Best Disney Plus shows - originals and returning favourites

Fans of this Marvel drama may still be waiting to find out whether it’s been confirmed for a second season or not, but if you’re yet to watch it for yourself, take this as your sign to do so.

Moon Knight follows Steven Grant (played by Oscar Isaac), a mild-mannered gift shop employee who becomes plagued by blackouts and memories of another life. He goes on to discover that he’s actually got dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. The series is a breath of fresh air to the growing Marvel drama franchise on Disney Plus and as well as being joyfully action-packed, is also the perfect mix of thriller, drama and comedy.

Morgan Cormack

The animated series from Dave Filoni, creator of The Clone Wars and Rebels, has now returned for its second season, with episodes being released weekly.

The series follows an elite group of clone troopers, Clone Force 99, but also known as the “bad batch”. They all have genetic mutations that were first introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and in this series, they fight to retain their independence after the mind-altering Order 66, which forces them to go on the run from the emerging Empire.

Morgan Cormack

Disney Plus series The Old Man is a brooding cat-and-mouse spy drama in which John Lithgow plays Harold Harper, an FBI man charged with apprehending his former colleague turned rogue CIA spy Dan Chase, played by Jeff Bridges.

The drama is set in the present day but past traumas weigh down on both the lead characters. Harper, whom Lithgow plays, is reeling from the death of his son when he receives a phone call and learns he has to deal with an international scandal from three decades earlier concerning Bridges’ character…

Sarfraz Manzoor

The first German original drama to launch on Disney Plus is based on an unforgettable true story. Samuel Meffire, played with considerable screen presence by Malick Bauer, grows up in East Germany in the shadow of his father’s murder, but becomes the nation’s first ever black police officer.

When the Berlin Wall falls, he is the poster boy for a New Germany, but he is destined to lose his favoured position, to the point where he ends up in jail. The charismatic lead strongly underlines the fundamentals of the tale: here is an out-of-the-ordinary man, facing experiences and adversity that are too much even for him.

Jack Seale

This tense drama is based on a powerful true story of the three courageous women who were each within the confines of the ‘Ndrangheta and sought to bring down the criminal empire.

Known to be the Italy’s most powerful mafia, the women risked their lives and those of the people around them. In the series, the three women help prosecutor Anna Colace by providing vital intel to help her be able to sentence the most powerful men within it. The series is adapted by BAFTA nominee Stephen Butchard (Bagdad Central, The Last Kingdom) and is based on the book by journalist Alex Perry.

It also comes from House Productions, the same team behind BBC’s Sherwood, The Wonder and Life After Life, so you just know it’s set to be an endearing watch.

Morgan Cormack

The breakout hit for Disney Plus, The Mandalorian is a Star Wars live-action TV series from Jon Favreau – and what’s more, it is well worth your attention.

Starring Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal as the titular Mandalorian, the show is set in the Star Wars universe between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. It has plenty for hardcore fans, but is far enough removed from the Skywalker Saga that it can be enjoyed by newcomers to the franchise. Plus, if you haven’t heard already, there’s a baby Yoda, which has become one of the most talked-about parts of the show – inspiring memes and conversation across the internet ever since “the child” first arrived from a galaxy, far, far, away.

If you’re looking for the kind of series that will warrant you fetching the tissues, then Tiny Beautiful Things is for you. While the adaptation has certainly been created with heartstring-tugging scenes in mind, some of the wider plot lines do fall a little short but nonetheless, it’s a touching and hilarious watch.

The series follows Clare (Kathryn Hahn) as she goes from being a mother going through one of the hardest points in her life to taking on the responsibility of being an advice columnist.

It’s the reinvigoration that her writing career has needed but in the process, through helping to solve other people’s problems, she begins to reflect on the ones of her own that she’s been burying deep in her mind.

Morgan Cormack

You can’t say Thor star Chris Hemsworth isn’t fully committed to the documentary series created by Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, in which Hemsworth investigates a different life-threatening technique in each episode. Some of the stunts, from a four-day fast to a balance beam 275m off the ground, really are physically and mentally arduous. But the science and psychology behind de-stressing, or strength training, or “acceptance”, are fascinating and presented clearly. You may never look like Hemsworth, but you will get some tips here on how to tune up your body and mind.

