What’s new on Netflix UK in December 2020 – all the shows and movies coming up

We've already seen a lot of festive content added to the streamer in November, and there's more where that came from as we move into advent, with all sorts of specials arriving during the month.

And away from Christmas it's a bumper month for new films – with one or two new releases which could well be awards contenders when next year's delayed Oscars roll round.

The highlights are Mank - David Fincher's long-awaited new film about the creation of Orson Welles' iconic Golden Age film Citizen Kane, and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the final performance from the late Chadwick Boseman, whose tragic passing in August came as a devastating shock.

There's also the small matter of a new sci-fi blockbuster directed by George Clooney, The Midnight Sky, and yet another new project from the ever prolific Ryan Murphy, this time a film musical titled The Prom, adapted from the hit Broadway play of the same name.

As far as TV is concerned, the biggest new show comes in the shape of Bridgerton, a new period drama produced by Shonda Rhimes, which is set in Regency-era England and based on a series of romance novels by Julia Quinn – it looks like Netflix could have another period show to match The Crown's success.

Read on for our pick of the December list – and if you’re after November’s Netflix releases, we have that covered, too.

Tuesday 1st December 2020

Angela’s Christmas Wish Animated film about a girl who hopes to bring her family together for Christmas – a follow up to 2017's Angela's Christmas

The Holiday Movies That Made Us volume 1 A special festive edition of the documentary programme telling of how classic films are made, featuring The Nightmare Before Christmas and Elf

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Documentary film about the legendary jazz musician

Super Wings season 2 More episodes of the animated Korean show for children about a fun-loving plane and his adventures

Thomas and Friends season 23 The famous blue-tank engine and his friends return for another batch of episodes

Plus older films arriving on, or returning to, the platform:

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Cats & Dogs (2001)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)

Falling Down (1993)

Galaxy Quest (1999)

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (2012)

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

The Prestige (2006)

Sucker Punch (2011)

The Sweeney (2012)

Taking Lives (2004)

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Wild Wild West (1999)

Wednesday 2nd December

Ari Eldjarn: Pardon My Icelandic Stand-up special from the Icelandic comedian, touching Holywood's take on Thor, the whims of toddlers and the popularity of Scandinavian crime drama shows

Hazel Brugger: Tropical The Swiss-American comedian tackles topics such as German bank loans, chatty gynecologists and unruly geese in this stand-up special

Fierce Polish musical film about a gifted singer who hopes to win the love of her father – the member of a judging panel at a talent show

Thursday 3rd December

Chico Bon Bon and the Very Berry Holiday season 1 Christmas special for the animated children's show about a monkey with a toolbelt

Just Another Christmas Groundhog Day-style film about a man who hates Christmas and is stuck in a time-loop until he learns valuable lessons about the festive season

The Whistlers Romanian crime thriller about a police officer who is a whistleblower for the mafia.

Friday 4th December

Big Mouth season 4 The long-awaited return of the hit animated series about going through puberty

Captain Underpants: Mega Blissmass season 1 Christmas special in which George and Harold realise they must help Santa remember the true meaning of Christmas before it's gone forever

Christmas Crossfire Film about a man who foils an attempted murder and is then forced to flee the would-be killers

Kings of Jo’Burg season 1 South African series about brothers who rule Johannesburg's criminal underworld

Leyla Everlasting Turkish film about a resilient housewife, her husband, and their marriage therapist – who become mired in a toxic love triangle

Mank New film from acclaimed director David Fincher about Herman J. Mankiewicz, the man who wrote the script for the iconic film Citizen Kane

Rick and Morty season 4 part 2 The hit animated series returns for the second part of its fourth series

Selena: The Series part 1 Biographical drama series about the life story of Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano music and an iconic Mexican-American pop star – read more about the Selena true story

Saturday 5th December

Detention: The Series season 1 Chinese language series based on a Taiwanese adventure game of the same name, about the suffocating political situation during the White Terror period (1949-1987)

Mighty Express: A Mighty Christmas season 1 A Christmas special for the kids series set in Tracksville – a town where children run the train stations

Sunday 6th December

The 2nd Action film about a Secret Service agent who must save his son and the daughter of a Supreme Court justice from armed terrorists

The Front Runner (2018) 2019 film about Gary Hart, a US senator who decides to run for President, only for the paparazzi to shed light on his extramarital affair with Donna Rice

Monday 7th December

100 Days My Prince season 1 Hugely successful Korean drama about a Crown Prince who suddenly disappears only to return to the palace one hundred days later.

Ava Action thriller film starring Jessica Chastain and John Malkovich, about an assassin who becomes marked for death by her own black ops organisation

The Claus Family Dutch film about a young boy who hates Christmas until he realises his grandfather is Santa Claus

Endless Beginnings (2019) Romantic drama film starring Shailene Woodley, Jamie Dornan, and Sebastian Stan

Room 2806: the Accusation Docuseries following the 2011 sexual assault case involving French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn

Stage Mother Film about a Texas church choir director who inherits her late son's drag queen club in San Francisco

Tuesday 8th December

Emicida: AmarElo – It’s All For Yesterday Documentary film about Brazilian rapper Emicida celebrating the richness of Black Brazilian culture

Mr Iglesias part 3 Another run of the comedy series about a good-natured high school history teacher who tries to help gifted misfits

Super Monsters: Santa’s Super Monster Helpers season 1 Christmas special for the animated kid's show about the children of famous monsters

