Best TV series to watch in Australia


Best TV series in Australia

It’s never been easier to watch and stream the best TV series in Australia. Right now we are going through a golden age of streaming TV, and are literally spoilt for top-quality TV shows. From drama and action to crime and documentaries to animated series, it’s all available to stream instantly online.

Here we look a little closer at the best shows to stream in Australia.

Watch the best shows streaming in Australia

Streaming has changed the way we watch series and other TV content, allowing us to choose how and when we stream movies and access our favourite shows, whilst breaking the shackles of sitting in front of our home TV set – although this is still an option with online streaming!

The list of streaming services available to us now is bigger than ever. As well as established players like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video there are more recent additions in the shape of BINGE and Disney Plus.

With so many providers fighting for our subscription, we are the ones who get to benefit through free trials, discounts and the ability to switch between services as and when we want.

Streaming is also ideal for larger households and families as it allows us to watch multiple devices on one account, so no more disputes about who watches what. The only thing you need to worry about is enjoying the best TV series on streaming at your disposal. 

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The best series to watch on streaming

The streaming landscape in Australia is more competitive than ever. Established streaming giants Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Stan are rich in TV series that continues to rise in number thanks to third-party content and original programming.

Meanwhile, Foxtel Now and BINGE also feature an excellent catalogue of shows from the world’s best creators. Check out what each streaming service has in store for you in the TV series department.

Best TV series on BINGE

BINGE offers a huge range of content to stream thanks to their close links with Foxtel. This means that you can watch BINGE TV shows and movies from HBO, NBC, CBS, AMC and more. There also hit originals like High Country and Colin from Accounts, plus the new series from HBO, The Penguin starring Colin Farrell.

On top of that, there’s plenty of cartoons and animations for kids, as well as award-winning wildlife documentaries and hard-hitting docuseries. Here are the best shows streaming on BINGE.

Best TV series on Foxtel Now

If you would like to enjoy a vast range of Foxtel content with a satellite or cable subscription, the Foxtel Now service is a no-nonsense way to stream movies and new shows online, including the latest spy thriller, The Day of the Jackal.

The Foxtel Now Essentials pack includes channels like Showcase, Docos, Lifestyle, and more, with the option to watch series live or later on demand. Here are the best shows streaming on Foxtel Now.

Best TV series on Paramount+

More than offering heaps of blockbusters from Paramount Pictures, as well as original films, the streaming service is also a prolific platform of TV shows. From classics to this year’s trending series, TV fans will always have something new and exciting to watch, including the new spy drama The Agency starring Michael Fassbender, as well as Taylor Sheridan’s new series Landman starring Billy Bob Thornton.

You can also find more titles with our best shows streaming on Paramount Plus page.

Best shows to stream on BritBox

BritBox offers every British classic and popular shows from BBC and ITV, which means nearly the entirety of hits in the UK. Some of these shows may be available in other streaming services but when it comes to comprehensive British television content, BritBox’s deep catalogue is simply more notable. BBC First’s exit from Foxtel and BINGE also means that many of your favourite dramas and crime thrillers from the BBC are now exclusively streaming on BritBox, including Call the Midwife and Shetland.

The streaming service also has originals on offer, including After the Flood and the TV adaptation of Irvine Welsh’s novel, Crime.

Here are the best shows on BritBox.

Best TV series to watch on Disney Plus

The Disney Plus library brings together close to 100 years of Disney content. From the smash-hits The Mandorian to the new season of Doctor Who, it’s all here to watch instantly. New Marvel shows like Agatha All Along and X-Men ’97 are also streaming on Disney+.

Their new Disney Plus ‘Star’ option is great for an older audience and includes shows like Modern Family, Family Guy and Dopesick. Here are the best shows streaming on Disney Plus.

Best shows on Amazon Prime Video

Amazon Prime Video is another original streaming provider that has set the bar for the rest to follow, as well as series and movies to stream, they have a load of original documentaries in the sports domain. You can watch something for just about everyone and enjoy major series and best movies alongside kids TV. Some of their latest releases include Cross, the adaptation of James Patterson’s novels “Alex Cross”.

Here are the best shows on Amazon Prime.

Best TV shows on Netflix

It could be argued that Netflix properly introduced the world to the benefits of streaming. They remain a leader in the field with literally thousands of TV show episodes and movies available to stream instantly.

You can catch dramas like Outlander which currently has seven seasons, alongside The Crown and its final season, and of course, the new season of Heartbreak High, plus reality shows and kids TV.

Best docuseries on DocPlay

If you’re fed up with big TV series and movies and want to get a little more familiar with the ‘real world’ then Aussie streaming service, DocPlay may be the one for you.

Their library is jam-packed with little gems you would probably never come across without their subscription, including Navalny and Volcano Man.

