British true crime, wildlife wonders, sporting greats – they’re all here in our pick of the best documentaries to stream now…
Secret World Of Sound With David Attenborough
David Attenborough’s riveting documentary exploring how animals hear and produce sound
Year: 2024
Certificate: PG
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
The buzzing sound made by bees is a by-product of the noise made by their wings as they fly. It’s not purely incidental, though – there’s a species called the Buff-tailed bumblebee that uses that sound to blast pollen loose for collection, a sound that happens to be in the same frequency as the note ‘D’ in music. Such are the facts you learn in this series, in which Attenborough digs deeper and deeper into the abilities of every animal he surveys.
The sounds you’ll hear across the three-parter are recorded by sophisticated tiny microphones – some so small they fit on your fingertip – which capture the communications of dolphins, the ingenious mating songs of dipper birds and plenty more besides, while also helping us to hear how creatures with super-sensitive hearing, such as owls, experience the world. It’s all quite a journey and real life may sound a little dull once you turn it off. Depending on where you live, of course. (Three episodes)
Formula 1: Drive To Survive
The human dramas behind the roaring engines of Formula 1
Year: 2019-
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
Drive To Survive is one of the great success stories of Netflix documentaries. The series introduced a whole new layer of fans to the sport, using beautifully shot and edited films and incredible behind-the-scenes access to bring Formula 1’s drivers and support staff to vivid, combative, soap-opera life.
The first series arrived in 2019 and tracked the 2018 racing season, with a new series every year after that following the same pattern, interviewing the drivers and bringing off-track rivalries of this intense sport to life. Series five followed the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen – who, that time around, allowed himself to be interviewed for the first time on the show. Series six focuses on the 2023 season, taking in the relative fortunes of Red Bull, Aston Martin and Mercedes. It’s just as good as the previous series if not better, as you can actually feel how the level of access the show gets has improved – Drive To Survive is quite the institution in Formula 1 now, after all. (Six series)
Can I Tell You A Secret
Terrifying documentary about the hunt for an online stalker
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
A message containing the words ‘Can I tell you a secret?’ dropping into their mailboxes was just the start of a nightmare for a number of British women. The man behind the message went on to infiltrate not just their lives but those of their family and friends, spreading discord and misery and threatening to destroy everything they held dear.
This tough, intimate and more than a little scary two-part documentary, produced by Louis Theroux, uses testimony from the women targeted to shape an account of the hunt for the man behind the online attacks, a hunt which ultimately ended up with a British judge handing down one of the toughest sentences ever seen for online stalking. (Two episodes)
Navalny
Oscar-winning documentary about the Russian opposition leader
Year: 2022
Certificate: 12
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
This Oscar and BAFTA-winning feature-length documentary from the peerless Storyville team is like something straight out of a John le Carre novel. Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, had been a constant thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side, and so suspicions were raised when, in August 2020, he was taken seriously ill.
It transpired that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent implicated in attacks on other opponents of the Russian government, although President Putin denied any involvement. The intense film follows Navalny as he tries to find evidence of the Kremlin’s involvement in his attempted murder, and was released in 2022, less than two years before Navalny died in prison. (99 minutes)
Married To The Game
A behind-the-scenes look at the lives of football’s WAGs
Year: 2024
Prime Video
Being the wife or girlfriend of a top-flight international footballer must be great, right? Well, yes, but along with the lavish house, expensive wardrobe and great cars there’s a downside too, as this slick and glossy documentary series reveals.
A life in the spotlight, the attentions of fickle fans and dealing with the pressures of suddenly having to up sticks and move from the UK to the Middle East when a transfer goes through are just a few of the pressures heaped on the partners of Ilkay Gundogan, Jorginho, James Tarkowski, Matt Turner and Riyad Mahrez as the cameras follow them through the summer break and the transfer window. (Six episodes)
Pete Doherty: Stranger In My Own Skin
The inside story of the Libertines frontman’s battle with drugs
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
The director Katia deVidas filmed Pete Doherty over the course of ten years, racking up more than 200 hours of footage of the Libertines frontman as she documented his descent into drug addiction and the rehab that followed.
