After the scares of Halloween, November opens with spies, high society and the ocean depths. Keira Knightley’s Black Doves return, The Gilded Age sweeps back into 1880s New York, Prime Video tells the story of Muhammad Ali in The Greatest, and Sir David Attenborough takes us beneath the waves again in Blue Planet III. Add a steampunk western, a Lee Chang-dong film, Apple TV and the best of the week’s British television, and there is something for every evening.
This Week’s Highlights
Black Doves: Season 2
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: British spy thriller series
- Release date: Thursday 5 November
- US availability: Netflix, all six episodes
- UK availability: Netflix, all six episodes
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of stylish London-set spy thrillers with sharp dialogue.
- Maybe skip if: Gunplay and bloodshed are not for you.
- Mood and pace: Taut, witty and dangerous.
- Time commitment: Six episodes, released together.
Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw return as Helen and Sam, with Sarah Lancashire back as the formidable Reed. With Helen’s husband closing in on Downing Street, her double life becomes more precarious than ever when a threat from within targets her enigmatic handler. Sam Riley, Neve Campbell, Ambika Mod and Babou Ceesay join the cast.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The week’s biggest British release, and an easy one to binge in a weekend.
The Gilded Age: Season 4
- Platform: HBO and HBO Max (US); Sky Atlantic and NOW (UK)
- Content type: Period drama series
- Release date: Sunday 1 November (US); Monday 2 November (UK)
- US availability: HBO and HBO Max, 9pm ET, weekly
- UK availability: Sky Atlantic and NOW from Monday 2 November, 9pm, weekly
Viewer Match
- Best for: Lovers of lavish costume drama and drawing-room rivalries.
- Maybe skip if: You prefer your drama fast and gritty.
- Mood and pace: Opulent, witty and gently scheming.
- Time commitment: Eight episodes, weekly.
Julian Fellowes’ sumptuous saga of old money versus new returns to 1880s New York for an eight-episode fourth season, with Bertha Russell, Agnes van Rhijn and the rest of Manhattan society once again manoeuvring for position.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Comfort viewing of the most elegant kind; settle in for a weekly appointment.
The Greatest
- Platform: Prime Video
- Content type: Biographical drama series
- Release date: Wednesday 4 November
- US availability: Prime Video, all eight episodes
- UK availability: Prime Video, all eight episodes
Viewer Match
- Best for: Boxing fans and anyone drawn to a towering true story.
- Maybe skip if: Sports biopics leave you cold.
- Mood and pace: Stirring, intimate and ambitious.
- Time commitment: Eight episodes, released together.
The first authorised scripted series about Muhammad Ali stars Jaalen Best as Cassius Clay, the young fighter who became a global icon. Created by Ben Watkins and executive produced by Lonnie Ali, it promises the man behind the legend, with Omari Hardwick, Michael Ealy, Amin Joseph and Giovanni Ribisi among the cast.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A major Prime Video launch with real heavyweight ambition.
Bass X Machina
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Adult animated steampunk western series
- Release date: Tuesday 3 November
- US availability: Netflix, all six episodes
- UK availability: Netflix, all six episodes
Viewer Match
- Best for: Anime fans and anyone craving a genre mash-up with real style.
- Maybe skip if: Animated violence is not your thing.
- Mood and pace: Gritty, kinetic and inventive.
- Time commitment: Six episodes, released together.
Created by LeSean Thomas, this steampunk western stars Brian Tyree Henry as the voice of a father forced to become judge, jury and executioner to protect his family, in a lawless frontier overrun by outlaws, machines and supernatural threats.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The week’s standout sci-fi pick, and short enough for a single evening.
Possible Love
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Korean drama film
- Release date: Friday 6 November
- US availability: Netflix
- UK availability: Netflix
Viewer Match
- Best for: Admirers of thoughtful, adult world cinema.
- Maybe skip if: Subtitles or slow-burn storytelling put you off.
- Mood and pace: Searching, intimate and quietly intense.
- Time commitment: A single feature film.