Here are the best doco shows on DocPlay.

Best shows to stream on Apple TV+

Apple TV+ may not have third party content but the streamer intends to grow its catalogue of original programming. Some of the service’s popular shows are Ted Lasso, The Morning Wars, Severance, Silo, Slow Horses, and many others. You can also count on Apple TV+ to produce high-quality programming, working with big names in the industry.

For example, Apple TV+’s new thriller, Disclaimer, stars Cate Blanchett and Sacha Baron Cohen. It is directed by “Roma” and “Gravity” director Alfonso Cuarón.

Streaming services in Australia compared

Here we delve a little deeper into the most popular providers in Australia and the benefits of their subscription, including how to sign up to their current price plans. The great thing about these services is that they are as easy to access and enjoy on just about any modern device.

So, if there’s a TV show you want to watch that may feature exclusively with a specific provider in Australia, you can find out how to watch it right here.

The Penguin

BINGE

To stream and watch series with BINGE, all you need to do is take advantage of their 7-day free trial offer. This free option gives you access to their extensive library so that you can watch TV shows and movies without paying a cent upfront. After your free trial is over there is a choice between three plans.

A basic BINGE plan with Ads costs $10 per month and allows you to stream on one device in HD. The ad-free Standard plan will set you back only $19 per month with the option to stream on one screen or two in HD.

The most comprehensive choice on BINGE is the Premium plan, which for $22 per month allows you to stream on four devices in high definition. Both Standard and Premium offer 4K streaming on selected titles.

BINGE also offers annual plans now – $79 for 12 months for Basic, $149 for 12 months for Standard, and $179 for 12 months for Premium.

The Day of the Jackal - Eddie Redmayne

Foxtel Now

It’s never been easier and cheaper to stream and watch series on Foxtel Now. To start with you can access all the channels included in the service with a free 10-day trial. You can also pick the Starter Pack available for $35 per month.

Foxtel Now comes with the Foxtel Go app, meaning that you can stream TV shows at home or on the move. For more content, get the Sport + Movies bundle, or get everything including Kids and Docos with the All Packs or Ultimate bundle. All of these options can be cancelled at any time. Foxtel Now offers all media on their service on up to five devices at once.

Agatha All Along

Disney Plus

There are two types of subscription if you want to watch and stream Disney Plus content online. To start with there is the Standard monthly, cancel at any time Disney Plus offer which costs $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year. The second is the Premium plan to access 4K titles and stream on up to 4 devices. It costs $17.99 per month or $179.99 annually.

The Disney Plus app is also super user friendly and comes with parental control option so that any younger member of the family don’t see the more adult related.

Matlock TV series (2024)

Paramount Plus

Paramount’s streaming service, Paramount Plus, combines compelling content from CBS, Showtime, Network 10, Nickelodeon, MTV, and more. There’s also original programming for both TV shows and movies, continually expanding the platform’s catalogue.

Also one of the cheapest streaming services in Australia, Paramount+ plans start at only $6.99/month (with ads) or $61.99 annually. The monthly plan for the Standard tier costs $9.99 while the annual plan is priced at $89.99 after your 7-day free trial. To stream in 4K and up to four devices, you’ll need to get the Premium plan, which currently costs $13.99 monthly and $124.99 annually.

Rings of Power Season 2

Amazon Prime Video

Getting access to Prime Video’s award-winning TV shows is easy with a 30-day free trial. Prime is one of the few streaming services that still offers a full month of free trial in Australia, which makes the platform more of a must-try. After your free trial is over, an Amazon Prime monthly subscription is only $9.99 per month.

There are no tiers, only an option between a monthly and an annual plan, which costs $79. Even better, an Amazon Prime subscription not only gives you access to thousands of movies and TV series, it also provides other services like free shipping, discounts, and more.

Shetland Season 8

BritBox

A niche streaming service with a focus on British content, BritBox is slowly gaining traction as the ultimate platform for every BBC and ITV exclusive. Their catalogue of content is spread into various genres but you can rest assured that all your favourite British dramas and crime thrillers are here.

To try the service, BritBox offers a 7 day free trial. After that there is a monthly, cancel at any time option and an annual plan. So, if you’re a big fan of British telly, BritBox is available in Australia with its ever-growing content.

Alexei Navalny documentary

DocPlay

To start watching DocPlay documentaries you can simply take advantage of the 14 day free DocPlay trial offer. This gives you their entire library free without paying a cent. If you feel that DocPlay is right for you, you can enjoy the streaming service thereafter for only $8.99 per month.

DocPlay can be enjoyed in HD with no ad breaks, and come with a handy easy to use app for those who want to watch documentaries on the move. You’re not just limited to one screen either with DocPlay, with up to four people able to access the service at one time, which is great for larger households.