Wednesday 9th December

Ashley Garcia: Genius In Love: Christmas Christmas special for the sitcom about a teenage robotics engineer who moves across the country to work for NASA and live with her uncle

The Big Show Show: Christmas The sitcom about former WWE wrestler the Big Show's attempts to raise his three daughters with his wife in Florida gets a festive episode

How to Get Away with Murder season 6 The final series of the American crime drama

Rose Island Italian comedy film telling the true story of a tiny nation founded in 1968 off the Rimini coast, by Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa

The Surgeon's Cut Four-part BBC documentary series following four ground-breaking surgeons from around the world

Thursday 10th December

Alice in Borderland season 1 Live-action series based on the Japanese manga about a gamer who finds himself in a strange version of Japan where he and his two best friends are forced to take part in dangerous games to survive

Friday 11th December

A Trash Truck Christmas season 1 When Santa crash-lands in the junkyard on Christmas Eve, Hank, Trash Truck and their animal friends all have a hand in rescuing the holiday for everyone

Canvas Kids animated short about a grandfather who attempts to rediscover his passion for painting after a devastating loss

El desorden que dejas season 1 Spanish-language series about a teacher who starts her job at a high school but is haunted by a suspicious death that occurred there weeks earlier

Giving Voice Documentary film about students from across the United States auditioning for a spot in the August Wilson Monologue Competition

The Mess You Leave Behind Spanish language thriller about a teacher who is haunted by a suspicious death at her new high school

The Prom Film adaptation of the Broadway musical about a group of self-obsessed theatre stars who go to a small conservative Indiana town to support a high school girl who wants to bring her girlfriend to the prom

Sunday 13th December

Bumblebee (2018) Transformers prequel film about a teenager who is gifted a yellow Volkswagen Beetle, which turns out to be the battle-scarred Autobot Bumblebee

Welcome to Marwen (2018) Robert Zemeckis film starring Steve Carrell as Mark Hogancamp who is attacked by white supremacists and loses most of his memory

Monday 14th December

A California Christmas Film about a wealthy charmer who poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family's land

Black Water: Abyss (2020) Horror film about a fight for survival against a group of hungry crocodiles

Hilda season 2 Second series of the Canadian animated show about a fearless blue-haired girl who travels from a wilderness full of elves and giants to a bustling city packed with new friends and mysterious creatures

Tiny Pretty Things season 1 Drama series based on the novel of the same name, set in the world of an elite ballet academy

Tuesday 15th December

Song Exploder volume 2 Second batch of episodes for the series which sees music stars dig deep into their songwriting process – this time featuring Dua Lipa, Trent Reznor and The Killers

Wednesday 16th December

Anitta: Made In Honório season 1 Docuseries about mega-successful Brazilian singer Anitta

How to Ruin Christmas season 1 South African drama series following a woman who tries to make things right after completely ruining what should have been her sister's picture-perfect Christmas wedding

The Ripper True crime docuseries about The Yorkshire Ripper including interviews with investigators, journalists, survivors and family members of Peter Sutcliffe's victims

Friday 18th December

Home for Christmas season 2 Second run of the Norwegian festive rom-com series about a single woman looking for a boyfriend to take home for Christmas

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Film adaptation of August Wilson's play about trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gathering at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927 – featuring Chadwick Boseman's final film performance

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Sweet Home season 1 South Korean drama series about a loner who finds that his new apartment is disturbed by a series of strange incidents

Sunday 20th December

Mary Queen of Scots (2018) Saorise Ronan stars in this biographical costume drama about the Scottish monarch

Ocean's 8 (2018) Following in the footsteps of brother Danny, light-fingered Debbie Ocean plans to steal the Toussaint, a $150million necklace from Vogue's Met Gala, with the `help' of a famous actress

Monday 21st December

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018) Drama film about a writer who joins a book club in post-war Gurnsey, uncovering some secrets in the process

Tuesday 22nd December

Shaun the Sheep season 5 More adventures for Aardman's beloved stop-motion sheep

Wednesday 23rd December

The Midnight Sky George Clooney directs this sci-fi film about a lone scientist in the Arctic who races to contact a crew of astronauts returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe

Your Name Engraved Herein Taiwanese LGBTQ drama about two men who fall in love following the end of martial law in 1987

Friday 25th December

Bridgerton season 1 First season of the new period drama series about eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempting to find love in Regency-era England

Wednesday 30th December

Best Leftovers Ever! Food series about chefs who attempt to make the tastiest meals out of leftover food

Pride and Prejudice (2005) Adaptation of the iconic Jane Austen novel, starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen and Judi Dench

Se7en (1995) David Fincher's serial killer thriller about an old-school detective and his headstrong new partner who discover a connection between two unusually horrific murders

Thursday 31st December

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) A single woman begins a new year with resolutions to find love, quit her bad habits and take a step up the career ladder

Casper (1995) Live action film starring the legendary friendly ghost in which things start to go awry when three smelly spooks and two dastardly crooks try to chase new residents away

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina part 4 Fourth and final series of the drama about the eponymous teenage witch

Shaun of the Dead (2004) Edgar Wright's beloved comedy horror about a Zombie apocalypse in London, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Step Up (2006) Dance film about an aspiring ballerina finds her life turned upside down when she encounters a troubled street-smart teenager from the wrong side of town

Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide.