New on BBC iPlayer this week (12-18 August) we have brand new comedy series Henpocalypse, a high-energy comedy romp, seen through the eyes of five women on the ultimate hen weekend, which goes very wrong.

The Bold Type follows three young women who work for Scarlet, a global women’s magazine based in New York City, and in Paranormal: The Girl, The Ghost and The Gravestone, Sian Eleri investigates a seemingly ordinary farmhouse in north Wales which, in the late 1990s, became widely considered as one of the most haunted houses in Britain.

Colosseum explores the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the Colosseum, and finally, Rugby League’s most prestigious knock-out competition, the Rugby League: Challenge Cup reaches its final stages.

What’s coming new to BBC iPlayer this week?

Henpocalypse

When bridezilla-to-be Zara’s hen-do is interrupted by the end of the world, she and her four fellow working-class West Midlander best mates wait out the breakdown of human civilisation in an isolated holiday cottage in Wales.

Emerging from quarantine into the harsh new post-apocalyptic world, they find the male population has almost entirely wiped out and Britain is now a hellscape in which only the very fittest will survive. It’s inevitable on a hen do there’ll be fractious dynamics between friends so how will they come together to work out what to do with the male stripper, the only man who seems to have survived? Pitted against a group of radicalised Pilates instructors and using sex toys as spears against the enemy, will the dysfunctional friends survive in the harsh new world of societal breakdown?

• Watch Henpocalypse on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday 15 August below.

The Bold Type

The Bold Type follows three spirited young women who work for Scarlet, a global women’s magazine based in New York City. Jane, Kat and Sutton help each other navigate life’s challenges as they pursue their career goals, search for love and discover their identities.

• Watch all five series of The Bold Type on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday 16 August below.

Paranormal: The Girl, The Ghost and The Gravestone

• Watch the trailer for Paranormal: The Girl, The Ghost and The Gravestone below.

In this gripping new box-set series, Radio 1 presenter Sian Eleri investigates a seemingly ordinary farmhouse in north Wales which, in the late 1990s, became widely considered as one of the most haunted houses in Britain.

The story became the centre of a national media attention as the family who lived at the farm became ever more desperate in their search for answers. More than 300 apparently paranormal events were documented at the house in video footage, audio interviews, photos, and eye-witness accounts – all of which had been locked away, until now.

Reports ranged from words and pictures appearing and disappearing on the walls; objects moving around the house; and multiple witnesses reporting seeing a hooded figure and the ghost of a girl rumoured to be buried in the garden.

With exclusive access to the case archive and to those at the heart of the case, Sian sets out to uncover what really happened at Penyffordd Farm. Her starting position is one of scepticism but in a series of chilling and increasingly bizarre twists and turns, Sian is left questioning everything she thought she knew.

• Watch Paranormal: The Girl, The Ghost and The Gravestone on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday 15 August below.

Colosseum

A man in a metal helmet holds a shield and weapon in preparation for a fight
Are you not entertained? The rise and fall of the Roman Empire through the Colosseum – an epic arena for Rome’s rulers, a savage stage for those who worked and fought there.

In AD80, the Colosseum is open for business. Roman emperor Titus plans 100 days of games to commemorate, including an epic battle to the death between gladiators Priscus and Verus.

• Watch Colosseum on BBC iPlayer from Wednesday 16 August below.

Rugby League: Challenge Cup

Coverage from Rugby League’s most prestigious knock-out competition, involving teams from all levels of the sport. In the Women’s competition, St Helens take on the Leeds Rhinos in the final, while in the Men’s Leigh Leopards face Hull KR.

• Watch Rugby League: Challenge Cup live on BBC iPlayer on Saturday 12 August below.

What’s new to watch on BBC iPlayer now?

• Watch the trailer for Crazy Rich Agents: Selling Dream Homes below.

In this new series we meet five newbie real estate brokers, who have risked it all to make it big in the world of luxury real estate. At stake, six figure commission cheques that could make or break them.

They’ve come from all walks of life: a former care home behavioural therapist, an international model, a building society worker, a Dubai estate agent, and a former music producer. Their backgrounds are unique, but they all want to become luxury real estate’s next big thing.

