It is the first Sunday in November, the jacarandas are dropping purple all over the car, and somebody in your lounge room has already opened Stan to see if the Rose Byrne one is up yet. It is not. These are the six releases new to streaming in Australia this November, each with its Australian service and date, including a Stan crime drama with a local producer and a free ABC drama about Robodebt.
Late spring is an awkward time for the couch. Down south the clocks have been forward since early October, it stays light well into the evening, and somebody will suggest a walk. In Brisbane and Perth it gets dark at the usual time, because Queensland and WA never signed up to daylight saving. Either way, MAFS is months off, so for once you will both have to pick something on purpose.
Six new to streaming in November, sorted
Same rule as every month: only the releases somebody in the house will bring up without being prompted. That gives two Netflix cards and one each from Stan, Paramount+, Apple TV and the ABC. Every date below is the Australian one, as the services have published it. They move dates without telling anyone, so check on the day before you plan a Friday around one.
The Good Daughter
Lands on Stan on Friday 13 November. Two estranged sisters, played by Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy, get dragged back together when a fresh attack hits their small town and the old secrets come up with it. Karin Slaughter adapts her own novel, Bruna Papandrea's Made Up Stories gives it a local accent.
Black Doves
All six episodes of season two arrive on Netflix on Thursday 5 November. Keira Knightley's Helen is still leaking state secrets while her husband gets ready to be prime minister, which is a bold career plan. Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire are back, with Ambika Mod and Neve Campbell joining.
Yellowjackets
The fourth and final season starts on Paramount+ on Friday 20 November, the same day as the US. Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci and Tawny Cypress are back to see the survival-horror story out. Paramount+ has not said how the episodes roll out, so hold off booking the weekend.
12 12 12
Apple TV opens it with two episodes on Friday 13 November, then one more each week until Christmas Day. Anthony Mackie is a disgraced FBI agent, Jamie Dornan is a career criminal, and the pair play cat and mouse across Europe around one heist. The finale lands on 25 December, so pick your moment.
Shakedown
Starts on ABC TV at 8.20pm on Sunday 22 November, with all four parts on ABC iview the same night, free. It is the Robodebt drama, with Kate Box, Justine Clarke and Mandy McElhinney, made by Lingo Pictures for the ABC. Four episodes, one Sunday if you are keen.
The Altruists
Honourable mention
Netflix drops all eight episodes on Thursday 19 November. Julia Garner plays Caroline Ellison, Anthony Boyle plays Sam Bankman-Fried, so you already know roughly how it ends. It is the honourable mention because two people running FTX into the ground is easier to admire than to love.
The six, in depth
The Good Daughter on Stan: Rose Byrne goes home
Karin Slaughter adapted this one herself from her own novel, which saves everyone the usual argument about whether the book was better. Rose Byrne and Meghann Fahy play two sisters who have not been close for years, until a fresh attack on their small town throws them back together and stirs up the old secrets. Brendan Gleeson rounds out the cast. The local hook sits behind the camera, where Bruna Papandrea's Made Up Stories co-produces. Stan's own page bills it as Only on Stan. It is the pick of the month.
There is nothing to watch first. It is a six-episode limited series, so no homework. It lands on Stan on Friday 13 November, the day after Peacock has it in the US. Stan has not said whether all six go up at once, so have a look on the Friday before you hand it the whole weekend. Essential for a two-person night, as long as you both like a small town with something nasty under the floorboards.
Black Doves on Netflix: Knightley is still leaking
Joe Barton created this London spy thriller, and season two finds Keira Knightley's Helen still feeding the Black Doves state secrets while her husband gears up to be prime minister. That is either the worst timing in the world or the best cover story going. Ben Whishaw and Sarah Lancashire are back. Sam Riley, Babou Ceesay, Ambika Mod and Neve Campbell are the new arrivals. Tudum has had the 5 November date locked in since September. Whishaw alone justifies the subscription.
Season one is the homework, and it is six episodes on Netflix, so a few school nights gets you there before Thursday 5 November. Season two arrives with all six at once, which means the temptation to finish it in one sitting is real, and so is the regret on Friday morning. Essential if you liked the first one. If you did not, nothing in season two is going to change your mind, and you can save the night for Rose Byrne instead.
Yellowjackets on Paramount+: the final season
Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson created this survival-horror drama, and Paramount+ has confirmed season four is the last one. Melanie Lynskey leads again, with Christina Ricci, Tawny Cypress and Liv Hewson. Lynskey is a New Zealander, which the Kiwis will bring up, and she has carried the show for three seasons. The final season lands on Paramount+ here on Friday 20 November, the same day as the US, so for once nobody overseas gets to spoil it first. Whether it is a good one is the question.
