29 November 2023
What’s new on Showmax in December 2023
December is rolling in and bringing sun, fun and a whole host of new shows to enjoy. Catch Showmax Originals like teen murder mystery Trompoppie, adorable animation Twende, and the reunion of the incredible ladies of The Mommy Club. Plus, another diva is back on screen: get ready for S2 of Kwa Mam’Mkhize. Catch it and more.
Showmax Originals: Kenya-South Africa
Twende S1 | Showmax Original | Five eps on 1 December, then two eps every Friday
The first Showmax Original 2D animated series, Twende follows a pangolin of the same name, the slowest moving animal in the savannah. Twende’s belief that “life is about the journey, not the destination” is constantly at odds with his job as a boda boda (motorcycle taxi) driver in the bustling, fictional East African city of Milima.
Twende is voiced by Junior Nyong’o (The Legend of Lwanda Magere), while June Gachui (Crime and Justice) plays his unlikely best friend and navigator, Nuru – a whip-smart bird who always looks out for her bestie, even if his chilled-out vibe drives her crazy sometimes.
Twende’s pilot screened in competition at Annecy, the world’s premier animation festival, in 2021.
Showmax Originals: South Africa
Convict Conman S1 | Wednesdays from 6 December
In 2012, Carte Blanche journalist Sasha Wein receives a tip-off to investigate Dawie de Villiers, a Kempton Park photographer and founder of Modelling South Africa. Described in the first episode as “a sophisticated predator” and “the Kempton Park Hugh Hefner”, de Villiers is accused of fraud and of being sexually inappropriate with aspiring models, some below the age of 16.
Nine years later, in 2021, with de Villiers sentenced to life in jail, investigative journalist Jana Marx (Devilsdorp) receives a tip-off to look into Michael O’Connor. He runs a photography publication and is looking to start business and fashion magazines too. It’s during the Covid pandemic, so his staff have never met him – or even seen his face.
O’Connor claims de Villiers is a “good friend” but what else do they have in common?
A two-part Showmax Original true-crime series, Convict Conman is produced by IdeaCandy (Devilsdorp, Rosemary’s Hitlist, Steinheist) and marks the documentary series directorial debut of SAFTA-winning editor Nikki Comninos, nominated for three SAFTAs in the past two years for her work on Steinheist, Devilsdorp and Murder in Paris.
The Mommy Club S1 Reunion | Stream from 5 December
The Mommy Club, which set a new record for the most first-week views of any reality series on Showmax, follows five affluent Jozi moms and the nannies who help them take care of their heirs.
The reunion special will be hosted by DStv Mzansi Viewers Choice Awards and SAFTA winner Thembisa Mdoda, who will get to the bottom of all the tea that was spilled during the dramatic season.
The mommies include entrepreneur and motivational speaker Hermajesty, former The Real Housewives of Johannesburg breakout star Mpumi Mophatlane, florist to the stars Nunurai Mudarikwa and business owner Ratile Mabitsela.
Adulting S2 | Mondays from 4 December 2023
Adulting follows four friends in Johannesburg. Their strong bond has held them together after varsity even as their journeys in life have taken them in very different directions. As they try to grow as men, finding love, success and the best nightlife spots in Jozi, they turn to each other for laughs and support.
Released in March 2023, Adulting’s first season set a new record for the most first-day views on Showmax of any drama series.
All four lead cast are returning for Season 2: Thembinkosi Mthembu as Bonga, Nhlanhla Kunene as fan-favourite Eric, Thabiso Rammusi as Mpho, and Luthando BU Mthembu as Vuyani.
Breakout star Londeka Shishi is also returning as Nkanyezi, while new cast members include Samkelo Ndlovu (Umkhoka: The Curse) and Thembi Seete (Gomora), not to mention Gaisang K Noge (The Wife) and Nomalanga Shozi (Rhythm City).
