Best Disney Plus shows – originals and returning favourites

Surely this must rank among the most underrated sitcoms in recent television history.

Krysten Ritter is hilarious in the outrageous role of New York City party girl Chloe, whose first instinct is always to scam, cheat and manipulate in order to get her way. That all changes when an innocent mid-westerner called June (Dreama Walker) unexpectedly manages to outwit her, securing a room in her apartment and endeavouring to get her on the straight and narrow.

Filled with shocking scenarios, quotable lines and iconic characters – including roles for the eccentric Eric Andre and a self-parodying James Van Der Beek – this is a hidden gem that deserves to be found.

When this mockumentary series, based on the film by Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, was first mooted, fans were nervous. Could it truly live up to that original film’s lightning-in-a-bottle concept and execution? Thankfully, it more than did, and over five seasons has become a huge success in its own right.

Kayvan Novak, Natasia Demetriou, Harvey Guillén, Mark Proksch and Kristen Schaal all put in strong performances, while Matt Berry remains, unsurprisingly, a scene-stealer, getting a laugh from even the most simple of jokes through his inimitable delivery. If you’re looking for laughs, look no further.

James Hibbs

Before he was Star Wars’ jackbooted, imposing arch-villain, Darth Vader was a hero called Anakin Skywalker – and Anakin, like any Jedi worth his kyber crystals, had a young apprentice who he taught in the ways of the Force, the lightsaber and (most crucially of all) Jedi robe-swishing 101.

Now, Anakin’s apprentice Ahsoka – an alien character who wasn’t in the Star Wars movies, but has appeared in a few of the Disney+ TV shows – has her own adventure. At this point, Vader is long dead, but Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) is keen that nobody tries to continue his dark legacy. Cue spaceship chases and twirling laser swords as she takes on the forces of evil, and meets a few familiar faces from her past.

Huw Fullerton

The conspiracy theory industry in the US feels much more loaded and pernicious these days than it did when The X-Files made its debut 30 years ago. Now, it’s all talk of stolen elections and secret cabals of child abusers. But oh, for more simpler times when all that preoccupied fringe FBI agent Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) was the threat of an alien invasion being hushed up by shadowy forces at work in the government. He believed wholeheartedly that the truth was out there, despite partner and sceptic Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) doing her best to debunk his outre ideology. The rest is the stuff of cult TV legend.

David Brown

After eight years away, one of US television’s best anti-heroes is back – and his twinkle is undimmed. Timothy Olyphant is Deputy US Marshal Raylan Givens, relocated from Kentucky to Florida but fated to head to Detroit on the trail of a ruthless criminal. With a teenage daughter to look after – chemistry is guaranteed there, since she’s played by Olyphant’s own daughter, Vivian – and more fresh blood in the cast, the new show successfully reboots and updates a classic without losing its tough old smarts.

Jack Seale

This National Geographic drama has been released in weekly episode instalments, making for the perfect kind of release for such a thought-provoking and important look into real historical events.

The new series stars Bel Powley, who many will recognise from Everything I Know About Love, as Miep Gies, a secretary who helped to hide Otto Frank and his family from the Nazis in the Second World War. The series explores the responsibility and pressure that Miep and her husband Jan (Joe Cole) were under as they strive to protect the Franks and others during one of the darkest moments in history.

Morgan Cormack

Writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner brings her own much-discussed 2019 novel to the small screen, making heavy use of narration to create the not-unpleasant feeling that we are watching a book. Manhattan doctor and dad of two Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg) has just emerged from a bad marriage to the apparently hideous Rachel (Claire Danes); he is just starting to enjoy a new life of one-night stands and rekindled old friendships when a mysterious event causes him to re-evaluate.

What seems like naughty fun proves to be an astute, bracingly honest take on class and careers as well as life and love in one’s 40s.

Jack Seale

From executive producers Tracee Ellis Ross and Michaela Angela Davis, this new docuseries has just landed on Disney+ UK and is a must-watch celebration of Black beauty and identity.

