Further watching

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

What to watch this week, from The Beauty to a new hostage drama

The Observer’s TV critic Barbara Ellen on the best new shows airing and streaming

The Beauty

Disney Plus

Ryan Murphy’s much-anticipated satire about a beauty serum that has chilling consequences, with Evan Peters and Rebecca Hall. Commissioned in the aftermath of 2024’s The Substance, starring Demi Moore. It's dark and camp, but are 11 episodes de trop?

Steal

Amazon Prime Video

Finance-themed hostage drama. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones) plays an office worker at an investment firm taken hostage during a multibillion pound heist. Also stars Archie Madekwe, Anna Maxwell Martin and Peter Mullan.

The Secret Of Me

Channel 4

An opportunity to see Grace Hughes-Hallett’s 2025 US docufilm. In 1976, Jim Ambrose was born intersex – with an atypical reproductive/sexual anatomy – and surgically assigned the female sex. This documentary explores the lasting impact of this decision.

Things You Should Have Done

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BBC Three

Return of Lucia Keskin’s sitcom about a feckless young woman instructed to complete a series of tasks when her parents die. Offbeat, lo-fi comedy.

Illustration by Charlotte Durance

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