Adulting is created by Tshedza Pictures’ Phatu Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon (Outlaws and The River). Gwydion says the 18LSDVN show will keep raising eyebrows in its second season. “Our research into the stuff South African men get up to keeps shocking us…”
Kwa Mam’Mkhize S2 | Thursdays from 14 December
Kwa Mam’Mkhize is finally back and this time it’s a Showmax Original. In the first season, we followed Shauwn Mkhize as she readjusted to life as a single woman after her highly publicised divorce. A massive ratings hit for Mzansi Magic, the first season won Best Reality Show at the Hollywood and African Prestigious Awards and led to Shauwn Mkhize’s nomination as Personality of the Year at the 2022 DStv Mzansi Viewers’ Choice Awards.
In Season 2, we get an all-access inside look at the life of the businesswoman and her close family members, including her son Andile, her daughter Sbahle, and her daughter-in-law Tamia Mpisane.
Kwa Mam’Mkhize is the fourth Showmax reality show from POP24, building on the success of Bae Beyond Borders, This Body Works For Me and the record-breaking hit The Mommy Club.
Trompoppie S1 | Thursdays from 7 December
When Luna, a talented gymnast, is awarded a bursary to a prestigious private school she could never afford, she is thrust into the cut-throat world of an elite group of drum majorettes, aka “trompoppies”. After a hazing ritual goes badly wrong, trompoppies start turning up dead and the seemingly perfect facade of the community begins to crumble.
Melissa Myburgh stars in Trompoppie as Luna, opposite the likes of Marion Holm (Suidooster), Spinners breakout star Cantona James, Frank Opperman (G.I.L.), Daneel van der Walt (Recipes for Love and Murder), Celeste Loots and Armand Aucamp from One Piece, and 14-year-old newcomer Luca Human (the daughter of beloved Afrikaans actress Margit Meyer-Rödenbeck).
Trompoppie is the first Showmax Original from SAFTA and Silwerskerm-winning writer and director Etienne Fourie (Stiekyt, Tydelike Terminaal). Multi-award winners Homebrew Films (2023 Silwerskerm winner Magda Louw) are producing.
Sports Wives S1 | Tuesdays from 5 December
Directed by Thumeka Hlotshana (The Real Housewives of Durban S2-3), Sports Wives is a reality show that gives you a front-row seat into the lives of the wives, girlfriends and exes of South Africa’s sporting greats.
Bomzi September is married to ex-footballer Thabo September, now second assistant coach at his old team SuperSport United. Chrissie Kgamphe-Jane and Tsholo Makgalemele-Mbane are married to Banyana Banyana players Refiloe Jane and Bambanani Mbane respectively. Clarissa Manaças was in a 12-year relationship with Lionel Mapoe, a two-time Currie Cup champion, who played as a utility back for the Springboks and Vodacom Bulls. They have now gone their separate ways, after their 2021 engagement ended earlier this year. Dipuo Maloi has two baby daddies who play soccer – Andile Jali, who has played for Bafana Bafana, Orlando Pirates, Sundowns and now Moroka Swallows, and Lantshene Phalane, his teammate at Moroka Swallows. And Sisanda Cetiywe has a baby with Kennedy Mwene, Zambia’s most capped player, who also kept goal for Sundowns.
Sports Wives is the first reality show from Ndlovukazi Concepts, who have produced hits such as Cishe Ngafa and Abandoned for Mzansi Magic.
Showmax Originals: Nigeria
Wura S2 | Showmax Original | 4 episodes a week from 4 December
Following a successful first season that captured the hearts of audiences as Showmax’s first and longest-running Nigerian telenovela, Wura is back and promises more intrigue, drama, and unforgettable moments.
Wura is the Nigerian adaptation of the hit South African 1Magic telenovela The River, which scooped an International Emmy nomination for Best Telenovela. Wura follows the lives of characters bonded and divided by the discovery of gold in Iperindo, a small community in Osun state, where the story is set. The show’s protagonist, the enigmatic Wura-Amoo Adeleke, is a woman with two sides: a perfect wife and a loving mother on one side and the ruthless CEO of the Frontline Gold Mine on the other.
