Andrew Williams
Apple TV+ may not fling out content with anything like the waterfall regularity of Netflix. But it excels in producing one of our favourite kinds of show.
We're referring to the sort of series that gets people talking at work, that turns fans into slightly rabid acolytes who claim your life won't be quite complete until you've checked the show out.
A new season of one of the best examples of this just came out on Apple TV+, Severance. And it's far from the first.
Below you'll find more than 40 of our favourite TV series and documentaries available on Apple TV Plus. But perhaps it's also a good time to check in on what's coming up later in 2025 too.
UPDATE: This month's fresh meat is Smoke, a crime drama starring Taron Egerton. He is an arson investigator who ends up tracking down two serial fire starters in America's Pacific Northwest. It's a series of twists and tonal shifts, but pays off for those willing to sit down with a bit of patience alongside their bowl of popcorn.
Apple TV Plus costs $9.99 (£8.99) a month - which includes family membership - and Apple offers three months of Apple TV Plus with a new iPhone, iPad or Apple TV if you've never signed up. You can even sign up via Amazon these days, with shows like sci-fi epic Silo showing up on the mega-retailers results alongside those of Prime Video.
Bargain, right? With that in mind, here’s a run-down of the best Apple TV+ shows.
Remember to up-vote and down-vote your favourite picks.
New release Apple TV+ shows
Smoke
This show starts off as a recognisable crime show, one starring Taron Egerton as an arson investigator, alongside Jurnee Smollett. It’s a compelling series, but does take a hard tonal (and twisty) turn towards the end of the 9-episode run that may test your suspension of disbelief skills. That said, some reviewers say it’s this same handbrake turn that makes Smoke an unmissable watch for those who can roll with it. If you find yourself hoping for something a little more in the first few episodes, hold on.
More of the best Apple TV+ shows
Your Friends & Neighbors
Jon Hamm is back and starring in this fantastic new show, where he plays Andrew Cooper — a finance bro who loses his job, gets divorced and turns to robbing his rich mates to get by. It's packed with acerbic wit and a fantastic supporting cast, including Olivia Munn and Amanda Peet.
Ted Lasso
Ted Lasso is one of the loveliest TV shows we have seen in a while. If you are in the UK it's a slightly strange look at a US American football coach that comes over the pond to teach a ragtag team of footballers. Lasso is an optimist and you can't help but be caught up in the way he looks at life. And, even though it's US made, it portrays the UK pretty darn well.There are three seasons of Ted Lasso to watch, with the third marking the end of Ted Lasso, the character's, storyline. It's thought there may be spin-offs - Apple would be silly to let this one just disappear.
Slow Horses
Now 4 seasons in, this series about MI5 misfits is a lot of fun thanks to a rather grizzled Gary Oldman as the boss of the subpar spies. Each season wraps up the story nicely, but there's usually some big things that happen to the team along the way which will keep you glued. Such good fun.
Severance
One of the very best things on Apple TV Plus right now, Severance is a show by Ben Stiller based in a dystopia where a shadowy company allows its workers to literally disconnect their work life and personal life, so each side of their minds doesn't know what the other is doing. It's both dark and funny and needs to be watched by all.
Stick
Owen Wilson stars in Stick, a charming comedy drama about a former golf pro whose life is falling apart. Pryce Cahill’s (Wilson) career is in the past, and his marriage is going down the drain. But he finds some hope in a promising young talent, Santi Wheeler (Peter Dager). The show is packed with charm, and some of the feel-good vibes that made Ted Lasso such a hit among non-football-fans.
Murderbot
A show about an AI robot that hates all humans sounds like it could be a drag. But Alexander Skarsgard brings the concept to life, playing Murderbot — a name the robot gave himself. Despite his feelings, Murderbot ends up surrounded by kindly humans, the scientists of PreservationAux. One of the few criticisms to level at this show is its 20-minute episodes leave you wishing they were a bit longer.
The Morning Show
The Morning Show, is a drama set behind the scenes at, you guessed it, a morning TV news show. Starring Jennifer Aniston in her first series since Friends, the show also stars Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carell as the journalistic drama unfolds. If this show was on something like Netflix (as in a service that's a bit more popular) then it would have been given all the accolades for its themes of workplace sexual harassment and all that goes with it. The second season of the show is streaming now.
Defending Jacob
Defending Jacob sees Chris Evans swap spandex for the courtroom in a mini series about a family defending their son from being accused of killing another classmate. It's a harrowing watch at times, given the subject matter but it's great to see Evans step away from the big budgets and do something a little more nuanced. The show is based on the best-selling novel by William Landay.
