These are the shows you'll want to stream on Apple TV+ this month

As much as I love Apple TV+ - I think it's the best streaming service in terms of quality, if not quantity – I've been seeing other streaming services this month: after bingeing the hugely entertaining season 2 of Slow Horses on Apple TV+ I jumped onto The Rig on Amazon Prime (daft but great fun), The Last of Us on Now TV (gruesome), The Bear on Disney+ (delicious) and Happy Valley on iPlayer (exceptional). But now I'm back, because Apple TV+ has some great shows debuting or returning this month.

Shrinking (27 January)

This is the one I'm most excited about. It's the story of a therapist who suddenly starts telling his clients exactly what he thinks, making huge changes in their lives as a result. With Harrison Ford co-starring this looks set to be quite something.

Truth Be Told, Season 3 (streaming now)

Octavia Spencer is back as investigative podcaster Poppy, and she's got a brand new case to solve. Angry at the lack of media attention to the disappearance of several young Black girls, Poppy teams up with a school principal (Gabrielle Union) to keep their names in the public eye while she traces their abductors. 

Super League: The War for Football (streaming now)

This four-part series documents the battle for the present and future of European football as plans for a breakaway league emerged. I'm not really into sports but this is much more than a sporting doc: it's about the Machiavellian machinations in the conflict between UEFA, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus, and it features more backstabbing than a Julius Caesar biopic or an episode of The Traitors.

If you're new to Apple TV, don't forget to delve into the catalogue of existing shows: Severance and For All Mankind were particular highlights for me, and it's a good time to watch Season 1 of Severance in anticipation of Season 2, which is hopefully coming this year.

Although Apple TV+ doesn't currently offer a long free trial period to everybody, Sky customers can get six months free via the My Sky app and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can get three months free if they activate their trial before the end of March. It's a similar story with the PS4 and PS5, where PSN account holders can get up to three months free on PS4 and six months on PS5.