In the countdown to the second season, the burning question is whether Wura will continue her winning streak or if her luck will eventually run dry. Will her reign persist, or will justice catch up with her?
Agu S1 | Showmax Original | Thursdays from 14 December
Agu is a six-part legal drama series that explores the lives of three Nigerians: Etim (Nollywood legend Kanayo O Kanayo), Pius (Nonso Odogwu), and Victoria (Ruby Okezie), as they find themselves entangled in a court case for the murder of Jonathan, a close friend of Pius.
Etim is a 50-year-old, well-read lawyer who is down on his luck and struggling with his career, not to mention an alcohol problem. After crossing paths with Pius, a believer in traditional worship who is accused of killing his friend in a forest, Etim jumps on the case as a chance to revive his dying career, going head-to-head with the ambitious prosecuting counsel, Victoria, with whom he shares a complicated history.
International movies
The Super Mario Bros. Movie | 18 December
The biggest animated opening of all-time, and the biggest global opening of 2023, The Super Mario Bros. Movie follows a couple of plumbers named Mario and Luigi, a princess named Peach, and an evil Koopa king known as Bowser .… Sound familiar? That’s because it’s based on the classic megahit Mario video game franchise.
The voice cast include Chris Pratt as Mario and Anja Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, alongside Charlie Day as Luigi and Jack Black as Bowser.
Variety says The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s “ingenuity is infectious. You don’t have to be a Mario fan to respond to it, but the film is going to remind the millions who are why they call it a joystick.”
Fast X | First on Showmax | Stream from 4 December
The end of the road begins in Fast X, which was the #1 international box office opening of 2023.
Over many missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have outsmarted, out-nerved and outdriven every foe in their path. Now, they confront the most lethal opponent they’ve ever faced: a terrifying threat emerging from the shadows of the past, fuelled by blood revenge, and determined to destroy everything—and everyone—that Dom loves, forever.
All your faves are back, including Charlize Theron, Helen Mirren, John Cena, Michelle Rodriguez, Jason Statham, Jordana Brewster and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges. Brie Larson, Jason Momoa and Alan Richtson (Reacher) all make their franchise debuts.
As Mashable critic Kristy Puchko says, “This is what summer movies should be! It’s spectacular! It’s thrilling! And it’s the kind of movie you can’t wait to yammer about to your friends. Truly, I walked out of Fast X with a big Momoa smile on my face, so wide it hurt.”
65 | Stream from 11 December
In 65, a catastrophic crash strands Pilot Mills on an unknown planet, where he quickly discovers he’s not alone. With only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, a young girl named Koa, face an epic fight to survive as they make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures … that look uncannily like those that roamed the Earth 65 million years ago.
The sci-fi thriller stars Adam Driver (Star Wars’ Kylo Ren) and was written, directed and produced by the writers of A Quiet Place.
Magic Mike’s Last Dance | Stream from 25 December
Directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, Magic Mike’s Last Dance sees Channing Tatum back in the third instalment of the blockbuster film franchise, which went straight to #1 at the US box office.
The story picks up with “Magic” Mike Lane returning to the stage for what he hopes will be one last hurrah. Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Salma Hayek) who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse…and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he—and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape—be able to pull it off?
As Huffington Post says, “Tatum, whose stripper past first inspired the character, looks more comfortable than ever in a role that, like the film, is in equal parts funny, playful, sexy and sincere.”
The Amazing Maurice | 7 December
Based on Terry Pratchett’s Carnegie Medal-winning novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (which was in turn inspired by the Brothers Grimm’s Pied Piper of Hamelin), The Amazing Maurice follows a sassy, street-smart ginger cat. With his band of rats and pied-piper friend Keith, he travels across the countryside, swindling villagers with a staged rat plague. But when the gang sets its sights on a scenic market town, they quickly realise that someone else got there first…
The all-star voice cast features Hugh Laurie as Maurice and Emilia Clarke as Malicia, alongside Himesh Patel, David Thewlis and David Tennant.
