Next month’s must-see TV series

New Zealand screens are likely to be dominated by one thing at the moment, there are plenty of viewing options for non-rugby obsessed Kiwis next month.

TVNZ2 has new seasons of The Walking Dead (October 7) and Naked Attraction (October 11), Lightbox welcomes back Mr Robot (October 7) and Sky TV’S Soho boasts more Get Shorty (October 10).

The Rialto Channel has the long-awaited New Zealand debut of British crime drama Mcmafia (October 6) and Netflix’s new delights include the Stephen King-inspired In the Tall Grass (November 4), Paul Rudd playing doppelgangers in Living With Yourself (November 18) and Eddie Murphy returning to the spotlight in Dolemite is My Name (November 25).

Here are the eight TV shows and movies we’re most excited about diving into. This latest DC Comics-inspired series opens with Gotham

City in despair after the disappearance of Batman three years ago. Its only defence now is a private security firm, until the appearance of Bruce Wayne’s cousin Kate Kane. Ruby Rose (Orange is the New Black) takes on the cowl. Season 2 of this Stephen Kinginspired anthology series focuses on a younger version of Misery’s Annie Wilkes (Masters of Sex’s Lizzie Caplan).

Also look out for House of Cards’ Paul Sparks as John ‘‘Ace’’ Merrill, the infamous bully from Stand By Me and Needful Things – and Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption) playing Ace’s Uncle, Reginald ‘‘Pop’’ Merrill, the patriarch of that local crime family. Helen Mirren headlines this four-part HBO/SKY Atlantic mini-series, which looks at the life and times and loves of the 18th-century Russian empress. The impressive cast also includes Jason Clarke, Gina Mckee, Rory Kinnear and Richard Roxburgh. Six years after the much-loved American crime-drama ended, creator Vince Gilligan returns to Albuquerque for one more

Twenty years ago, a 32-year-old Dunedin native cobbled together $250,000 to make a film. The script, which he wrote with his younger brother, was a black comedy about five Otago University students who luck into a squat – a rambling old house, which, if somewhat derelict, offers the distinct advantage of free power.

They soon discover that power is fuelling heat lamps for a massive marijuana plantation in the basement.

It’s all fun, games and parties until the pot’s owner comes back looking for his stash.

The film was, of course, Scarfies, an instant classic that, set against a backdrop of sticky-floored pubs and NPC finals, captured New Zealand student culture, and particularly Dunedin student culture, in a way that hadn’t been done before and arguably hasn’t since.

‘‘Scarfies was a very silly story,’’ says director Robert Sarkies. ‘‘But I did want to try to find something that felt in some way authentic to the experience of being a student.

‘‘It was sort of exploiting the student culture as well, specifically the student culture of Dunedin, as a way to make a pretty outlandish story feel a bit more plausible.’’

He was also trying to capture ‘‘something of the truth of the experience of leaving home and going to a far away place and finding, through new friends and new experiences, your life change’’.

But he thinks that world is probably gone now and a film about Kiwi students made in 2019 would look very different.

‘‘It would be awful,’’ he says gloomily. ‘‘They’d all be dressed like people who live in Ponsonby.

‘‘They wouldn’t spend that much time at the pub, except for a few rabble rousers, and if they dared think about burning a couch, that would be quickly shut down by police.’’

Student culture has changed, he says, and he’s clear about where the blame lies for that. ‘‘It started with student loans and the massive increase of fees.’’

Looking at it from today’s perspective, it’s easy to consider the experience that Sarkies himself had at Otago in the 1980s and the world he depicted in his first feature film as somewhat frivolous, but Sarkies bristles at the word.

‘‘I felt I had the freedom to go to university and have my mind opened,’’ he says.

‘‘To have my mind infused with whatever ideas adventure. After escaping Jack (Michael Bowen) and his gang, Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) goes on the run from the police and tries to escape his own inner turmoil. One of a string of high-profile Netflix movies targeting the upcoming awards season, Steven Soderbergh’s new drama is inspired by Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Jake Bernstein’s investigations into the ‘‘Panama Papers’’.

Meryl Streep plays Ellen Martin, a woman whose dream holiday takes a wrong turn and leads her down a rabbit hole of shady dealings that can all be traced to a particular Panama City law firm. The starry cast also includes Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman, Sharon Stone, Jeffrey Wright and David Schwimmer. Anne Hathaway, Dev Patel, Tina Fey, Julia Garner, Andy Garcia and Fleabag’s scene-stealing hot priest Andrew Scott all star in this eight-part anthology series inspired by The New York Times’ weekly column that explores relationships, love and the human connection.