by As Disney+ UK welcomes in the New Year, Star Wars fans can enjoy a new batch of episodes of the animated series The Bad Batch, as Hugh Jackman takes center stage in an animated sitcom aimed at a significantly older audience.
Elsewhere, Kumail Nanjiani plays the man behind an empire of male strippers in Welcome to Chippendales, which begins as a business story before turning to crime and murder. There is also the British series Extraordinary, in which a young woman is the only person in the world without superpowers.
Read more: New on Netflix January 2023
Read more: New on Prime Video in January 2023
And on the cinematic front, there are three exciting National Geographic documentaries on offer, including Matthew Heineman’s Oscar-nominated tale of Afghanistan Retrograde.
Here’s everything we know will be available on Disney+ UK in January…
Original films coming to Disney+ UK in January 2023
The menu (January 4)
Succession director Mark Mylod delivers a sharp satire set in the world of haute cuisine with The Menu. Ralph Fiennes plays a world-renowned chef who invites a selection of guests to his island restaurant to sample a unique menu, which proves to have something very dark at its core. Nicholas Hoult and Anya Taylor-Joy are among the guests thrown into the unique culinary nightmare of Fiennes’ characters.
If These Walls Could Sing (January 6)
Directed by Paul McCartney’s daughter, Mary McCartney, this documentary delves into the storied history of London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios.
Read more: How Andor’s ending set the second season of the Star Wars series
The film traces nine decades of history and virtually every type of music as it reaches into the bowels of the longest-running studio on Earth.
The Flagmakers (January 13)
Award-winning filmmaking duo Cynthia Wade and Sharon Liese direct this short film, which looks at the modern resonance and impact of the American flag. Below is a selection of people responsible for making flags of various sizes, some of whom are American, while others are immigrants or refugees. They discuss their own perceptions of the flag and what it could mean in the future.
Retrograde (January 13)
Matthew Heineman is one of America’s most celebrated documentary filmmakers, having garnered acclaim and awards for documentaries including Cartel Land and City of Ghosts. He also moved into narrative feature films in 2018 with A Private War, starring Rosamund Pike as war reporter Marie Colvin.
Retrograde, which is a front-runner for the Best Documentary Oscar, delves into the last nine months of the war in Afghanistan and America’s withdrawal from the country. Heineman tells the story from multiple points of view, including US troops, Afghan soldiers, and civilians just trying to protect themselves and their families.
The Territory (January 13)
The continued deforestation of the Amazon in Brazil is one of the greatest environmental destructions occurring today. This documentary by Nat Geo highlights the struggles of the Uru-eu-wau-wau indigenous people in Brazil as they attempt to protect their land, even establishing their own news business to provide further attention to their cause.
Original TV shows coming to Disney+ UK in January 2023
Star Wars: The Bad Batch S2 (January 4)
Set in the aftermath of the Clone Wars, this animated series from Dave Filoni follows an elite group of genetically mutated clone troopers. They first showed up in Filoni’s beloved animated series Clone Wars, but this show follows what they did next, undertaking covert missions in the wake of the conflict. Dee Bradley Baker returns to provide the soldiers’ voices.
Booking Dogs S2 (January 4)
Following a group of troubled young Indigenous teenagers on a North American reservation, this series from creators Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi returns to the characters for a new season. They are still dealing with grief after their friend’s death and are now scattered across the country, grappling with adult issues and responsibilities.
Koala Man (all episodes from January 9)
Australian animator Michael Cusack created this adult superhero sitcom, in which he also plays the lead role of a family patriarch who is also secretly a koala-based superhero whose only power is an unwavering devotion to the rules. Hugh Jackman is also cast as Big Greg, the head of the city council.
Executive producing the show is Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, who is also behind Koala Man’s Hulu read-mate Solar Opposites.
Chasing Waves (January 11)
Surfing made an appearance at the recent Tokyo Olympics, marking its debut in the biggest sports showcase in the world. This docuseries explores surf culture in Japan – 18,000 miles of coastline are very enticing for surfers, of course – and its impact on the sport globally, with contributions from some of the planet’s leading pro surfers.
Welcome to Chippendales (All Episodes January 11)
Indian entrepreneur Somen “Steve” Banerjee rose to fame in the late 1970s when he added a stripping troupe to his Los Angeles nightclub: the Chippendales. Kumail Nanjiani plays Banerjee in this series, which explores that rise and then Banerjee’s subsequent involvement in a series of murders, becoming a true crime tale. It is rather the dramatic fall from grace.
Little Demon (all episodes from January 18)
This animated series for adults features an extraordinarily star-studded voice cast, led by Aubrey Plaza and which also includes Danny DeVito and Michael Shannon. Plaza voices a woman who was impregnated by Satan 13 years ago and is now raising her daughter, the Antichrist. They’re trying to lead a normal, undramatic life in Delaware, but face various problems, not least of which is the fact that Satan (DeVito) wants custody of his daughter’s soul.
Extraordinary (all episodes from January 25)
This British comedy series is set in a world where every citizen receives a superpower when they turn 18. Jen (Máiréad Tyers), on the other hand, is 25 and doesn’t yet have a glimmer of special abilities. The film has her grappling with this problem with the help of her roommates and she embarks on a journey with a clinic that may be able to help her uncover her hidden power.
More movies and TV shows coming to Disney+ UK in January 2023
January 1st
Modern Family (S10)
January 11th
Snowfall (S5)
January 18th
NCIS (S20)
Peppa Pig (S1-2)
Watch: Quentin Tarantino reveals he’s a Peppa Pig fan
