'Conversations With Friends' and 9 Other Shows We'll Be Watching This May

Stranger Things fans, rejoice. Your favourite residents of Hawkins, Indiana are back for the long-awaited and much-anticipated fourth season of the series, delayed for years because of the pandemic. This time around, the season is being split into two halves, with the first set of episodes dropping in May and the second to premiere later in the year.

But Stranger Things isn’t the only thing coming to streaming this month, there are plenty more series dropping throughout the month that are sure to become must-watches. From the highly-anticipated adaptation of Sally Rooney's Conversations With Friends to the recreation of beloved The Time Traveller’s Wife, these are the 10 new TV shows we're excited to stream in May 2022.

1. The Staircase

The biggest new HBO/Binge show of the month is The Staircase, a fictionalised adaptation of the true crime docuseries of the same name, streaming now on Netflix, about the mysterious death of Kathleen Peterson, and her husband Michael. In the series, Kathleen will be played by Toni Collette and Michael by Colin Firth – Mr Darcy himself! – while the rest of the cast is equally as impeccable, including Sophie Turner, Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, Olivia Dejonge and Odessa Young. True crime fans will be addicted to this whodunnit.

Where can I watch it? From May 5 on Binge

2. The Essex Serpent

The blockbuster novel The Essex Serpent gets a big adaptation this month, starring Claire Danes and Tom Hiddleston as an unlikely pair – a widow and a vicar in 19th century England – united by their fascination over the rumour that a river serpent is terrorising their neighbourhood. This series is a splashy costume drama the likes of which we haven’t seen on the small screen in a while. Deathly serious, no jokes or anachronistic humour, just a beloved book getting the glossy adaptation treatment. We devoured it.

Where can I watch it? From May 13 on AppleTV+

3. The Wilds

Whether it’s Yellowjackets or The Wilds, we’ve become very obsessed with survivalist television of late. The Wilds is one of the better examples out there, a Lord of the Flies-esque tale of a group of teenage girls stranded on an island after a plane crash, unaware that they are part of a sprawling social experiment. At the end of season one, the survivors discovered that they weren’t the only plane – and another filled with boys had also landed on the island. Season two will pick up with this premise and run with it, and quite frankly we can’t wait for whatever chaos unfolds.

Where can I watch it? From May 13 on Prime Video

4. Bling Empire

Netflix’s fabulous reality series set amongst the friendship circles of Los Angeles’ rich and famous Asian families is back for a scandalous second season and, quite frankly, we cannot wait. The first season of Bling Empire was a must-watch for us and we are eagerly awaiting these new episodes.

Where can I watch it? From May 13 on Netflix

5. Hacks

Hacks, the multiple award-winning Jean Smart led comedy about one of the world’s biggest female comics, headlining her own Las Vegas show, is back! The second season of Hacks is sure to be one of the buzziest new releases of the month, and unlike last time, when Australian viewers had to wait several months before the show dropped onto streaming locally, this time the new episodes will be fast-tracked to Stan after premiering in the US. We can’t wait to see what Deborah (Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder) get up to in this new series, and are eagerly awaiting the release of the launch date for the second season.

Where can I watch it? From May 13 on Stan

6. Conversations With Friends

Normal People fans, your prayers have been answered: Conversations With Friends, Sally Rooney’s first (and maybe best!) book has been adapted into a miniseries from the same team who made Normal People such a success. The show will also be split up into 30 min episodes, with director Lenny Abrahamson at the helm, and an incredible cast including Jemima Kirke, Joe Alwyn, Sasha Lane and newcomer Alison Oliver, in this tale of sex, lies and friendship. Mark your calendar now.

Where can I watch it? From May 16 on Prime Video

7. The Time Traveller’s Wife

The beloved Audrey Niffenegger novel – yes, you may have seen the movie adaptation with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams from 2009 – has been adapted again, this time into a Binge series coming in May. Theo James (of Sanditon fame) and Rose Leslie, she of Vigil and Game of Thrones, will star in this romance about a man who can travel through time and the woman he loves, and keeps meeting and meeting, over and over again through the course of both their lives. This is sure to be tear-jerking.

Where can I watch it? From May 16 on Binge

8. Obi-Wan Kenobi

He said it would never happen, but Ewan McGregor is back in the Jedi robes in Obi-Wan Kenobi, a six-episode miniseries that takes place after the events of the prequel Star Wars series, with Obi-Wan facing the looming threat of a rising power force in Darth Vader. Yes, that’s right, Hayden Christensen is back, and so is Joel Edgerton, playing Uncle Owen. Some new faces will join the galaxy far, far away, including Naomi Ackie, who is playing a mysterious, lightsaber-wielding character called Jannah.

Where can I watch it? From May 27 on Disney+

9. Stranger Things

Fans of this insanely successful Netflix show have undoubtedly been counting down the days for the release of this, the first half of the penultimate series of Stranger Things. The poor kids of Hawkins, Indiana had their storylines cut short when covid delayed production on this season and an even greater blow is being served with the knowledge that the fourth season will be split into two halves, a new method of release that Netflix has been employing this year. (They also split the final season of Ozark in half). What can you expect when these new episodes drop at the end of the month? Hopper is back, the friends are reeling after the Battle of Starcourt and they will be separate for the first time. Can they finally put an end, once and for all, to the horrors of the Upside Down?

Where can I watch it? From May 27 on Netflix

10. Pistol

The Sex Pistols are given the big biopic treatment in Pistols, directed by celebrated filmmaker Danny Boyle, the man who made Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire. If you’re expecting Rocketman or Bohemian Rhapsody though, temper those expectations, because this is going to be outrageous, extravagant and no-holds-barred, with wild punktastic costumes and epic music. Starring Maisie Williams in her first big post-Game of Thrones role, along with Anson Boon, Toby Wallace and Talulah Riley as Vivienne Westwood.

Where can I watch it? From May 31 on Disney+