For All Mankind
Depicting how the world would have turned out had Russia beaten the US to landing a man on the moon, For All Mankind begins in the 60s, tracking the out-of-this-world challenge. The series continues as technology advances and decades pass, with plenty of action and drama for good measure
SEE
Depicting a civilisation based hundreds of years in the future who have lost the ability to see, the show follows a new generation who are miraculously born with their sight intact. It's a gritty endeavor by Apple, one that isn't altogether successful but at least they saw SEE through to the end, with its third and final season.
Servant
Created by Tony Basgallop, Servant focuses on a Philadelphia couple in mourning after the loss of their child. It's a bit of a dark one to say the least, with a mysterious force getting involved - we're not saying any more, we're not going to give it all away. Featuring Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, and Rupert Grint, it has an impressive line-up.
Mythic Quest
Mythic Quest is a fun show that strives to be like Silicon Valley, charting a video game company as they release, and try to stay on top of, their game Mythic Quest. It's made by Charlie Day, Rob McElhenney who created the fantastic It's Only Sunny In Philadelphia and while it doesn't hit those heights, it's a great watch.
Truth Be Told
Following a remarkably similar plot line to the hit podcast Serial, Truth Be Told follows the story of a podcast maker who sets out to unravel an unsolved cold-case murder. A dramatic adaptation of the book Are You Sleeping: A Novel by Kathleen Barber, this is a must-watch for fans of true crime podcasts and tv shows.
Dickinson
Apple teased the highly anticipated Dickinson trailer in advance of the announcement - and it was right too - this is a laugh-a-minute. Starring Hailee Steinfeld as rebellious poet Emily Dickinson, the comedy series follows is a melting pot of modern day comedy and traditional attire.
Home Before Dark
Home Before Dark is the sort of old-school family TV that you yearn for. The premise is great: a nine-year-old budding journalist heads back with her family to the town her dad grew up in. There she begins to uncover secrets about a cold case from way back. The episodes could do with being a bit shorter but this is a great tale of a child whose way more advanced than her years give her credit for, and what happens when she begins to search for the truth.
Silo
Humanity has gone and messed up the earth good and proper, leading to the few survivors descending below the surface to live in a giant subterranean bunker. History has practically been erased, and the remaining community has been indoctrinated to believe above all else that the outside world can only bring death. But is that really the truth? This series is based on the Wool sci-fi novels by Hugh Howey.
Trying
A comedy set around infertility doesn't really sound like a comedy but it's a fantastic premise for Trying. Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are trying for a child and this show shows what happens when maybe adoption is the answer. With a focus on their relationship and how it deals with new pressures, this is a real must watch.
Shrinking
Shrinking sees Harrison Ford tackle comedy and he is a natural. It's a show created by Brett Goldstein, Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel. Segel is a therapist who is experiencing grief following the death of his wife and this puts him on a path of destruction through honesty. It's another great show from the Apple TV Plus stable and let's hope there are many more seasons to come.
Bad Sisters
This is a fantastic show, written by and starring the ever-excellent Sharon Horgan. The plot to the first season is simple-ish: John Paul, the husband of Grace Garvey, dies and Grace and her sisters are under investigation by a suspicious insurer. The timeline of the show flits between before Paul's death and after, uncovering an hilarious, sometimes vicious ink-black comedic tale.
The second season deals with the aftermath of the aftermath and is even darker than the first.
Black Bird
It's harder to watch Black Bird now that Ray Liotta has passed, but his presence in this prison show is a fantastic, fitting coda to a superb film career. He plays police officer Big Jim who tempts inmate Taron Egerton's Keene to reduce his prison sentence. How? By going to a maximum security prison to try and tease a confession out of suspected serial killer Larry Hall (Cobra Kai's Paul Walter Hauser). This is one tense drama, with a trio of brilliant performances.
Beastie Boys Story
Beastie Boys Story is as much about Beastie Boys the band as it is about their friendship and their life growing up together. Focusing on the ever-changing music the rappers have released, this is a poignant, eclectic watch - thanks to long-time collaborator Spike Jonze directing the thing. Fantastic stuff.
Little America
A show focusing on the immigrants of America trying to make it in the country has never felt so relevant - and that's what makes Little America a joy to watch. Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Lee Eisenberg have created an anthology series that focuses on eight separate stories, each dealing with a culture clash of sorts between those who have spent their whole lives in the US and those who came there seeking something. This particularly resonates in the brilliant The Grand Expo Winners, a tale of Chinese mother who watches her kids who have embraced America drift from her. Every episode, though, is worth a watch.
