When you think of new Sky action movie Fuze — starring The Gentlemen's Theo James and Kraven the Hunter's Aaron Taylor-Johnson — I'm sure your first thought is of Taylor Swift.

I mean, how could it not be? Set in London, the new movie follows different people embroiled in a mysterious plot when an unexploded World War II bomb is unearthed at a busy construction site. If that doesn't scream The Life of a Showgirl, I don't know what does.

In all seriousness, the two are genuinely linked, with director David Mackenzie and cast filming the tense, action-packed movie during the same summer that Swift brought her legendary Eras Tour to the UK.

Londoners might recognize Wembley used in external shots, meaning the dubious Karalis (James) and wired Major Will (Taylor-Johnson) had to face off against Swifties for good measure.

Obviously, the two worlds never collide on screen. But while talking to the cast and crew, it's clear that Fuze could have been easily derailed by 2024's Swiftmania... so count yourself lucky to be watching it.

'It could have made our lives a lot harder'

"Not deliberately, no," Mackenzie tells me when I ask if he made his life harder by filming during the Eras Tour.

"We did get very lucky with the weather, because the film takes place over a matter of hours. I was really worried that one scene would be shooting in the rain, and one scene we were shooting in the sun. Actually, it was a really nice summer, you know. It was mostly consistent too... everything else could have made our lives a lot harder."

Star Gugu Mbatha-Raw continues, "Because the movie really unfolds like in that real time, there's some other story structures where you could maybe get away with mishaps, but not with this."

So amazingly, fictional London wasn't brought to its knees by Swifties, just Wembley Stadium across two separate weekends. Yet the Taylor Swift-Fuze connection doesn't stop there.

Both James and Taylor-Johnson joked about attending the tour at the UK premiere, but it turns out that was actually true for the former.

"I went and took my nieces, and it was very nice," James explains. "I went that summer because it was playing... but no, Aaron didn't unfortunately take his daughters. He was working."

Surely they all were, but never mind. The point remains — when you watch London being blown up in Fuze, think of the screaming fans merely a few miles away. Fuze 2: Swiftogeddon, anyone?

WARNING: spoilers for Under Salt Marsh episodes 1 and 2 ahead.

For those of us patiently waiting for Yellowstone spinoff Dutton Ranch to hit Paramount+, new Sky TV thriller Under Salt Marsh unexpectedly stops our FOMO.

Why? Yellowstone's Beth Dutton herself (aka Kelly Reilly) stars as Jackie, a detective-turned-teacher who finds her young student's body, reopening a cold case from three years prior involving her missing niece, Nessa.

This means she has to work with her former police partner Eric (Rafe Spall), who divided the town while working Nessa's case. The Bevan family wants answers for their little boy, headed up by elusive farmer Solomon (Jonathan Pryce).

Altogether, this has as much family drama as any Taylor Sheridan series, but it's episode 2 that you need to look out for. Just when the stakes get too much to bear, the local community comes together to heal – and according to Pryce, most of it wasn't even planned.

'It's a very personal moment filmed in an epic way'

The town of Salt Marsh (which is fictional, before you head to Wales looking for it) spontaneously comes together for a seaside vigil, lead by Solomon. While many feel discouraged by Bull leading the investigation, Solomon asks for understanding and persistence, leading the crowd to burst into spontaneous song.

"What you see is what you get," Pryce tells me. "It's a very important moment to the show. It's a very personal moment, but it's filmed in a very epic way.

"We're on this wonderful, expansive beach at Barmouth. It's a chance for you to see the family coming together. I'm remembering it now and a lot of it was not scripted. As we came together, singing together, was an extraordinary moment."

For Pryce particularly, Under Salt Marsh marks a homecoming. You might not have realized it from his roles in James Bond and 3 Body Problem, but he's a Welshman through and through.

"I think telling an original story was a big part of the attraction, and the fact that it was to be filmed in North Wales, where I'm from. I've filmed in Wales quite often, but nearly always in and around Cardiff, that area.

"There's the widest fascination with murder constantly in our life, but it's a new way of telling an old story, as it were. There are only so many you can tell, and this has the background of a community that is under threat from the environment. So there's that external threat you see existing in the program, and then there's the inner turmoil in the community where the murders have taken place. There's a lot of mistrust."

Bring on episodes 3-6, I say.

Warning: spoilers for Amadeus episode 5 ahead.

If you're a fan of the original 1984 movie or Peter Shaffer's play Amadeus, you might be wondering why Sky TV feels the need to adapt the fictional rivalry between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri again.

Luckily for you, episode 5 answers that neatly by completely changing the ending we know from the first two versions. Don't get me wrong – we still experience the Mozart's (Will Sharpe) heartbreaking death and Salieri's (Paul Bettany) realization that he's been acting dreadfully out of pure jealousy.

But now there's more to the story. Many years later, Mozart's wife Constanze (Gabrielle Creevy) is visited by Shaffer to discuss the chance to retell the heated rivalry. After their exchange, Bettany is seen sitting alone on a stage as himself, reciting the last few lines of Shaffer's play.

Not only does this add an entirely new dimension to the infamous story, but the combination of Shaffer and Mozart's death is a massive challenge for our leading trio to tackle. They pulled it off, but not without being scared to death first.

Mozart's death scene in Amadeus episode 5 almost went completely wrong

"It was a lot actually," Bettany tells me about shooting the final scenes. "We were shooting it right at the end, and we knew that the whole thing wasn't going to work unless we got this right. And it was quite a complicated thing to get right, and I went into it with no plan of how to help it succeed.

"But what happened is that by that point, I think we all really learned to trust each other, and I and And I felt safe with them as actors. I think it worked out, though we were frightened."

Sharpe continues, "It was scary. I remember there was one scene where Constanze comes and discovers Mozart's dead body. So obviously I'm trying to hold my breath because I'm dead. And the better you were doing it, the harder it became.

"I feel like, on the first take... it wasn't crap, but it was quite quick. Then on the third take, I remember, like [Gabrielle] absolutely crushing it, and found this like wave of grief that came, and I could feel the tears burning through the sleeve. But I was also like, 'this is going really well!'"

If you're an OG Amadeus fan that is hesitant about watching it afresh... wait for this and prepare to have your mind changed.

A few days before I started watching Amadeus, an influx of young people flooded my TikTok For You Page, playing various Bach pieces on different orchestral instruments while remixing each song with modern music. It was all thanks to a passing trend, but it did briefly make me wonder if classical musical was making a resurgence in digital pop culture.

If those same kids watch the new five-episode Sky TV series, I think they'd be astounded. Amadeus goes far beyond a musical education for the uninitiated, delving further into the supposed rivalry between composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri than previous accounts, including Miloš Forman's 1984 film.

Summing this rivalry up in one word would be easy: unhinged. The pair go far beyond the stereotypical boundaries of 'frenemies,' leaving their desperate acts of reconciliation until it's too late. I would never have paired Will Sharpe (Mozart) and Paul Bettany (Salieri) up to portray this, but their chemistry is undeniable.

What's more difficult to explain are the complexities behind this rivalry. To me, the duo's battles put me in mind of a 1700s version of Peggy Mitchell and Pat Butcher, from UK soap opera Eastenders. I'm in danger of losing non-UK readers at this point, but theirs was a connection that spanned decades, ranging from heartfelt consolation to vindictive plotting and literal fist fights. You never knew where you stood with them, and that was a big part of what made them so watchable.

It's not the best analogy I've ever come up with, but the atmosphere of palpable tension punctuated with violent outbursts means you never fully catch your breath. But, while Amadeus is narratively sound, it's visually questionable.

Sky has saved its best show of 2025 until last with Amadeus

If you look at the YouTube comments on the above video, fans of the 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer, which he adapted for the subsequent movie, aren't pleased that the same tale is about to be retold. However, while it sometimes feels like we can hardly move for TV and film adaptations that cover familiar ground while not bringing much that's new to the party, I don't think Amadeus can be tarnished with the same brush.

Even if both those earlier versions had been flawless (and the three-hour long film is far from structurally sound, in my opinion), another adaptation would be worthwhile if it added a fresh perspective. Luckily for us, that's exactly what Amadeus does.

Without giving too much away, in addition to the story itself the TV series features Shaffer's own journey to writing his play, with the final scene of episode 5 breaking the fourth wall in a way I'm not sure I've ever seen attempted in television. Sky's creative risk-taking has flown under the radar, and the rest of the series is just as ambitious.