The rookie brokers have been summoned to one of their agency’s most luxurious properties: a £3 million Grade 2 listed castle in County Durham. Featuring 35 rooms, a wine cellar, and their new CEO Eddie Shapiro who has surprised them with an opportunity of a lifetime: the one who performs the best over the summer will get the opportunity to work at the agency’s headquarters in New York.

• Watch Crazy Rich Agents on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 6 August below.

Ultimate Wedding Planner

Eight aspiring wedding planners will battle it out to become the Ultimate Wedding Planner, as six brave couples let them take control of their special day.

Hailing from Powys, Belfast, Hull, Leicestershire, London, Plymouth, Kent and Luton – who will be crowned the Ultimate Wedding Planner?

• Watch Ultimate Wedding Planner on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday 8 August below.

Women’s Golf Open Highlights

The world’s best female golfers compete for one of the Tour’s major tournaments on the UK’s most challenging courses.

The best of the action from the opening day at Walton Heath, the Surrey course which is staging the Women’s Open for the first time.

The 2022 title was won by South Africa’s Ashleigh Buhai, who recovered from throwing away a five-shot lead to beat South Korea’s In Gee Chun in a dramatic play-off, claiming her first major win.

• Watch the Women’s Golf Open Highlights on BBC iPlayer from Thursday 10 August below.

Amazing Hotels

Monica Galetti and Rob Rinder travel to Kasbah Tamadot in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco. With Sir Richard Branson as their boss, they discover how genuine Berber hospitality and spectacular views of the landscape make it unique.

Monica helps the chef source local produce at the nearby market and gets to know a very famous visitor, while Rob mucks out the hotel stables and guides guests on a mountain trek.

• Watch Amazing Hotels on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 6 August below.

WOLF

Obsessed with the neighbour he believes murdered his 10 year old brother in the 90s, DI Jack Caffery finds himself trying to right the wrongs of others but at what cost? New drama based on Mo Hayder’s acclaimed Jack Caffery novels .

In an isolated house in Monmouthshire, the wealthy Anchor Ferrers family find themselves the victims of a psychopath’s cruel games, trapped and terrorised. When the two narratives collide, it’s a thrilling, nail biting and deeply disturbing race against time.

• Watch Wolf on BBC iPlayer below.

Shadow of Truth

This documentary series forensically examines the mysterious murder of Israeli teen Tair Rada in 2006.

The brutal case sparked widespread conspiracy theories and threw the integrity of the entire justice system into doubt.

• Watch Shadow of Truth on BBC iPlayer below.

Clean Sweep

Inspired by true events, Clean Sweep follows a seemingly ordinary housewife, Shelly Mohan, a mother of three married to a Garda detective. On the surface, all seems normal until her dark past comes back to haunt her.

Shelly makes the fatal decision to kill her former partner in crime when he resurfaces and threatens to expose her. Shelly’s detective husband is assigned the job to find the killer. The pressures mount as the noose tightens, all while Shelly is also trying to deal with her unfaithful husband and an ailing son.

• Watch Clean Sweep on BBC iPlayer below.

Celebrity MasterChef

The ever-popular Celebrity MasterChef is back on BBC One for its 18th series and this summer is set to get even hotter, as the who’s who of music, comedy, drama and showbusiness battle it out to become the Celebrity MasterChef 2023 Champion.

Across six weeks, judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be putting their own taste buds through a sensory assault course, as they discover which celebrities have the palate and skill to chop, slice and sizzle their way to lifting the iconic Celebrity MasterChef trophy.

• Watch Celebrity MasterChef on BBC iPlayer below.

blur at the BBC

Over the years, Damon, Graham, Alex and Dave have helped to change the face of British music, constantly evolving and leaving musical rivals in their wake. This collection of blur’s greatest performances on the BBC delivers all the hits and more, capturing the band’s crowd-pleasing side through fan favourites like Country House, Parklife, and Girls and Boys, as well as their more sensitive and soulful side with tracks including Coffee + TV, Beetlebum, Tender and Out of Time.

• Watch Blur at the BBC on BBC iPlayer below.

Dreaming Whilst Black

Kwabena is an aspiring film-maker working a dead-end job in recruitment. When he bumps into Amy, an old friend from film school who has just returned from three years in Nigeria, she offers to pass his script, Jamaica Road, to the development team at the production company where she works.