Lee Chang-dong, the director of Burning, returns with the story of two married couples from very different backgrounds whose lives cross during the making of a documentary. Jeon Do-yeon, Sul Kyung-gu, Zo In-sung and Cho Yeo-jeong star, and the film arrives on Netflix after an acclaimed Venice premiere and a limited US cinema release.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Update: after its US cinema run, the film now reaches Netflix subscribers worldwide. It is the prestige pick of the week; read our Possible Love Super Review before you press play.
All’s Fair: Season 2
- Platform: Hulu (US); Disney+ (UK)
- Content type: Legal drama series
- Release date: Wednesday 4 November
- US availability: Hulu, three episodes then weekly
- UK availability: Disney+, three episodes then weekly
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of glossy, high-camp Ryan Murphy drama.
- Maybe skip if: Heightened melodrama is not for you.
- Mood and pace: Glamorous, brash and soapy.
- Time commitment: A weekly series, opening with three episodes.
Kim Kardashian leads the return of Ryan Murphy’s glossy legal drama about a high-powered, all-female divorce firm, with more scandalous clients and courtroom showdowns ahead.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Pure guilty-pleasure viewing for a midweek evening.
The Remarried Empress
- Platform: Disney+ (UK); Disney+ and Hulu (US)
- Content type: Korean fantasy romance series
- Release date: Wednesday 4 November
- US availability: Disney+ and Hulu, four episodes then two weekly
- UK availability: Disney+, four episodes then two weekly
Viewer Match
- Best for: K-drama fans and lovers of palace romance and intrigue.
- Maybe skip if: Fantasy romance is not your genre.
- Mood and pace: Lavish, emotional and dramatic.
- Time commitment: Ten episodes, concluding on 25 November.
Based on the hugely popular web novel and webtoon, this lavish fantasy romance stars Shin Min-a as Empress Navier and Ju Ji-hoon as Emperor Sovieshu, in a story of a royal marriage tested by betrayal and a bold new beginning.
Movieversalfilm watch note: An instant binge for K-drama devotees, with four episodes to start.
North of North: Season 2
- Platform: Netflix
- Content type: Comedy series
- Release date: Thursday 5 November
- US availability: Netflix, all eight episodes
- UK availability: Netflix, all eight episodes
Viewer Match
- Best for: Viewers who loved the warmth and humour of season one.
- Maybe skip if: Gentle, small-town comedy is not for you.
- Mood and pace: Warm, funny and big-hearted.
- Time commitment: Eight episodes, released together.
Anna Lambe returns as Siaja, the young Inuk mother building a new life on her own terms in the tight-knit Arctic town of Ice Cove, in the second season of this much-loved Canadian comedy.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The week’s feel-good tonic, and a perfect antidote to the spy thrillers.
OJ’s Accomplice
- Platform: Peacock
- Content type: True-crime documentary
- Release date: Sunday 1 November
- US availability: Peacock
- UK availability: No UK release announced
Viewer Match
- Best for: True-crime viewers who followed the case in the 1990s.
- Maybe skip if: Real-life violent crime is too difficult to watch.
- Mood and pace: Probing, sombre and investigative.
- Time commitment: Two parts.
This two-part documentary revisits the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman and asks whether OJ Simpson acted alone, drawing on interviews and new eyewitness accounts. Peacock brought its release forward to 1 November.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Essential for true-crime followers in the US.
Super Troopers 3
- Platform: Hulu
- Content type: Comedy film
- Release date: Thursday 5 November
- US availability: Hulu, and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers
- UK availability: Not yet on UK subscription streaming
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of the Broken Lizard troupe and their daft cop comedy.
- Maybe skip if: Crude humour grates on you.
- Mood and pace: Silly, rowdy and irreverent.
- Time commitment: A single feature film.
The Broken Lizard comedy troupe pull their Vermont state trooper uniforms back on for a third round of pranks and police-work chaos, following its summer cinema release.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A no-brainer for a Friday night with friends in US homes.