Common Sense Media gives it a 4/5-star rating, recommending the film for ages 8+ and saying “this fun-packed animation captures the [Terry Pratchett] magic that appeals on multiple levels to kids and adults alike.”
House Party | Stream from 7 December
House Party, the remix to the fan-favourite 90s comedy, follows aspiring club promoters and best buds Damon (Tosin Cole from 61st Street) and Kevin (Jacob Latimore from Like a Boss), who are barely keeping things together.
Needing a sudden injection of cash, they decide to host the party of the year at an exclusive mansion they’re hired to clean, which happens to belong to real-life NBA star LeBron James. No permission? No problem. What could go wrong?
Look out for plenty of star cameos in the cast, including Snoop Dogg. Watch the age-restricted trailer on YouTube.
Margaux | Stream from 28 December
A group of college friends rent a smart house for a weekend of partying but soon begin to realise that the house’s super advanced AI system, Margaux, has sinister plans for them.
The cast includes Vanessa Morgan (Riverdale), Richard Harmon (The 100), Madison Pettis (American Pie Presents: Girls’ Rules) and more, and features Susan Bennett, the original voice of Siri, as Margaux.
“What makes Margaux an interesting antagonist is the idea that she’s always watching, listening, and collecting information. Even the greatest of slasher villains aren’t omnipresent,” says Dread Central, praising the horror’s “darkly comedic sensibility” and calling the film “a fun time at the movies [that] entertains from start to finish.”
International series
Poker Face S1 | Binge from 11 December
Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll) is on the case in Poker Face, a Peacock Original mystery from Oscar-nominated creator Rian Johnson (Knives Out).
Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, a casino worker with an extraordinary ability to detect lies. After a close friend is murdered, she hits the road. At every stop, she encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but investigate and solve.
The all-star cast include Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, Chloë Sevginy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Barkin, Benjamin Bratt and Ron Perlman.
Poker Face is the 10th best-reviewed series of 2023 on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 98% critic’s rating, and is up for four Emmys, including Lead Actress (Lyonne) and Guest Actress (Light).
The Winter King S1 | First On Showmax | Mondays from 4 December
Before Britain, there was King Arthur…
Set amid the brutality of the 5th century in a land of warring factions and tribes, The Winter King follows Arthur Pendragon (Iain De Caestecker, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) as he evolves from outcast son to legendary warrior, leader and ultimately, legend. Look out for former Cape Town model Jordan Alexandra as Guinevere.
An epic revisionist take on the well-loved Arthurian legends, it’s based on The Warlord Chronicles trilogy by Bernard Cornwell, and has an 82% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As the critics’ consensus says, “Action-packed and sprawling in scope, The Winter King compensates for its lack of fidelity to Bernard Cornwell’s books with sheer entertainment value.”
Shining Vale S2 | First on Showmax | Binge from 4 December
Season 2 of Shining Vale promises a Phelps family reunion like no other. The story picks up four months later, with Pat (Friends star Courteney Cox) being released from the psychiatric hospital. But she quickly finds out her children don’t need her, and her husband, Terry, (Greg Kinnear) doesn’t remember her – thanks to that little brain injury.
To make matters worse, Pat’s new neighbour looks uncannily like Season 1’s resident spectre, Rosemary (Mira Sorvino), and the house is starting to reveal the shocking secrets of its dark past…
Blue Lights S1 | Binge from 11 December
Set in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Blue Lights follows three rookie police officers who find themselves up against criminal gangs, undercover agents, their own communities and even their own police force as they work to complete the last two months of their probationary period.
Blue Lights has an 89% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with five-star reviews from both The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, with the latter calling the series “well-crafted, fantastically tense, thrilling stuff,” and “one of the best shows of the year”.
World on Fire S2 | 20 December
Four years after its acclaimed first season, the World War II series World on Fire is back. The ensemble series is set between 1940-1941, taking us from the war-torn streets of Britain and the start of the Blitz in Manchester deep into Nazi Germany, the resistance within occupied France, and the brutal sands of the North African desert, including the Siege of Tobruk and Operation Compass.
