Why this sweet and not-too-sappy British dramedy is a must for movie buffs

Film Club is a charming, sweet and not-too-sappy six-episode adventure tailor-made for cinephiles.

Co-created by star Aimee Lou Wood (who was so impressive in The White Lotus), the extremely bingeable series follows best buds Evie (Wood) and Noa (Nabhaan Rizwan, Kaos) as they gather every Friday to watch a movie in Evie's garage.

But watch is not all they do - they go all out. The garage is transformed to match the world of whichever film they're watching, and they must also dress up as one of the characters - the more obscure the better (for instance, when they watch The Shawshank Redemption, Evie dresses as Jake, the crow Brooks befriends). The viewing is followed by trivia and great fun is had by all.

It doesn't take long to work out that this charming weekly activity is less of a hobby and more of a crutch for our two leads. Evie hasn't been able to leave the house for eight months, constrained by some fear in her brain that she can't quite figure out. Noa is anxious about taking steps in his career and his life, and their film club gives him a convenient reason not to make any changes.

Wood and Rizwan are both brilliant and incredibly likeable leads, and they are well supported by Suranne Jones (The Assassin), Adam Long (Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue), Liv Hill (The Serpent Queen), Fola Evans-Akingbola (The Night Agent) and Adolescence breakout Owen Cooper.

The quiet but simmering romantic tension between Evie and Noa is excellent to watch unfold and the pair have an easy chemistry.

As much, if not more, about family love as it is about romance, Film Club is one of the unexpected joys of the year.

After a buzzy and successful first season, German high school series Maxton Hall makes its return for an even more drama-filled season two.

Our leads Ruby (Harriet Herbig-Matten) and James (Damian Hardung) ended their first season in a happy place, relationship-wise, but that's thrown into turmoil immediately as James learns of the unexpected death of his mother and goes on a self-destructive spiral.

In true Maxton Hall style, Ruby's educational prospects somehow rest on whether or not she and the school's student events team can pull together various successful fundraisers and dinners for the cohort and their rich and influential parents. While the believability of just about everything in this show is thin at best, it does make for fun and engaging drama, especially when paired with the incredibly liberal use of slow-motion cinematography and off-kilter camera angles.

This season also continues Lydia's struggle to be taken seriously by her and James' insufferably villainous father, as well as her little bun in the oven situation.

But like any high school romance show, Maxton Hall lives and dies by its leads' chemistry, and Herbig-Matten and Hardung have it through the roof. Existing fans will love this season as much as the first, and won't be able to wait for season three.

Pair Ruth Wilson and Emma Thompson together and you'll give anything a go, even if it's terrible. Luckily for us, Down Cemetery Road is far from terrible.

The British series, which has episodes dropping weekly, introduces us to Oxfordshire-based classic art restorer Sarah (Wilson) who becomes obsessed with finding a child injured in a house explosion neighbouring her property. Her fixation starts innocently enough, as she is simply trying to pass along a handmade 'get well soon' card to the kid from one of the other children in the neighbourhood. But she's stopped at the hospital and asked to leave. Then she finds press coverage of the explosion has edited the child out of the narrative. Her final straw is when police say information on the injured girl has been flagged and cannot be shared.

So she hires a private investigator to look into the perplexing situation, driven by a need to know what's going on. That puts her on contact with Thompson's no-nonsense Zoe. She's capable, witty and not one for keeping with tradition. And as with any Thompson character, you can't help but like her immediately.

The series is from the creator of the celebrated Slow Horses, and looks set to be an engaging, enjoyable mystery with a good deal of humour and quirks to complement the intrigue and darkness.

The famed archer of Nottingham is back for another iteration with Stan's new modernised retelling of Robin Hood. The period series stars Sean Bean and Connie Nielsen. There's plenty of new content on Netflix, with Colin Farrell poker drama Ballad of a Small Player; Aussie Superwog spin-off series Son of a Donkey; the return of fantasy series The Witcher, now with Aussie Liam Hemsworth taking over the Geralt role from Henry Cavill; and Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, a documentary film about Aileen Wuornos, who was portrayed by Charlize Theron in the Oscar-winning film Monster. Over on Paramount+ Tracy Morgan leads new sitcom Crutch, a spin-off from The Neighbourhood. And on Prime Video you'll find Hedda, writer-director Nia DaCosta's new take on the classic Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, with Tessa Thompson in the lead.