Jack Seale

If you’re looking for a real-life story that’s stranger than fiction, look no further than that of Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder once dubbed the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in America.

Amanda Seyfried stars as Holmes in this depiction of her rise and eventual downfall, as she now awaits sentencing after being found guilty of fraud. The series might not be as compelling as its real-life inspiration, but it’s still well worth a watch.

The Andor series explores a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Rebel spy Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make.

Beginning five years before the events of Rogue One, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters during the time that a Rebel Alliance is forming in opposition to the Galactic Empire.

In order to tell his complex backstory, the stellar cast includes Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve) as his adoptive mother Maarva and Stellan Skarsgård as mysterious buyer Luthen Rael. Genevieve O’Reilly and Denise Gough also star.

Disney Plus’s debut British series is this nuptial-themed romcom-cum-thriller. The stylish, pacy eight-part romp follows Katie (Rosa Salazar) and Stefan (Gavin Drea), who begin a whirlwind affair at a wedding, despite Katie being engaged. Two months later at her own wedding, her new husband and wealthy in-laws are murdered. Police suspect Stefan. Stefan suspects Katie. The pair go on the run, while trying to clear their names and work out their feelings. An addictive and blackly comic caper in the vein of The Tourist, The Flight Attendant or Killing Eve.

Michael Hogan

This original, funny and heartbreaking series from Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi follows the exploits of four Indigenous teenagers who are determined to raise enough cash to leave their reservation behind and start a new life in LA. The four teens are: Cheese (Lane Factor), Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis), Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) and Elora (Devery Jacobs).

To succeed, they will have to save enough money, outsmart the meth-heads at the junkyard on the edge of town and survive a turf war against a much tougher rival gang.

This series comes to Disney Plus with one particularly big draw – Andrew Garfield. The star is riding high following his Oscar nominated turn in Tik…Tik…BOOM! and his crowd-pleasing return to the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and now he stars in this true crime series which tells a chilling and intriguing tale.

The story centres around the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which somehow seems to be involved with the death of a young woman played by Normal People and Fresh star Daisy Edgar-Jones. The series’ examination of religion is particularly intriguing, as Garfield’s character Detective Jeb Pyre reflects on his own Mormon faith, making this series a gripping watch from start to finish.

Emayatzy Corinealdi announces herself as a formidable lead actor with Reasonable Doubt, a legal drama new to Disney Plus. Executive produced by Kerry Washington (who also directs the first episode), the show has elements of the series that made Washington’s name, Scandal (also available to watch on Disney Plus). Here’s another tangle of schemes, sex and high-stakes cases, set in Los Angeles, where criminal defence attorney Jax (Corinealdi) may have developed too much of an affinity with her potentially dangerous clients.

When her marriage fails and she has the chance to become as freewheeling in her personal life as she is in the courtroom, it doesn’t just complicate her standing as a parent and as a member of a group of supportive friends – it means the show goes to places that would make most legal dramas blush.

Jack Seale

For fans of 2018 film Love, Simon, this spin-off show is a no-brainer. Starring Michael Cimino, it tells a life-affirming and sincere story about a young teen from a half Puerto Rican, half Colombian-American family who at first struggles with his sexuality, before going on to navigate relationships, friendships and the titular love.

The show’s third and final season was just recently released, which means its the perfect time to binge your way through the whole story. The series comes from writers on shows including This Is Us and How I Met Your Father, meaning if you’re still feeling the love at the end of it, there’s plenty more from their canon for you to enjoy on Disney Plus.

Nominally a dramatisation of the HG Wells science-fiction classic, this series by Misfits creator Howard Overman almost immediately sets out on its own path, placing the action in the aftermath of an alien invasion that sees the surviving humans at loggerheads with the new arrivals and each other. In a third season that’s no less grim than the previous two, the nightmare is very much not over: the aliens seem to have harnessed the power of black holes. Gabriel Byrne is a pained anti-hero as a scientist who feels forced to apply his knowledge in all kinds of terrible ways.

Jack Seale

While many will likely recognise Steve Carell for his well-known portrayal of Michael Scott in The Office US, in this new series, he takes on a more gritty role as psychotherapist Alan Strauss.

