast was.

Of course, you'll want to watch the previous three seasons before tucking into these new episodes, but the arrival of a new run is always a great opportunity to discover a show for the first time, so this could get a swell of interest. At a time when D&D is bigger than ever, Vox Machina looks like it's riding the wave cannily.

Netflix can't ever really let a month go by without some pretty major additions – it's a massive streaming platform and knows full well that it needs to keep people's attentions. The best way to do that? Get new shows and movies onto its library all the time, ensuring that no week is empty.

Each month, therefore, I spend a little time before the calendar changes, checking out whatever Netflix is adding in the four-ish weeks to come. For those of you wondering what you'll get as part of your subscription in June, this is the place to be. I've picked out five highlights for you, and down below you'll find all of them with their trailers and release dates.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2

• Streaming from: 25 June

It's been a long old wait for the second season of Avatar:The Last Airbender's live-action remake. Netflix has high hopes for the show, and it clearly has a huge budget, but you've got to hope the gap before next season doesn't end up being this same length of time.

Still, for those who enjoyed the first set of episodes, this looks like a pretty terrific step-up in scale, as the show widens its scope and escalates its stakes. The element-bending powers on show are even more amazing than before, and our slightly aged-up characters all look like they'll have the familiar and satisfying arcs from the original cartoon. Expect this one to do huge numbers when it arrives late in June.

I Will Find You

• Streaming from: 18 June

Netflix has become a real factory when it comes to thriller series, and one of its most proven methods has been to adapt best-selling novels – the sort that you see in airports for those looking to enjoy a barnstorming read while flying long-haul. It's a really great way to get a great plot, but you have to pair it with the right actors and tone to really stick the landing.

This show takes a Harlan Coben story and puts Sam Worthington in the lead role as a father who's in jail for the murder of his son – expect he not only didn't kill him, but it would seem that nobody did. What begins as a murder mystery might morph into a kidnapping case, but with a whole bunch of personal feelings clouding up the characters' objectivity. Sign us up for this one!

Office Romance

• Streaming from: 5 June

Sometimes Netflix knows it can just go for the low-hanging fruit, and this rom-com seems like it isn't shooting for the stars. It stars none other than Jennifer Lopez as a high-flying boss, literally. She runs an airline and has absolutely no time to waste on frivolous romances, with a reputation for hard management and low patience.

That all changes, though, when Brett Goldstein walks into her office as a new lawyer for the company. They have an instant spark, and it's fairly clear from the spoilerish trailer above that they're not exactly going to sit on their hands and ignore their urges. This seems to be a classic romantic tale, and might even be less rom-com and more pure rom.

Little Brother

• Streaming from: 26 June

Well, for those looking for the "pure com" equivalent to the above option, here's one for you. Little Brother looks like it might have just come from an extended experiment in which John Cena let longtime absurdist comic Eric Andre see if he could make him break into laughter while shooting scenarios, since the movie sees the former very much playing the straight man to the latter's wild card.

Cena's character accidentally finds himself reconnecting with someone he last knew at school, discovering that Andre's just as weird as ever, and watching his entire life start to revolve around this one totally bizarre dude. The movie's chances of being genuinely great are slim, but Cena is always game and you never know what Andre's going to pull, so we'll be watching this with interest.

Voicemails for Isabelle

• Streaming from: 19 June

My final pick is the rom-com we've been looking for. This movie stars Zoey Deutch as a young woman grieving the loss of her sister and using voicemail messages to her now-defunct number as a way to feel connected to the sibling she lost. What she doesn't realise is that the number has now been reassigned, and that the man of her dreams is listening in.

When he figures out why he's been getting these voicemails out of nowhere, he starts to wonder if he can help her out, and his innocent intentions quickly blossom into what looks like a fairly swooning love affair. Sure, it's a lot like You've Got Mail, but that's no real bad thing, and a charming pair of lead actors could make sure this one ends up being a great little bit of fun.

It's always nice to see an actor you rate doing well, and I think Netflix has found itself a really reliable romcom performer in the form of Zoey Deutch. She's already anchored one of my favourite little cult Netflix movies, opposite Glenn Powell in Set It Up, and now she's starring in another Netflix movie some eight years later.