DeVidas also happens to be Doherty’s wife, so the lens through which she presents it all has a certain bias; it also has an uncommon intimacy to it, though, and certainly doesn’t stint when it comes to its depiction of the tough times, so be prepared for that.
Ultimately, though, this is a story of survival and, when you consider how Doherty’s life could easily have gone, quite a remarkable one. (92 minutes)
Series charting the career of the Argentinian footballing superstar
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Apple TV+
Lionel Messi arrived at the 2022 World Cup with an extraordinary playing career behind him, but despite a raft of Ballon D’Or wins, league trophies and Champions League victories, the Argentinian was missing one thing that would remove all argument about him being the greatest player of his generation: a World Cup win. The next few weeks would see that change.
With up-close-and-personal access to Messi himself, this detailed and passionate four-part documentary series charts not only Argentina’s march to glory in Qatar, but Messi’s career as a whole, allowing footballing greats from around the world to pay tribute to the mercurial genius of the ‘Little Magician’. (Four episodes)
FDR
Bradley Cooper produces this glossy documentary on Franklin D Roosevelt
Year: 2024
Certificate: 18
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
Franklin Delano Roosevelt had more to bear physically than many world leaders, suffering from polio that left him paralysed from the waist down. The 32nd US President had plenty of crises to get through – in particular the Great Depression and the Second World War – during his 12 years in office. His time ended when he died of a cerebral haemorrhage in April 1945, just months before the end of the war.
This sprawling documentary takes us through his career and events in his private life, including the affair that nearly ended his marriage. It’s produced by Hollywood star Bradley Cooper and the dramatisations woven in between the talking heads and archive footage feature BAFTA-nominated Christian McKay (Me And Orson Welles) as FDR, while Rufus Jones (W1A) plays his fifth cousin, Theodore. It’s glossy, engaging and informative TV. (Three episodes)
Sunderland ‘Til I Die
Behind-the-scenes at Sunderland Football Club in victory and defeat
Year: 2018-2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
The first two series of this fly-on-the-wall documentary about Sunderland Football Club haven’t been pleasant viewing for fans. The first covered 2018-19 when they followed up relegation from the Premier League by dropping out of the Championship too and into League One. The second hoped to show them getting promoted, but instead saw them stagnating in mid-table.
This third and final run of two episodes finally gives fans something to cheer about as the club battles for a play-off final spot and a return to the Championship. The on-the-pitch stuff is smartly done, but – as Welcome To Wrexham on Disney+ proved – this really comes to life when it focuses on the club’s dedicated fans, whose mental health and happiness hinge on Sunderland AFC thriving. (Three series)
Surviving R Kelly
Docuseries revealing the full horror of the singer’s crimes
Year: 2019-2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Channel 4
Settling down to watch three series (well over ten hours) of a documentary giving voices to the victims of one of the most prolific, highest-profile sexual predators in the entertainment industry is a gruelling task – the graphic descriptions of his crimes are nauseating and upsetting.
The story, however, evolves until, by the time we arrive at the final chapter, Kelly has been convicted (in 2021) and the victims, as well as the activists and journalists who supported them, can feel the full force of change that came from speaking out. The mood is one of jubilation.
Kelly will serve 20 years for child sex crimes, concurrent with a 30-year sentence for racketeering and sex-trafficking offences. More than that, light has been shone into some pretty dark corners, where those who were complicit in Kelly’s horrific abuse can no longer hide. The conversation continues. (Three series)
To Catch A Copper
Jaw-dropping documentary series which, like the real Line Of Duty, unearths shocking cases of corrupt officers
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Channel 4
This jaw-dropping series is a bold move by Avon And Somerset police, who let cameras follow the work of their anti-corruption unit in an act of ‘radical transparency’. When the first episode aired, even chief constable Sarah Crew was shocked by what she saw.
