CORONAVIRUS: Five new things to watch on Netflix, Sky, Now TV and Amazon Prime during the lockdown

As coronavirus spreads, social distancing and self-isolation have left millions of us with more time than we might usually spend dedicating to box-sets and films.

So, to help you pick, we've rounded up a list of five new things that have dropped (or are due to drop) on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sky to help you through the lockdown.

1) The Shield: Season 1 to 7

Available on Sky

To really kill some time, get stuck into all seven series of this iconic American cop show, which has just dropped on Sky and Now TV.

Known for breaking conventions of the genre, the popular and acclaimed series from Sony Pictures Television plays out in the tough, morally ambiguous world of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct, where the line between good and evil is crossed every day.

Michael Chiklis (Fantastic Four, American Horror Story, Gotham) is Detective Vic Mackey, an effective but corrupt cop who operates under his own set of rules as leader of the elite Strike Team.

2) After Life: Season 2

Available on Netflix from April 24

Set in the small fictitious town of Tambury, the comedy-drama series follows Tony (Ricky Gervais), a writer for the local newspaper whose life is upended after his wife dies from cancer.

In series 2, whilst still struggling with immense grief for his wife, we see Tony try to become a better friend to those around him.

Each grappling with their own problems and only to be intensified by the looming threat of the local newspaper being shut down.

Will the town’s local Am-Dram show lift everyone’s spirits?

3) Blinded by the Light

Available on Amazon Prime

“Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true?”

That’s the question asked by Bruce Springsteen in 1979’s The River.

In 1987, it finds its way into the head of Javed (Viveik Kalra), a Pakistani teenager growing up in Luton, and it sparks a fiery obsession with The Boss that inspires, uplifts and encourages him, just when he needs it most.

This uplifting film - with some top tunes - has just dropped on Amazon Prime and it's a perfect feelgood film for these uncertain days.

4) Big Little Lies: Season 1 and 2

Available on Sky and Now TV

Both seasons of this top rated American series dropped on Friday.

Lies, the durability of friendships, the fragility of marriage and the vicious ferocity of sound parenting all come under the microscope in the HBO drama, which stars Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern – and, in Season 2, Meryl Streep.

5) Extraction

Available on Netflix on April 24

Another big budget film to look forward too. Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth, is set to drop on Nexflix at the end of Apri.

Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) is a fearless black market mercenary with nothing left to lose when his skills are solicited to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned international crime lord. But in the murky underworld of weapons dealers and drug traffickers, an already deadly mission approaches the impossible, forever altering the lives of Rake and the boy. An action-packed, edge-of-your-seat thriller directed by Sam Hargrave, Extraction is an AGBO Films and TGIM Films, Inc. production, produced by Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Mike Larocca, Chris Hemsworth, Eric Gitter, and Peter Schwerin.