Apple TV+
Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook
- Platform: Apple TV
- Content type: Food documentary series
- Release date: Friday 6 November
- US availability: Apple TV
- UK availability: Apple TV
Viewer Match
- Best for: Food lovers and Awkwafina fans.
- Maybe skip if: Cookery shows do not appeal.
- Mood and pace: Funny, warm and personal.
- Time commitment: A multi-episode docuseries, starting on 6 November.
Awkwafina, a descendant of restaurant royalty who cannot cook, sets out on a culinary road trip to learn the craft and revive her family’s Chinese restaurant.
UK Picks
Blue Planet III
- Platform: BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Content type: Natural history series
- Release date: Sunday 1 November
- UK availability: BBC One, 8pm; the first three episodes on BBC iPlayer from 1 November
- US availability: BBC America and AMC+ from Saturday 23 January 2027
Viewer Match
- Best for: Everyone, from nature lovers to families.
- Maybe skip if: Nothing; this is unmissable television.
- Mood and pace: Awe-inspiring, immersive and moving.
- Time commitment: A weekly series.
Sir David Attenborough narrates the return of the landmark ocean series, which dives into five underwater worlds, from tropical seas and open oceans to polar waters and the deep, with new camera technology revealing remarkable behaviour.
Movieversalfilm watch note: The UK television event of the week; watch it on the biggest screen you have.
Tall Tales & Murder
- Platform: BBC iPlayer and BBC One
- Content type: Comedy crime drama series
- Release date: Monday 2 November
- UK availability: Full box set on BBC iPlayer from Monday 2 November; BBC One from Tuesday 3 November, 10.40pm
- US availability: No US release announced
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of dark Irish comedy and caper stories.
- Maybe skip if: Black humour and violence do not mix for you.
- Mood and pace: Madcap, dark and fast-moving.
- Time commitment: Six episodes, all on iPlayer.
A Bonnie and Clyde-style romp in which two unlikely misfits are swept into a dangerous world of gangsters, stolen gold and mysterious treasure as they race across Ireland. Ella-Lily Hyland, Casey Walsh and Aidan Gillen star.
Movieversalfilm watch note: A fresh, offbeat binge that is ready to watch in full from Monday.
The Assassin: Series 2
- Platform: Prime Video (UK)
- Content type: Action thriller series
- Release date: Friday 6 November
- UK availability: Prime Video, all six episodes
- US availability: AMC+ from Thursday 19 November
Viewer Match
- Best for: Fans of action thrillers with a dark comic streak.
- Maybe skip if: Violent action is not for you.
- Mood and pace: Punchy, tense and darkly funny.
- Time commitment: Six episodes, released together.
Keeley Hawes returns as Julie, the retired hitwoman whose past refuses to stay buried, with Freddie Highmore back as her son Edward.
Movieversalfilm watch note: An easy weekend binge for UK viewers ahead of its US arrival.
Return to Paradise: Series 3
- Platform: BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- Content type: Crime drama series
- Release date: Friday 6 November
- UK availability: BBC One and BBC iPlayer
- US availability: No US date announced
Viewer Match
- Best for: Cosy-crime fans and Death in Paradise loyalists.
- Maybe skip if: Light-touch murder mysteries are not your style.
- Mood and pace: Sunny, puzzling and good-humoured.
- Time commitment: Six episodes.
Anna Samson returns as DS Mackenzie Clarke in the Australian spin-off of Death in Paradise, investigating more of Dolphin Cove’s seemingly impossible murders alongside Lloyd Griffith’s Colin Cartwright.
Movieversalfilm watch note: Sunshine and puzzles for a cosy Friday night in.
Movieversalfilm Weekly Selection
Start on Sunday with Blue Planet III on BBC One, then make Black Doves your weekend binge. The Greatest is the week’s biggest new drama, The Gilded Age is the most elegant weekly appointment, and sci-fi fans should not miss Bass X Machina. For something more reflective, save an evening for Possible Love, while UK viewers can binge both Tall Tales & Murder and The Assassin.
Which of this week’s premieres is top of your watchlist?