Autumn is when the television schedules for TV and streaming finally wake up, and the week beginning Monday 21 September 2026 is a busy one for viewers in the UK. Sky and NOW are launching a nightly political experiment that puts former cabinet ministers in a simulated national crisis. Netflix is opening the doors of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, reviving a beloved American sitcom and adapting a Spanish bestseller about a retired Sherlock Holmes actor. Disney+ is offering both a very British celebrity documentary and the return of one of television’s most lurid horror anthologies. Even Prime Video and Paramount+, which are quieter this week, have something worth setting aside an evening for.

Here is what is arriving, what each programme is about, and where you can watch it. All dates below are for UK release and were correct at the time of writing, though streaming schedules do occasionally shift at short notice.

Now TV and Sky

The Wargame (Sky and NOW, from Monday 21 September)

The most talked-about arrival of the TV and streaming week is also the least conventional. The Wargame is a four-part constructed documentary from The Garden, part of ITV Studios, in which senior politicians, military leaders and intelligence chiefs are shut inside a COBR-style crisis room and asked to respond to a simulated Russian attack on UK soil. The line-up of participants is striking: Michael Gove takes the role of Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon is his deputy, Penny Mordaunt is Defence Secretary and Jim Murphy is Foreign Secretary. They are joined by figures including Harriet Harman, Kim Darroch, Christopher Steele and, in the role of a US official, Anthony Scaramucci.

The four episodes air nightly from Monday 21 to Thursday 24 September, with the run culminating in a live special, The Wargame: Live, presented by Cathy Newman on the final night. If you want to watch on NOW rather than on a Sky box, the series will be streaming there too. Expect escalating news bulletins, social media chaos and uncomfortable decisions, and expect plenty of arguments about who would really have blinked first.

Netflix

Wonka’s The Golden Ticket (Netflix, Wednesday 23 September)

Netflix’s big swing at event reality television arrives midweek. Twelve pairs of golden ticket winners are let loose inside a recreation of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, where they face physical, mental and moral challenges in what the streamer calls a high-stakes social experiment. Only one contestant will walk away with the life-changing prize. The show is presented through hologram segments featuring Howie Mandel, Nick Cannon and Wayne Brady, and it recreates the voice of Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka, a decision that is already generating debate. Rusty Goffe also returns as an Oompa Loompa, a nod to the 1971 film. The season premieres on 23 September, with a two-part finale following on 30 September.

A Different World (Netflix, Thursday 24 September)

Nostalgia gets a fresh coat of paint with this sequel to the classic 1980s campus sitcom. Maleah Joi Moon stars as Deborah Wayne, the youngest daughter of Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert, who begins her freshman year at Hillman College and has to work out who she is beyond her famous parents. Original cast members Jasmine Guy, Kadeem Hardison, Darryl M. Bell and Cree Summer return, and Debbie Allen, who directed the original series, is an executive producer and directs the premiere. The first season is ten half-hour episodes, so it is an easy weekend binge.

The Final Problem (Netflix, Friday 25 September)

For mystery lovers, this Spanish five-part limited series is the one to watch. Adapted from Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s bestselling novel and directed by Félix Viscarret, it is set in spring 1959, when thirteen people are stranded by a violent storm at a hotel on a small island off Mallorca. When a guest dies in mysterious circumstances, what looks like suicide turns into a murder investigation. Basil, a retired actor best known for playing Sherlock Holmes on screen, finds himself reluctantly taking on the role of detective for real, with help from an aspiring thriller writer. José Coronado leads a cast that includes María Valverde and Maribel Verdú.

Also on Netflix

Two more TV and streaming titles are worth a mention. Habeas Corpus (23 September) is Netflix Brazil’s first courtroom drama, inspired by Innocence Project Brazil and starring Marjorie Estiano and Any Gabrielly, about a law professor and her students trying to prove a convicted man’s innocence. And on 25 September the film Unabomber, directed by Janus Metz, follows Ted Kaczynski from his troubled Harvard years to the FBI manhunt, with Jacob Tremblay as the young Kaczynski and Russell Crowe as Professor Henry Murray.

Disney+

The Real Rooneys (Disney+, Thursday 24 September)

Wayne and Coleen Rooney open their Cheshire home to the cameras for what the documentary series describes as a pivotal year. Wayne swaps football management for the school run, while Coleen pursues big career moves including a clothing range with Primark. The series follows their four sons, including eldest son Kai’s football ambitions, and promises the highs and lows of married life from home to holiday. The first eight episodes land on 24 September, with two further episodes arriving on 1 October.

American Horror Story: 13 (Disney+, Friday 25 September)

Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk’s anthology reaches its thirteenth instalment, and it is a crossover event. A present-day crisis pulls in characters from earlier seasons, and the number 13 keeps turning up with increasingly sinister consequences. Joey Pollari plays Ben DeSoto, a new hospice worker trained by Constance Langdon. Returning favourites include Sarah Paulson, Evan Peters, Angela Bassett and Kathy Bates, and Jessica Lange comes back after eight years. There are thirteen episodes in all: three arrive on 25 September, with the finale on 30 October. If you have never seen the show, the season is designed so newcomers can follow Ben’s story, though longtime fans will spot plenty of references to Murder House, Coven, Hotel and Cult.

Amazon Prime Video

A quieter week with two highlights

Prime Video has fewer headline premieres this week, but there is still something for both true crime and romance fans. Hair Fetish Killer (22 September) is a true crime special about the 2002 murder of a woman in Bournemouth, discovered by her own children. The Love Hypothesis (23 September) is a romantic comedy film based on Ali Hazelwood’s bestselling novel, starring Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman. Reinhart plays Olive Smith, a biology PhD candidate who enters a fake relationship with the formidable Professor Adam Carlsen to prove she has moved on, only for the pretence to start feeling real.

Paramount+

MobLand series 2 (Paramount+, new episode Friday 25 September)

Paramount+ has no brand-new TV and streaming series launching this week, but the second season of its gangster drama MobLand began on 18 September and is well worth catching up on now. Tom Hardy plays Harry Da Souza, the fixer for the Harrigan crime family, with Pierce Brosnan as patriarch Conrad Harrigan and Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan. The new series follows the family as it tries to present a united front while internal rivalries and outside threats close in. Its ten episodes are released weekly on Fridays through to 20 November, so the second instalment is due on 25 September.

The verdict

Taken together, the week offers a neat spread of tastes for TV and streaming. The Wargame is the one most likely to dominate conversation, thanks to its cast of real political heavyweights and its live finale. Netflix has the widest variety, from playful competition television through Spanish period mystery. Disney+ appeals to both gossip fans and horror devotees, and Prime Video and Paramount+ round things out with a romance, a documentary and a gangster drama you can catch up on at your own pace. If you can only pick a handful, our suggestions would be The Wargame for its sheer novelty, The Final Problem for a classic whodunnit with a twist, and American Horror Story: 13 for the biggest crossover the franchise has attempted. Whatever you choose, it looks like a good week to keep the remote close.