But life isn’t as simple as all that, and Kwabena may have to make some sacrifices in order to pursue his dream.

• Watch Dreaming Whilst Black on BBC iPlayer below.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under

Mama Ru returns as ten new queens from all across Australia and New Zealand compete for the title of Down Under’s Next Drag Superstar!

For their first challenge, the queens throw a Mardi Gras Pride-themed celebration on the main stage.

• Watch RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under on BBC iPlayer below.

Gaia: A Death On Dancing Ledge

Gaia: A Death on Dancing Ledge sees Zara McDermott in Dorset to attempt to understand and shed light on the tragic circumstances around the death of 19-year-old Gaia Pope-Sutherland in 2017.

Rumours about what happened to Gaia still stir up strong feelings in the small town of Swanage where she lived. Some people believed she was kidnapped, others that she was murdered. Over three episodes, the events that led up to Gaia’s death are tracked, with the numerous failings and oversights by officials, including the police and health care professionals, involved in her care being brought to the fore. The documentary hears directly from Gaia’s family and friends about her life and examines what needs to change in the future.

• Watch Gaia: A Death On Dancing Ledge on BBC iPlayer below.

The Power of Parker

Stockport, 1990. Wannabe business guru Martin Parker has a perfect life and a flash car. But wife Diane and mistress Kath could put a spanner in the works. Comedy with Sian Gibson.

Kath is planning her anniversary celebrations, while Diane is worried she’s not got enough cheese for the soiree she’s organising for the ‘French exchange people’.

Meanwhile, Martin is under financial pressure and needs to make some big decisions – decisions that will end up impacting him and everyone close to him.

• Watch The Power Of Parker on BBC iPlayer below.

Reframed: Marilyn Monroe

The face you know, the story you don’t. Immortalised as a sex icon, dismissed as a tragic victim – in reality she was a woman brimming with feminism, sexuality and power.

• Watch Reframed: Marilyn Monroe on BBC iPlayer below.

Electric Cars: What They Really Mean For You

Cars are an essential part of life for many of us. But new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from sale in 2030 to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Electric cars are selling fast, but are not without controversy.

Justin Rowlatt, the BBC’s climate editor, explores if the UK is on track to hit the government’s targets to stop emitting greenhouse gases by 2050.

Presenter Michelle Ackerley investigates the frustrations people face trying to charge their electric cars. She explores the difficulties in building the UK’s charging infrastructure and why it’s not happening fast enough.

Environmental scientist Dr Tara Shine questions the cost of electric cars and meets battery experts to understand the global forces that will affect prices for decades to come.

• Watch Electric Cars: What They Really Mean For You on BBC iPlayer below.

David Harewood On Blackface

At its peak, The Black and White Minstrel Show was watched by a Saturday night audience of more than 20 million people. David Harewood goes on a mission to understand the roots of this strange, intensely problematic cultural form: where did the show come from, and what made it popular for so long?

With the help of historians, actors and musicians, David uncovers how, at its core, blackface minstrelsy was simply an attempt to make racism into an art form – and can be traced back to a name and a date.

• Watch David Harewood On Blackface on BBC iPlayer below.

Home Sweet Rome!

Home Sweet Rome!, based on a concept by the creator of Hannah Montana, Michael Poryes, launches in the UK on Monday 24 July on CBBC and BBC iPlayer.

The comedy drama focuses on 13-year-old Lucy (Kensington Tallman), who moves from America to start a new life in Rome with her dad (Darrin Rose), an archaeologist, and stepmother Francesca (Eleonora Facchini), a famous Italian pop star.

Lucy will have to adapt to these big changes whilst navigating through all the growing pains of being a teenager – not easy when her best friend Kyla (Ava Ro) is now 6000 miles away.

With new friends, amazing food and haute fashion, Lucy’s adventures abroad begin as, with Francesca’s help, she embraces her love for music and launches her own path to pop stardom.

• Watch Home Sweet Rome! on BBC iPlayer below.

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023

The FIFA Women’s World Cup is underway and fans can stream matches live on BBC iPlayer

• Watch the Women’s World Cup on BBC iPlayer below.
• Get the latest on the FIFA Women’s World Cup schedule below.

World on Fire

BBC iPlayer below.