Sharpe effortlessly captures Mozart's supposed fiery temperament, and it's the foundation for the rest of the story's chaos. No one episode can contain the multitudes of emotions on show, with either Mozart of Salieri (or sometimes both) crumbling, celebrating, or threatening to jump out of a window (that's our unintentionally hilarious opening, so keep your eye out).

Amadeus throws everything and the kitchen sink at its storytelling, and the charged atmosphere is almost a character in itself.

Some of our cast have 'iPhone face', and that's a problem

As for the actual characters, both Sharpe and Bettany give the performance of their careers. I do wonder whether Bettany is going extra hard to distance himself from upcoming Marvel series VisionQuest, but perhaps that's just me being a franchise cynic.

Gabrielle Creevy (Constanze Mozart) also hits the right note (sorry) as the long-suffering go-between for the musical rivals, but there's something about the cast that bothers me. To me, the younger members (and by that, I mean under the age of about 40) look as though they have 'iPhone face'. What I mean by this is that, looking at them, you can escape the sense that they've seen an iPhone in their lifetime.

The makeup and costumes in Amadeus are beautiful, but they don't hide the fact that some of the cast just feel too modern. Even so, Sharpe particularly surprised me with his raucous, obscene and ridiculously arrogant take on Mozart.

The five-episode run does suffer from the classic issue of narrative lag between episodes 3 and 4, but when everything else has such a frenetic energy to it, this isn't hard to overlook. This of course includes the music, which Sharpe learned to play (rather than just flailing his hands about while the camera is carefully positioned to conceal that fact that he's not really playing).

As captivating as the scandal, drama and intricacies of Viennese society in the 18th century are, it all comes back to the music. It helps us to understand the world, Mozart and Salieri's struggles and ourselves in the process, and it's pushed me to make some conscious additions to my usual Spotify playlists. Their work is what both tortured composers ultimately wanted to be remembered for, and Amadeus certainly does them justice.

Stream Amadeus from December 21 in the UK using the below deals. Streaming platforms and release dates for other regions are yet to be confirmed.

When it comes to drama and movies for those of us in the UK, Sky’s dominance over the market has been reined in recent years with the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney Plus all taking bites out of its televisual pie. But, when it comes to sport, and, in particular, football, it’s still a Tyrannosaurus Rex, surveying its kingdom, totally dominant over the market. 

So, when the invitation came up for me to get the chances to have a behind the scenes look at Monday Night Football, Sky Sports’ flagship Premier League offering, where one-time Liverpool and Manchester United greats Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville analyze and eviscerate the action of the previous weekend and talk you through a new Premier League extravaganza, I jumped at the chance to go along. 

Now, for most of you reading this, I know football is gridiron and what we’re talking about is soccer, but as we spent a day behind the scenes at a show quite literally called Monday Night Football, we’ll call it football for the duration of this article. 

Taking a trip down to Sky’s mammoth campus in Isleworth in West London, I was squired around the show’s production, including a brief chat with Neville, Carragher and presenter David Jones. As a lifelong football obsessive, that was exciting enough, but I was then treated to watching the whole thing go on air and play out during Newcastle United’s 2-0 win over Arsenal. 

Now I’ve calmed down a bit, I thought I’d compile my thoughts and share six things that I learned from this peak behind the curtain.

The team starts early. Very early…

Given Monday Night Football doesn’t go on air until 7pm, you might expect a more leisurely start for the production team. But no such luck – most are in at 9am like the rest of us, getting the technical side of things lined-up. Neville, Carragher and Jones arrive for a meeting at midday and it is then the work on the running order starts. As the production team joke throughout our visit, it’s a running order that gets ripped up a good four or five times during the day.  

Sky Sports get the team news before you do…

15 minutes before to be precise. It doesn’t leave much time for Monday Night Football’s team to scramble to find clips if an unexpected player comes back into the team. As we watch things go live, even as the Arctic Monkeys’ Brianstorm thunders through the opening titles, the producers are still running through the early clips in Jamie Carragher’s ear and changing  things around. And you thought facing Premier League strikers was tricky.

Everything is smaller than you think…

The studio where Neville, Carragher and Jones face off isn’t the gargantuan, carpark-esque space you might imagine it would be. Things are kept tight and no bigger than your living room at home. They’re moving to a bigger space for next season – we’ll have to hope that the fizzing debate and intense atmosphere that the two pundits are so great at creating doesn’t fizzle out when they move studios. 

Every Premier League game needs a lot of cameras…

Monday’s (May 16) game, while important in the race to see who will finish in the Champions League places, but not an absolute humdinger, required the use of 14 cameramen and camerawomen. When Manchester City and Liverpool played out a 2-2 draw earlier in the season, Sky enlisted 22 cameras to make sure absolutely everything was captured. Sky has plans to expand this and for the biggest games next season you’ll see that number creeping up towards 30.

Watching in Sky Glass is a step up for sports fans…

Enhanced modes for sports viewing in the past have been haphazard affairs, largely consisting of turning the pitch a lurid, Matcha-tea green or just turning the volume up a few notches, but when you watch a game in Sky Glass, you can feel the step up. 

The experience of watching Arsenal blow their chance of Champions League football on Sky Glass on a 4K UHD Quantum Dot screen with 8.3 million pixels wasn’t quite like the pitchside experience, as the promotional material promise, but the sound is crisp and the picture is so sharp you can see every bead of sweat on the players’ brows. 

Being relegated not only means your team will get worse, so does your viewing experience…

If you fall out of the Premier League, as my beloved Norwich City are about to, then not only do you lose the vast riches of English football’s elite, you will also get a poorer viewing experience when you watch at home. Sky broadcasts the Premier League in UHD HDR with Dolby Atmos, and, while they endeavour to do the same for the English Football League, it’s not the case for every game. It’s hard to imagine any coach in the Championship using that in one of his team talks, but it does make the sting of relegation that little bit sharper for us fans.

• Sky to launch standalone streaming puck that does (almost) everything Sky Glass does

The long rumoured Sky television set, the Sky Glass, has finally been revealed. With all of the best bits of Sky Q built in, the TV range comes in three sizes, each offering 4K quantum dot displays, with a broad range of HDR support and built-in Dolby Atmos sound systems and voice control.

It’s an all-in-one TV package quite unlike any other that’s come before it – and that includes the way you purchase the sets. 

Launching on October 18, not only do you have three screen sizes to choose from (a ‘Small’ 43-incher, a ‘Medium’ 55-incher and a ‘Large’ 65-incher) but you’ve also got the choice of buying the TV outright, having it subsidised against the cost of a monthly fee as you would a phone contract, and also a wide array of TV channel packages that you can bolt on top.

It could get a bit confusing, so let this Sky Glass TV pre-order guide walk you through how to pick the right set up for you ahead of that October 18 release date.

• Hands-on: Sky Glass TV review

How to pre-register for Sky Glass TV

At present, Sky is not taking any orders or deposits on Sky Glass TV sets. However, it is allowing interested customers to ‘pre-register’ their interest in the new televisions. You’ll then be on the list for the latest news and ordering information as they become available.

It’s a simple process – just head over to the Sky Glass pre-registering page. You’ll be asked for your first and last name, email address and phone number. Pop them in and you’ll be first to know when the Sky Glass TV goes on sale.

Sky Glass TV purchasing options

After having a read of our hands on Sky Glass TV review, the first decision you’ll have to make is for what screen size you’re looking to purchase.

If you’re after the 43-inch models, they can be purchased outright for £649, or on a 48-month contract at £13 a month. That works out at a total cost of £624.

For the 55-inch model, you can buy one for £849, or £17 a month on a 48 month contract. That contract’s the equivalent of £816.

Finally, the 65-inch version will be sold for £1049, or £21 a month on a 48 month contract. That monthly fee will cost £1008 by the end of the contract term.

With all the contract options, shorter contracts of 24 months can be negotiated in return for a higher monthly outlay (43-inch, £26pm, £644 total / 55-inch, £34pm, £836 total / 65-inch, £42pm, £1028 total). 

All contracts also include a one-off, upfront fee – £20 for 24 month contracts, and £10 for 48 month contracts. 

Remember though that all purchases currently must be paired with a Sky TV subscription package, so factor that cost in too – more on those next. 

After that, you’ve then got the option to customise the screen’s aluminium casing in one of five colors – blue, green, pink, white or black. Remote controls will be offered in matching colors, while a range of magnetic front plates with various patterns will also eventually be offered at an additional cost.

