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9 eye-candy series to binge this weekend

Cape Town - These shows on Showmax, DStv Now, Netflix and Amazon Prime feature some of the most delicious-looking cast on internet TV. 

1. A Discovery of Witches (Showmax) 

The British actor Matthew Goode, whom you might recognise as Lady Mary’s second husband in Downton Abbey, plays Matthew Clairmont opposite Theresa Palmer’s Diana Bishop in this dreamy fantasy romance series. Matthew is a geneticist, and vampire, who sets out to help Diana in deciphering an ancient text that contains long-held secrets about the fragile peace between witches, vampires, demons and humans. The sparks fly between Matthew and Diana, but there’s just one problem. Diana comes from a long line of witches, and witches and vampires don’t mix...

2. Gigolos (Showmax) 

This addictive reality show follows the uncensored lives of five male escorts in Sin City. They all work for the same agency, Cowboys4Angels, and their day-to-day jobs put them in some compromising positions. Expect lots of abs, bums, guns and sleazy tans.

3. Luther S1-5 (Showmax) 

Idris Elba has won a Critic’s Choice Award, a SAG Award and a Golden Globe for his role as John Luther in this British crime drama, and all five seasons are ready for your next swooning binge-watch session. Elba plays the obsessive detective with violence and darkness simmering just beneath the surface. And we all know that no one simmers like Idris.

4. Suits S1-8 (Showmax) 

You can see Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane in the first seven seasons of Suits, and then decide whether Katherine Heigl’s presence in Season 8 makes up for the hole left by Rachel’s departure. And while Mike also left the show at the end of Season 7, there’s still eye-candy aplenty, with Harvey Specter rocking his Windsor tie knots and wide peaked lapels as always.

5. The Bachelor SA boxset (Showmax) 

Lee Thompson was South Africa’s first ever Bachelor, and the full boxset of the show is now available for your guilty-pleasure binge on Showmax. Lee is a fitness model who, in the course of the show, finds ample opportunity to get his shirt off, so there’s that - but he also comes across as a decent human, and a bit of a softie, and after a few episodes you’ll find that you’ve grown quite fond of him.

6. The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (Showmax and DStv Now) 

Brace yourself - in this mystery series, Dr Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) plays an old man. Well, not old-old - but old enough to be an esteemed literary icon who stands accused of the murder of a teenaged girl that took place in the 1970s. One of his proteges, a young author with writer’s block, sets out to prove Quebert’s innocence, but that’s not easy, especially when it emerges that in 1975, when Quebert met the 15-year-old Nola and became infatuated with her, he was 33 years old.

7. Billions S4 (Showmax and DStv Now)

Bobby “Axe” Axelrod and Chuck Rhoades are at it again - but this time, they find themselves having to team up to confront a common enemy. Axe is played by Damian Lewis, who first won our hearts as Richard Winters in the gripping HBO World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, and then as Nicholas Brody in Homeland. Did you know that he’s British, was awarded his OBE in 2014, and has a background in Shakespearean theatre? We’re not sure we’ve ever been so drawn to a redhead.

8. Lucifer S4 (Netflix) 

Tom Ellis plays the original fallen angel who’s relocated from Hell to LA in this hugely popular fantasy crime series. Netflix revived the show with a 10-episode fourth season recently after it was cancelled on Fox, and one of the great things about the switch in network is that the boundaries around nudity are a little looser. So you’ll see a lot more of Ellis’s flesh in Season 4, and he’s in pretty excellent shape, as you’ll see in his rise from the swimming pool in the promo below. We’re objectifying the Devil, here, and we’re not ashamed.

9. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime)

In this updated version of Tom Clancy’s spy thriller, John Krasinski plays a beefy, chiselled, honed, sleek but also slightly goofy CIA analyst who gets thrust into the dangerous centre of the War on Terror. We first knew him as Jim in The Office - gangly, pale, with weird hair - and in this series he’s completely unrecognisable, though his comic timing and self-deprecating humour remain intact.

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