Every month BBC iPlayer offers a plethora of new movies and TV shows to watch. Critic Lillian Crawford picks six of the best.
Top Picks: TV
Doctor Who: Flux (BBC One, Sundays)
Chris Chibnall returns for his last series as the Doctor Who showrunner, helming a six-episode serial that returns to the show’s original format. It’s also set to be the final turn of Jodie Whittaker in the role of the Doctor, inspiring much hype and speculation as to who she’ll pass the sonic screwdriver onto. Entitled ‘Flux’, the story begins on Halloween with comedian John Bishop joining the cast as an intergalactic hurricane hurtles towards the Earth.
Whittaker isn’t the only familiar face to return—the first episode alone saw the return of the Weeping Angels and Sontarans, with other classic villains set to appear. New episodes will arrive on iPlayer every Sunday evening throughout November and into early December.
Impeachment: American Crime Story (BBC Two, Tuesdays)
With the first two episodes already streaming, all future installments of the latest American Crime Story series will be made available every Tuesday on iPlayer. This 10 part series dramatises the impeachment of US President Bill Clinton (Clive Owen) after his affair with Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein), with a screenplay by Sarah Burgess which puts bureaucrat Linda Tripp (Sarah Paulson) front and centre.
Having premiered on FX in the US in September, it’s exciting that the BBC has been able to release the series in the UK. While early reviews criticise the new season for being narratively confused, Feldstein and Paulson’s performances have been universally praised—so it should be worth a watch.
What We Do In the Shadows: Season 3 (BBC Two, November 2)
The mockumentary series based on Taika Waititi’s 2014 film of the same name returns for a third season, marking another FX show being released in the UK by the BBC. The series continues to document the lives of four vampires and their familiar living in Staten Island, played by Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén and Mark Proksch.
Unlike Impeachment, all 10 episodes of What We Do in the Shadows will be available on iPlayer from November 2 in addition to the complete first two series. The 2014 film will also be available on the service throughout November, if you fancy checking that out before diving into the TV series.
Top Picks: Movies
Let the Right One In (BBC Two, November 1)
There’s a few great horror picks making their way onto iPlayer this month. One of the highlights is Tomas Alfredson’s 2008 Swedish horror Let the Right One In starring Kare Hedebrant and Lina Leandersson. Set in Stockholm in the 1980s, bullied 12-year-old Oskar befriends Eli, who appears to be a normal girl but is actually a vampire.
The film has been acquired for a long streaming period on iPlayer, set to be available on the platform for eight months. A perfect post-Halloween watch as the days grow shorter!
The Exorcist (BBC Four, November 4)
The controversial Oscar-winning horror film is getting a full evening’s worth of entertainment this month. William Friedkin’s film will be accompanied on iPlayer by a documentary about Mike Oldfield, whose Tubular Bells was used as the theme for the film, looking at how his experimental music became the perfect accompaniment to The Exorcist.
It’s also followed by Mark Kermode’s documentary The Fear of God, an extended version of a film made in 1998 in which he traces the history of the novel by William Peter Blatty to Friedkin’s adaptation. The set will be available on iPlayer throughout November, and there’s Mark Kermode’s Secrets of Cinema also available should you wish to dive deeper into his love of the horror genre.
Death of a Salesman (BBC Four, 1 November)
BAFTA-winning actor Warren Mitchell stars as Willy Loman in this 1996 TV movie adaptation of Arthur Miller’s 1949 stage play, which makes a rare appearance on iPlayer this month and will be available throughout November. Mitchell had won a Laurence Olivier award for his performance in the play in the West End, joined by fellow cast members Rosemary Harris, Iain Glen and Owen Teale.
With BBC Four becoming an archive channel, we can expect lots of original BBC films over the coming months as the content changes. The BBC adapted many classic and original plays as TV films during the 20th century, with their resurrection allowing a glimpse into the golden age of British theatre.