Season 2 has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Guardian’s 4/5-star review calling it, “totally gripping”.
Non-fiction series
How To With John Wilson S3 | Binge from 20 December
The third and final season of the zany, hilarious, and widely acclaimed HBO Original docu-comedy series How To With John Wilson follows documentary filmmaker and self-described “anxious New Yorker” John Wilson. Continuing his heartfelt mission of self-discovery, exploration, and observation, Wilson films the lives of his fellow New Yorkers while attempting to give everyday advice on six wildly random topics, from how to find a public restroom and how to work out, to how to clean your ears.
Nominated for a 2022 Emmy, the series boasts 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Guardian calls it “miraculous”, saying, “Every episode of this visual essay is an absolute masterpiece – like nothing else on television… One of the finest shows to come out of the US in years… A complete modern reinvention of the visual essay form, something funny and profound and head-spinningly human, a glimpse of New York City from an angle it’s never been seen before, at grubby street level and round freakish little corners.”
Christmas movies
A Royal Christmas Surprise | Stream from 21 December
Having weathered the “Royal Surprise” of the first film, Riley Stephenson and Mandla Amitu, now engaged, have settled back into life in Los Angeles. Riley’s Aunt Priscilla and Uncle Leon have offered to host a Christmas Eve engagement party at their beautiful home in Kentucky, which also seems like the perfect time for Riley’s family to meet Queen Nobantu and King Chidike, Mandla’s parents …but is it? Riley and Mandla will have to navigate tension between the matriarchs of their respective families, planning their engagement party, and another “Royal Surprise” that puts into question the couple’s entire future.
Thapelo Mokoena (Trackers) andJennifer Freeman (You Got Served) co-star, with SAFTA nominee Sello Maake Ka-Ncube (Blood Psalms, The River) and Abena Ayivor (Black Earth Rising) as the king and queen.
School Run | Showmax Original | Stream from 15 December
School Run is a heartwarming, entertaining holiday-themed family drama that follows the story of Timileyin Kalejaiye and Adeola Kalejaiye, a career-obsessed couple, and their 11-year-old son, Bolu Kalejaiye. Problems arise when a seemingly simple school pick-up for extra activities during the holidays becomes a nerve-racking emotional journey for Timileyin and Adeola, who must bury selfish interests to find their son after he is picked up by the wrong bus driver.
School Run is headlined by the gifted young actor Greatness Ewurum. Joining the line-up are Ifeanyi Kalu and Amanda Iriekpen, who play Bolu’s parents.
A Merry X-Mess | 15 December
What happens when extended family with different personalities and agendas come together for Christmas? In this Kenyan Christmas feature, the Nyatis have to get through the seven days of Christmas without killing each other.
Chaos erupts when the competitive family matriarch Zawadi invites her equally competitive sister from the village to help her to win the annual family Christmas choir competition at church. Meanwhile, Zawadi tries to meddle in her son’s love life, while her daughter, visiting from America, grapples with the African traditions that her uncle tries to impose on her children. As modern beliefs and traditions clash, and with the ultimate choir competition bringing out the worst and best in them, can the spirit of Christmas bring joy to the Nyati family?
Written by Damaris Irungu (Pepeta) and directed by Gilbert Lukalia, A Merry X-Mess stars Melissa Kiplagat (Country Queen), Bruce Makau (Kina), Sheila Munyiva (Country Queen), Mufasa Kibet (Crime and Justice), Regina Re (Pieces of Us), Joel Kennedy Otukho (Country Queen), Raymond Karago (Twende) Eunice Kangai and Naomi Ramtu.
A Merry X-Mess is Showmax’s second Christmas feature film in Kenya, following Reuben Odanga’s A Familiar Christmas last year.
Christmas overseas
Also look out for international Christmas films like The Great Holiday Bake War (14 December), Christmas in the Caribbean and Santa’s Got Style (both 18 December), as well as A Christmas Story Christmas, Christmas Down Under, Christmas Unfiltered, and The First Noelle (all 21 December).