Slow Horses Season 3

Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is best known for offering top-tier original programming. Starting with just a couple of shows and movies, the streamer has now over 30 original movies and over 50 original TV series, including hits Ted Lasso, Morning Wars, Slow Horses, Severance, and many others.

Subscription to Apple TV+ is currently $12.99 per month, which includes 4K viewing for all content and simultaneous streaming on up to six devices.

Stranger Things

Netflix

New Netflix streaming customers no longer have the option of a free trial. There are simply three plans to choose from, all giving you access to new series as well as the classic shows. To start with, Netflix’s cheapest plan is currently $6.99 but this tier comes with ads. To go ad-free, the next plan is the Standard at $16.99 per month, whilst the $22.99 per month plan lets you stream on four devices in Ultra HD.

Netflix is renowned for its user-friendly interface and app. It also comes with parental controls so that the kids don’t see something they shouldn’t. Plus, the streaming giant is known for its staple shows, including Stranger Things (which only keeps getting better in its subsequent seasons!), the sci-fi show 3 Body Problem, and a lot more.  

Wolf Like Me

Stan

Stan is currently offering a mammoth 30 day free trial for all new subscribers. Stan have three tiers to their subscription pricing $12, $17 and $22 with an optional extra for sport. All plans come complete with the free trial so you can try out the library before committing.

HD is available on the top two tiers while 4K UHD is only available on the premium tier. The basic plan allows for one screen, while the next two tiers allow for simultaneous streams. Popular series on the streaming service includes Breaking Bad, Billions, Yellowstone, as well as dozens of top-tier Stan originals. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Streaming TV

What is Streaming TV?

From the birth of television, we got all our content through live TV broadcasts on free-to-air TV – signals containing continuous TV channels sent out to anyone who can pick them up.
Streaming TV is completely different – you choose which TV shows and movies you want to watch from an app – whether it is on your TV, laptop, smartphone, or tablet device – and it’s then sent to you via your broadband internet connection.
It’s called “streaming” because you watch it as it’s being sent to you, rather than downloading it to watch later. And in recent years the Australian streaming market has exploded.

How Do You Stream to Your TV?

If you’ve got a recent model TV, it’s almost certainly what’s known as a “Smart TV” – in other words, it can download and run apps.
The most popular apps for smart TVs are those for streaming services. This is because it’s easy to just sit back and load up the app for your favourite service and start watching.
But smart TV support for each streaming service varies, so if you’re watching a lot of it, the better option is to buy a dedicated streaming device like Fetch TV or Apple TV or get a low-cost device called a Chromecast so you can send streaming TV to your screen from a phone or tablet app.

How do you Stream from an iPad, iPhone, or Android Phone to a TV?

Streaming is really easy on modern smartphones and tablets, but not everyone wants to watch their shows and movies on a tiny screen. You can fix that easily with a small device made by Google called Chromecast.
It plugs into a spare HDMI port on your TV and connects to the same Wi-Fi network that your phone is on. Once it’s set up, all you need to do is load up your favourite streaming app – Netflix, BINGE, Kayo, and hundreds of others – and tap the little TV screen icon in the top right corner to connect to Chromecast.
Then everything you play will stream directly to your TV, letting you enjoy the best TV shows and movies of the Aussie streaming scene on the big screen!

Can You Stream from an iMac or PC to a TV?

If you’ve got a fairly recent model of Mac or PC, you’ll almost certainly find an HDMI video output socket on the back (or side, in the case of laptops) of the computer.
If you have one of these, streaming direct to your TV is easy – just connect it to a spare HDMI input on your TV with a cable and switch to that input, then start streaming. Other computers may have different video connectors, such as Mini DisplayPort, USB-C, or Thunderbolt.
These can connect to your TV as well, but you’ll need a special adapter cable for this. An easier option in those cases may be to use a Chromecast connected to the TV, sending video to it from the Google Chrome web browser.

How Do You Stream Netflix to a TV?

Of all the streaming services, Netflix is the one that almost every smart TV and streaming device supports – if you’ve bought a TV, disc player, or streaming device recently, it’ll probably have a big red and white Netflix button on its remote control!
All you need to do to stream Netflix TV shows on any TV is simply load up the app and sign in with your account email and password. Doing this will load up all your profiles, favourites, and watchlists, so you can pick up your TV shows and movies where you left off on the phone or PC.

Do I Need a Streaming Box with a Smart TV?

While you’ll find Netflix support on pretty much every smart TV, the other streaming services you can access on that TV will vary greatly depending on the brand, model, and year of your TV.
The best solution, if you’re streaming all the time, is to buy a dedicated streaming box. These smart little devices plug into your TV via HDMI and act as a sort of “one-stop shop” for all the different streaming service apps. With them you can stream from any of them from the one remote control. The best streaming boxes are the ones with the widest app support.