Deutch plays Jill, one of two main characters in Voicemails for Isabelle, which might not have the catchiest title of all time, but does look like a great bit of romantic fun nonetheless. Netflix gave the movie a proper trailer this week, ahead of a release date of 19 June, and I'm quite taken with it.

Jill is a young woman grieving the loss of her sister, Isabelle, and has found a relatively sensible way to process the loss; she still phones Isabelle's old number every so often and leaves her voicemails updating her on what's going on in her life, including both her professional travails as a chef and the challenges of modern dating.

Little does she know, though, that the number has been reassigned, and an extremely eligible and handsome man is listening in sheepishly. He's Nick Robinson as Wes, and when he starts to figure out her routine he can't help but introduce himself. The trailer doesn't exactly disguise the fact that they'll end up falling for each other, either.

Still, we'll clearly get some tension in the middle act, as Wes wrestles with the fact that Jill doesn't know he can listen to her voicemails, and confronting her with that information is likely to not go down all too well. Whether they can get past that isn't too hard to guesstimate, but the journey is always most of the fun in this sort of heady romcom.

The trailer makes its own comparisons to You've Got Mail, one of the most imitated romantic movies ever, so I don't have to – but in Deutch I think Netflix has one of the few actors who can hold a candle to Meg Ryan's level of chutzpah. Here's hoping the film lives up to that lofty comparison when it arrives in a couple of weeks' time.

Streaming never stands still. While broadcast TV was never exactly a slow world, it still feels almost wild how much content the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video pump out on a weekly basis to keep their subscribers happy. If you're a paid-up member of either of those streaming services (or both), you're probably wondering what's coming this week, in fact.

Well, good news – both Netflix and Prime Video have a major new arrival to boast about, and one of them is long-awaited. I've taken a look at every new original project coming to the pair of them and picked out three that you should know about, and you'll find them below with trailers and release dates for your convenience.

Spider-Noir

• Streaming on: Prime Video from 27 May

This is a really big one for Prime Video – when it first announced that it would spin out Nicolas Cage's character from the Spiderverse movies, it was a little hard to visualise what that might look like. Now, though, we're on the verge of being able to watch Spider-Noir, and successive trailers have made it look like a really good time.

Uniquely, the show is going to be available to watch in two distinct formats – a traditional black and white version, but also a vivid colour version, and you can choose between the two as you go (or watch one after the other if you're sufficiently taken with it). That's a fun twist, but the core story also looks pulpy and enjoyable, so there's every chance this turns into a real hit.

The Four Seasons – Season 2

• Streaming on: Netflix from 28 May

First The Morning Show and now this – Steve Carell has a habit of appearing in the first season of shows before his role is much reduced moving forward. Luckily, that seems to work well for him and the shows both, and The Four Seasons seems to be going from strength to strength in this new season, with the rest of the cast all returning to pick up the story of adult friends.

They'll go on another series of trips through a year, processing grief and working out the kinks in their relationships. It looks like parenthood is in the crosshairs this time around, too, which means we could get some really touching moments as they work out what they want from the rest of their lives.

My 2 Cents

• Streaming on: Netflix from 27 May

For those who want something a little more out of left field, this Italian animated show looks like a perfect choice to experiment with. It comes from celebrated creator Zerocalcare, and tells what looks like a semi-surreal story of figuring out what your middle age is actually going to look like.

The main character is, in fact, a version of Zerocalcare, sharing his life with Cinghiale, a literal wild boar, in a world where some animals do live alongside humans (or possibly are just metaphors for the types of people you meet). They're trying to run a neighbourhood spot, but struggling with the weight of organised crime, financial demands and more. It's a melting pot and could just steal in as your favourite new show if you let it.

I say this every week, but what a week it is for streaming – if you're a Netflix or Prime Video subscriber, then you've got some real treats lined up. I've been through the whole schedule for both platforms with a fine-toothed comb, and picked out some highlights that you need to know about.

