Sex Education
Here is the fourth and final season of this jaunty teen drama, which is about to collide with the compromises of the adult world. Otis (Asa Butterfield) is struggling with separation from Emma Mackey’s Maeve, who is in the US being tutored by famed author Thomas Molly (Dan Levy). Meanwhile, Otis and Eric (Ncuti Gatwa) are starting at a slightly annoying college that offers daily meditation, sound baths and silent discos, but no functioning lifts. Otis has decided to become the go-to sex therapist on campus – which will be tough after a first day in which he implies that he might have been in a sexual relationship with his mother. As salty and sweet as ever.
Netflix, from Thursday 21 September
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Neighbours
For a small but devoted subset of viewers, this is the TV event of the year: after a very brief hiatus, we’re heading back to Ramsay Street. Set two years after last summer’s finale, there is a mysterious American in Erinsborough (Mischa Barton’s Reese Sinclaire) and another new family (the Varga-Murphys) who look set to test the street’s famously tolerant nature. But there are familiar faces, too – Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis) remains an acquired taste while Ian Smith’s Harold Bishop is still a kindly, slightly flustered busybody.
Freevee, from Monday 18 September
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The Super Models
“It wasn’t about the fashion; it was about the women.” This statement by Christy Turlington gets to the heart of the supermodel phenomenon, in which Turlington, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Linda Evangelista transcended their status as wearers of clothes and became the main attraction. The four reunite to consider their era-defining success for this documentary series. While there are flashes of accidental comedy by people taking trivial things incredibly seriously, there is also harsh insight into the pressures of a demanding industry.
Apple TV+, from Wednesday 20 September
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Crime
A second season for Irvine Welsh’s police drama and Ray Lennox (Dougray Scott) is in a fragile state. He split up with his girlfriend, he’s still processing the trauma of the Confectioner case and his sobriety is very much a daily negotiation. So this new case is a mixed blessing – more brutal murders, but this time in the world of politics. And while he may have put him away, Lennox hasn’t heard the last of the Confectioner. Narratively, a reasonably conventional procedural but with the violence, psychological damage and rule-breaking turned up to 11.
ITVX, from Thursday 21 September
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Minx
What’s clever about this 70s-set comedy is that while its events aren’t based on a true story, they’re so evocative of the time that they somehow feel as if they should be. In the first season, Ophelia Lovibond’s publisher Joyce Prigger sold the soul of her feminist magazine to smart smut-maven Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson), turning it from a po-faced trudge into a beefcake-strewn, sex-positive smash. Now, amid glossy openings and fizzing champagne bottles, she’s reaping the rewards – and it’s turning her head, as she starts to believe her own hype to an extent that even Doug finds slightly troubling.
Paramount+, from Thursday 21 September
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The Continental: From the World of John Wick
The Wick universe continues to expand; this spin-off also works as a prequel of sorts, acting as an origin story for enigmatic hotelier Winston Scott and his decidedly shady establishment, the Continental. It’s set in the 1970s so expect disco and big collars alongside the customary noirish flourishes – through no fault of his own, Winston (Colin Woodell) finds himself on the wrong side of hotel manager Cormac (Mel Gibson). He’s put in a position where he has no choice but to confront Cormac, but might that present a life-changing opportunity?
Prime Video, from Friday 22 September
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Still Up
As meet-cutes go, chronic insomnia feels like a new one. This comedy follows the gently melancholy small-hours perambulations of friends Lisa and Danny (Antonia Thomas and Craig Roberts) as they mark time, ponder sleep solutions and, surprise surprise, slowly fall in love. But the journey is more important than the arrival: the charm is to be found in the understated performances and the cheerfully aimless dialogue, which encompasses everything from athletics to pets’ birthdays, but simultaneously dances around and reveals intimate truths.
Apple TV+, from Friday 22 September
