What are you going to be watching in November? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, Neon and TVNZ OnDemand.

The biggies

The Crown (binge season 4 on Netflix from November 15)

Something good was bound to happen in 2020, and the new season of The Crown might just be it. The award-winning drama about the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II returns for a fourth glorious chapter, this time focusing on the late 1970s and the “fairytale” romance between Charles and Diana. Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson) pops up to scare the corgis, while Olivia Colman and Helena Bonham Carter are back for more pearl-clutching and sisterly angst. No spoilers, but that love affair between Charles and Di? Probably doomed. / Tara Ward

Sis (special on Neon from November 19)

From Leonie Hayden’s review of the special: “I felt ownership of what I’d seen. But I don’t just love the show because I’m a brown girl, although seeing that friendship dynamic and particular Pacific sense of humour on screen is an incredible breath of fresh air (or the kind of breath you didn’t know you were holding, being exhaled for the first time). I love Sis because it’s goofy, dirty, imaginative, weird and really funny … It’s not Chris Lilley’s “provocative” satire, nor is it Billy T James’s blunt observations of race relations in the 1980s. It’s a new and now social commentary with dick jokes and brown women front and centre. I absolutely can’t wait for episode two.” / Leonie Hayden

His Dark Materials (weekly on Neon from November 17)

Yes, you’re looking at that trailer still right: It’s Hot Priest Andrew Scott. The actor showed up towards the end of the first season of this BBC adaptation, but he’s going to be a lot more present in the second season (and he’s joined by Fleabag herself, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, playing his daemon). The first season of this show was frankly, quite excellent, and managed to capture the childlike wonder present in Pullman’s novels, and even more convincingly depict the adult world threatening to crush it. The second season looks to get a little bit darker, as it focuses on the darker second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, but don’t worry: it’ll still have Ruth Wilson swanning around in beautiful gowns, being cruel, dark, and excellent. / Sam Brooks

A Teacher (weekly on Neon from November 11)

Based on the 2013 film of the same name, A Teacher follows the fallout of an illegal teacher-student relationship in suburban Texas. Kate Mara (House of Cards, Pose) plays Claire Wilson, a young high school teacher who falls in love with her teenage student Eric Walker (Love Simon’s Nick Robinson). Claire tries to keep their relationship secret, but when the predatory affair is exposed to the community, there are wide-reaching consequences on their families, the school and the town. / TW

The notables

The Other Two (binge on Neon from November 19)

The premise of The Other Two is genius: two siblings (played by Drew Tarver and Heléne Yorke) who are trying to make it in show business – he’s an actor while she’s a burgeoning multi-hyphenate – are given a shock when their younger brother suddenly becomes famous on YouTube. So they do what any craven older siblings would – they shamelessly ride his coattails. There’s not a single show that I’m more stoked to be able to share with my fellow countrypeople than this one. It had a quiet debut on Comedy Central last year, which is a shame because it’s one of the most brutally funny shows around. If you want a 30 Rock that’s a bit meaner, or a It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that’s a bit warmer, The Other Two is the show for you. You won’t regret trying it out. / SB

Anika Moa Reunited (weekly on TVNZ on Demand from November 13)

Easily one of the highlights of last year’s television was Anika Moa reuniting TrueBliss through sheer force of will, and frankly, sheer force of being Anika Moa. She’s the kind of person you just want to make happy. It makes sense, then, that the next turn for Moa’s newfound career as a professional interviewer would be a continuation of that brilliant episode of television: her new show, Anika Moa Reunited, is all about reuniting Kiwi bands to perform their hit song once more. She’ll be visiting the likes of Fur Patrol, Push Push and Herbs, dig around their homes and find out what they’re up to now. Then, as the final icing on this beautiful nostalgic cake? Moa will sing one of their hits with them. Necessary viewing, as far as I’m concerned. / SB

The Good Doctor (weekly on Neon from November 3)

Dr Shaun Murphy, the brilliant young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, is back to save more lives in the fourth season of The Good Doctor. The new season begins as the team at San Jose St. Bonaventure Hospital try to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, while Shaun must also navigate his way through working with a fresh team of surgical residents and the challenges of a new romantic relationship. Bring your tissues. / TW

Aunty Donna (special on Netflix from November 11)

The movies

Emma (on Neon from November 8)

Another generation, another adaptation of Jane Austen’s most delightful novel, named after her most confoundingly likeable heroine. Yes, it’s Emma (and it’s written by Eleanor Catton). Anya Taylor-Joy, who you can also see in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit at the moment, is a less patrician Emma than Gwyneth Paltrow, but she’s an absolute comic revelation in the role. And look, there’s a reason why Emma keeps getting re-adapted: it’s a lot of fun to see someone meddle in their friend’s love affairs. / SB

Dolly Parton’s Christmas Square (on Netflix from November 22)

Wrap your screen in tinsel and give yourself the gift of Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square, the all-singing, all-dancing extravaganza featuring a symphony of new music from Queen Dolly herself. You could put Dolly Parton anywhere – on the square, on the rectangle, on the yuletide rhombus of our wildest dreams – and I will watch the crap out of it, especially if the plot involves a “Scrooge” who plans to sell off her small town without a single thought for the decent folk living there. Parton plays an angel, because she is one. Heavenly. / TW

Hillbilly Elegy (on Netflix from November 24)

You know what happens when you don’t give Glenn Close and Amy Adams Oscars after six nominations each? They make this. They make Hey Y’all: The Movie. / SB

The rest

Netflix

November 1

Can You Hear Me?: Season 2

Grease

War of the Worlds

Jackass 3

Big Fish

Flipped

November 3

Mother

Felix Lobrecht: Hype

November 4

Love and Anarchy

November 5

Paranormal

Operation Christmas Drop

The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run

Carmel: Who Killed Maria Marta?