• Paying for a Sky Glass TV is already way too confusing

Sky Glass TV packages

With the two year minimum commitment on the subscription purchase options proving more affordable than the outright purchases, Sky is obviously banking on you splashing the cash with its TV packages and raking the cash in that way. There are some affordable options here, but the most fun stuff here is inevitably locked behind the more expensive tiers.

The basic package is the ‘Sky Ultimate TV’ bundle. This throws together Sky’s entertainment channels and TV boxsets in with a Netflix subscription for £26 a month. It’s great for binge TV watchers.

If you’re after Sky’s very extensive sports programming that includes loads of Premier League football, golf, cricket and motorsports action, that’s an additional £25 a month. If you want access to the sports content that rival provider BT Sports offer, that’s another £24. With that, combined with the Sky stuff, that’ll be basically all televised paid-for sporting content, aside from what Amazon Prime Video offers.

The best-value add-on is the Sky Cinema bolt on, which costs an extra £11 a month. Sky has a great catalogue of movies from across the ages, and excellent on demand movie boxset packages too, collating complete series of popular movie franchises.

If you’ve got kids running around, you can add the Sky Kids programming, with lots of exclusive characters your little-ones will recognise, for an extra £5 a month.

Perhaps the most cheeky part of Sky’s pricing options is that 4K HDR TV content, and Dolby Atmos options, are locked behind an additional £5 per month add-on, the ‘Sky Ultra HDR and Dolby Atmos pack.’ That feels quite cynical, but will be needed to get the most out of the content you’re watching.

All packages are sold on a 31-day rolling contract, letting you adjust them on a near-monthly basis as your finances allow.

Sky Glass Whole Home options

So what if you’ve already got a TV that you’re in love with, but still want to get Sky Glass’s feature set? Well, at present, whatever happens you’re going to need to buy a Sky Glass TV – but there is a package that will let you additionally add the features to another TV set in your home.

For an extra £10 a month, you can upgrade to the “Whole Home” package, which offers up the Sky Stream Puck. This box, connecting to your old TV over HDMI, will bring all the software features of Sky Glass to your television – but, obviously, won’t magically add Dolby Atmos surround sound or built-in microphones to your old TV set. Think of it like Sky’s equivalent to a streaming stick, though sadly it’s not currently set to be sold separately, hence the requirement to still sign up for one of the Sky Glass TV offers. Each Puck costs a one-off £50 fee.

• Sky Q review: still the best set top box in the business

Update: So, it looks like the rumours were true – Sky is officially launching its own TV with no dish, QLED technology and Dolby Atmos built in – read everything you need to know about Sky Glass.

Original story continues below.

Broadcaster Sky already makes the best set top box and TV interface on the market, and sources now point to the company being on the verge of unveiling its own Sky smart TV too.

Having dominated the paid-for satellite TV market in the UK and Europe for three decades, if the rumors are true it’ll be the first time the company has put together not just the set top boxes and content that lives on your television, but the display hardware to show it off in your living room too.

Sky has always offered a premium, luxurious service when it comes to its subscription packages, and while they don’t come cheaply, they’re worth every penny for those that want access to the latest blockbuster Hollywood releases, live sports coverage from across the globe, prestige TV box sets and an ever-growing list of catch up and app-based TV content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon and Disney.

So what would make a Sky smart TV special? It’s almost a given that the company will include its subscription TV packages as part of any sale, making for a TV set that is sold more like a contract mobile phone than a traditional television. But there’s lots to speculate over – and lots to look forward to – if Sky decides to work on these six things we want to see on a Sky Q smart TV.

• What are the best smart TVs?
• Or the best small TVs
• OLED vs QLED explained

The Sky Q interface

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The Sky Q interface is the best set top box software out there. Through a combination of great search tools (including smart voice recognition capabilities) and algorithmic recommendations, you’re easily able to find exactly what you want to watch at any time of day. Sky’s glass-like interface panes can be better at knowing what you’re into than you are, always capable of determining your tastes – and even what you’re more likely going to want to watch at different hours of the day. With detailed editorial descriptions of content, an easy-to-explore guide, side-by-side apps, sensibly laid out menu options and an intuitive recording library, Sky would be foolish to equip its TV with anything other than the Sky Q interface.

User profiles

One thing that Sky Q interface is missing though is user profiles. If you’re in a household of several family members, those aforementioned recommendations can get a bit muddled as multiple people feed data into Sky’s algorithm. A Sky Q smart TV would benefit from the option of individual user profiles, letting high-level users separate out recordings, favourite channels and recommendations between family members, while the casual user can just stick with a single global profile.

The complete 4K / HDR Dolby suite

One of Sky Q’s top selling points is its huge catalogue of 4K Ultra HD content. While Sky may want to keep costs low by putting together a mid-range smart TV set, I think it’d be doing its library of excellent films and TV shows a disservice to not put them out on a television with some top-drawer home cinema tech. Sky already offers up content in HDR with Dolby Atmos sound – I’d like to see the set step up to the plate with Dolby Vision support in tow too, a looking glass into the very best that cinema has to offer. If it pushes the price up, I think it’s still a smart idea – after all, you have to have a fair bit of disposable income to afford a Sky TV package in the first place. At the very least, I’d like to see a range of TVs offered up by Sky, with one model offering a top-tier checklist of cutting-edge TV technologies built in.

HDMI 2.1

If we’re talking about high-end TV features, here’s hoping the Sky Q smart TV offers HDMI 2.1 ports. These are increasingly vital to gamers with the latest PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, as they’re required to hit 120Hz refresh rates on a display with variable refresh rate tech activated, keeping gameplay buttery smooth. Oh, and don’t scrimp on the amount of HDMI ports either – four feels like the bare minimum these days.

Devialet speaker smarts

Though a Sky smart TV might be the first time the company has dabbled in television set tech, it’s previously partnered on Sky TV audio accessories to great effect with premium audio manufacturer Devialet. The Sky Soundbox was an impressive accompaniment to the company's set top boxes, and we’d love to see Sky partner with Devialet again here on the audio front for the smart TV. And if Sky’s already supporting Dolby Atmos in its TV library, let's get those speakers doing some virtualized overhead surround sound, too.

Live TV over-the-internet back up

Sky Q still has one achilles heel – its live TV is reliant on a consistent satellite signal that can be negatively affected by adverse weather and poor dish placement. However, for years the company has been working on offering the complete Sky Q service entirely over the internet, making for a more flexible (and in some cases, reliable) package. It’d be great if the Sky smart TV could offer a mixture of both satellite and over-the-internet delivery systems for its live broadcasts, with perhaps the broadband connection acting as built-in redundancy for any satellite issues that from time to time occur.

• Sky Q review: the very best TV service in Europe

A Sky Q subscription also nets you access to a host of different games to play on your TV, and now Beehive Bedlam is one of them.

If you need another time-filler, look no further. Sky has brought back the classic mini-game Beehive Bedlam, a fan-favorite puzzle game from the now-shuttered Sky Games service, which closed in January 2015.

Sky Q subscribers will be able to play Beehive Bedlam on their Sky Q or Sky Q Mini boxes, offering a handy way to pass the time between TV episodes, or just work on your puzzling skills throughout the day while stuck indoors.

Sky started adding games in its PlayWorks app back in May, and it’s certainly casual fare, but for the young’uns or bored among you, it’s totally worth dipping into.

Beehive yourselves

Beehive Bedlam is a spin on the classic Bubble Shooter formula, in which players aim bubbles – or, in this case, flowers – at a stack of colored icons, matching the color of the projectile to gradually clear the beehive and move onto the next level. It’s a winning formula, and one that’s been utilized in a host of mobile games or casual titles over the years, from Bobble Bust-A-Move to Peggle.

While Sky Games shuttered in 2015, a fan-made version of the game has been available for some time on iOS, Android, Fire TV, and PC.

A neat touch for Sky Q subscribers is the implementation of voice commands: saying “Start Beehive Bedlam” or even “Bee Bee Bee” will bring up the app for you. Other Sky Q games include the likes of Solitaire, Cross Road, and Tomb Runner.

As Sky is keen to point out to us, there was even a Change.org petition to bring the game back for new Sky devices, showing just how committed some fans are to the title.

