Useful websites for UK film & TV fans

ScreenSearch tells you where to watch something. This page is for everything else — the official UK streaming services, the databases we (and everyone else) rely on, the critics worth reading, the regulators worth knowing, and a few fan communities that punch well above their weight.

None of the links below are affiliate links. They’re here because we genuinely find them useful. If you run a UK-focused site you think belongs on this list, email us.

UK streaming services

The major UK streaming platforms ScreenSearch checks for every title. Bookmark the ones you subscribe to.

  • Netflix UK

    Global subscription service with a huge UK catalogue across film, TV, anime and documentaries.

  • Disney+ UK

    Home of Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, plus Star general-entertainment content.

  • Amazon Prime Video

    Included with Prime; large library plus per-title rentals and channel add-ons (Paramount+, MGM+, Discovery+).

  • Apple TV+

    Apple's originals-only service — Severance, Ted Lasso, Slow Horses, For All Mankind.

  • Paramount+ UK

    CBS, Showtime, Paramount Pictures, Star Trek and Yellowstone-adjacent titles.

  • NOW (Sky)

    Pay-monthly access to Sky's Cinema, Entertainment and Sports packages without a satellite dish.

  • BBC iPlayer

    Free with a UK TV licence — BBC originals, films, box sets and live BBC channels.

  • ITVX

    Free, ad-supported ITV catalogue plus a paid Premium tier with no ads and exclusives.

  • Channel 4

    Free streaming of all four Channel 4 networks plus a deep box-set archive.

  • MUBI UK

    Hand-picked arthouse, world cinema and indie films — a new film every day.

  • Crunchyroll

    Anime-focused, with same-day-as-Japan simulcasts and a growing dubbed catalogue.

  • Sky Go

    Companion app for Sky TV subscribers — stream live and on-demand on any device.

  • Discovery+

    Documentary and lifestyle service from Warner Bros. Discovery (Eurosport, TLC, Food Network, etc.).

Film & TV databases

Where ScreenSearch (and almost every other tool) sources its data. Brilliant for deeper research on a film or show.

  • The Movie Database (TMDB)

    The community-edited database that powers ScreenSearch. Free, open, and impressively complete.

  • JustWatch UK

    The largest streaming-availability tracker; also the upstream source TMDB pulls from for the 'where to watch' data.

  • IMDb

    Cast, crew, trivia, user ratings and box-office data. Still the go-to encyclopaedia for film and TV.

  • Letterboxd

    A social film-diary site with sharp, opinionated reviews and brilliant user-made lists.

  • The TVDB

    Open community database for TV episode metadata; the source many media-server apps use.

Reviews & criticism

When ScreenSearch tells you where to watch a film, these sites help you decide whether you want to.

  • Rotten Tomatoes

    Aggregates pro critics into the famous Tomatometer plus a separate audience score.

  • Metacritic

    Weighted-average critic scores out of 100, with the underlying review snippets and source links.

  • Empire

    Long-running UK film magazine — reviews, features, podcasts and the legendary Empire Spoiler Specials.

  • Sight and Sound (BFI)

    The BFI's monthly journal of serious film criticism, and home of the once-a-decade Greatest Films of All Time poll.

  • Time Out — Film

    Sharp, accessible reviews with a London/UK perspective.

  • The Guardian — Film

    Peter Bradshaw and the Guardian film desk — among the most-read film reviews in the UK.

UK industry & regulators

The official UK bodies for film and television — useful when you want to look up an age rating, an Ofcom ruling, or industry statistics.

  • British Film Institute (BFI)

    The UK's lead body for film — funding, archive, BFI Player, the London Film Festival and Sight and Sound.

  • BBFC

    The British Board of Film Classification — search any UK age rating (U / PG / 12A / 15 / 18) and the detailed content advisory.

  • Ofcom

    The UK regulator for broadcast TV and (since 2023) video-on-demand services like Netflix. Publishes the annual Media Nations report.

  • Pact

    The UK trade body for independent TV, film and digital production companies.

  • Screen Daily

    Trade news, box-office tracking and reviews from the UK end of the international film industry.

TV schedules & listings

ScreenSearch is on-demand by design, but live UK TV still matters. These are the best schedule sources.

  • Radio Times

    The definitive UK TV listings magazine — schedules across every channel plus features and reviews.

  • BBC TV Guide

    Official 7-day schedule for every BBC channel, with one-click links to iPlayer.

  • Sky TV Guide

    Full Sky and freeview EPG with filters for sport, movies and kids' content.

  • Channel 4 Schedule

    All four Channel 4 networks (C4, E4, More4, Film4) in one schedule view.

Comics, fantasy & sci-fi

The screen adaptations might bring you here, but the source material is half the fun. UK comic shops and the best fantasy/sci-fi fan sites.

  • Fantasy Road

    UK comic book shop — new releases, back issues, graphic novels, trade paperbacks and collectibles.

  • TheOneRing.net

    The oldest and largest Lord of the Rings / Middle-earth fan community on the web. Essential for Rings of Power coverage.

  • Reactor (formerly Tor.com)

    Long-form essays, reviews, rereads and short fiction across the sci-fi and fantasy genres.

  • Den of Geek (UK)

    UK-flavoured genre coverage — Doctor Who, Marvel, Star Wars, horror, fantasy and tabletop.

  • SFX Magazine

    The UK's biggest sci-fi/fantasy magazine; now part of GamesRadar but still publishing the print edition.

Communities & lists

When you're stuck for what to watch tonight, the best 'what should I stream' advice often comes from other viewers.

  • r/MovieSuggestions

    Reddit's friendliest sub for 'I liked X, what should I watch next?' style questions.

  • r/television

    TV discussion across networks and streamers; weekly episode threads for most major shows.

  • r/NetflixBestOf

    Crowd-sourced 'hidden gems' on Netflix — sortable by region.

  • Letterboxd Lists

    User-curated film lists — themed, chronological, ridiculous, sublime. Endlessly browseable.

  • MUBI Notebook

    MUBI's editorial arm — long essays on world cinema and director retrospectives.

Back to finding what to watch

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