How to watch Sex and the City - can you stream on Netflix UK?

The show captures key issues in young women's lives and discusses them openly alongside the glamorous New York lifestyle of Carrie Bradshaw and her friends as they mature, to varying degrees, over the franchise's run.

And with the third season of Sex and the City spin-off series And Just Like That on the horizon, now is the perfect time to re-experience (or experience for the first time) all the iconic adventures with Carrie, Miranda, Samantha and Charlotte.

Read on for everything you need to know about how to watch the original series in the UK.

Where to watch Sex and the City

As of 1st April, all six seasons of Sex and the City have become available to stream on Netflix for the first time ever in the US.

It was reported back in January that the streaming platform had licensed the show from Warner Bros Discovery, the parent company of HBO where the series originally aired.

The move is the latest in a string of licensing deals for Netflix following the huge, renewed success of Suits after it debuted on the streaming platform.

"I am thrilled that the studios are more open to licensing again, and I am thrilled to tell them we are open for business," Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-chief executive, said at the time

"We’ve got a rich history of helping break some of TV’s biggest hits, like Breaking Bad and Walking Dead or, even more recently, with Schitt’s Creek," said Sarandos.

"Because of our recommendation, our reach, we can resurrect a show like Suits and turn it into a big pop-culture moment but also generate billions of hours of joy for our members."

He continued: "I think you have to remember, the studios have always been in the business of selling their content to others, including direct competitors, for years. I believe, because, again, of our distribution heft and our recommendation system, that sometimes we can uniquely add more value to the studio’s IP than they can. Not all the time but sometimes it does, and we’re the best buyer for it."

In the US, the full series and both movies are also available on HBO Max.

Can I watch Sex and the City on Netflix UK?

Unfortunately, the series isn’t available on Netflix UK, but don't worry: you can buy the complete series as well as individual episodes from Amazon and other digital platforms, including Apple TV and YouTube.

As detailed above, Netflix made a deal with Warner Bros Discovery to licence all six seasons of Sex and the City for US viewers.

But the deal is not global, hence why the show hasn’t landed on Netflix in the UK.

What is Sex and the City about?

Carrie Bradshaw writes a weekly column for the New York Star about the sex lives of women in New York City, and the show explores the dating stories – Carrie's research – that she hears from her three best friends, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte.

Samantha is a proud, successful woman who refuses to be tied down by just one man, whilst Charlotte wants nothing more than to find true love and get married. Miranda is a career-focused lawyer and would often rather spend time with her cat Fatty than go on dates, but nevertheless has her fair share of relationship drama and inspires many of Carrie's columns.

Although these four women have very different life aspirations, they all share the common experience of dealing with the (often quite immature) behaviour of the men they date in New York City. The show presents an unapologetically female viewpoint, where most male characters are disposable, and even Carrie's main love interest Mr Big doesn't get a name until the very last episode of the series.

It's also one of the few television shows where many episodes wouldn't pass the Bechdel test in reverse, because they don't have a single scene in which two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman.

The drama of the show is framed exquisitely in designer clothes and shoes that are specifically chosen to complement the character of each of the women – Carrie's true love is really fashion, in particular, her numerous pairs of Manolo Blahniks that she talks about almost as much as her elusive love interest Mr Big.

How many seasons of Sex and the City are there?

In its original run, there were six seasons of Sex and the City and 94 episodes – in addition to the two movies.

And we now know that there are more episodes to come, following the news that a revived series titled Sex and the City: And Just Like That was in the works, with Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis all reprising their roles.

Who stars in Sex and the City?

Carrie Bradshaw is famously played by Sarah Jessica Parker, who received two Emmys and four Golden Globe Awards for her work on the show. She now runs her own production company, called Pretty Matches.

Lawyer Miranda Hobbs is played by Cynthia Nixon, and in what feels like a classic Miranda move, Nixon announced in 2018 that she would be campaigning for Governor of New York. Although the switch from acting to politics came as a surprise to many fans of SATC, Nixon has actually been an activist for some time, having spent the last 17 years travelling around the country campaigning for women's and LGBTQ rights.

Charlotte York is played by Kristin Davis, and made her West End debut as Beth Gallagher in the 2014 stage production of Fatal Attraction at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

Samantha Jones was played by Kim Cattrall, who also won a Golden Globe for her work on the show. Recently she served as an executive producer on Canadian show Sensitive Skin, and recently appeared in the Horrible Histories movie. Although the other three main stars all returned for the revival, Cattrall did not.

Where was Sex and the City filmed?

The show was set and filmed in and around Manhattan, and you can actually visit the steps where Carrie made her life-changing decisions (with a Cosmopolitan close at hand) with her friends at 66 Perry Street in West Village, Lower Manhattan. But don't plan on getting a picture on the steps themselves - so many fans have tried that the house's current owners have put up 'no trespassing' signs!

How many Sex and the City movies are there?

There are two Sex and the City movies, the first of which was more successful than the second.

In Sex and the City the movie, Carrie and Big are finally set to get married, Miranda and Charlotte are enjoying family life, and Samantha has moved to Los Angeles to be close to her partner Smith. But as everything starts to unravel, the four friends realise that despite living separate lives, they need each other's support more than ever.

In Sex and the City 2, Samantha's job allows her to fly all four women out to Abu Dhabi where they experience the incredible luxury of the 'New Middle East' from the comfort of their five-star hotel. However, as time goes on, the New York women experience a huge culture clash with the more traditional aspects of Abu Dhabi and bump into an old friend, which gets the four friends into big trouble.

Read more:

• Is And Just Like That about to kill Samantha...and Sex and the City?
• Carrie's big decision in And Just Like That means more than you think
• In defence of And Just Like That’s Miranda and Che

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