The best new TV shows to stream in October

September highlights: Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson teamed up for the meta-comedy Brothers, while Patrick Brammall was under pressure in the Australian mystery Last Seen.

My top Binge recommendation is Yaga (October 23).

How weird do you want it? If you’re looking for a Canadian twist on a supernatural-tinged mystery, this folk horror series supplies a small seaside town, a missing heir (Hudson Williams, Heated Rivalry), a ruffled private eye (Noah Reid, Schitt’s Creek) a mysterious academic with a carnivorous taste in men (Carrie-Anne Moss, The Matrix) and rumblings of ancient magic. Creator Kat Sandler (Kim’s Convenience) is adapting her own 2019 play, and, yes, there’s a chance this will scratch the Widow’s Bay itch.

September highlights: A new season of Australian crime drama High Country, supernatural menace and historical crimes in Possession, plus a goodbye celebration for Colin from Accounts.

My top Disney+ recommendation is VisionQuest (October 14).

Remember when every supporting character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe got their own series spin-off? Well, this may be the last one. Marvel is once again focused on cinemas, leaving this superhero sideshow as the goodbye. Paul Bettany (Amadeus) returns as the android Vision, an all-power machine turned Avenger, who is now lying low in both the human world and inside his own head, where he inhabits a digital realm. The best attraction in this series created by Terry Matalas (12 Monkeys) is James Spader (The Blacklist) returning as his Marvel AI villain Ultron. The deadpan dynamic between the two tech titans may be VisionQuest’s calling card.

Also on Disney+: I love it when a first-rate series returns with a new season within a year of wrapping its previous instalment. When it debuted last September, The Lowdown (October 15) was an idiosyncratic gem. Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo astutely tapped Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird) to play Lee Raybon, a high-wire act investigative journalist and historian with a gift for getting into fraught situations. With Tulsa, Oklahoma as the pungent setting, this sly mystery was funny, heartfelt, and knowing. The new episodes come with a must-see addition: the legendary Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) will play Lee’s father.

September highlights: Adults solidified itself as one of streaming’s best sitcoms.

My top Paramount+ recommendation is Dexter: Resurrection (October 30).

Television’s original three-body problem, Michael C. Hall’s now storied vigilante serial killer Dexter Morgan returns for the second season of this cheerfully gory sequel. The first batch did a better job of resuscitating the Dexter brand than was expected, as the character surfaced in New York and got back to work trying to make sense of his family lineage and offing the monsters law enforcement seemingly can’t punish. October is the 20th anniversary of Dexter’s debut, and there’s a suitably high-profile set of additions to the supporting cast, as Brian Cox (Succession) plays the New York Ripper while Dan Stevens (Devil in Silver) is the Five Boroughs Killer. Happy hunting!

September highlights: Tom Hardy, Helen Mirren, and Pierce Brosnan brought the star power to London crime thriller MobLand.

My top iview recommendation is Dustfall (October 11).

Anna Torv’s television resume is top-tier: Fringe, Secret City, Mindhunter, The Last of Us and The Newsreader is a terrific collection of peaks. The Australian actor thankfully continues to work locally, headlining this wrenching, timely crime drama set in the Queensland cane fields. Torv plays Tig Pollard, a police detective who returns to her hometown to investigate a horrifying sexual assault, only to unearth a deeper conspiracy and set off tremors from her own past. If that sounds archetypal, take note of creator Dianne Taylor’s own CV: she was one of the voices behind the gripping New Zealand drama After the Party. Having her partner with Torv creates high expectations.

September highlights: The best of British TV – everyday people at their breaking point in crime drama The Cage, versus the cosy-crime whimsy and genuine empathy of Death Valley.

My top SBS On Demand recommendation is 70 Up (October 7).

The Up series is one of the landmarks of documentary filmmaking. In 1964, 14 seven-year-olds – 10 boys and four girls – were introduced as a cross-section of British life. Every seven years since, with some absences and departures, the cameras have returned to chart the change in their lives and outlooks. With those former children now retirees looking back on their lives, these two episodes are the final instalment of the series. It’s a bittersweet goodbye to the screen’s greatest longitudinal study both in front of and behind the camera – longtime director Michael Apted passed away in 2021, with Asif Kapadia (Senna, Amy) taking over. SBS On Demand will host all nine previous documentaries if you need to catch up.

September highlights: No show goes to wilder extremes than The Vampire Lestat, a timely return of Elizabeth Holmes drama The Dropout and valuable cultural history from Pellegrini’s: A Melbourne Legacy.

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