• Sky TV packages: every possible option

Sky Q, Sky TV’s premium satellite-and-TV-on-demand package, is getting the biggest update it’s ever received since first launching back in 2016. From improved voice control to UI changes, interactive sports features and more, it’s a meaty addition to an already comprehensive service.

There’s a lot to get through, so we’ll start with one of the most-wanted features first. Following on from the recent introduction of HDR to Sky Q’s 4K box, this new update will mean that the Disney Plus streaming service also gets HDR visuals with this release. HDR will also be added to Netflix a few months later.

Next, up, sports. Sky Sports Recap is a new feature that will let you catch up on key moments while a live match is happening – be that a controversial decision, or a missed goal perhaps. You can manually pick a clip, or see a highlights reel playlist in a pane on the side of the screen, using picture in picture so that you don’t need to miss the live action. It’ll start with Premier League matches but will roll out to cricket, Formula 1 and NFL soon.

Fan feedback

Sky Sports Fanzone is another new feature being added to Sky Q packages. Available on mobile, laptop or tablet, it lets you invite up to five other friends to watch a match with them. It’s an interactive feature that lets you conduct polls that include match prediction votes, man of the match debates and more, with onscreen views of friends and families. 

What’s particularly cool is that it essentially lets you engage with Sky Sports’ TV production, turning watching a match into an interactive experience. For instance, Sky Sports Fanzone will also let fans pick a chant to fill the currently-empty stadium atmosphere – fed to Sky’s engineers based on what’s being picked by the Fanzone crowds. It’s kicking off as a football feature and will be brought to cricket and Formula 1 in time, too. General entertainment like movies could come further down the line as well.

‘Sport Centre’, a content hub for all sorts of sports coverage, will do better to surface YouTube, BT Sport and Red Bull content, as well as Sky Sports in the future. There will be more contextual and machine-learning recommendations in the Sports Centre, including documentaries, trending news clips and highlights, not just upcoming and live events.

UI tweaks

Onto the user interface. ‘Expanded View’ changes the initial home screen, hiding the left-side content options once you start browsing show information. It brings 60% more visibility to content on the main screen.

‘Show Centre’ is also new – essentially a landing page for an individual show that offers smart information on a series. A ‘Smart Button’ will let you resume a show in progress or kick it off, while below you’ll see all content available for that show, whether that’s on-demand content, live scheduled programming or ‘More Like This’ offerings from the catalogue.

Voice is also being improved, and is being paired with a new remote control that puts the voice activating button literally at it’s centre. It will let you get to content breakdowns you won’t get elsewhere. ‘Action movies starring Bruce Willis’ as a voice command, for example, will show Sky Q content as a collection that you can’t find through any text search option. Whether it's On Demand, Recordings or Sky Store content, it’ll pull it all together.

Sky Go will be developed to take more advantage of incoming Android and iOS features too. A new Sky Go release will come every month to app stores, bringing more consistent update and improvement schedules to the Sky Go experience. Additionally, building on the PlayWorks game introduction, more games are coming to Sky Q.

Sky Q by broadband in the UK remains a work in progress, however, despite being available in select European territories.

This new update is part of a larger plan to offer more frequent, smaller updates via the internet to Sky Q customers, rather than a few large updates via satellite. Smaller, more regular feature changes and UI tweaks will come to Sky going forward, at a rate as fast as one every two months or so.

Rolling out to customers from July 8, through August, all versions of the Sky Q and multiroom boxes will get the update. You don’t have to do anything to trigger the update, so keep an eye on your box for the changes in the coming weeks.

• How to upgrade your Sky Q box for HDR

Fans of the English Premier League won't just have the novelty of simulated crowd noises when the matches restart on Wednesday June 17 – Sky Sports has also announced a new feature that will let you video chat with friends during live games.

The new Fanzone feature, which will be available on the Sky Sports app and website, could be a useful new addition for fans who are socially distancing or simply want to enjoy the matches with far-flung friends.

According to Sky, the feature will only be available for "select matches" and there's no news yet on how many people will be able to live chat simultaneously.

But the main reason why it might be a better bet than using the likes of Zoom or Houseparty are the added match-related features. These will apparently include in-match polls and Sky Sports game stats, to help back up your expert observations and commentary.

• How to watch a Premier League live stream
• Get your live football fix
• PS5 improvements we want to see

The Fanzone video room will also let fans "influence the crowd noise they hear on screen", which presumably means it'll work in tandem with the "range of bespoke and team-specific crowd noises and chants" that Sky has already announced from its partnership with EA.

Filling the box

The new Fanzone feature and optional crowd noises won't be the only bonus extras coming to Sky Sports' Premier League coverage – the broadcaster has promised to "unveil further innovations to further enhance the experience for fans", along with its full schedule of live matches and channels.

The fixture list for the first 32 matches of the English Premier League has been announced, with 11 of the matches available free-to-air in the UK on the BBC, Amazon and Sky Sports via its Pick channel. The cheapest way to watch the rest of Sky Sports' games in the UK is with a Now TV Sky Sports Pass (£5.99 a month, mobile-only).

In the US, NBC Sports has the rights to every Premier League game – you get a Matchday Pass for $39.99, or if you want replays included to cover awkward kick-off times, then you'll need to shell out $64.99 for its Premier League Pass.

Australian Premier League fans can catch every game on Optus Sports – if you're not already signed up to the telecommunications network, you can catch the games via Google Play or the App Store with a AUS$15 per month monthly subscription.

Wherever you are, we'll let you know how you can watch every Premier League game when the rest of the fixtures are announced – but in the meantime check out our Premier League 19/20 live stream: how to watch every game online and from anywhere guide.

• Sky Sports and BT Sport reveal what the Premier League restart means for your bills

When the English Premier League kicks off again on Wednesday June 17, Sky viewers in the UK will have the option to watch matches with simulated crowd noises developed in partnership with EA Sports.

"A range of bespoke and team-specific crowd noises and chants" will be on offer "to bring the vibrant atmosphere of the Premier League to the restart" according to Sky, though we're assuming they're all going to be family friendly.

If you're not keen on the simulated cheers and boos – which we expect will sound a lot like they do on FIFA – then you can turn them off with your remote, but they might just add a little more atmosphere to the occasion.

• Get your live football fix
• PS5 improvements we want to see
• How to watch a Premier League live stream

"With live sport on hold for over two months, we've spent a lot of time thinking about how we broadcast in new ways to bring fans together, even if they can't meet up to watch the match," says  Sky Sports managing director Robert Webster.

Behind closed doors

With lockdown restrictions starting to be eased in most parts of the world, some sporting contests are now able to get back underway, with appropriate social distancing and other health and safety measures in place.

The German Bundesliga has been running since the middle of May, with games playing out in front of empty stadiums. Some broadcasters have started piping in recorded crowd noises on top of the feed, including Sky Deutschland.

According to ESPN, that fake audio was put together by Sky Deutschland itself, using recordings from earlier in the season. Engineers are able to adapt the crowd noise if there's action in either penalty area.

Presumably the UK version will run along similar lines, though Sky hasn't revealed much in the way of detail. The involvement of EA Sports suggests there will be some artificial crowd noises, but we'll have to wait until June 17 to hear what it sounds like.

• Sky Sports and BT Sport reveal what the Premier League restart means for your bills

Via The Verge

From Bad Boys and Lethal Weapon to Hot Fuzz, it's safe to say that the buddy cop genre has numerous options for film fans to consider - and now there's a new TV show to add to the discussion. Read on to find out how to watch Code 404 online from anywhere in the world, including for free wherever possible.

Code 404 stars Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays - no strangers to crime-related roles, having both appeared in the altogether more serious Line of Duty - this new 6-part show sees the pair work for the Special Investigation Unit at the London Met.

Mays' character, Detective Inspector John Major, is a celebrated Met Police special investigations. But he's (minor spoiler alert) killed off at the start of the first episode after being shot in an undercover sting operation.

The twist comes when he's brought back to life, thanks to some revolutionary technology. Sadly, some of the AI tech used in his resurrection was a little off, meaning it's a new but not necessarily improved DI Major that comes back to life.

To complicate matters, in the time that it has taken for him to be brought back into action, his partner Detective Inspector Roy Carver (Graham) and his wife Kelly (Anna Maxwell Martin) have started an affair and moved in together.

With a stellar cast and an interesting twist on the genre, it's a new show you won't want to miss. Find out how to watch Code 404 online from anywhere by following out guide below.

