The best streaming services to consider in light of Sky’s outage

The king of streaming services is still the best all-round solution to watching TV shows and movies on demand. New releases on the platform include Adolescence, an unsettling film about the impact of incel culture, and Untold: The Liver King, a documentary looking at the downfall of the fitness ‘ancestral lifestyle’ influencer. While it’s one of the more expensive streaming options on our list (Netflix premium is £18.99 per month), the company recently launched an ad-based tier, which is fairly inexpensive, at £5.99 a month. Still, a near-psychic recommendation algorithm, unbeatable exclusive shows and a constantly refreshing library of new and classic content ensure you’re never short of something to watch.

With the platform’s push into original programming, Netflix is also now the only place to watch some critically acclaimed TV shows, including animated comedy BoJack Horseman, Eighties horror hit Stranger Things, and high-concept comedy-drama Russian Doll. You have to sift to find the real gold, however – a recent spate of Netflix Original turkeys might make you hesitate before hitting that subscribe button.

Launched to deafening fanfare in the UK in 2020, Disney’s streaming service has been rocketing in popularity. Major shows such as The Bear (season three is dropping soon) and the Star Wars prequel Andor have been one of the biggest attractions to the platform as of late, while the voracious media empire’s catalogue includes almost every entertainment franchise going, from The Simpsons and animated Disney films both classic and modern to box office blockbusters from the Marvel and Star Wars universes.

Such a broad selection of favourites, from Frozen to Captain America, makes Disney+ the best streaming service for families. There are some holes in the content library – not everything under the Disney umbrella is on here – but if you, or someone in your home, is already a huge fan of Disney, this platform has plenty to offer.

Paramount + came across the pond to the UK and Ireland in 2022 and offers enticing content from channels including CBS, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and Showtime. Big-ticket blockbusters like Gladiator, Smile 2 and Transformers make up a stellar cinematic offering, while there's family-friendly content and original and exclusive series, from sci-fi action hit Halo to gritty West Texas-based Landman. Criminal Minds fans recently flocked to the platform for season 3 of its reboot, and Star Wars enthusiasts are patiently awaiting season three of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which premieres on 17 July.

As for pricing, its cheapest plan is one of the more affordable at the minute. Prices start from £4.99 for a with ad set-up, while add-free will cost £7.99 – this also lets you stream on two devices at once – and premium, which bumps you up to four devices, and, essentially, better video resolution and sound.

Discovery Plus excels when it comes to real-life entertainment and sports coverage. To access live sports on the platform, you need to get the premium plan for TNT Sports coverage (think Premier League, Champions League, MotoGP, Premiership Rugby, UFC, and winter sports).

While the basic plan is quite inexpensive, at £3.99 per month, the premium jumps up to £30.99 per month. You can get TNT Sports through your TV, mobile, or broadband provider, though, which is worth keeping in mind. Also, you can watch a selection of shows for free, in the Free Watch and Shorts sections.

As for what’s on offer, documentary fans are spoilt for choice. Who Is Luigi Mangione? and the new Ghost Adventures are among the big hitters. Plus, you can dig into a variety of cooking programs, nature series and reality TV, from Richard Hammond's workshop to Planet Earth.

Apple doesn’t make it easy to understand the difference between Apple TV and Apple TV+, so let’s try to clear up that confusion. There’s the Apple TV product, a physical set-top box you plug into your TV. There’s the Apple TV app, which comes installed on iOS devices and pulls together content from other streaming services into one place. And then there’s Apple TV+, a stand-alone, Netflix-style streaming service where you can watch Apple’s own original programming.

The choice of shows to watch on Apple TV+ is growing rapidly. The streaming service only hosts its own, self-made, big-budget originals, though there are rumours Apple is planning to license older shows to bolster its catalogue. If you’ve bought an Apple device recently, you’ve likely been given free access to Apple TV Plus. If you have, it’s worth checking out some of the better-rated shows in the library, such as the Jason Sudeikis-fronted comedy Ted Lasso, workplace satire Severance and the action-packed thriller Hijack.

Now (formerly called Now TV) is a streaming service operated by Sky, and whose catalogue of shows most notably includes big hitters from HBO and Showtime. The service soared in popularity at the height of Game of Thrones mania, when it became the only place in the UK for non-Sky customers to watch the show live (it became so popular in fact, that the streaming platform infamously crashed during the season finale). Since then the streaming service has improved immensely, and it’s been home to brilliant shows like the unmissable docu-drama Chernobyl, the adaptation of The Last of Us and science-fiction horror Dark.

Now uses “memberships” to give viewers access to different sections of Sky’s enormous library of movies and TV shows, as well as live entertainment and sport, so you can mix and match to create a streaming service that suits your tastes, and all without locking into an annual Sky contract. Now is a flexible streaming platform with a selection of reliably exceptional shows.

Like every other live venue across the country, the pandemic left the National Theatre facing an existential threat. When theatre audiences were unable to attend in person, the company turned to novel ways to fund itself and continue paying actors and staff. And so the National Theatre at Home – a streaming platform allowing viewers to watch beautifully produced live recordings of a selection of stand-out plays from a handful of associated London theatres – was born. Its success during the pandemic was such that the theatre decided to continue running the service even as crowded venues reopened.

There’s the option to rent a single show or subscribe to unlock the full catalogue, which changes from month to month. National Theatre at Home might not be the ideal way to watch theatre, but it’s the perfect stopgap for those who can’t visit in person or who missed out on some incredible live entertainment.