The Crown
What is happening: The Windsors have arrived in the ’90s in season five, one of the most disastrous decades in British Royalty in recent history. Charles and Diana’s marriage is in ruins, Windsor Castle is on fire, and the British don’t like the monarchy anymore either. And then the heir to the throne, Charles, illegally grabs the crown.
Secret Star: Princess Margaret, played magnificently by Lesley Manville. Elizabeth II’s younger sister stays true to herself and her dry sense of humor with the utmost elegance. Moment of tears: the last dance with Peter Townsend (Timothy Dalton), her great love, whom she was never allowed to marry.
Not suitable for: fact checker. The Crown takes many liberties – and none of the cast will win a likeness contest with real-life royals. Claudia Fromme
Ten episodes, on Netflix.
souls
What is happening: A German mystery series in a pleasantly un-German gloomy look. Three women, three time levels, one event that connects everyone. In the present, the 14-year-old son of a single mother claims he has lived before and is the pilot of a plane that crashed. In the past, this pilot’s pregnant wife relives the day of farewell over and over again. In the future, the now adult daughter of this woman joins a dubious sect that believes in transmigration and makes unsightly “regressions”.
Secret Star: The almost unrecognizable Julia Koschitz as Allie with curly blond hair and a lively temperament. It plays a role on all three time planes and ages by 25 years.
Not suitable for: People for whom there is nothing more between heaven and earth than their school wisdom can dream of. Christine Dossel
Eight episodes on Sky.
Cabinet of Curiosities
What is happening: Eight episodes of the finest horror stories. With his cabinet of curiosities, Mexican director Guillermo del Toro presents aliens nesting in human bodies. A greedy army veteran haunted by demons and a journey into the realm of the dead. And as is so often the case, in the end it is the human element in the stories that makes the viewers shudder.
Secret Star: Kate Micucci as Stacey Chapman in the episode “The Outside” manages to take the viewer spellbound through her transformation.
Not suitable for: weak stomachs. Some of the scenes are so detailed that even fans of the horror genre have to look the other way. Sina Maria Schweikle
Eight episodes, on Netflix.
wednesday
What is happening: The whimsical Wednesday, the daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams, avenged her little brother Pugsley’s bullying with a bag of piranhas in the high school pool and is now shipped off to the boarding school where her parents met. This specializes in children who are even more whimsical than those at Hogwarts. Wednesday shares her room with a short, blonde, pink-obsessed werewolf and soon becomes a detective when a series of murders rocks the nearby town.
Secret Star: The so-called “subplot”: Wednesday is only a mystery series on the surface, but at its heart the series is about the divided American society.
Not suitable for: fans of the good old ones Addams familyseries from 1964. Susan Vahabzadeh
Eight episodes, on Netflix.
safe
What is happening: Two children and two adolescents are treated alternately in a Berlin psychotherapeutic practice. In her first drama series, Oscar winner Caroline Link, who is also responsible for the screenplay, focuses on the therapy discussions and the search for the right tone in dealing with the young patients in a decidedly factual atmosphere. The actors, Link’s acting and their fabulous dialogues between cheekiness and vulnerability make the series so worth seeing.
Secret Star: Lotte Shirin Keiling as six-year-old Ronja, who is diagnosed with a social behavior disorder, among other things.
Not suitable for: People who do not want to admit mental illnesses in children and adolescents. Harold Hordych
Eight episodes, on ZDF Neo or in the media library.
naked
What is happening: The documentary series naked has undertaken nothing less than the reassessment of gender identity. The series follows men learning to cry, a child who wants to be a boy and why women’s education strengthens the economy. Completely relaxed and cheeky in tone, the Arte series deals with controversies that are humorously juxtaposed.
Secret Star: The children in the credits. They talk very calmly about the wearability of the color pink, whether they would like to change gender and who actually rules the world (God, Mama, the King).
Not suitable for: People who cannot stand controversy in a gender context. Lilly Brosowsky
Six episodes in which Arte media library.
You can find more series recommendations here.