From huge spy thrillers to the latest series from Stranger Things' creative team, there are some really interesting projects being added this week, and each of them looks pretty perfect for a mid-week binge or viewing session. Ahead of the real heights of summer, curl up with one of these and you should have a great time.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War

• Streaming on: Amazon Prime Video from 20 May

There was definitely a time when I didn't think we were getting more Jack Ryan from Amazon – or, at least, that John Krasinski's time in the role was up. How wrong I was, though. He's back this week for Prime Video in what it's been billing as a special cinematic event, which is arguably a polite way of saying it spent more than usual on the film's effects budget, so it needs to do quite well.

The movie, thankfully, looks like a great big helping of thrilling fun. Ryan's getting drafted back into yet more fieldwork, since he's so clearly made for it. This will take him around the world once again, with a bunch of action clearly happening in London, and Sienna Miller will be joining as a punchy British agent to spice things up.

The Boroughs

• Streaming on: Netflix from 21 May

This one has looked super interesting for quite a few weeks now – I'm convinced that it's part of Netflix's strategy to get some big new shows in the wake of Stranger Things ending. From some of the same creative team, The Boroughs has a similar premise, in that it's set in a small community that has very weird things happening to it.

Unlike that huge older show, though, this time around it's not kids in the starring roles. Rather, The Boroughs stars older actors, since it's actually a retirement community that it's set in. When Alfred Molina's character arrives and starts to make connections, he swiftly realises that odd occurrences are normal in The Boroughs, and he'll clearly become obsessed with the idea of discovering just what's really going on.

Ladies First

• Streaming on: Netflix from 22 May

Now, this one might divide opinion. I'll be honest, I'm in the camp that thinks it looks almost satirically diabolical – with a trailer that barely tries to disguise the fact that it's a low-hanging-fruit kind of comedy. Others, though, might think it gives off the vibe of a charming throwback to 90s comedies and simpler times.

The movie stars Sacha Baron-Cohen as a conceited pig of a man who wakes up in a world run entirely by women when he gets a bang on the head. That includes being transformed into an assistant rather than the boss at work, which is now run by Rosamund Pike. She looks like she's having fun with the role, at least, and there are surely some laughs to be had while it teaches its morality tale.

We're living in an attention economy, as agreed upon by brainiacs paid a lot more than me, and that means that the best streaming services, from Prime Video to Netflix, all know that they need to work hard to get hold of people's eyes. Sometimes that means high-concept fantasy and sci-fi shows that have long runtimes and big budgets. Other times it means frenetic sketch shows like Tom Segura's Bad Thoughts.

It really isn't all that long since the show's first season came out, but it looks like Netflix either enjoyed the day one metrics it put up, or had a feeling that it would do good numbers even before that, because we just got a trailer for a new season, dropping on 24 May.

The trailer confirms that much is the same about the show, meaning it stars Segura in a whole heap of sketches, many of them putting him in frankly outrageous costumes and prosthetics to sell the comedy. From the looks of the sketches we see, there will be some insane props for him to interact with, too.

If you're hoping for a sketch show that carefully keeps itself to matters of good taste, this isn't going to be the one for you. The first season of the show got mixed reviews, but one thing everyone could agree on was that it wasn't afraid to take things into touchy territory, and some of the sketches we glimpse in the trailer underline that policy again.

Frankly, it's worth paying attention to some of the sheer production design on offer in the trailer, too, since it looks more intricate than the first season's. The costuming, styling and effects are all pretty on-point, which suggests that Netflix is standing behind Bad Thoughts as something of a flagship.

It's also clearly able to produce the show at a fair old clip, so don't be surprised if Segura has a third season up his sleeve and already at the concept stage right now.

I've written recently about how Netflix seems to have found an approach (like others of the best streaming services on the planet) around adapting bestselling novels to fuel its search for new franchises and series. While many of these novels are modern page-turners, it's also clear that Netflix is happy to adapt older and more storied material, too.

It's underlined that point once again this week by unveiling a sweeping-looking trailer for East of Eden, a major new adaptation of the seminal novel by John Steinbeck from 1952. It has a huge star in a leading role, in the form of Florence Pugh, but also takes a quite surprising approach to the source material, making for a really quite interesting project.

East of Eden doesn't yet have a release date, although that teaser trailer does narrow things down a little and confirm that it'll come out this autumn. What it does show us is a whole lot of Pugh, in various costumes and parts of the novel, before revealing who she's playing: Cathy Ames.