The three episodes follow allegations against officers that range from assault to revenge porn and that take in shocking racism and misogyny and a disregard for the vulnerable in society whom police are sworn to protect.
There are clearly ‘bad cops’ – many with ‘old school’ attitudes that are wildly outdated and not shared by new cadets – but there are far more good cops, including DC Amber Redman. She’s one of the anti-corruption officers the series follows, yet even she admits, ‘I don’t think all of the public trust the police. And I think that is sadly part of a culture where perhaps policing has gone wrong.’ (Three episodes)
Tell Them You Love Me
Louis Theroux-produced documentary about a controversial affair
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
Nick August-Perna, the director of this documentary, describes the core of its thorny subject matter very clearly: ‘an able-bodied white woman has sex with a severely disabled, non-verbal black man, whose intellectual capacity is unknown’. The woman is Anna Stubblefield, an American ex-university professor and the man is Derrick Johnson, with whom Stubblefield embarked on a physical affair after forging a connection through the controversial technique of facilitated communication.
Stubblefield went to prison for sexual assault for 12 years in 2016, although she was paroled for life in 2018, and interviews with her are a big part of this rounded and thought-provoking documentary, in which August-Perna also speaks to Johnson’s family in an effort to present both sides of the story. There’s a lot to unpack and the runtime almost isn’t enough, which in an era when we’re used to documentaries taking far longer than necessary to get to the point, is very refreshing indeed. Be prepared to change your mind about the case more than once, and then possibly again when you see Derrick at the end of the film. (100 minutes)
Silverback
Stunning, up-close portrait of an eastern lowland gorilla
Year: 2024
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet filming Silverback
This extraordinary documentary follows the award-winning wildlife cameraman Vianet Djenguet (Planet Earth III, Attenborough’s Life In Colour) as he joins a team of conservationists in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo who are determined to save the critically endangered eastern lowland gorilla from extinction.
The apes’ best hope lies in tourism and the vital revenue they will bring to the area, but first Vianet must win the trust of the family’s notorious alpha male, a 450lb silverback called Mpungwe, who is fiercely protective of his 23-strong group and not easily won over… (90 minutes)
Break Point
Documentary series about the tensions of the professional tennis circuit
Year: 2023-
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
In the series Drive To Survive, Netflix gave viewers a look behind the roaring engines and high-speed racing of Formula 1 to find the human dramas that truly power the sport. They’ve also done the same for the globe-trotting circus that is professional tennis. Cameras follow the rising male and female stars of the sport (including Australia’s controversial Nick Kyrgios) across the entire 2022 season, catching the off-court tensions as well as the surprising moments of weakness.
It’s dramatic and engaging in equal parts, and you find yourself rooting for some unfamiliar faces as they try to unseat the Rogers, Venuses and Novaks from their positions at the top of the sport. If you’re primarily interested in Wimbledon, seek out episodes six and seven of series one.
The second series does the same but for the 2023 season, tracking the fortunes of players familiar from series one, including Ajla Tomljanovic, and Nick Kyrgios, and new additions such as Ben Shelton, Tommy Paul, Holger Rune, Alexander Zverev and Coco Gauff. (Two series)
American Nightmare
Series investigating whether a US couple faked a headline-grabbing kidnapping
Year: 2024
Certificate: 18
Watch now on Netflix
In 2015, Aaron Quinn told US police that an armed man in a wetsuit had broken in, tied him up and kidnapped his girlfriend Denise Huskins. Just a few days later, though, Denise turned up, with no ransom having been paid, claiming her kidnappers had simply released her.
The sceptical local cops immediately assumed that the couple had faked the kidnapping and began investigating them instead of looking for the alleged kidnappers, as the press likened the whole case to the book and film Gone Girl.