Local
Shaka Ilembe | Binge from 4 December
Set in the 1700s, Shaka Ilembe tells the story of the heroic rise of the iconic Zulu king, played as an adult by Lemogang Tsipa (The Republic) and a boy by newcomer Ntando Zondi.
The cast also includes Thembinkosi Mthembu, Senzo Radebe, Wiseman Mncube, Khabonina Qubeka and Nomzamo Mbatha as Queen Nandi, the revered mother of Shaka.
Produced by the Oscar-nominated team at Bomb (Yizo Yizo), Shaka ILembe was six years in the making, consulting historians, academics and family descendants.
The first episode set a new record as the most-watched drama series on DStv ever, reaching over 3.6m viewers in South Africa alone. As News24 wrote, “Shaka iLembe reaches for and represents a towering achievement in what’s possible for South African filmmaking.”
Mzansi Magic has already ordered a second season.
Die Onderonsie [The Quarrel] | Showmax film | Stream from 1 December
When five ex band-mates come together for their annual reunion, a dead body stirs up suspicion and violence among the friends. With tjommies like these, who needs enemies?
The debut feature film from multi-award winner Philip Nolte (2023 SAFTA winner Sex in Afrikaans, Silwerskerm award winner Vossie Vergas Homself), the dark comedy co-stars SAFTA nominee Simoné Pretorius (Hotel), Binnelanders stars Pietie Beyers and Lindsey Cele, and Getroud Met Rugby stars Adrian Steyn and Sean van Noordwyk.
Mkhize to Masemola | Showmax film | Stream from 15 December
Makhosonke is an Umlazi taxi driver, a Zulu man whose life is turned upside down when he discovers that he’s the rightful heir to a Pedi kingdom. As he reluctantly accepts what seems like the biggest call to adventure of his life, he has to question who he is and what he truly wants.
SAFTA nominee Thulane Shange (The Wife) stars as Makhosonke, opposite the likes of SAFTA winners Harriet Manamela (Skeem Saam), Meme Ditshego (Ga re Dumele), and Seputla Sebogodi (The Republic), Sello Sebotsane (Abomkhulu), Nozuko Ntshangase (DiepCity), Nhlanhla Masiya (The River), and former Miss South Africa Ntandoyenkosi Mthethwa.
Mkhize to Masemola is directed by Star Mphahlele and produced by Pula Bakgaga Media (AboMkhulu).
More great South African shows
- The Saturday Showdown S2 | Binge from 1 December
- Grootboom & Sons S2 | Binge from 25 December
- Silwerskerm Short Films | From 14 December
Reality TV
The Real Housewives of Johannesburg S3 | 25 December
Return to the lavish lifestyles of six dynamic women as they navigate life, wealth, friendship dynamics, romantic relationships, and making it big in the City of Gold.
Showmax is also home to the other African editions of NBCUniversal’s multi-award-winning Real Housewives franchise including Abuja, Durban, Lagos and Nairobi.
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test S1 | Binge from 20 December
This military training reality series throws a group of celebs into some of the harshest settings in the world, where they’ll take on a series of gruelling training exercises that will push them to their limits both mentally and physically.
Season 1’s contestants include singers Mel B and Montell Jordan, reality stars Kate Gosselin and Dr Drew Pinsky, and sports superstars like Olympians Nastia Liukin (gymnast), Gus Kenworthy (skier) and Carli Lloyd (football), as well as former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
Temptation Island USA S5 | Binge from 20 December
The ultimate test of faithfulness returns with fresh twists and turns in Season 5 of Temptation Island, where four couples – all committed to each other but at a crossroads in their relationships – will test their love on an amazing vacation in paradise.
Family and kids’ favourites
Dragons Rescue Riders: Heroes of the Sky S1 | 1 December
Heroes take flight and friendship soars in this animated series, from DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon franchise. It has a 4/5-star rating on Common Sense Media, where it’s recommended for ages 5+. As they say, this “charming and delightful entry into the How to Train Your Dragon franchise… is more friendly to younger kids than the original movie series.”