The Afterparty
After Party is as inventive as it gets. It's a comedy that centres on a murder mystery that takes place at an after party, each episode takes on its on style and genre. This is from one of the makers of The LEGO Movie (Christopher Miller) and it has their playfulness beating throughout. Superb stuff.
2The Elephant Queen
Taking the route of a documentary, the feature-length film The Elephant Queen focuses on the extinction of one of the world’s most majestic creatures. Narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, this epic and beautiful piece of cinema first wowed audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival and is a must watch.
Hi/jack
Idris Elba always looks like he can handle himself. But in Hijack he plays a regular guy who finds himself on an airplane in the midst of a hijack attempt. The series plays out in real-time over its seven hour-long episodes. Pure thriller fun, this is a fast-paced and highly enjoyable watch.
Amazing Stories
Amazing Stories is an updated version of Spielberg's classic hit show. It is an anthology series that "transports the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today’s most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers." The first five episodes were directed by the likes of Hollywood director Susanna Fogel, Michael Dinner (who also directed an episode of Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams) and Game of Thrones director Mark Mylod. As it's an anthology, some of the episodes are hit and miss but Spielberg's wonder is apparent throughout.
Pachinko
Epic. That's the best way to describe Pachinko, a sweeping and stunning historical epic that charts some of the most important eras of Asian history: Korea in 1915, when it was under Japan's rule, all the way up to 80s Japan in its Wall Street era. This is stunning, prestige TV with endless visual flourishes that will have you completely hooked.
Platonic
Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are friends. Rogen’s Will goes through a divorce and ends up reconnecting with old friend Sylvia. In classic fashion, one character’s upturned life makes the other consider what’s going on in their own. But this, for once, isn’t fundamentally a rom-con underneath the surface. The chemistry between the two leads is the main draw here but, hey, that’s crucial in a show based almost entirely around them.
Letters To You
Bruce Springsteen's Letter To You gets the documentary treatment and it's a compulsive watch, focusing on the making of the album and Springsteen's long and fantastic history with the E Street Band. Apple really knows how to make a music doc and we hope to see more of them on Apple TV Plus.
Shining Girls
This adaptation of the best-selling novel Shining Girls does well to capture the strangeness of the novel, as well as grounding its rather high-concept plot. Elisabeth Moss is Kirby Mazrachi, someone who, years ago, survived an attack and nearly died. Since the incident she witnesses changes in her reality, which are a little like glitches in The Matrix. This 'gift' helps her track down a potential serial killer. Convoluted? Sure, but stick with it and you will be rewarded.
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
The inspired casting of father and son Kurt and Wyatt Russell, as Captain Lee Shaw in different timelines, is one of the many great things about Legacy Of Monsters. The show is a thoughtful take on the Godzilla legacy, taking the theme of the recent movies, where Monarch is the agency assigned to 'control' Godzilla and other Kaiju, and expanding on it in both the 1950s and present day. While we would love more monster action, there is still a lot of fun to be had.
Masters of the Air
This show is a successor to some of the greatest TV shows ever made. Masters of the Air belongs in the same lineage as Band of Brothers, as the work of John Orloff. Steven Spielberg is also executive producer. The show charts the WW2 experiences of an American bomber unit, and features stellar performances from Austin Butler and Callum Turner. It's rousing stuff, particularly the epic battle scenes.
Sugar
Colin Farrell is John Sugar, a private detective. He's investigating the disappearance of the granddaughter of a powerful Hollywood executive and finds himself twisted up in a murky underworld. Sugar is a twisty thriller with plenty of neo-noir stylistic nods. An 8-episode series.
Criminal Record
Two detectives clash in this excellent crime thriller starring Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo. Capaldi is a DCI Daniel Hegarty, an investigator proud of his record. Jumbo is detective Lenker, who finds new evidence that suggests a man may have been send down for a murder he did not commit. It's tense, it's hard-hitting, and Criminal Record makes you think about the darker realities of law enforcement.
The Reluctant Traveller
Schitt's Creek star Eugene Levy is brilliant as the host of The Reluctant Traveller, which sees him travel the world to some of the most exotic places. The kicker here is that he doesn't like travelling very much, or doing anything out of his comfort zone. While we were expecting him to play up to this notion, it's all very real and great fun to watch.
Bad Monkey
Apple TV+ shows can often be a bit weighty. Bad Monkey is a pleasant departure from that norm. It stars Vince Vaughn has a detective who gets demoted for reckless behaviour, to a health inspector of restaurants. But when he uncovers a seedy underbelly of crime, corruption and murder, he thinks investigating could be a way to get his job back. It’s a silly and over-the-top show, but not as much as you might guess given Vaughn’s the lead actor.