November 6

Country Ever After

Citation

November 9

Undercover (BE): Season 2

November 10

DASH & LILY

Trash Truck

Shameless: Season 10

November 11

A Queen Is Born

What We Wanted

Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun

November 13

The Minions of Midas

The Life Ahead

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

November 15

The Crown: Season 4

November 17

We Are The Champions

The Boss Baby: Back in Business: Season 4

November 18

Bitter Daisies: Season 2

Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas

November 19

The Princess Switch: Switched Again

November 20

Voices of Fire

If Anything Happens, I Love You

Alien Xmas

Flavorful Origins: Gansu Cuisine

November 22

Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square

November 23

Shawn Mendes: In Wonder

November 24

Hillbilly Elegy

Notes for my Son

Wonderoos

Dragons: Rescue Riders: Huttsgalor Holiday

November 25

The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two

Great Pretender: Season 2

How I Met Your Mother: Season 1-10

November 26

Mosul

November 27

Over Christmas

Virgin River: Season 2

Sugar Rush Christmas: Season 2

The Call

Don’t Listen

The Beast

Dance Dreams: Hot Chocolate Nutcracker

A Go! Go! Cory Carson Christmas

November 29

The Uncanny Counter

Wonderoos: Holiday Holiday!

November 30

Finding Agnes

Drive Hard

Neon

November 1

Blaze and the Monster Machines: Season 2-3

Just Mercy

Something Borrowed

November 2

Hate Thy Neighbour

November 3

Blaze and the Monster Machines: Season 4

The Good Doctor: Season 4

November 4

The Wiggles; Ready, Steady, Wiggle: Season 2

Baby Riki Feelings

November 5

Light as a Feather: Season 1-2

The Lighthouse

Van Wilder: Party Liaison

November 8

Emma

Shaun The Sheep: Farmageddon

November 9

The Fixies: Season 1-2

Kid’s Black History

The Devil You Know

November 11

A Teacher

5 Years Apart

November 13

Teen Mom OG: Season 5-6

We Die Young

November 15

Knives Out

November 16

Andy’s Baby Animals

Nina and the Neurons: Season 10

The Gruffalo

November 17

His Dark Materials: Season 2

November 19

The Other Two

Sis

Limitless

November 20

The Day Henry Met…

Game Shakers: Season 2

The Penguins of Madagascar: Season 1

Godzilla

Mia and the White Lion

Christmas Bounty

A Christmas Cruise

Christmas in Montana

Christmas on the River

A Christmas Reunion

The Christmas Temp

A Kiss for Christmas

The Magical Christmas Shoes

A Princess for Christmas

November 21

Teletubbies: Season 1

The Bucket List

The Good Liar

November 22

The Good Liar

The Blind Side

Yes, God, Yes

November 23

Boomerang: Season 1-2

Annie

The Aviator

November 24

Only

November 26

Abigail

November 27

Love & Hip-Hop: Hollywood: Season 1-3

Body of Lies

November 29

Midway

November 30

300

300: Rise of an Empire

TVNZ on Demand

November 1

Junior Masterchef Australia

Anne Frank: Parallel Stories

NZ Filmmaker Florian Habicht Collection

Un + Une

Viva

Slam: Season 1

Lost in Thought

Bonancini’s Italy

One World Kitchen

Fish the Dish

North Korea – Life Inside the Secret State

In the Shadow of the Sun

Iuventa

The Invisible War

Bottom Feeders: Season 2

Buccaneers and Bones: Season 2

The Browns: Season 1

Drag Heals: Season 2

The Amazing Gayl Pile: Season 1

Forgive Me: Season 3

Love, Inevitably: Season 1

November 5

From the Vault: Ray Columbus

November 6

Young Sheldon: Season 4

Mom: Season 8

November 9

Roadkill

Bug Hunter

November 13

Anika Moa Reunited

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 17

Station 19: Season 4

November 19

Console Wars

Disney+

November 6

The Fault In Our Stars

Spread The Word

November 13

Inside Pixar

Ever After

November 17

LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special

November 18

The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse

November 20

Marvel’s 616

The Real Right Stuff

November 27

Black Beauty

Hidden Figures

Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog

Amazon Prime Video

November 2

Nasha

November 5

Two and a Half Men: Seasons 1-12

November 6

Ferro

Wayne

November 10

Ici C’Est Paris, 50 Years of Passion

November 13

Pete the Cat: Season 2

Chhalaang

November 20

The Pack

Maara

November 25

Uncle Frank

November 27

Life in a Year

Locas por El Cambio

Acorn TV

November 2

The Cry

Inspector Morse: Season 1-3

Murdoch Mysteries: Season 8

November 9

The South Westerlies

The Silence

Lewis: Season 1-3

A Mother’s Son

November 16

Sisters of War

Jamaica Inn

Endeavour: Season 3-5

Vera: Season 3-4

Heartbeat: Season 1-2

November 23

Seachange: Paradise Reclaimed

Manhunt

The Norman Conquests

Grandchester

Shetland: Season 3-4

November 30

Prime Suspect: Season 1-3

London Kills: Season 1

Fingersmith

Arthur & George

Apple TV+

November 13

Becoming You

Doug Unplugs