Fright Krewe S1 | First On Showmax | 1 December
An ancient prophecy and a Voodoo queen put misfit teens in charge of saving New Orleans from the biggest demonic threat it’s faced in almost two centuries.
In their 4/5-star review, Common Sense Media recommends the series for ages 9+. As Polygon says, “Fright Krewe has all the makings of a show that could be the next big thing — and maybe even redefine audience expectations for all-ages animation.”
Paw Patrol S9 | 15 December
A runaway rocket, a tooth fairy in distress, a lonely ghost, a giant squid, a floating castle, a reef in trouble and baby space rocks! Season 9 of Paw Patrol is keeping our favourite Pup Squad busy, busy, busy as they race to the rescue in Adventure Bay.
Also watch
- Dino Pops S1 | First On Showmax | 8 December
- Take Note S1 | First on Showmax | 1 December
- Mummies | 14 December
- Guardians of Time | First on Showmax | 18 December
- Epic Tails | 21 December
- Katak: The Brave Beluga | 25 December
More to watch on Showmax
1 December
Archibald’s Next Big Thing Is Here S1 | Curious George S15 | Fifi and the Flowertots S3 | Mighty Mustangs S1-3 | My Life Me S1 | That’s What She Said
4 December
G.I. Joe: Retaliation | G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra | My Ma Kook Beter As Joune S1 | Overlord | Righting Wrongs | The Postman Fights Back | In The Line of Duty II
7 December
100 Million BC | Madagascar | Penguins of Madagascar | Tiger Cage
11 December
Couple’s Retreat | Dirty Little Deed | Play Dead | Private Property
14 December
Dotty & Soul | The One | Trolls
15 December
Stars S1
18 December
Bridget Jones’ Baby | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Younger S1-7
21 December
Nanny McPhee | Nanny McPhee Returns
25 December
Girls Trip
27 December
The Undeclared War
28 December
Back To The Future 1-3 | Bee Movie | Evan Almighty | The Loneliest Boy in the World
Original African stories by local talent
Unfollowed S1-2
Unfollowed examines cancel culture in social media through real-life stories of South African celebs. Stream S2 now, with new episodes weekly.
The Hot Seat S1
The Hot Seat promises bold banter as some of Kenya’s biggest celebrities face the heat. Stream now, with new episodes weekly.
Nairobi Bachelor S1
Nairobi Bachelor follows the journey of young bachelors and singletons on a quest to find their perfect match. Stream now, with new episodes every Friday.
Spooksoeker S1
When Warno Alberts turns 15, he suddenly becomes aware of ghosts in his dorpie – and it’s now his job to banish them. Stream now, with new episodes every Thursday.
4Play
4Play follows four men who, despite their chaotic personal lives, find friendship, love and perseverance in Nairobi’s concrete jungle. Stream now, with new episodes every Thursday.
Die Tollie & Manila Show
A bold talk show where SA celebs join drag queens Tollie Parton and Manila von Teez for an evening of conversation and games… in drag. Stream now, with new episodes every Monday.
The Station Strangler
The Station Strangler is a true-crime documentary investigating the serial killer who is believed to have killed 21 young boys and one adult from the late 80s to the mid-90s on the Cape Flats. Now available to stream.
Black & Blue S1
Black & Blue, a Showmax Original police-based mockumentary series, now streaming, with new episode every Wednesday.
Youngins S2, now on Showmax
Soft Life, now streaming on Showmax
More Mzansi gold
Outopsie S1-3
Senior forensic pathologist Dr Hestelle van Staden reveals what really happens behind closed doors in captivating cases where forensic pathology played a central role.
Great African Crimes with Mandy Wiener (2024)
This one-off special explores three dramatic cases that left South Africa stunned: Daisy de Melker, the so-called Sea Cottage incident, and the Krugersdorp bank robbery.
Zarelda de Bruin on her breakout debut role in Spooksoeker
The 17-year-old Zarelda de Bruin plays Melissa in the Showmax Original Spooksoeker, now available to stream. Catch new episodes every Thursday.
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