In the series, beauty ideals, society and history are interrogated through the lens of Black hair, making for an honest and multi-layered look into the complexities of Black hair culture. As well as being an incredibly important and necessary look into Black women’s identity, creativity and contributions to society, the series also features stories from notable Black female figures such as Oprah Winfrey, Issa Rae, Chlöe Bailey, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Marsai Martin and Chika.

Morgan Cormack

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

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 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.

The series recently concluded its third and final season, ending on a high note.

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 and The Last of Us breakout 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 (now known as Grogu), which inspired a bounty of memes and endless conversation across the internet ever since he debuted in a galaxy, far, far, away.

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.

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.

Nominally a dramatisation of the HG Wells science-fiction classic, this series by Misfits creator Howard Overman almost immediately sets out on its own path, placing the action in the aftermath of an alien invasion that sees the surviving humans at loggerheads with the new arrivals and each other. In a third season that’s no less grim than the previous two, the nightmare is very much not over: the aliens seem to have harnessed the power of black holes. Gabriel Byrne is a pained anti-hero as a scientist who feels forced to apply his knowledge in all kinds of terrible ways.

Jack Seale

While many will likely recognise Steve Carell for his well-known portrayal of Michael Scott in The Office US, in this new series, he takes on a more gritty role as psychotherapist Alan Strauss.

This psychological thriller brings a whole new meaning to the term “spine-chilling” as Strauss is held captive by a new patient of his, Sam Fortner (played by Domhnall Gleeson). Oh, and he just so happens to be a serial killer seeking to curb his homicidal urges. The 10-part series is certainly an intense one, but will be a hit for any drama fans out there.

Morgan Cormack

For fans of adult animation Family Guy is one of the big treasure troves available on Disney Plus. Alongside The Simpsons, American Dad! and more, there are hundreds of episodes of Family Guy to watch across 22 seasons on the streamer, filled with all the filthiest jokes and funniest cutaways the hugely influential series has offered up over the years.

Focusing on the Griffin family, including dad Peter, mum Lois, daughter Meg, sons Chris and Stewie and talking dog Brian, the series has gone to some controversial places in the past, but for fans of near-the-knuckle humour remains a show which provides it in plenty. It may not be as emotionally resonant as The Simpsons but when the jokes hit, they hit hard.

The latest Marvel series to hit Disney Plus, Ms Marvel is in many way the antithesis to its recent hit Moon Knight. While that show took things in a darker direction and contained very few notable links to the MCU, this one brightens up the joint, splashing colour and fun everywhere the eye can see with an eye-popping visual-style, and leaning into those shared universe connections.

Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is an American-Pakistani teenager living in Jersey, who for all her life has idolised the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel. Then, while at an Avengers convention, she finds that a magical bracelet can unlock cosmic abilities within her.

It’s a light-hearted, younger-skewing series than some of the other MCU entries so far, but has a lot of heart, an infectiously fun performance from Vellani and explores some themes not yet seen in the MCU, as we dive into Kamala’s culture, religion and family dynamics.

This crime drama follows a biker gang in a fictional town bordering California – while technically a spin-off from Sons of Anarchy, the storyline here is accessible to all, even if you never tuned into the preceding series. That said, occasional cameos and references to what came before will hit different if you’re a longtime follower of this franchise.

JD Pardo leads the cast as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, Vice Presidente of the Mayans Motorcycle Club, who seeks vengeance for how his family was torn apart as a result of cartel violence. The series had a slightly wobbly start, with many critics comparing it unfavourably to Anarchy, but over time has found its footing to as a gripping thriller that completely stands on its own.

This emotional drama took the United States by storm when it debuted in 2016, becoming a ratings juggernaut and an awards favourite. The series follows the lives of the Pearson family, including parents Jack and Rebecca as well as their children Kevin, Kate and Randall, with the story unfolding across a decades-long timeline.

This Is Us has tackled a number of sensitive social issues over its run, including drug addiction, racism and cancer, among others, which has resulted in some powerful stories that have really resonated with viewers. Helping matters is the stellar cast, which includes five-time Emmy nominee Sterling K Brown alongside Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley.

The sixth and final season brings the story of this remarkable family to its conclusion. Brace yourselves for the finale – it’s a tearjerker.