Best Disney Plus shows - originals and returning favourites

With Russell T Davies’s new era of Doctor Who set to stream internationally on Disney Plus, it makes sense that one of his boldest dramas in recent years should also arrive on the platform. Years and Years follows an ordinary family in Manchester, as we follow them through from 2019 to 2034. As the world descends into populism, war and crisis, we also see how technological innovation and social change transforms their lives and the UK at large.

It’s a decidedly shocking, eerie drama, exploring the darkest timeline with just a glimmer of hope to light the way. It packs a powerful punch, and is sure to stay with you long after you have finished watching.

James Hibbs

Donald Glover’s surreal comedy masterpiece has now finished airing, with all four seasons available on Disney Plus for UK viewers to watch. It follows Earn (Glover), who manages his cousin Alfred AKA Paper Boi’s (Brian Tyree Henry) rap career, as well as their friend Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) and Earn’s ex-girlfriend Van (Zazie Beetz).

If you’re looking for traditional story structure and arcs, this isn’t it – Atlanta frequently rips up its own rule-book, especially in season 3 which featured multiple episodes without any of the main cast. This may be the aspect of the show that keeps you on your toes, but it’s the biting humour and cutting social commentary which will keep you coming back for more.

James Hibbs

If you’re looking for the kind of well-paced drama that keeps you hooked throughout, Snowfall is the series to hunker down with. Led by British actor Damson Idris, the series returns for its fifth run and things just don’t get any easier for Franklin Saint (Idris) and his family.

Throughout the series, we follow Saint from a relative nobody to a drug kingpin on the Los Angeles cocaine scene. The series explores the first crack cocaine epidemic on the American city in the 1980s through various storylines – all of them riveting.

This time round, things are finally looking great for Saint as his family enjoy the wealth of his recent exploits, but South Central Los Angeles has never been so dangerous. The Saint family must now navigate the police, the warring gangs and the CIA in order to survive.

Morgan Cormack

When you sit down to watch a show like The Bear, a comedy drama about a talented chef that was met with widespread acclaim when it arrived on US screens, there’s always a chance that your expectations won’t meet reality and you’ll be left sorely disappointed. It’s hard to say whether The Bear is ‘The Best Show of the Year”, as it’s been routinely labelled, because as ever in this Golden Age of Telly, there are so many titles deserving of that crown. But if it is the best thing you end up watching this year, no one will question your taste because The Bear is very, very good…

Abby Robinson

Now, this series may have landed on Disney Plus back in 2021 but it continues to be one of the majorly talked-about shows on the platform. Not only does the drama star well-known Hollywood actor Michael Keaton, it also succinctly maps out the ongoing opioid epidemic that has ravaged certain parts of America.

In the series, we follow one of the main pharmaceutical companies at the heart of it, Purdue Pharma, in the boardroom, through their marketing practices and finally, to the rollout of OxyContin. We follow Keaton’s character, Dr Samuel Finnix, as he employs the drug’s usage in his own small doctor’s practice, as well as other individuals and families affected by the addictive drug. The performances in this series are nothing short of stellar and if you’re looking for a watch that will most definitely linger with you after watching, this is the pick for you.

Morgan Cormack

Fans of this Marvel drama may still be waiting to find out whether it’s been confirmed for a second season or not, but if you’re yet to watch it for yourself, take this as your sign to do so.

Moon Knight follows Steven Grant (played by Oscar Isaac), a mild-mannered gift shop employee who becomes plagued by blackouts and memories of another life. He goes on to discover that he’s actually got dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. The series is a breath of fresh air to the growing Marvel drama franchise on Disney Plus and as well as being joyfully action-packed, is also the perfect mix of thriller, drama and comedy.

Morgan Cormack

The longevity of Shonda Rhimes’s Seattle-set surgical drama is something of a medical miracle in TV terms. It launched 17 years ago and has been running for 402 episodes, all of which can now be found on Disney+ along with the newest season, which sees five new interns joining the staff at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. The show’s longevity means it’s the US equivalent of Casualty, which makes Dr Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo) their version of dear old Charlie Fairhead. One imagines she’d be flattered by such a comparison.

