What to watch this week: Lord of the Rings extended, a Dark Matter finale, Dexter

This week at a glance

Halloween lands on a Saturday, and the week arranges itself around it: the extended Lord of the Rings trilogy for the long evenings, a stacked Friday with the Dark Matter finale, Dexter and a new Spidey season, and the Jurassic films for the night itself. VisionQuest and Tulsa King keep running underneath it all.

What we’d watch this week

Top tip of the week: The Lord of the Rings: Extended Trilogy

The Lord of the Rings — Prime Video, from Monday October 26. All three extended editions land the same week, which is the version of these films worth giving a weekend. Start with our Fellowship of the Ring review (4.5/5), and use the 30-day Prime Video trial if you are not on the service yet. These are long films with real battle scenes, so this is a night for older kids at the earliest.

For the whole family: Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends season 5

Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends season 5 — Disney+, Friday October 30. The preschool Spider-Man show returns for a fifth season, and it is the easiest pick in the house if the VisionQuest crowd upstairs wants the living room back. Marvel’s Iron Man and His Awesome Friends follows on Wednesday for the same age group.

Once the kids are in bed: Dark Matter season 2 finale

Dark Matter season 2 finale — Apple TV+, Friday October 30. Ten weekly episodes wrap up, closing the second season of Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly’s multiverse thriller. It lands the same evening as Dexter and Spidey, so pick your Friday early.

The classic: The Sixth Sense

The Sixth Sense — Netflix. Halloween falls inside this week, and if you want one properly unsettling classic for the night itself rather than another slasher, this is still the one. It is the right scare for teenagers and up, not for the little ones.

Also landing this week

• Marvel’s Iron Man and His Awesome Friends — Disney+, Wednesday October 28. Disney Jr.’s preschool Iron Man show, the natural next stop for the Spidey crowd.
• Dexter: Resurrection season 2 — Paramount+, Friday October 30. Michael C. Hall returns, with Brian Cox and Dan Stevens joining as series regulars and Uma Thurman back for a second season. It streams on the Premium plan.
• Jurassic Park III, Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom — Prime Video, Saturday October 31. Three Jurassic films land on Halloween itself, the dinosaur alternative to a horror night.

Still running

• VisionQuest — Disney+, Wednesdays, finale November 11. Two more weekly drops, then single episodes on November 4 and 11. If you have not seen WandaVision and Agatha All Along, start there.
• Tulsa King season 4 — Paramount+, Fridays. A must-watch, with ten new episodes and Gretchen Mol as the new threat to Dwight’s empire.
• Avatar: Seven Havens — Paramount+, Fridays. The thirteen-episode run ends on October 30 with four episodes in one go.

Not seen it yet?

• Slow Horses season 6 — Apple TV+. The season finished last Wednesday and earned a perfect 5/5 from us, so this is the week to catch up if it slipped past you.

The whole of October is laid out in New movies & shows coming in October 2026: Our top picks, and every date is on our release calendar, with the picks we would actually spend an evening on at the top.

What should we watch this week (October 26 - November 1, 2026)?

The top tip is The Lord of the Rings: Extended Trilogy on Prime Video from Monday. For the whole family, Marvel’s Spidey and His Amazing Friends season 5 starts Friday on Disney+. Once the kids are in bed, Dark Matter ends its second season on Friday on Apple TV+. For Halloween, The Sixth Sense is on Netflix.

When does Dark Matter season 2 end?

Friday, October 30, 2026 on Apple TV+. Ten episodes have aired weekly on Fridays since August 28.

When does Dexter: Resurrection season 2 start?

Friday, October 30, 2026 on Paramount+, on the Premium plan.

When does VisionQuest end?

The finale is Wednesday, November 11, 2026 on Disney+. Two more weekly drops follow, then single episodes on November 4 and 11.