Netflix, Stan, Foxtel, Amazon, Disney and more: Everything new to streaming in April 2020

With so much more time confined within the walls of our homes, at least there will be something new to watch on streaming.

From slow-burn sci-fi shows to family-friendly animations, there’s something for everyone in April. And let’s face it, you’ve got the time.

Here are some highlights for the month, while the full lists are below.

Tales from the Loop (Amazon Prime, April 3): This strange, meditative sci-fi series has an unusual origin story – adapted, as it is, from a series of paintings by Simon Stalenhag that combined landscapes from small towns with robots and was later turned into an online role-playing game. The TV version stars Rebecca Hall and Jonathan Pryce, set in a town with an experimental science lab.

Mrs America (Foxtel Now, April 21): The names involved in Mrs America really are something else: Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Elizabeth Banks, Margo Martindale, Sarah Paulson, Uzo Aduba and John Slattery. You don’t even need to know what it’s about to be enticed. But if you insist on some of the details, it’s based on the second-wave feminist movement to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment and the conservative backlash that tried to stop it. Fireworks.

Cate Blanchett plays conservative firebrand Phyllis Schlafly.

Killing Eve S3 (iview, April 13): The game is afoot again, and presumably Eve survived the gunshot wound levelled at her by Villanelle at the end of the second season. The chase continues between the sassy assassin and the ethically compromised intelligence officer. Here’s hoping for another Clueless reference!

Normal People (Stan, April 27): Adapted from Sally Rooney’s popular book, Normal People will chart the complex relationship between two very different teenagers from high school to university during the early 2000s. The series stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal.

Tigertail (Netflix, April 10): Master of None co-creator Alan Yang’s feature directorial debut is a personal story inspired by his own father’s immigrant story, the tale of a young man who leaves behind his love and everything he knows to move to the US with a wife who’s a virtual stranger. It looks to be a weepy.

Onward (Disney+, April 24): Disney’s latest Pixar movie will head to its streaming platform after a short, one-weekend run in cinemas in Australia. This fantasy story follows two brothers (voiced by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) on a quest to spend one day with their long-dead father.

Game of Thrones’ Natalie Dormer stars in the Penny Dreadful spin-off.

Penny Dreadful: City of Angels (Stan, April 26): This spin-off from the Penny Dreadful series is set 40 years after the original, at the height of 1930s Golden Age Hollywood, exploring LA’s connection to Mexican-American folklore. It stars Natalie Dormer, Kerry Bishe and Nathan Lane.

Nadiya’s Time to Eat (Netflix, April 29): Nadiya Hussein won hearts on Great British Bake-Off because she has an irrepressible positive energy you just want to be around (and is in no way irritating or too much). In this series, she shares recipes that aim to chill us out but also activate those salivating tastebuds – plus, don’t we all have more time now to try new stuff?

The Willoughbys (Netflix, April 21): Netflix is getting serious about competing in animated features and The Willoughbys is its newest effort, featuring a superstar cast including Will Forte, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews and Ricky Gervais. It centres on the Willoughby kids who plot to send their parents on a holiday so they can do whatever they want.

Party of Five (SBS On Demand, April 10): On the surface, Party of Five seems like another unnecessary reboot of a classic 1990s show, one that made stars of Neve Campbell, Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf. But this new version has a purpose – the Salingers have been recast as the Acostas, a family whose parents are seized by immigration officers when it’s discovered they were undocumented.

A new look for Party of Five.

Insecure S4 (Foxtel Now, April 13): Issa Rae’s smart, character-driven TV show is a peek into the life of a young LA woman unsure of her place in the world, whether that’s in work, love or friendship. Issa is a bit of a mess sometimes, but she’s the kind of mess we can all relate to.

All Talk – Celia Pacquola (Amazon Prime, April 10): Amazon is releasing 10 original Australian stand-up comedy specials over the next few weeks, starting with Celia Pacquola and Zoe Coombs Marr. The other names include Dilruk Jayasinha, Judith Lucy, Tom Gleeson, Lano & Woodley, and Alice Fraser.

Mrs Wilson (Stan, April 16): A truly remarkable real-life story of an English woman who, on her husband’s unexpected death, finds out he had a whole different family among his many secrets as a spy. Even more remarkable is her real-life granddaughter, actor Ruth Wilson (Luther, The Affair), plays her in this three-part miniseries.

Bloom S2 (Stan, April 9): Stan’s supernatural mystery series returns for a second season. The magical flower that granted those who consumed it revived vitality lives on and continues to tempt those forever in search of their youth. Jacqueline McKenzie, Bella Heathcote and Gary Sweet join Bryan Brown, Phoebe Tonkin and Jacki Weaver in the cast list.

Jacki Weaver and Bryan Brown return for season 2 of Bloom.

Home (Apple TV+, April 17): When Apple dated its new docuseries, it wasn’t to know much of the world would now be confined to their homes. This series explores the concept of home and the dwellings that nurture and protect us and how it differs around the world.

The Baker and the Beauty (Stan, April 14): One for those looking for something lighthearted, The Baker and the Beauty is billed as a musical rom-com series about a Cuban-American baker who meets an international superstar and the cultural clashes that come from two very different lifestyles.

Finding Joy (Acorn TV, April 13): Created by Irish actor and writer Amy Huberman, Finding Joy is a sweet, quirky comedy about a woman thrust into a new job trying to challenge herself while coming out of a long-term relationship and grappling with the unrealistic expectation that we’re always supposed to be happy.

RBG (DocPlay, April 16): Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an absolute legend. The teeny-tiny octogenarian US Supreme Court justice still lifts weights with her personal trainer. But her physical prowess aside, what this doco about her life really gets across is her absolute commitment to the rule of law and to fairness.

(Amendment: An earlier version of this article stated The Good Fight season four was premiering on SBS On Demand on April 16 - this is no longer the case.)