This twisty and instantly gripping hit series from the makers of The Tinder Swindler documentary asks if the police were too quick to rush to judgment. Could Aaron and Denise actually have been telling the truth? (Three episodes)
Mad About The Boy: The Noël Coward Story
Top profile of the witty actor, playwright, composer and singer
Year: 2023
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
A feature-length profile of the flamboyant life of one of the most celebrated actors, playwrights, composers, singers and wits of his generation, this features numerous quips from the man himself (‘I was trained when very young as a show-off… and have continued triumphantly until this moment’) as well as Rupert Everett reading from his letters and journals.
Born into poverty in London in 1899, Coward left school at the age of nine and his favourite dish was steak and kidney pie and baked beans so it’s extraordinary to think that he would become the very model of English sophistication, with 60 plays, two novels, more than 500 songs and nine musicals to his name. Coward is well-known now as a gay man, but lived his entire life in the closet. No look at his achievements, from his stage and screen success, through his volunteer war service to his knighthood, would be complete without an understanding of the way lives such as Coward’s were not just private, but often secretive and lonely, too. (89 minutes)
Gwyneth vs Terry: The Ski Crash Trial
Documentary on the celebrity trial that had us all hooked
Year: 2023
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Discovery+
Gwyneth Paltrow in court after she was sued by retired optometrist Terry Sanderson
There’s something inherently fascinating about celebrity court cases, partly because of what they can reveal about the stars involved. The case of retired optometrist Terry Sanderson, who sued Gwyneth Paltrow for $300,000 over a ski collision between the two of them in 2016, was also a rare example of an average person going up against a star in a jury trial.
And it’s the differing ways that Terry and Gwyneth conduct themselves in court that makes for the most intriguing viewing here; it’s a fascinating study in contrasts. The programme examines both sides of this ‘David vs Goliath’ story over one lightly satisfying hour, with access to witnesses and one of the jurors providing a neat inside view of the eight-day proceedings. (60 minutes)
Ronnie O’Sullivan: The Edge Of Everything
Feature-length documentary charting the snooker player’s turbulent life and career
Year: 2023
Watch now on Prime Video
Few sportspeople have quite as difficult a relationship with their chosen sport as Ronnie ‘The Rocket’ O’Sullivan. A maverick showman in a game that rewards obsession and precision, he’s struggled with depression and addiction, yet has still become one of the most successful figures in the game’s history.
This up-close-and-personal documentary not only looks back over his time in the sport since swaggering onto the scene as a cocky teenager but also tracks the star, now 47, as he contemplates both the ever-closer end of his time at the table and his 2022 quest to win a record-equalling seventh world title. It’s genuinely gripping stuff, especially as the realisation dawns that the only person capable of beating O’Sullivan might just be O’Sullivan himself. (113 minutes)
Lockerbie
Compelling and impressively made account of the tragedy and the search for the guilty
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
The wreckage of Pan Am Flight 103 near the Scottish village of Lockerbie
In 1988, 270 people died when Pan Am Flight 103 crashed into the Scottish village of Lockerbie, after a bomb planted on board exploded. Sky’s four-part documentary hears from those who were living there at the time, and is a mix of personal stories of grief and an account of the search for the culprits, which is presented with the feel of a journalistic thriller like All The President’s Men.