For those who've read the book, that seems to be something of a shock, since Cathy isn't actually necessarily the main character of the novel. She's seemingly a huge part of it, though, and in many people's eyes is a fairly classic villain – so it would seem that the show's creator Zoe Kazan is deliberately trying to give her a new framing and take a different look at the story in question.

Kazan has real form, of course, as an actor herself but also having jumped to fame by writing and starring in The Big Sick back in 2017, which was a real critical darling. East of Eden is arguably her most ambitious project yet, though, not least because the novel is considered one of the masterpieces of mid-century writing in English.

The series will run to seven episodes in total, and it's not like it's going to tell Cathy's story at the exclusion of other beloved characters. The life and times of the Trask family will indeed be told in full, so I've personally got a bit of a countdown running in my head, now. I like to read great books before I watch adaptations of them, so I'd better get a move on and put East of Eden on my to-read list soon.

Netflix is on a roll right now, with its multi-tiered subscription model seemingly paying off. It claims that it now has 250 million monthly active viewers on its cheapest, ad-supported plan. That's up by 60 million in just a matter of months, and shows that there are plenty out there willing to put up with adverts to keep the costs down.

Sadly though, it looks like the streaming service is taking this to heart. It's doubling down on ad-supported content.

According to Variety, Netflix will expand its ad-tier to 15 new countries next year, including Ireland, the Netherlands and other locations in Europe and South America. It will also roll it out in Thailand and New Zealand.

That's only to be expected, really. However, it also plans to bring adverts to its new vertical video feeds and podcasts, which will also start to appear in 2027. There's also no word on whether this will be for those on an ad-supported tier, or if it will also appear on that sort of content for subscribers on all of its plans.

Vertical video is a new addition by Netflix – which joins Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video in TikTok-ifying its service. However, the Netflix Clips are fairly innocuous at present and are simply snippets from shows on the platform.

They are effectively trailers, therefore.

Adding commercials doesn't seem to make much sense in that context – after all, they are adverts in themselves.

As for podcasts, that's a more natural fit. It's rare to see or hear a podcast or influencer feed without some form of sponsorship or advertising these days. The audience pretty much expects it.

Still, considering how much profit Netflix regularly posts anyway, and how dominant it is in the streaming market, it's a shame that it's not more concerned with viewer value than trying to eke extra pennies from its viewers. It's not exactly the cheapest service anyway.

Netflix knows, just like every other one of the biggest and best streaming services on the market, that it has to find ways to create franchises and series that people want to not just watch, but keep coming back to. After all, that's not only its stated mission, but also its best route to keeping its shareholders happy and paid-up. This means that picking up intellectual property with established fans is sort of its dream scenario, if it can do so affordably.

For obvious reasons, I don't have any insight into what Netflix paid for the rights to Little House on the Prairie, but given how beloved the novels are in the US, it wouldn't surprise me if it was quite a chunky deal. Now we're getting closer to the series actually arriving, and it just got another teaser underlining how charming it's likely to be when it does start streaming.

Telling the story of a family making the huge decision to move out into the great expanse of the prairie in Minnesota, the show promises to adapt at least the first novel in a series that eventually spanned dozens of books. That's why Netflix is likely so keen to drum up interest in the show – if it does well then it could run and run, like the original network TV adaptation did in the 1970s and 1980s.

This show will be much more high-budget, of course, since that seems to be the default for basically any streaming production. Still, its tone looks to be very similar, since it's based on the same source material. This means that while it might have some thoughtful moments ruminating on the truthfulness of the heroic American origin story, it's likely to be fairly saccharine overall.

In point of fact, this teaser shows us more of the local town that the family will come to know, and it looks like a surprisingly integrated one, given the time period being showcased. Whether that's a major part of the plot, or whether this is a slightly utopian version of the stories, we'll have to wait and see, but I'd assume it's more likely to be the former than the latter.

Still, Bridgerton has already shown how you can rewrite history into a sort of alternate world and still attract legions of fans, and Netflix will doubtless hope that Little House on the Prairie can imitate that sort of impact when it arrives on 9 July.