• Something completely different? Here's how to watch RuPaul's Drag Race 

How to watch Code 404 for free in the UK

How to watch Code 404 from outside your country

As Code 404 is a Sky One exclusive, anyone from the UK who's currently away from home won't find it being aired simultaneously in places like the USA, Canada or Australia. Moreover, trying to tune into Sky or a related service like Now TV will likely be impossible because of geo-blocking restrictions.

We know that this might not be a likely scenario for many, due to coronavirus travel restrictions, but the fact is people are still being required to travel - and some are even regrettably stuck abroad during this difficult time.

Fortunately, there is a solution in the form of a VPN. This nifty bit of software changes your IP address so that you can access all the content you normally would at home, from anywhere in the world.

However, note that some services require you to verify local credit card or cable subscription details before gaining access, so make sure you have these to hand before signing up for anything.

• How to watch The Last Dance online

Sky Sports claims that revolutionary new technology used during its coverage of The Open golf this week will reveal to viewers the secret to a perfect pro golf swing.

During broadcasts from the 148th Open Championship in Royal Portrush, Sky's pundits will be making use of its new ‘Sky Scope’ feature which allows presenters to analyse the techniques of star players using holograph replicas of each golfer.

Players such as Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and John Rahm have been visiting Sky’s mobile capture facility during practice session downtime to have special filming sessions. 

The footage is used to create lifelike holographs which are then transported to Sky’s Open Zone studio, allowing the Sky Sports team to analyse, track and pause the players movements in 360 degrees.

• Read more: How to get a 2019 Open live stream from anywhere in the world

Volumetric capture the flag

The new Sky Scope’ tech uses volumetric capture, similar to that used in high-end VR productions and has been developed as part of a partnership between Sky Sports, robotic camera control rig maker MRMC and VR production studio Dimension. 

Jason Wessely, Head of Golf at Sky Sports, said: "We're always looking at how we can use innovative technology to bring golf fans closer to the action - nowhere more so than at The Open, where we first introduced our interactive studio, the Open Zone.

"The technology that MRMC have provided will allow us to analyse the golf swings of the world's best players in a way that hasn't been possible before. I know that the Sky team can't wait to showcase this ground-breaking TV innovation."

• See today's best Sky TV deals, packages and Sky Q offers

If you've been enviously weighing up Sky's impressive library of content, but can't afford a full satellite service, then Now TV might be the streaming solution you need. 

It's not quite as complete a service as the full Sky offering, but in many ways it's much more complete than other streaming services out there. 

It has a couple of issues. The service is split into four different 'passes', and subscribing to more than one can get expensive quickly. Content can come and go quite abruptly too, and the final negative is that resolution is limited to 720p. That said, it does have some massive strengths too. 

It's much more flexible than a traditional satellite subscription, for example. You can pay for as little as just one day's content in some cases, which is a world away from the multi-month contracts you'll find with traditional packages. 

With Now TV, you get access to Sky's exclusive sports content and film channels, and can keep up to date with some of the best entertainment telly around, while paying a lower price. That mix-and-match approach gives it an edge over its rivals.

There is such an abundance of content, keep checking back to this review to see if anything has changed before you buy. As always we will keep it updated so you can make an informed buying choice.

So is Now TV right for you? And if so, what's the best way to watch it? Read on to find out...

• Best NOW TV shows: 25 to choose from

Check out the rivals...

• Best Amazon Prime Instant TV Shows: 25 to choose from
• Best Netflix TV Shows: 35 of the best

What's On Now TV?

Now TV offers timed chunks culled from Sky's various subscription channels, and for many, the biggest lure will be the movie package. Unlike Sky's satellite-delivered platform, Now TV is a dip-in/leave whenever proposition, useful when you've blazed through everything of interest.

New subscribers get a 7-day free trial for the movie service, which then migrates to a monthly fee. This auto-renews, but you can cut the chord at any time, without penalty.

Once the 7-day free trial is up, then the price for content differs depending on what you want. If it's the Entertainment Pass you are after, then it will be £7.99 a month; the Sky Cinema pass is more expensive at £9.99.

There's also a Kids pass which is the cheapest of the four at £3.99. 

And then there is the super-expensive Sports Pass. This is split into three variants: a £7.99 Day Pass, a £12.99 Week Pass and a mammoth £33.99 Month Pass.

These passes can look expensive, but you can frequently find multi-month deals which will save you a lot of money. Check out our guide to the best Now TV deals for an updated guide.

Splitting the service into these four strands is a good idea, as long as you know what you want to watch. And that is both the beauty of this service and the frustrating side. Play it right and you can pay for the Entertainment Pass when all the big-ticket shows are on. Play it wrong and you could be paying for a month of content you don't really want.

The same goes for movies. Time your buy-in correctly and you can take big advantage of the broadcaster's comprehensive Hollywood deals, enjoying everything from Guardians of the Galaxy to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Films here inevitably appear before they land on rival services such as Netflix and Amazon, and shortly after the DVD/Blu-ray release window.

Content for the Sky Cinema pass is themed by genre: Disney, All-Time Greats, Action, Comedy, Family, Crime and Thriller, Sci-Fi, Horror, Drama, Romance, Indie and Classics. Now TV also curates special Collections, such as Monsters, War and Christmas (when it's that time of the year), and also gets actors to curate lists of their best movies.

Entertainment

As explained above, the monthly entertainment pass is £7.99 – recent price rises mean it's now more closely aligned to its rivals in terms of cost.

The service offers recent transmissions of some of Sky's biggest shows, including The Blacklist, The Affair and Modern Family.

There's also a healthy selection of boxsets to gorge on. This is one of the most variable parts of the service, but series like Game Of Thrones, Penny Dreadful and Mad Men have been included. The list is ever-changing though, so it's always worth double-checking the Now TV website.

• The best TV shows you can stream right now.

While you can watch live streams of select channels, not all programming appears, due to rights limitations. Similarly, boxset availability will churn.

Sky has made 13 of its channels available through Now TV. These are: Sky Atlantic, Sky One, Fox, Gold, Sky Living, Comedy Central, Discovery Channel, MTV, ITV, Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon Jnr, ABC and Sky Arts.

Typically users have two ways to catch hot shows: either as they're broadcast or from the On Demand library; Featured programmes tend to appear within 24 hours of transmission.

One of the frustrating things about the Now TV service is just how quickly its content disappears from the service. This is especially the case for shows on Sky Atlantic and must be because of the deal Sky has with HBO.

To Sky's credit it does have a Leaving Soon section, but if you miss an episode of, say, The Leftovers, then the maximum you would have to catch up is two weeks. After that episode one would disappear, then the other in that sort of regularity.

This means that either you watch these shows like clockwork week-on-week, or that you binge watch in a rather short space of time. Each episode is given a day countdown, so at least Sky is trying to make viewers aware of when things will disappear.

Sports

Unlike its sibling services, Now TV's Sky Pass is either payable daily, weekly or monthly. Whichever pass you use they allow you to view all seven Sky Sports channels for the allotted time you have paid for.

There's no denying that sports is expensive through the Now TV service, but the idea it is an event purchase, not necessarily a daily one. And Sky is hoping that the fee is split between a group of people watching a big match.

The ticket price is good value if you're not looking for a long term sporting commitment. Get some mates around, combine resources, and off you go. There's plenty to choose from, including the Premier League, UEFA Champions league, rugby fixtures, coverage of international test cricket and live coverage of the European and US PGA Tours.

If you would rather just a daily update of sports news, then you can also watch Sky Sports News HQ through the app on the Sky Now TV box - this app is unlocked with any pass, not just a Sports one.

What's the best way to watch Now TV?

The number of platforms offering Now TV continues to grow. The service is currently available on: Chromecast, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, Roku, LG Smart TVs, PC or Mac, plus apps for iOS and Android (4.0 and above) apps for both mobile and tablet.

Alternatively you can buy the dedicated Now TV box. Available directly from the Now TV website, there are a number of packages you can choose from (as we have outlined above) and you even get an HDMI cable bundled. The Now TV box is both a dedicated portal to Sky's own services, as well as host to a range of third-party streaming content, including BBC iPlayer.

There's also a Now TV Smart Box available which has a built-in Freeview tuner in addition to the streaming smarts. 

Performance

Now TV doesn't promote itself as a high-definition service, instead using adaptive bitrate streaming to cope with different broadband speeds. A fast broadband connection will reward with very acceptable image quality. 

