HBO Max Launches In The UK With More Than Just The Big Hits

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HBO Max has officially launched in the UK, arriving for Sky and NOW customers today, while also being available directly through the service’s own app and website. There are the obvious headline-grabbers, of course, with ‘The Pitt‘, ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Succession’ and the wider HBO library all helping to sell the launch, but one of the most interesting parts of the arrival is the number of smaller series UK viewers can now finally get their hands on.

That is where things get a lot more fun for TV fans who like rummaging around a catalogue rather than just clicking the big homepage banner. Alongside the prestige hits and blockbuster movies, HBO Max has quietly brought with it a collection of series that either never made it to the UK at all, or only partially surfaced here before vanishing behind older licensing deals.

One of the most notable is ‘DMZ‘, the limited series based on the DC comic. It stars Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka) as Alma Ortega, a medic desperately searching for her son in a Manhattan transformed into a demilitarised war zone, with Benjamin Bratt (Poker Face), Hoon Lee (Banshee) and Freddy Miyares (The Penguin) also in the cast. The series comes from Ava DuVernay and Roberto Patino, and feels exactly like the sort of ambitious dystopian drama that should have had a UK audience long before now.

Then there is ‘Duster‘, which arrives with a lot of pedigree behind it. Created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, the crime drama stars Josh Holloway (Lost) and Rachel Hilson (Love, Victor), with Keith David (Community), Sydney Elisabeth (Black Lightning), Greg Grunberg (Heroes) and Camille Guaty (Prison Break) among the supporting cast. Set in the 1970s American Southwest, it follows a getaway driver whose life becomes increasingly chaotic as he is pulled deeper into a dangerous criminal world. It may only have lasted a single season, but with Abrams and Morgan behind it, and that cast involved, it still feels like one worth checking out.

‘Full Circle‘ is another one that may have prompted a few UK viewers to ask how it never landed here before. The limited thriller comes from director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, and stars Zazie Beetz (Atlanta), Claire Danes (Homeland), Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us), Timothy Olyphant (Justified), Jim Gaffigan (The Jim Gaffigan Show) and CCH Pounder (NCIS: New Orleans). It begins with a botched kidnapping, then steadily unravels into a layered New York mystery built around family secrets, class and interconnected lives.

There is also ‘Girls On The Bus‘, a political drama inspired by Amy Chozick’s reporting on the campaign trail. The series stars Melissa Benoist (Supergirl), Carla Gugino (The Fall of the House of Usher), Natasha Behnam (The Girls On The Bus), Christina Elmore (Twenties), Brandon Scott (This Is Us), Griffin Dunne (This Is Us) and Mark Consuelos (Riverdale), following four female journalists as they chase a deeply flawed batch of presidential candidates. It was cancelled after one season, but it still has plenty of appeal thanks to the cast and the smart campaign-trail premise.

Animation fans also get a very solid boost from the launch. ‘Harley Quinn‘ returns with its fifth season, led by Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant) as Harley and Lake Bell (Bless This Mess) as Ivy, with Alan Tudyk (Resident Alien) also part of the gloriously chaotic voice cast. The show has been one of DC’s sharpest and funniest screen adaptations, so seeing it properly housed on HBO Max in the UK makes a lot of sense.

Then there is ‘Primal‘, which remains one of the most visually stunning animated series of the last few years. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, it follows a caveman and a Tyrannosaurus rex bound together by loss and survival in a savage prehistoric world. It barely needs dialogue to hit like a freight train, and if UK viewers missed it first time round, HBO Max now gives them a very good excuse to fix that.

‘Robot Chicken‘ is another welcome addition. The wonderfully ridiculous stop-motion sketch series was created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich, and after years of turning up in bits and pieces on UK television, HBO Max now gives it a clearer home again. It is still gloriously silly, still deeply nerdy, and still capable of veering from brilliant to utterly unhinged in the space of a few seconds.

There is even a fresh UK home for ‘The Cleaning Lady‘ season 4. The crime drama stars Élodie Yung (Daredevil) as Thony De La Rosa, a former surgeon who becomes entangled with organised crime while trying to protect her family. The first three seasons had already aired on Sky Witness, and although the series has now been cancelled, this at least means UK viewers get the chance to see the fourth season.

So yes, ‘The Pitt’ will pull focus, and the giant HBO brands will do a lot of the heavy lifting. But one of the best reasons to poke around HBO Max’s UK launch line-up is the chance to discover the smaller, weirder, and previously missing shows that never really had their moment here. For the sort of viewer who enjoys finding the overlooked gem buried halfway down the menu, that may be the most exciting part of the whole thing.

If you want to keep track of these or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when they get a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.