This psychological thriller brings a whole new meaning to the term “spine-chilling” as Strauss is held captive by a new patient of his, Sam Fortner (played by Domhnall Gleeson). Oh, and he just so happens to be a serial killer seeking to curb his homicidal urges. The 10-part series is certainly an intense one, but will be a hit for any drama fans out there.

Morgan Cormack

The latest MCU series to land on the streamer, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law sees Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany take on the lead role of Jennifer Walters – a lawyer who specialises in cases involving super-humans, and whose already stressful life is complicated by the fact that she regularly transforms into a the 6-foot-7-inch green superhero, a power she would very happily do without.

The show boasts a stellar supporting cast that includes Jameela Jamil, Tim Roth, and of course Mark Ruffalo as Walters’s cousin Bruce Banner, and it has been praised for providing a refreshing spin on the MCU – with Maslany’s performance singled out for acclaim.

For fans of adult animation Family Guy is one of the big treasure troves available on Disney Plus. Alongside The Simpsons, American Dad! and more, there are hundreds of episodes of Family Guy to watch across 22 seasons on the streamer, filled with all the filthiest jokes and funniest cutaways the hugely influential series has offered up over the years.

Focusing on the Griffin family, including dad Peter, mum Lois, daughter Meg, sons Chris and Stewie and talking dog Brian, the series has gone to some controversial places in the past, but for fans of near-the-knuckle humour remains a show which provides it in plenty. It may not be as emotionally resonant as The Simpsons but when the jokes hit, they hit hard.

The latest Marvel series to hit Disney Plus, Ms Marvel is in many way the antithesis to its recent hit Moon Knight. While that show took things in a darker direction and contained very few notable links to the MCU, this one brightens up the joint, splashing colour and fun everywhere the eye can see with an eye-popping visual-style, and leaning into those shared universe connections.

Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) is an American-Pakistani teenager living in Jersey, who for all her life has idolised the Avengers, particularly Captain Marvel. Then, while at an Avengers convention, she finds that a magical bracelet can unlock cosmic abilities within her.

It’s a light-hearted, younger-skewing series than some of the other MCU entries so far, but has a lot of heart, an infectiously fun performance from Vellani and explores some themes not yet seen in the MCU, as we dive into Kamala’s culture, religion and family dynamics.

It’s the rematch 17 years in the making, as Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen return to do battle once more in their roles as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader.

The Star Wars prequels have been reassessed in recent years and been given a fair amount of love from the fanbase, so this six-part follow-up series comes at the perfect time, while also introducing some Star Wars: Rebels characters into live action for the first time. Deborah Chow is at the helm, and for those who have seen her episodes of The Mandalorian it’s clear that the series is in very capable hands.

The new episodes are highly unlikely to win over Star Wars newbies, but for the faithful fans the series is a real intergalactic treat, offering up nostalgia by the bucketload but plenty of shocks and surprises too.

This crime drama follows a biker gang in a fictional town bordering California – while technically a spin-off from Sons of Anarchy, the storyline here is accessible to all, even if you never tuned into the preceding series. That said, occasional cameos and references to what came before will hit different if you’re a longtime follower of this franchise.

JD Pardo leads the cast as Ezekiel “EZ” Reyes, Vice Presidente of the Mayans Motorcycle Club, who seeks vengeance for how his family was torn apart as a result of cartel violence. The series had a slightly wobbly start, with many critics comparing it unfavourably to Anarchy, but over time has found its footing to as a gripping thriller that completely stands on its own.

This emotional drama took the United States by storm when it debuted in 2016, becoming a ratings juggernaut and an awards favourite. The series follows the lives of the Pearson family, including parents Jack and Rebecca as well as their children Kevin, Kate and Randall, with the story unfolding across a decades-long timeline.

This Is Us has tackled a number of sensitive social issues over its run, including drug addiction, racism and cancer, among others, which has resulted in some powerful stories that have really resonated with viewers. Helping matters is the stellar cast, which includes five-time Emmy nominee Sterling K Brown alongside Milo Ventimiglia, Mandy Moore, Chrissy Metz and Justin Hartley.

The sixth and final season brings the story of this remarkable family to its conclusion. Brace yourselves for the finale – it’s a tearjerker.