Viewed via a VirginMedia fibre connection, we found the service consistently delivered an acceptable level of image quality, although we can't help but wish it was a full 1080p. 

Navigating the user interface is reasonably quick and intuitive. There are usability caveats though. Buffering can be an issue, and when a big show like Game of thrones hits, the Now TV servers have experienced outages.

The Now TV service is a fantastic one when it works well and you can navigate your way through the myriad ways to watch the content.

For some, particularly those without a Smart TV or games console, then the Now TV Box is a super cheap device that's an essential purchase. Even if you don't buy into Sky's content then you will have iPlayer, 4OD and other to use as freely as you wish.

For others then the app is the way to go. The problem with this is that quality is changeable, and it is not necessarily the fault with Sky's own app. For instance, on the PS4 the app stuttered for us, but worked perfectly when used on the Sky TV Box.

The mobile versions of the app are buggier than the TV apps, though I didn't find much wrong with watching Now TV on iOS. It was on Android that I started to have intermittent sound issues and apps crashing.

On the whole, the app and the service worked well and you simply can't fault the content that is available through the service.

We Liked

The content available through Now TV is superb. Movie release dates are much closer to their Blu-ray counterparts than Netflix can muster up and having HBO content one stream away, via the Sky Atlantic channel, is impressive.

The sheer amount of places you can watch Now TV is impressive as well. Having tried out the service on the PS3, PS4, Now TV Box and YouView, it's great to see the UI the same across the board.

Also, the ability to watch on two devices at the same time frees up the service no end.

It's also a great-value way to access Sky without having to strap a dish to your home or sign your life away on an 18-month contract.

We Disliked

You can only register on four devices. This may only be a problem for a technology reviewer but with the many places you can watch the service, this feels like a number than needs to be upped.

Quality is also currently capped at 720p, which will irk the Full HD crowd. You will need a strong-ish internet connection as well - otherwise you will face buffering issues.

The quality of streams does seem to vary from app to app as well. Although, having used this service for over a year now, I have seen a marked improvement in the adaptive bitrate that is being used by Sky.

Verdict

Now TV has evolved into a compelling alternative to the all-you-can-eat buffet offered by Netflix and Amazon, and the straight PPV of Blinkbox and its ilk. If you're interested in making a specific Sports grab, or simply want to catch up with some trending TV, it has much to offer.

While there are some performance niggles, those on the right end of a fast broadband connection should be able to watch a pleasingly smooth stream. Overall value for money is high.

• Check out the latest Now TV deals, offers, passes and vouchers

Now TV has been a revelation for Sky. Its arrival in 2012 meant a whole host of programmes that used to be strictly tethered to a satellite dish could be enjoyed without a contract. Now anyone can now enjoy Sky, as long as you have a broadband connection that can stream movies and TV shows.

The box is cheap – really cheap. You can get one for under around £20 and it comes with a (limited) free subscription to either the service's movies, sports or TV offerings.

Sky now has two box options for Now TV. There's this Now TV box to entice you to take up its non-contract shenanigans. Or the new Now TV Smart Box that marries both non-contract streaming and Freeview channels.

• Best cheap Now TV deals: on boxes and shows, movies and sports

We're here to tell you about the best Now TV shows available if you buy the monthly Entertainment Pass. Unlike Netflix or Amazon Prime Instant Video, Sky's shows tend to disappear a little quicker due to rights issues, but don't fear – we will keep this list of the best Now TV shows constantly updated so you always know what's available when you buy your monthly pass.

And if you don't fancy anything, don't forget to regularly check back as new content becomes available through the service.

Check out the rivals...

Best Amazon Prime Instant TV Shows: 50 to choose from
Best Netflix TV Shows: 50 of the best

Donald Glover wrote, starred and produced this superb show about the music scene in Atlanta. The first seasons charts the rise of two cousins as hip hop artists, trying make something of themselves. The show is what you should expect from Glover. It’s smart, funny and a fitting looks at being black and middle class in America. Unfortunately season 2 is going to be delayed as Glover is set to play a young Lando in the upcoming Han Solo movie. As excuses go, that’s one of the best we have heard. 

Seasons on Now TV: 1

The Affair is not what it seems. At all. It starts off as a half-decent melodrama following writer Noah (Dominic West) and his family as they go on vacation to Montauk in Long Island. There Noah falls for local waitress Alison Lockhart (Ruth Wilson). She's married, he's married and, well, things spiral out of control. The reason The Affair is compelling viewing is because it holds a mirror up to the affair in question. We get differing points of view, from both Noah and Alison. The same scenes play out but clothes change, dialogue changes, even settings change as they remember their sides of same the convoluted story. The first season is essential viewing but the conceit is stretched somewhat for the second and third season - it's still great fun, though.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

It's not often that you root for a billionaire hedge fund manager, but Damian Lewis' likeable performance in Billions means you get behind the rich guy - even if his methods of making money may be on the dubious side. Lewis is Bobby Axelrod a hedge fund manager that is being pursued by Paul Giamatti's Chuck Rhoades for insider trading. The whole things is an effortless watch and endlessly entertaining.

Seasons on Now TV: 2

James Spader. That name should be enough to get you watching The Blacklist. The actor – who lent his voice to Avengers: Age of Ultron – is fantastic in this show. Only an actor of his calibre could portray playfulness in a character who at his heart is a cold, sadistic megalomaniac. The premise is simple: Red (Spader), one of the FBI's Most Wanted, hands himself in with the caveat that he has information on hundreds of other criminals – information he uses to twist the FBI around his malicious little finger. While the supporting cast isn't quite up to Spader's magnificence, this is one of the more enjoyable shows on Sky at the moment.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

Blindspot has one of the best premises we’ve ever heard of from a TV show: a heavily tattooed, naked woman is found in Times Square, New York, with no recollection of who she is or how she got there. It sounds so mysteriously tantalising, right? What ensues is a crime drama all about the twists and turns the FBI go on that are inspired by the intricate maps of ink on Jane Doe’s skin. It may not be award-winning, but has plenty of fans. 

Seasons on Now TV: 3

Britannia is splitting audiences, but if you can’t hold for the new series of Game of Thrones, Britannia may fill that fantasy-shaped hole in your viewing calendar.

It’s Thrones made by Brits, essentially, and though it claims to have its roots in historical accuracy (it follows the Roman invasion and occupation of Britain during the Iron Age), it is very much from the George R. R. Martin school of storytelling. Expect buckets of blood, lots of sexy human flesh and a fair amount of never-would-have-actually-happened fantasy magic nonsense thrown in too.

Julia Davis is fantastic at creating uncomfortable comedy and that's exactly what she has done with Camping - a show centred on a group of people who go camping together. Davis is sublime as lady Fay, a sex-mad girlfriend of one of the group who is going through something of a midlife crisis. But it's Vicki Pepperdine's Fiona who wins the show. Her portrayal of a moaning, mean and controlling wife is one of the scariest things seen on TV.

Series on Now TV: 1 

Criminal Minds has been going strong for 13 seasons, all of which you can stream on Now TV. It’s a US police crime drama. We know what you’re thinking. There are loads of them, right? Well, Criminal Minds is a little different because it’s driven by a team who catch criminals based on high-paced, smart and really damn fascinating behavioural profiling. If you like your dramas laced with more intelligence than action, this is for you. The great thing about Criminal Minds is you can dip in and out of the seasons and still find it really entertaining. Sure you might be a little confused by the ongoing plots and character development, but most episodes have self-contained mysteries. 

Seasons on Now TV: 13

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is well and truly cashing in on our ongoing superhero obsession. The series is based on some of DC’s most interesting characters beyond the obvious choices, like Batman and The Joker. The line-up includes DC heroes like Atom, Firestorm, Captain Cold and Hawkgirl. If you’re a fan of The Flash and Arrow, it’s definitely worth giving this show a spin because they’re all set in the same fictional universe. 

Seasons on Now TV: 3

Swearier than Delia Smith at a Norwich game, Deadwood is a show that may have been short-lived but it will linger a long time in the memory. From the golden age of HBO programming, Deadwood stars a never-bettered Ian McShane as saloon owner Al Swearengen - even his name is sweary - and Timothy Olyphant as the sheriff of Deadwood Seth Bullock. Over three seasons, and set some six months after Custer's last stand, life (and death) in Deadwood is laid bare.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

There's jump scares aplenty in this adaptation of the 'true story' of a house in London in the Seventies that was subject of a vicious haunting. The cast is pitch perfect, with Timothy Spall as the sympathetic paranormal inspector and newcomer Eleanor Worthington-Cox as one of the children affected by the poltergeist. While the show doesn't scrimp on accusations that the hauntings were faked by the children, it does hit hard with its scares - think Paranormal Activity by way of EastEnders.