The catch-up is the problem. Three seasons stand between you and the finale, and you cannot just rock up for the finale with a bowl of chips. If you both stopped halfway through season two, now is the time to admit it and go back. Paramount+ has not said whether the episodes come weekly or in one go, so do not book a weekend for it yet. Essential for anyone already in. Optional for the partner who has never seen an episode.
12 12 12 on Apple TV: Mackie, Dornan and a heist
Dudi Appleton and Jim Keeble created this one, and Kari Skogland directs the first episode. Anthony Mackie plays a disgraced FBI agent, Jamie Dornan plays a career criminal, and the two of them spend eight episodes chasing each other round Europe over one heist. Apple has every storefront down for 13 November, so Australia gets it the same day as everyone else. It is a heist show with two leads who look good in a coat, and that is the whole pitch.
No homework, since it is a new series. Apple TV puts up two episodes on Friday 13 November and then the rest weekly, finishing on Christmas Day. That is a long runway, and it means the last episode drops while someone at your place is asleep on the couch after Christmas lunch. Watch the first two together and decide then. Optional for a two-person night, but a decent option, because it is weekly and neither of you can sneak ahead.
Shakedown on ABC iview: Robodebt, dramatised
Magda Wozniak and Sophie Miller created this four-part drama about the Robodebt scandal, made by Lingo Pictures for the ABC. Kate Box, Justine Clarke and Mandy McElhinney lead. The ABC set the 22 November launch back in October and put it on a Sunday night, which is where the ABC likes its serious drama. It is the one on the list made here, about something that happened here, and it costs nothing. That alone should get it on the TV in a lot of lounge rooms.
Nothing to watch first, unless you count the news. Shakedown starts on ABC TV at 8.20pm on Sunday 22 November, and all four parts go up on ABC iview that same night, free. So you can do it in one go or spread it over the week. ABC iview is usually the app you open to feel virtuous and close again within ten minutes. Stay this time. Essential, but not the one for a Friday when you both want to switch off.
The Altruists on Netflix: the FTX story
Graham Moore created this limited series about FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison, and how it all fell over. Julia Garner is Ellison and Anthony Boyle is Bankman-Fried. Netflix announced the date back in August, and all eight episodes arrive at once. The casting is the strongest argument for it. The story is the weaker one, because anyone who glanced at a headline knows roughly where it goes, and a show about crypto has to work hard to make you care about the money.
No homework, unless you want to read up on FTX, and you do not. It lands on Netflix in one hit on Thursday 19 November, which means it can fill the school nights after Black Doves is done. It sits in the honourable mention slot because it is a harder sell to whoever did not pick it. One of you will find it fascinating. The other will ask what a crypto exchange is at least twice. Optional, but worth a go.
The rest of the month, briefly
On Stan, The Assassin returns for season two on Friday 6 November, with Keeley Hawes and Freddie Highmore. The Death of Robin Hood (Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer) is listed for Stan on 13 November, and season two of The Hunting Wives is listed for 26 November. On Prime Video, The Rings of Power season three starts on 11 November and Madden, with Nicolas Cage, arrives on 18 November. The Gilded Age season four is due on Paramount+ in early November, with no firm Australian day yet.
Then there is the rugby. The Wallabies' spring tour is on Stan Sport, and the kick-offs are rough: England at 2.10am on 9 November and Scotland at 2.10am on 16 November, Sydney time, then Wales at 7.10am on 22 November, which at least leaves that evening clear for Shakedown. Queenslanders, take an hour off all of those and feel smug about it.
What is weekly and what lands in one go
Three of the six arrive complete: Black Doves on 5 November, The Altruists on 19 November and Shakedown on iview from 22 November. 12 12 12 is the only confirmed weekly one, two episodes and then Fridays until Christmas Day. Neither The Good Daughter nor Yellowjackets has a confirmed Australian pattern yet, so treat both as open until they land.
So, a plan. Black Doves goes first, all six of it. Keep Fridays for 12 12 12 from the 13th, and give The Good Daughter that weekend if Stan puts all six up. Shakedown takes a Sunday. Yellowjackets waits until Paramount+ shows its hand, and The Altruists fills whatever school nights are left. You will not get through all six. Nobody does, and the person at work who says they did watched it at double speed.
That is the lot that is new to streaming in Australia this November. Swipe your services with whoever shares the couch, match on the ones you both rate, and skip the forty-minute stand-off in front of six apps. What to watch this week keeps going through November, and the getting started guide is the quick way in if MatchWatch is new to you. MatchWatch is free to use. Available in New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the United States.