• Watch World on Fire series 1 on BBC iPlayer below.

• Read: World on Fire series two cast and writer Peter Bowker on telling the story of World War Two through the eyes of ordinary people

University Challenge

• Watch Amol Rajan in action ahead of University Challenge’s return to BBC Two and BBC iPlayer below.

Amol Rajan asks the questions as students from across the UK face the most fiendish of tests.

In the opening heat, Trinity College, Cambridge, face the University of Manchester for a place in the second round. We’ll see moments of huge tension, flashes of genius, and brilliant starters and bonuses that will have viewers joining in and shouting at their screens.

• Watch University Challenge on BBC iPlayer below.

Earth

This ground-breaking series for BBC Two and iPlayer tells the astonishing four and a half billion year story of the planet we call home: Earth. Chris Packham uses the latest science to take viewers on a journey through Earth’s most epic moments – a jaw-dropping catalogue of dramatic upheaval from the first seconds of the planet’s existence to the arrival of its most impactful inhabitants, us.

From massive asteroid bombardments to extreme changes in climate and collisions of whole continents, immersive cutting-edge CGI allows us to witness the critical moments when Earth’s future, and the life it nurtured, hung in the balance.

Each episode tells the story of a pivotal epoch as evolving landscapes and ecosystems faced seemingly insurmountable challenges and breath-taking transitions, including the formation of our life-sustaining atmosphere, the era of lava lakes the size of Australia, and the catastrophic freezing of the entire planet.

• Watch Earth on BBC iPlayer from Monday 17 July below.

The Sixth Commandment

• Watch the trailer for The Sixth Commandment below.

The Sixth Commandment is a brand new four-part true crime drama which explores the deaths of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin in the village of Maids Moreton, Buckinghamshire, and the extraordinary events that unfolded over the following years.

The Sixth Commandment tells the story of how the meeting of an inspirational teacher, Peter Farquhar (Timothy Spall) and a charismatic student, Ben Field (Éanna Hardwicke), set the stage for one of the most complex and confounding criminal cases in recent memory.

It also focuses on how suspicions around Field’s relationship with Ann Moore-Martin (Anne Reid), Peter’s deeply religious neighbour, unlocked a series of chilling revelations.

• Watch The Sixth Commandment on BBC iPlayer below.

Couples Therapy

Real lives, real therapy. Dr Orna Guralnik welcomes couples wanting to save their relationships. Follow the emotional struggles and successes in riveting, raw reality.

Four new couples begin sessions with Dr Orna Guralnik. Brock and Kristi unpack their Mormon upbringing as they search for a new foundation. Josh struggles with Natasha’s lack of intimacy. Christine transitions from a non-monogamous relationship to a poly one with Nadine. Sean shows Orna the meaning of the word ‘gaslighting.’

• Watch new episodes of Couples Therapy on BBC iPlayer below.

Snowfall

A young man is pictured bathed in red light. Streams of blue, purple and red flow down his face.
It’s October 1986 and civil war threatens to destroy the Saint family. Louie has taken over Franklin’s role as Teddy’s sole buyer, undercutting her nephew and creating a competing empire in the process. In desperation, having had all his funds wiped out by Teddy McDonald, Franklin has robbed Louie and Jerome. Faced with losing everyone he loves and everything he’s built, coming out on top again will mean out-manoeuvring his family as well as the KGB, the DEA, the CIA and the LAPD. When everyone has their backs against the wall, who will they become in order to survive?

• Watch Snowfall series 6 on BBC iPlayer below.
• Watch Snowfall Series 3-5 on BBC iPlayer below.

The Traitors Australia

Welcome to a most, deliciously, dangerous game of lies, deception and betrayal. Do the Faithfuls have what it takes, to eliminate the Traitors? Or will the skulduggery of the Traitors see the Faithfuls eliminate one of their own.

Rodger Corser joins as host of the manor. 24 strangers will meet for the first time and band together to win up to a quarter million in solid silver bars. Moments after getting acquainted, four players will be selected as the Traitors, the other 20 will be the Faithful.

Only the Traitors know who’s who, and by night, they will meet together in Traitors Tower to murder an innocent Faithful. However, the Traitors aren’t safe either. Each evening, in the Banishment ceremony, the Faithful have an opportunity to vote out a Traitor.