Dark Matter
Joel Edgerton stars in Dark Matter. He plays a physicist who finds himself transported to an alternate version of his own world, his own life, in which nothing is quite as he remembers it. When he realises another version of himself is back in his own world, he also realises he needs to get back there to save his family. This show is based on a novel of the same name by Blake Crouch.
Manhunt
Spoiler alert: Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. But if that’s news to you, you might not get on that well with Manhunt. It’s a dramatisation of the hunt for his killer, John Wilkes Booth. The show depicts the murder, the nation-wide hunt and looks into the wider conspiracy you may be less familiar with, from popular retellings of this story. It’s a must-watch for the history buffs out there.
Fraggle Rock: Back To The Rock
Well, this is an absolute joy. Apple TV Plus has rebooted Fraggle Rock and the result is an hilarious, warm and fuzzy show. Unlike the 5-minute episodes Apple TV Plus released in 2020 there are 27 full-length episodes here and you'll love every single last one of them.
Constellation
Noomi Rapace is an astronaut. There’s an incident aboard the International Space Station, but she survives and makes it back to Earth. But on returning home, she finds it doesn’t appear to be the same place she left. If you find the first few episodes of Constellation a bit confusing, we recommend sticking with it, as the pay-off is absolutely there.
Physical
Physical is billed as a comedy drama, but it's tale of a housewife who is seemingly in self-destruct mode, if it weren't for the hour of 'physical' exercise she eventually finds solace in. This is one show which doesn't shy away from serious subject - abuse, eating disorders, depression - and can be a hard watch but Rose Byrne as Sheila is mesmerising in the main role.
The Essex Serpent
Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, The Essex Serpent is a six-part mini series that's a faithful adaptation of the book. Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston star as the widow and pastor who fall for each other in this sublime slab of gothic fiction.
Disclaimer
Cate Blanchett stars in an Alfonso Cuaron production. It sounds like a movie, but Disclaimer is absolutely a TV series. Blanchett is a journalist whose secrets are revealed in a novel. Critics are far from united on this one, some calling it a slice or poorly written schlock. But there's still some fun to be had in the twists and turns of the plot.
Time Bandits
Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits was a 1981 movie that didn't need a remake. Like just about all Gilliam projects, it was singular. But a crack team of comedy luminaries have done a great job on this TV translation. Jermaine Clement, Taika Waititi and the In-Betweeners's Iain Morris teamed-up to make this 10-part adaptation. It's a great way for a new generation to experience this charming time-travelling story. While it has been cancelled, these episodes are more than worth a watch.
Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry
This is a fantastic documentary which really showcases what a genius Billie Eilish is - and how awesome her dad is, too! It's an intimate look at the singer/songwriter and reminds you just how young she is and what the industry can give and take from someone. The behind-the-scenes looks at her songs are fantastic.
Central Park
Central Park is a new animated sitcom from the minds behind Bob's Burgers. While it's not quite on the same level of that masterpiece, it's a lot of fun. It revolves around a family of caretakers living in Central Park who stand in the way of developers. There's musical aspects to the show and it isn't without controversy. Kristen Bell recently revealed she will (quite rightly) no longer lend her voice to mixed race character Molly Tillerman.
Oprah’s Book Club
The Book Club was once a golden part of Oprah's daytime TV show - and now it's been given the screen time it deserves. Starring, you guessed it, Oprah Winfrey (who will always feature alongside Lorraine Kelly as the Queen of daytime TV), the show is a must watch Apple TV+ addition.
Hala
Telling the tale of Pakistani-American teenager Hala, the show depicts the conflict that occurs in balancing personal desire with the various obligations that surround family and religion. Joining the platform a few weeks after launch, this is a show that also depicts a central character with a dark secret
The Studio
This TV show about Hollywood movie-making is packed with mega movie-star cameos. But it’s also just a brilliant show in itself. Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, an exec who tries to make his name with a Kool-Aid movie. It’s a sharp satire that is great fun and provides some actual insight into the often cynical world of movie-making.
Government Cheese
David Oyelowo stars as Hampton Chambers, a man released from prison who seeks to get his family life back on track. But while that may sound like a pretty traditional drama, this is one laced with surrealism, and has attracted comparisons to the work of the Coen brothers.
Carême
Apple TV is known for its water cooler TV shows but Carême indulges in a more out-there concept. Carême is a famous pastry chef working in France during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. But he’s also a spy, and in both sides of his life he’s a sex-mad bounder who’s never too far from getting wound up in a fresh affair. It’s silly and fun, and highly French.
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