Michael Hogan

The animated series from Dave Filoni, creator of The Clone Wars and Rebels, has now returned for its second season, with episodes being released weekly.

The series follows an elite group of clone troopers, Clone Force 99, but also known as the “bad batch”. They all have genetic mutations that were first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in this series, they fight to retain their independence after the mind-altering Order 66, which forces them to go on the run from the emerging Empire.

Morgan Cormack

Disney Plus series The Old Man is a brooding cat-and-mouse spy drama in which John Lithgow plays Harold Harper, an FBI man charged with apprehending his former colleague turned rogue CIA spy Dan Chase, played by Jeff Bridges.

The drama is set in the present day but past traumas weigh down on both the lead characters. Harper, whom Lithgow plays, is reeling from the death of his son when he receives a phone call and learns he has to deal with an international scandal from three decades earlier concerning Bridges’ character…

Sarfraz Manzoor

The first German original drama to launch on Disney Plus is based on an unforgettable true story. Samuel Meffire, played with considerable screen presence by Malick Bauer, grows up in East Germany in the shadow of his father’s murder, but becomes the nation’s first ever black police officer. When the Berlin Wall falls, he is the poster boy for a New Germany, but he is destined to lose his favoured position, to the point where he ends up in jail. The charismatic lead strongly underlines the fundamentals of the tale: here is an out-of-the-ordinary man, facing experiences and adversity that are too much even for him.

Jack Seale

This tense drama is based on a powerful true story of the three courageous women who were each within the confines of the ‘Ndrangheta and sought to bring down the criminal empire.

Known to be the Italy’s most powerful mafia, the women risked their lives and those of the people around them. In the series, the three women help prosecutor Anna Colace by providing vital intel to help her be able to sentence the most powerful men within it. The series is adapted by BAFTA nominee Stephen Butchard (Bagdad Central, The Last Kingdom) and is based on the book by journalist Alex Perry.

It also comes from House Productions, the same team behind BBC’s Sherwood, The Wonder and Life After Life, so you just know it’s set to be an endearing watch.

Morgan Cormack

The breakout hit for Disney Plus, The Mandalorian is a Star Wars live-action TV series from Jon Favreau – and what’s more, it is well worth your attention.

Starring Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal as the titular Mandalorian, the show is set in the Star Wars universe between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. It has plenty for hardcore fans, but is far enough removed from the Skywalker Saga that it can be enjoyed by newcomers to the franchise. Plus, if you haven’t heard already, there’s a baby Yoda, which has become one of the most talked-about parts of the show – inspiring memes and conversation across the internet ever since “the child” first arrived from a galaxy, far, far, away.

It sounds like a joke, but it’s real: yes, this is a series in which the actor Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye, Mayor of Kingstown) undertakes a series of renovations. It’s not about flipping houses, though: the makeovers are carried out on trucks, coaches and winnebagos, and the goal is to turn them into vehicles that can be donated to community projects. So Renner and his quirky team work with the usual reality-TV urgency to create mobile sports centres, social hubs and public health facilities, before delivering them to the underprivileged – in Mexico, India and the USA.

Jack Seale

If you’re looking for the kind of series that will warrant you fetching the tissues, then Tiny Beautiful Things is for you. While the adaptation has certainly been created with heartstring-tugging scenes in mind, some of the wider plot lines do fall a little short but nonetheless, it’s a touching and hilarious watch.

The series follows Clare (Kathryn Hahn) as she goes from being a mother going through one of the hardest points in her life to taking on the responsibility of being an advice columnist.

It’s the reinvigoration that her writing career has needed but in the process, through helping to solve other people’s problems, she begins to reflect on the ones of her own that she’s been burying deep in her mind.

Morgan Cormack

Although the beloved family sitcom has now reached its end, most of the seasons are now available to watch on Disney Plus at your own leisure. While the emotional final season may not be on there (yet), the penultimate 10th season has landed with barrels of laughs.

Once more, we follow the Pritchett, Tucker and Dunphy clans as they go through many arguments, trials, tribulations, growing children, romances and new beginnings – but in the most hilarious way possible.

