Stranger Things to The Beatles Anthology: the seven best shows to stream this week

Pick of the weekStranger Things As one of the streamer’s defining creations, this supernatural coming-of-age drama ends on its own terms. The final season begins by rewinding back to young Will in the Upside Down for a hair-raising encounter with a demogorgon. It’s a reminder of Stranger Things’s greatest strength. All the elements are convincingly realised: the friendships are carefully drawn; the period nostalgia is fond and knowing; and, crucially, the horror is genuinely scary. At the end of the fourth season, that horror meant carnage in Hawkins. Now, the narrative loops forward and back, explaining Vecna’s origins and his ultimate objective. But only if the kids (now looking like adults) can’t stop him first … Netflix, from Thursday 27 November *** The Beatles Anthology Peter Jackson continues to test public demand for more Beatles content. Once again, he has miraculously fashioned pre-existing material into something revelatory. This time it’s a painstaking restoration job on The Beatles Anthology, an eight-part documentary from 1995 that told the band’s story via archive footage and interviews with the main players. Using colourisation tweaks, re-edits and audio remixes, this project makes the series “home-theatre ready”. There’s also a new, ninth episode in which Paul, George and Ringo discuss the memories reawakened by the process. Inevitably, it’s fab. Disney+, from Wednesday 26 November *** Missing: Dead Or Alive? More true crime sitting squarely on the line separating gripping from prurient – though, in fairness, this documentary series is more soberly presented than many. The second season focuses on two new cases for the Missing Persons Unit in Columbia, South Carolina. First, a young man called Morgan Duncan has disappeared, leaving his vital possessions behind him. Transgender Black woman Shandon Floyd has also vanished in the dead of night. Both cases contain more complexity than initially seems likely and have wider implications. Netflix, from Monday 24 November *** Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember Limitless, Chris Hemsworth’s last documentary for Disney+, saw him undertake a variety of slightly self-indulgent self-improvement challenges. This one deals with much more universal themes and is all the better for it. It records a road trip he undertook with his father Craig after his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Many of us will recognise the pain of trying to connect with a beloved older relative even as their memories slip away. But there’s redemption, too, in watching father and son visit old haunts and take a tour together through their shared past. Disney+, from Monday 24 November *** Is It Cake? The most enjoyably ridiculous show in Netflix’s portfolio returns for a seasonal special. And we’re promised “the most dramatic baking showdown in Is It Cake? history”. As anyone who has ever watched five minutes of this cakey-fakey mayhem will know, this is big talk. A few famous guests – most notably Kristen Bell – are the judges as Santas, reindeer and tree displays are all rendered in flour, eggs and icing. But arguably the key to the show is presenter Mikey Day, who presides over the whole affair in a constant state of bug-eyed delirium. Netflix, from Tuesday 25 November *** Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age More visually startling CGI-rendered natural history as this Tom Hiddleston-narrated series returns, this time tracking the history of Earth “from the big freeze to the great thaw”. During the ice age, the planet still hosted a dizzying variety of wildlife – and to watch this incredibly impressive show is to imagine yourself walking among them. Survival strategies are the main focus but the science is largely entry-level. However, you’ll be too busy gawping at the beautifully realistic woolly mammoths, elephantine birds and sea cows to really notice.Apple TV, from Wednesday 26 November *** Marbella This Mediterranean enclave is more than just a holiday destination; according to a detective quoted by journalist Nacho Carretero, it’s now “the United Nations of the organised crime world”. This glossy, violent Spanish drama is based on Carretero’s reportage and centres on slick, cynical lawyer César (Hugo Silva) who has established himself as a fixer and intermediary for the variety of criminal gangs jostling for control of the area. When César makes powerful enemies, will his legal and diplomatic smarts be enough to get him out of trouble? Channel 4, from Friday 28 November