The journey is full of fascinating details, such as how so many of the suitcases survived the fall – and how the contents were dealt with on the ground – as well as small moments of kindness and big turns in the investigation, such as the ‘Helsinki warning’ about potential explosives on a flight during that period, which was passed on to the US diplomatic staff but not the public at large. As a whole, the series presents a compelling, impressively simple and very easy to watch account of a tangled and emotionally wrought situation. (Four episodes)
Milli Vanilli
The inside story of the Milli Vanilli lip-syncing scandal
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Paramount+
‘We never really attempted to read it,’ reflects Fabrice Morvan on the recording contract he and Robert Pilatus signed when they formed Milli Vanilli, the pop double act who had such great hair and danced so well. The duo didn’t sing on their records, though, and the ensuing fall from pop grace involved them being required to return a Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
In a way, it shouldn’t have been such a surprise – their producer Frank Farian had done much the same thing with Boney M after all, but the deceit was seen as a huge pop scandal and this documentary fleshes it out with all the colourful insider access you could hope for. Morvan tells the story for him and Pilatus (who died in 1998), while we also hear from the real vocalists (Charles Shaw and Brad Howell) and Ingrid Segieth, Farian’s colourful assistant. Segieth gives a particularly wry inside account of events, and the film as a whole is a thoroughly entertaining portrait of the pitfalls of fame. (106 minutes)
Who Killed Jill Dando?
The murder of the TV presenter in 1999 remains unsolved
Year: 2023
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Netflix
When Crimewatch host Jill Dando was shot and killed on her doorstep in west London in 1999, speculation about her death spiralled. Had she been shot by Serbian gangsters? Was her death the act of a jilted lover? Had her murder just been a case of mistaken identity? The huge police investigation eventually snared local man Barry George, but after eight years in prison he was retried and cleared.
Since then no other suspect has been charged and the crime remains unsolved. Through interviews with experts, investigators and Dando’s friends and colleagues, this detailed and engrossing three-part series unpicks the events of a case that still fascinates almost a quarter of a century after Dando’s death. (Three episodes)
Andrew Tate: The Man Who Groomed The World
Powerful film exposing the activities of influencer Andrew Tate and those around him
Year: 2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Andrew Tate following his release from house arrest near Bucharest, Romania
This follow-up to The Dangerous Rise Of Andrew Tate (also on iPlayer) was four years in the making. The so-called ‘king of toxic masculinity’ faces criminal charges in Romania that include rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal organisation.
These serious charges are denied by Tate, but through his phenomenal online reach he has radicalised his audience into an extreme and violent form of misogyny. This new film goes deeper inside Tate’s inner circle to find worrying evidence of the global reach of his troubling ideology. (65 minutes)
Planet Earth III
Sir David Attenborough’s latest blockbuster nature series is a must-watch
Year: 2023
Certificate: PG
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
No one does natural history shows quite like David Attenborough – who, aged 97, fronts this new, spectacular eight-parter nearly two decades after the original Planet Earth series first aired. Although TV schedules are saturated with wildlife shows (Our Planet, A Year On Planet Earth, Predators etc), this one is truly exceptional as spellbinding camerawork – enabled by the latest tech wizardry – meets Sir David’s dignified narration.
Unusually for a show about the natural world, Planet Earth III includes a lot of humans. From the first shot in episode one, where a surfer rides magnificent waves in Tasmania, to the final instalment, Heroes, which foregrounds people who are taking big risks to protect nature, the series looks at the way animals have had to evolve around us. Don’t worry, there are plenty of fascinating creatures, too. (Eight episodes)
Love On The Spectrum
US reality show following people with autism as they search for romance
Year: 2022-
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Netflix
Finding love in the modern world is never easy, but it’s even harder for those on the autism spectrum. This show follows neurodiverse men and women across America as they dip their toes in the dating waters with various degrees of success.
Like its Australian predecessor, it takes a light and often soapy approach to the romantic encounters on display, but audiences swiftly become seriously engaged in the struggles and triumphs of its cast. The fact that many familiar faces from series one return in the second run alongside new romantic hopefuls will be welcome news for the show’s fans. (Two series)
Lover, Stalker, Killer
Online dating turns into deceit and murder in this documentary
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on Netflix
When newly single man Dave Kroupa decided to dip his toe into the murky waters of online dating, he thought he’d made it clear to the women he met that he wasn’t looking for anything serious. But then two of the women he’d been seeing accidentally meet, and soon Kroupa is getting an increasingly scary and threatening string of text messages from one of them that accuse him of ruining her life…
The gripping tale of obsession and vengeance that follows is quite terrifying. And that’s before a twist halfway through proceedings throws everything you think you know about the case upside down. (90 minutes)
Zuckerberg: King Of The Metaverse
Documentary examing the rise of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg
Year: 2024
Certificate: 15
Watch now on NOW
Watch now on Sky
The story of the how a Harvard dropout created the world’s most influential social media network is hardly unknown – it spawned multi-award-winning movie The Social Network in 2010, after all – but the world’s fascination with the tale of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg remains undimmed.