Seasons on Now TV: 1

The Flash is the best superhero show on television. Yes, that includes all of the Marvel entities. It’s the best as it’s the truest to the comic books, has a fantastic Flash in the form of Grant Gustin and scripts that add real pathos to all of the characters - even when they are fighting giant gorillas. 

Season one sets the story arcs up well, while season two intricately plots the events leading up to season 3, which starts with the famous comic-book series Flashpoint.

Seasons on Now TV: 2

The most expensive Sky show in history is also one of its most divisive. Many love the slow, snow-strewn plot that keeps you guessing right till the end but others were expecting something a bit more action packed - given much of the pre hype was all about polar bears versus humans. Take it as what it is meant to be, though - a crime drama in the Scandinavian mould, sprinkled with supernatural elements - and there is a lot to love. And anything with Michael Gambon as an angry drunk man will get our attention.

All 10 episodes of Season 2 are also available on demand.

Seasons on Now TV: 2

The first season of Gomorrah - based on the fantastic true expose of the Sicilian Camorra crime empire by Roberto Saviano - was a brilliant, brutal look at what it means to be a gangster in Sicily. It showed a world that was far away from Godfather romanticism but never really proved a hit to audiences. The second season of the show has changed this, with Gomorrah picking up acclaim from anyone who's seen it.It's a show that's just as epic in scope as The Wire and we can't wait to see where further seasons take it.

Seasons on Now TV: 2

Grey’s Anatomy, the super popular US medical drama series that never seems to end, follows the lives of residents, interns and attending physicians as they work their way up the ranks to become fully-fledged doctors. Although the series is named after Gray’s Anatomy, a classic human anatomy textbook, the show explores bigger themes than just medicine, as well as delving into the personal lives and relationships of the characters. That’s probably one of the reasons why it’s won so many awards over the years, has such a dedicated army of fans and is one of the longest running scripted shows on primetime US TV. 

Seasons on Now TV: 14

With a cast that stars Frieda Pinto and Idris Elba and a writer who's an Oscar winner thanks to 12 Years A Slave, you would have expected Guerrilla to be talked about more. But it seems to have gone under the radar. This is a shame, as the show about the rise of black power in the UK in the '70s is a great watch.

There's been a glut of cult movies made into TV shows (Fargo and Psycho are also now TV favourites), but Hannibal is the best there is. The most surreal show since Twin Peaks, Hannibal weaves the mythos of Hannibal Lector effortlessly with dream-like imagery and superb acting. While Hugh Dancy's Will Graham is a little one note, Mads Mikkelsen as Lector makes the character his own, complementing Anthony Hopkins' portrayal rather than making you pine for it. The third and unfortunately final season delves both into Hannibal's younger years and the exploits of the book Red Dragon – so there's no better time to catch this superb series.

Seasons on Now TV: 1 (season 3)

The Leftovers is bleak. Like really bleak. It begins a little after a Rapture-like event, where a number of people in the world have simply vanished and focuses on the lives of those, well, leftover. Adapted for the screen by Lost's Damon Lindelof, The Leftovers may have a similar Lost-like ensemble approach to its storytelling but that's where the similarities end. The Leftovers is much more real and while this takes time to getting used to it's more than worth it.

Also, the second series is one of the best series of television we have ever seen, so there is that. Catch up now before the third and final series disappears from Now TV.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

Modern Family has been consistently hilarious for six seasons now, using The Simpsons' method of showing good ol' family values through, well, good ol' family dysfunction. Every episode hits the spot. The writing is Emmy award-winning and the acting too, even if the central idea that the Dunphy/Pritchett family is being filmed for a documentary wears a little thin after a while. This is one of Sky's biggest shows and for good reason, too.

Seasons on Now TV: 8

Chris O'Dowd has never been better than in this fantastic sitcom, loosely based on his life in Ireland. He stars as Sean, the imaginary friend of Martin Moone, a kid growing up in the '80s. Filled with some fantastic comedy – mainly from Ian O'Reilly who plays Padraic in the show – and more heart and pathos than you would normally find in a 30-minute sitcom, Moone Boy is as good a coming-of-age tale as you will find anywhere.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

The last time famous characters from Victorian gothic literature got together on the screen it was for the laughable adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Even the genius words of Alan Moore couldn't make that work. So, when Bond scribe John Logan announced he was doing a similar thing with Penny Dreadful, we were sceptical. But it really works. Everyone from Frankenstein's monster – who is finally as poetic as he is in the novel – to Dorian Gray have been given a revisionist spin that makes this series both scary and entertaining.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

If you’ve got just a passing interest in art, then Portrait Artist of the Year is guaranteed to hook you in. Each episode sees a number of professional and amateur artists take on a portrait challenge. The race is then on for them to create the best portrait, so you’ll get a great insight into their process, how they work and how well (or not so well) they cope with painting under pressure. The show would stand up if that was all there was to it, but what makes it even more interesting is that each person sitting for their portrait is someone famous or notable, so you get to hear more about them and their story in amongst all the paint talk. It’s like reality TV for those who prefer a quiet wander round Tate Britain as opposed to a mad one in an Essex nightclub. 

Seasons on Now TV: 4 

Rick and Morty creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have created a hit TV show out of a concept that on paper probably shouldn’t work: darkly funny, animated, adult science-fiction. The story follows cynical and anarchic scientist Rick Sanchez as he goes on a series of out-of-this-world (in every sense of the phrase) adventures with his grandson Morty. It’s gross, laugh out loud funny and a refreshing take on sci-fi world building that’s drummed up a huge deal of interest and army of fans over the past few years. 

Seasons on Now TV: 1

The first long trailer was ridiculed for looking like a rom com, but Supergirl has proved its critics wrong and over the course of two seasons has show itself to be one of the best superhero shows on television. Melissa Benoist is fantastic as Kara Zor-El, playing her just on the right side of innocent, while the inclusion of a certain other superhero in season 2 could have been a bad idea but it has really made Supergirl, well, fly.

Seasons on Now TV: 1

We are now into the third series of The Trip and it shows no signs of wear and tear - it's still as funny and effective as it was when they originally went around the UK eating good food. Mostly ad-libbed and full of meta musings, The Trip is essentially a showcase of Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon's talents and thanks to the astute direction of Michael Winterbottom, it's a brilliant watch.

True Detective is a series that will frustrate. The first season is superb; a sweaty American backwoods whodunnit that flits between present day and the past. In both timezones the leads - Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson - are mesmerising and even if the poetic ending doesn't match the quality of the rest of the season, it still rounds off a marvellous watch. Then there's the second season. Plodding, aimless, pretentious, but still annoyingly watchable.

Seasons on Now TV: 2

Twin Peaks is the greatest, strangest season of TV spread over two seasons. The show is both beautiful and grotesque, simple and convoluted. The premise is simple: some FBI agents come to the sleepy town of Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of Laura Palmer but the way the tale is told through both dreamscapes and fairly ordinary soap opera musings makes it unmissable. Created by David Lynch and Mark Frost, the series was eventually hamstrung by annoying TV execs forcing the murderer to be revealed mid way through the second season, but this doesn't detract from the complete brilliance of a show that was way ahead of its time.

And, just as promised, 25 years later we have Season 3 of the show. Almost stripped of the playfulness of the first two seasons, this third slap of Twin Peaks is much darker and even more convoluted - think Fire Walk With Me. It's also brilliant and brings back a number of the original cast.

Seasons on Now TV: 3

US politics isn't really that funny at the moment, given the current incumbent of the President's chair. So, thank the world for Veep - an hilarious look at US politics and a bumbling vice president. It's The Thick Of It, US style. While there's no Malcolm Tucker to add the swears, every character has a potty mouth and a quick quip and six series in it's just as good as ever.

Seasons on Now TV: 5

The Walking Dead has long been one of the most popular and addictive shows to sink your teeth into. But if you’re a fan and want to rewatch all 8 seasons, or you’re keen to catch up after avoiding the scary, apocalyptic drama for so long, then you’d better act fast. All 8 seasons of the award-winning zombie show are available on NOW TV, and consistently top the service’s Most Popular list, but will only be available to stream until 27 March 2018.