Is Foxtel Now the Same as Streaming TV?

While Foxtel Now offers plenty of TV shows and movies for you to watch on demand, its main purpose is to deliver Foxtel’s live TV channels to you via streaming rather than satellite.
This is much the same as other streaming services, except that each channel is its own separate, continuous live stream, and you switch between channels rather than choosing individual titles.
It’s designed to behave just like regular TV does, but under the hood, it’s like any other streaming service and, as such, it performs best on a fast broadband connection.

How Much Data Does It Take to Stream TV?

All streaming TV uses an amount of download data on your broadband plan – so if you’ve got a monthly download limit, you’ll want to keep an eye on just how much data is being used.
That amount varies greatly between different streaming services, but as a general guide, expect to use around 1GB per hour at standard definition, 3GB per hour at HD (high definition), and 7GB per hour at 4K Ultra HD quality. This is not to mention offline downloads, which vary depending on the size of the file and your internet connection.
We’d recommend anyone who streams regularly get a broadband plan with unlimited data – they’re incredibly cheap now.

How Do You Stream Kayo to a Smart TV?

Innovative sports streaming service Kayo Sports is still working on apps for a wider range of Smart TVs.
At the moment, though, they offer an app for Samsung TVs made in 2017 and later, Hisense TVs made in 2019 and later, LG TVs made in 2018 or later, and for TVs running the Android TV operating system (like Sony’s recent models). You can also watch Kayo on the big screen using Google TV and Amazon Fire TV Stick.
For any other TV, Smart or not, you’ll need to use a streaming device, with the best ones for Kayo Sports being Hubbl and Apple TV. Both devices offer a range of other content, making this worthwhile.
Kayo also supports Chromecast so you can cast from your phone, but a current-model Chromecast is recommended for best results.

How Do You Stream Foxtel Go to a TV?

Foxtel Go is the app for phones and tablets that’s designed for use by customers of both Foxtel satellite TV and Foxtel Now services.
You can stream the live channels and on-demand content to a TV by using the new Foxtel app for LG and Samsung smart TVs, or by streaming from the mobile app to a Chromecast device.
However, Foxtel satellite customers will need to add the Multiscreen pack to their account before they can begin streaming. Fortunately, Multiscreen is now included in all Foxtel packages. Foxtel Now customers can stream on simultaneous devices – up to two at the same time. They can also use the dedicated Foxtel Now box or Apple TV to stream.

How Do You Stream beIN SPORTS to a TV?

beIN SPORTS CONNECT lets you stream your favourite sports through your computer, smartphone or tablet. To watch through your television, the beIN SPORTS CONNECT app supports Chromecast and Apple TV AirPlay casting.

How Do You Stream ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 7plus and Others to a TV?

With the free-to-air streaming services – ABC iView, SBS On Demand, 7plus, 9now and 10 Play – you’ve got plenty of choices to watch on your TV, especially if it supports the “Freeview” standard.
TVs that offer Freeview will display a banner when changing channels, letting you access that network’s streaming service with the tap of a coloured button. For easier browsing and streaming, almost all Smart TVs include apps for all five of the free-to-air networks. As do the streaming devices like Hubbl, Apple TV, and the latest Foxtel iQ box.
All of these apps are completely free to use, though some require you to sign up for a free account, and all (except ABC iView) are supported by ad breaks during your streams.

Do Streaming Services Require a Lock-In Contract?

No. That’s one of the best things about all the best streaming services, including Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports – there is no need to agree to any sort of lock-in contract.
You pay a month in advance for a month’s access and can cancel at any time. Even better, you can re-subscribe later and as long as it hasn’t been too long, you’ll find all your favourites and watchlists right where you left them.

Is There a Free Trial for Streaming Services?

The tradition with streaming TV has been to offer new customers a free trial period so they can see if they like what the service has to offer. However, not all services offer free trials.
Netflix and Disney Plus don’t offer a free trial anymore, so anyone signing up for the first time will have to pay for the first month to try them out.
However, there are still plenty of free trials around, such as Foxtel Now (10 days), BINGE (7 days), Kayo Sports (7 days), Paramount+ (7 days), BritBox (7 days), Apple TV+ (7 days) and Amazon Prime Video (30 days). Other streaming giants Netflix, Disney+, and Stan no longer offer a free trial as of this writing.

Can You Record Streaming TV?

Because it’s designed to be watched on demand, streaming services don’t give you the ability to record shows and movies to watch later.
However, some services do allow you to download titles to a mobile phone or tablet to stream later without using the internet.
This can be brilliant for when you’re travelling – load up your iPad or phone with some movies or a series, and you can watch them anywhere without incurring a massive mobile data bill. Streaming services that allow downloads include Netflix, Stan, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Premium, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, and BritBox on select devices.

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