This feature-length documentary digs into previously unmined areas, though, using interviews with key figures and rarely seen chunks of archive footage to uncover new facets of the world’s youngest billionaire. It’s detailed stuff that also isn’t afraid to ask serious questions about Facebook’s place in the world, investigating the avenues it provides for previously unimaginable and potentially catastrophic levels of political and social misinformation. (90 minutes)
The Football Fraudster
The charismatic criminal who conned a Love Island star
Year: 2023
Certificate: 12
ITVX
Love Island star Georgia Steel
This is the incredible story of serial fraudster Medi Abalimba who reinvented himself over and over, convincing friends, girlfriends and businesses that he was an elite footballer, even impersonating a real Chelsea player. In the circles he moved in, he rubbed soldiers with famous people including Love Island star Georgia Steel, who is among the victims who reveal here how he reeled them in.
For all his criminal charisma Abalimba didn’t always get away scot-free, but despite several convictions he always returned to crime, even lining up high-profile targets from inside prison. As the details of his various aliases and confidence tricks are revealed, forensic psychologist Dr Donna Youngs provides her professional analysis of a man who ‘has no basis of truth from which he operates at all’.
June
A look at the life of country music great June Carter Cash – aka Mrs Johnny Cash
Year: 2024
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Paramount+
Before the 2005 film Walk The Line saw Reese Witherspoon earn acclaim and a Best Actress Oscar for playing June Carter Cash, it’s fair to say that she was relatively little known by non-country music fans. Which is a pity as she was a hugely accomplished entertainer long before she married Johnny Cash in 1968.
Apart from prodigious musical talent (she won five Grammy awards), she was also a dancer, actress, comedian and author. Featuring archive interviews with June, alongside new material including chats with the likes of Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Witherspoon, this documentary looks to shine a light on a forgotten star. (98 minutes)
The Deepest Breath
The perils of freediving surface in a breathtaking documentary
Year: 2023
Certificate: 12
Watch now on Netflix
Sporting documentaries that scale the heights of cliffs and mountains are reliably thrilling but this one-off, hailing from cool indie studio A24, proves that there’s just as much tension, excitement and beauty in the plunge to our planet’s depths.
Freediving is one of the world’s most dangerous sports, with competitors training to swim deeper than the height of a 70-storey skyscraper without the aid of breathing equipment. As this frequently amazingly beautiful film follows Italian competitor Alessia Zecchini and her safety diver Stephen Keenan, it offers a telling insight into the intense mindset of someone prepared to risk it all in the lung-busting rush to the bottom. (110 minutes)
Couples Therapy
Fly-on-the-wall US series following real couples as they try to save their relationships
Year: 2019-2023
Certificate: 15
Watch now on BBC iPlayer
Be right there in the room as real relationships get the couch treatment in this frank, honest and thoroughly addictive American series.
It might sound like an arduous watch or the worst kind of voyeurism to revel in other people’s relationship woes, but it’s revealing, even empowering, and the perfect antidote to shows like Love Island that are all sex and first dates and show none of what it really takes to keep a relationship going, never mind happy.
It also helps that you see therapy as an outside observer, without the deep, high-stakes investment of being on the receiving end yourself – though you still might find yourself picking a side. And with Dr Orna Guralnik as the sensitive doc overseeing it all there’s no more positive an advert for us all to do a bit of work on ourselves. (Three series)
