Five New Must-See Shows On iPlayer This Summer

From exciting new comedies to must-see drama, there's an abundance of new quintessential British viewing on iPlayer over the summer months! These five new offerings are a brilliant reminder of the fantastic British talent we have to offer...

All shows are now available to watch on BBC iPlayer. 

1. Queen Of Oz

This brand new comedy from the genius mind of Catherine Tate revolves around Princess Georgiana (Georgie), who is the spare to the British throne, but her party girl lifestyle and constant public scandals threaten the monarchy's future. In an effort to get her as far away from London as possible, and at the same time, hoping to prevent Australia from leaving the Commonwealth, Georgie’s parents send her off to Australia to become their Queen, along with her new staff - Director of Communications Zoe, Private Secretary Bernard, Head of Security Officer Marc, Personal Assistant Matthew, Lady In Waiting Anabel, Master of the Household Weiwei. A welcome reception is Georgie’s first public appearance in Australia - where an offensive faux pas from the jetlagged new Queen makes the night go from bad to worse! 

2. There She Goes

Fresh off the back of a critically-acclaimed series, David Tennant and Jessica Hynes star in this honest, chaotic and joyous tale about two parents navigating life with their daughter, who has a severe learning disability. In a new special, Rosie Yates is now 13 and is starting to display increasingly challenging emotional and physical behaviour, veering wildly from joyous obsessions with the letter X, tigers with Xs on their nose, ticket barriers and Fedex lorries, to sudden violent outbursts directed at both her parents and herself. The family realise that Rosie is simply struggling to cope with the onset of puberty, just like any other teenage girl.

3. Not Going Out 

Lee Mack's acclaimed family comedy returns for a staggering Series 13 as it goes from strength to strength. We return to the suburban chaos of Lee (Lee Mack) and Lucy (Sally Bretton) as they’re asked to cover for uptight ice-queen Anna (Abigail Cruttenden) as she allegedly attends ‘secret’ Italian lessons.  Lee is immediately convinced Anna is up to no good and, having to lie to his best friend Toby (Hugh Dennis), is not-so-slowly spiralling into an anxious mess.  As ever when there’s a delicate situation that needs sensitive handling, Lee could approach it cautiously… or go full sleuth in a bid to personally crack the case! The series continues around the anarchy of a packed family life with the couple crashing from one near-disaster to the next. Usually close at hand are Lucy’s lovely mum Wendy (Deborah Grant) and curmudgeonly dad Geoffrey (Geoffrey Whitehead), and we know very well what they think about their daughter’s wisecracking husband.

4. Best Interests

Starring Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen, Jack Thorne’s original four-part BBC drama Best Interests is a compelling, thought-provoking drama about a family driven apart by having to make choices no parent would ever want to make. Marnie has a life-threatening condition and the doctors believe it is in her best interests to be allowed to die, but her loving family disagree. And so begins a fight that will take them through every stage of a legal process, as they struggle to contemplate this huge decision. Who decides? And in whose best interests will it be?

5. Staged 

The second on this list to feature both David Tennant and Michael, this is a much more light-hearted comedy revolving around two fictionalised versions of themselves, with series three of the hit comedy now available to watch. After a fallout with Michael and David, the director Simon tries his very best to get them to work on a project with him again, however this proves to be a difficult task. Watch the pair navigate life after lockdown, along with their real-life partners Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg. 

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