But if they can’t see through the Traitors’ lies, they could end up eliminating one of their own. In the end, there can only be one winner of the quarter million solid silver.

• Watch The Traitors Australia on BBC iPlayer below.
• Watch The Traitors UK on BBC iPlayer below.
• Watch The Traitors US on BBC iPlayer below.

Murder on the Blackpool Express

Murder Mystery writer David Van Der Clane (Griff Rhys Jones) is a household name, but things start to go horribly wrong for him when his superfans start getting bumped off during a book tour he’s set up with coach tour operator Gemma Draper (Sian Gibson). As our selection of sleuthing misfits visit the infamous settings of David’s novels it’s soon clear that the murders they love to read about are gradually becoming all too real.

Are the deaths all just an unfortunate coincidence or is there a real life murderer in their midst? Everyone has something to hide and as tensions rise everyone becomes a suspect. With the police being wholly unhelpful the tour’s only hope of catching the killer rests in the hands of the coach driver Terry (Johnny Vegas)… unless of course he’s actually to blame!

• Watch Murder on the Blackpool Express on BBC iPlayer below.

Joe Swash: Teens in Care

Over the years, Joe Swash’s magnetic personality has endeared him to millions of TV viewers, but now he is delving into something more serious, and more personal.

This documentary follows Joe as he explores the stories of teens in care over the age of 16, the largest-growing cohort in both child protection and care. His motivation is deeply personal. It’s an issue that is close to his and his family’s heart, as his mum, Kiffy, has been a foster carer for over 15 years.

Joe wants to spend time with teens across the UK, who live in foster care, in residential children’s homes, and some who left at 18 and are trying to make it alone, to show what growing up as a teenager in care is really like.

His journey of discovery follows the long-awaited publication of the Independent Review of Children’s Social Care, which promises a ‘once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the children’s social care system’. But can it really get to the root of the problems facing teens in care?

Through this experience, Joe also sees at first hand the work of foster carers and the army of frontline workers dedicated to helping teens in care, as he seeks to find out how some of the issues they encounter in the care system might be tackled better.

• Watch Joe Swash: Teens in Care on BBC iPlayer below.

Champion

Champion is the first TV project from Candice Carty-Williams, author of The Sunday Times bestselling novels Queenie and People Person.

Rap sensation Bosco Champion is home from prison, and ready to dominate the music industry once more. But when his dutiful younger sister Vita’s own talent is discovered by Bosco’s rival, she steps out of her brother’s shadow to become a performer in her own right, setting the Champion siblings against one another and tearing apart the whole family in the process.

A love letter to Black British music set in south London, Champion is a celebration of a sound that has long been the beating heart of our culture. Featuring original music written and produced by some of the leading musicians this country has to offer including Ray BLK, Ghetts and more.

Sibling rivalry never sounded so epic.

• Watch Champion on BBC iPlayer below.

Awkwafina is Nora from Queens

The filthy, funny slacker comedy starring American actress and rapper Awkwafina returns for a much anticipated third series. Nora’s been having nightmares but isn’t sure why, and is afraid to tell her family. Wally gets fired right before he’s expecting to propose to Brenda. Grandma’s acquaintance passes away, and we see her feeling old. Edmund enjoys success as an actor.

• Watch series 3 of Awkwafina is Nora from Queens on BBC iPlayer below.
• Watch series 1 and 2 on BBC iPlayer below.

Body on the Beach: What Happened to Annie?

How did Annie Börjesson die? This is the question asked again and again by Annie’s friends and family, ever since her body was first discovered on Prestwick Beach in Scotland on the 4th of December, 2005. This four-part series looks at the complex case.

Quickly labelled a tragic suicide by the authorities, this documentary series examines mysterious and puzzling events around the death of the 30-year-old Swede who lived in Edinburgh. Fascinated by Annie’s story, Scottish journalist Hazel Martin investigates.

• Watch Body on the Beach: What Happened to Annie? on BBC iPlayer below.

Beck

The Swedish detective programme returns for another series. Martin’s grandson Vilhelm Beck is out on a routine mission with his supervisor when he finds a dead 17-year-old boy at the crime scene. It immediately becomes a case for Alex, Martin and the others in the Beck group.

• Watch Beck on BBC iPlayer below.