Morgan Cormack

You can’t say Thor star Chris Hemsworth isn’t fully committed to the documentary series created by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, in which Hemsworth investigates a different life-threatening technique in each episode. Some of the stunts, from a four-day fast to a balance beam 275m off the ground, really are physically and mentally arduous. But the science and psychology behind de-stressing, or strength training, or “acceptance”, are fascinating and presented clearly. You may never look like Hemsworth, but you will get some tips here on how to tune up your body and mind.

Jack Seale

If you’re looking for a real-life story that’s stranger than fiction, look no further than that of Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder once dubbed the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in America.

Amanda Seyfried stars as Holmes in this depiction of her rise and eventual downfall, as she now awaits sentencing after being found guilty of fraud. The series might not be as compelling as its real-life inspiration, but it’s still well worth a watch.

The Andor series explores a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Rebel spy Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make.

Beginning five years before the events of Rogue One, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters during the time that a Rebel Alliance is forming in opposition to the Galactic Empire.

In order to tell his complex backstory, the stellar cast includes Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve) as his adoptive mother Maarva and Stellan Skarsgård as mysterious buyer Luthen Rael. Genevieve O’Reilly and Denise Gough also star.

Disney Plus’s debut British series is this nuptial-themed romcom-cum-thriller. The stylish, pacy eight-part romp follows Katie (Rosa Salazar) and Stefan (Gavin Drea), who begin a whirlwind affair at a wedding, despite Katie being engaged. Two months later at her own wedding, her new husband and wealthy in-laws are murdered. Police suspect Stefan. Stefan suspects Katie. The pair go on the run, while trying to clear their names and work out their feelings. An addictive and blackly comic caper in the vein of The Tourist, The Flight Attendant or Killing Eve.

Michael Hogan

This original, funny and heartbreaking series from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers who are determined to raise enough cash to leave their reservation behind and start a new life in LA. The four teens are: Cheese (Lane Factor), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) and Elora (Devery Jacobs).

To succeed, they will have to save enough money, outsmart the meth-heads at the junkyard on the edge of town and survive a turf war against a much tougher rival gang.

This series comes to Disney Plus with one particularly big draw – Andrew Garfield. The star is riding high following his Oscar nominated turn in Tik…Tik…BOOM! and his crowd-pleasing return to the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and now he stars in this true crime series which tells a chilling and intriguing tale.

The story centres around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which somehow seems to be involved with the death of a young woman played by Normal People and Fresh star Daisy Edgar-Jones. The series’ examination of religion is particularly intriguing, as Garfield’s character Detective Jeb Pyre reflects on his own Mormon faith, making this series a gripping watch from start to finish.

This recent Marvel Disney Plus series is its first to introduce a whole new central character, with very few ties to the MCU so far. While some may see that as a disappointment, it gives the show time to stand on its own feet before the inevitable crossovers to come.

Oscar Isaac is phenomenal in the role as Steven Grant, a museum gift shop worker in London who discovers that he has dissociative identity disorder and shares his body with mercenary Marc Spector. Not only that, but he is the avatar for Egyptian God Konshu, and when necessary becomes the caped anti-hero Moon Knight.

If that all sounds complicated, it’s because it is, but the show thrives on its mysterious elements and doles out answers in a way that’s comprehensible and well-paced. It’s a fun, action-packed series with a strong central performance and some terrific world-building – what more could a Marvel fan ask for?

Emayatzy Corinealdi announces herself as a formidable lead actor with Reasonable Doubt, a legal drama new to Disney Plus. Executive produced by Kerry Washington (who also directs the first episode), the show has elements of the series that made Washington’s name, Scandal (also available to watch on Disney Plus). Here’s another tangle of schemes, sex and high-stakes cases, set in Los Angeles, where criminal defence attorney Jax (Corinealdi) may have developed too much of an affinity with her potentially dangerous clients.

When her marriage fails and she has the chance to become as freewheeling in her personal life as she is in the courtroom, it doesn’t just complicate her standing as a parent and as a member of a group of supportive friends – it means the show goes to places that would make most legal dramas blush.

Jack Seale