Seasons on Now TV: 8

The Wire requires patience, an eye for detail and a half-decent knowledge of Baltimore street slang. While you may not have the last thing down pat, it will help understanding the nuances in what is one of the greatest series in television. Each season stands alone, offering up a slice of Baltimore. Over five seasons these slices overlap and coincide, bringing characters together from all walks of American life. You have drug dealers who are well educated, drug users whose morals are stronger than the upper echelons of the police department. There's corrupt politicians, teachers who are trying to turn around failing schools, despite everything conspiring against them, and journalists trying to make sense of what is going, by making their own stories up along the way. It's big, brave storytelling that's Dickensian in its scope and it's utterly fantastic.

Seasons on Now TV: 5

Despite being a sub-brand of premium TV broadcaster Sky, you always have to remember that Now TV is meant as a budget option. 

Can't afford a full-blown Sky Q subscription? Then Now TV is your cheap ticket to streaming all of Sky's biggest pieces of content without having to go to the same level of expense or commitment. 

To that end, Now TV's hardware has always followed a similar blueprint, and the Now TV Stick is no different. We got to experience the new hardware firsthand and we came away thinking that it was a decent budget stick, if a little light on the non-Now TV functionality. 

But, with a price of just £15 for the base hardware, we're not sure we can complain too much. 

Design

Like the Now TV box before it, the Now TV Stick is based on hardware originally produced by Roku. 

In this case, the Roku equivalent is (loosely) the Roku Streaming Stick+, a device that came out late last year full to the gills with 4K HDR goodness. 

The Now TV Stick, in comparison, is a little lighter on the high-end tech. For now it's an HD Ready only affair, although it should be able to make use of Now TV's upgrade to Full HD that's due to happen before the end of the year. 

That said, whether the hardware is 4K compatible or not is a somewhat academic question since the Now TV Stick doesn't allow access to any streaming services that support 4K content. 

It shouldn't surprise us that Netflix and Amazon Prime continue to be absent from the Now TV Stick. The two most popular streaming services have never seen eye to eye with Sky – they've been absent from every Now TV box in the past – and they're also absent from Sky Q. 

You do get access to most other major streaming services. The BBC's iPlayer is of course included, as are the rest of the UK's catch up streaming services. 50 apps are supported in total. 

Aside from the app selection, the other big difference between the Now TV Stick and the Roku Streaming Stick+ is the remote. While the Roku's offers dedicated access to apps like Netflix, their absence means that the Now TV Stick's remote has a series of buttons dedicated to Sky's own content areas including Sky Kids and the Sky Store. 

Oh, and the micro USB power port is on the end of the stick this time around rather than the side, just in case clearance behind your TV is an issue. 

Performance

Roku's interfaces have always been on the snappy side, and that's continued into the Now TV Stick, despite Now TV having added its own skin atop of the stock Roku experience. 

A brief demonstration saw us nip through a highlights section (formed of Sky content from Now TV passes that you currently subscribe to, and other streaming services) through to a 'Continue Watching' section which is exclusively content that you've already begun watching so you can easily pick up where you left off. 

Dig deeper than here and the whole interface is broadly subdivided by Now TV passes. There are now four in total, Cinema, Entertainment, Sports and Kids, and each offer a broad range of content covering those areas. 

The exception to this is a new TV Guide area that groups together all of the live channels you're currently subscribed to (this guide also gets a dedicated button on the remote), which can now be paused and rewound thanks to a nifty new piece of Now TV technology. 

Of course, if you don't want to navigate using the remote you can always use the new voice search to find content. We were shown how the search could be used to find shows and films by title, by cast, and even by director. 

We were even impressed to see our demonstrator fudge a request for the Now TV Stick to show content by Steve Coogan. Rather than asking for shows starring the veteran comedian (no doubt in an attempt to promote recent Sky hit 'The Trip'), he asked for shows directed by him, and the Stick obliged with quiet assurance.

Voice search also has uses outside of Now TV's content, but these are unfortunately much less limited. You can ask the Stick to open up the iPlayer, for example, but it currently can't search within the app to find you the latest episode of Eastenders. 

Early Verdict

Although there are other apps included, the Now TV Stick has a very singular purpose: it wants to make it cheap and easy for you to spend money on Sky's streaming services. 

So far, what we've seen of the Stick implies that it will do a very effective job. The interface is well laid out and snappy, buttons on the remote make getting to the different bits of Sky's content a doddle, and the voice search seems to be a quick and easy way of finding your way around the interface. 

But the elephant in the room is always the Roku hardware that the Now TV variant is based on. Yes you'll pay more (four times more at the time of writing),  but opting for Roku's Streaming Stick+ will net you all of what the Now TV Stick offers along with support for both Netflix and Amazon in 4K HDR. 

If you want the cheapest functional streaming stick money can buy, then keep an eye out for the Now TV Stick. Just know that you can get more if you're prepared to pay more. 

• Now TV also produce a Freeview HD-equipped set-top box called the Now TV Smart Box

If its recent price cut wasn't enough to tempt you, Sky is announcing new ways to view its sports coverage on its top-of-the-line Sky Q service.

It today announced the addition of a split-screen view option for its Sky Sports channels, letting you run two live football or tennis matches side by side, view a highlights reel along with real-time action, or else pick between multiple camera angles during Formula One races.

This is provided in addition to the Sky Sports HQ app, which is already available as a slide-in pane through the Sky UI, which is now available in split screen view alongside any other channel.

The power of Q

"We know our customers absolutely love watching live sports and the new Sky Q features will give them the flexibility to choose how they watch," said Luke Bradley-Jones, Sky's Brand Director of TV and Content Products.

"Whether it's a Premier League match or Formula 1 race, customers can simply choose split screen viewing and watch the most talked about goal again and again, or two live races side by side."

There are some limitations - you can't mix and match sports on the rare occasions when two major events clash, and highlights reels are editorially chosen from the current event being viewed, rather than letting you trawl through highlights from other matches or races. But it's a good showcase for the power of the Sky Q box, and will come into its own particularly for football fans, watching end-of-the-season relegation battles or title races.

• Sky Q review

Sky is doubling down on its Sky Q box, announcing a new pricing structure to lure over both old and new customers and a simpler naming system.

Sources at the company have suggested there's internal delight over the sales of and reaction to Q. That's despite some clear stability issues with the box, and the failure to so far roll out key features announced at launch, like the power line connectivity (ETA 2016) and the phone app (ETA the next few weeks).

The upshot is that Sky is now keen to make the Q box its primary offering, ahead of the trusted old Sky+ boxes that have served as a bedrock to the company's growth in recent years, and which will continue to be offered.

Same box, new name

Originally Sky Q subscribers were given the basic option or the Silver option – the latter boasting a 2TB drive and 4K functionality. These have now been renamed to simply the Sky Q 1TB box and the Sky Q 2TB, which is much less interesting but probably easier to understand.

For new customers, The Sky Q 1TB will be included for no extra cost with all TV bundles including the £20 'original' bottom tier, but a one-off installation fee of £15 will be charged, or £60 for the 2TB box.

For current subscribers, the same installation fees apply if you want to upgrade, and you can take advantage of a new Sky Q Multiscreen offering for £12 a month more (or nothing extra if you're a Sky+ multiscreen subscriber).

Our advice for current subscribers, as ever, is to take your time and look carefully at the options available to you, and what you want from your package. The 2TB box is certainly worth considering if you have, or plan to buy, a 4K television for instance.

In truth, as our Sky Q review points out, it's a lovely future-thinking box that's likely to get better and better in the coming months.

• Sky Q tips and tricks

European television giant Sky has invested $45 million in iflix, an Asian competitor to the streaming services like Amazon Prime Instant Video and market giant Netflix.

Sky has long identified Netflix as a disruptor to its business, and the company's investment in a burgeoning service that offers a huge package of shows and films to the Asian markets is an interesting one.

The service currently runs across Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines and, since its launch in May 2015 has already signed up over one million members.

Growing plans

The streaming company has already outlined its plans to move into more Asian markets, although Netflix's decision to broaden its own reach across the globe will inevitably put pressure on growth.

Sky already has its own streaming service called Now TV, and the company's latest offering in the set top box market - the Sky Q - is built to operate and compete in a modern streaming landscape.

iflix has quickly established itself as Southeast Asia's most exciting and fastest-growing streaming TV service, said Sky CFO Andrew Griffith.

"There are lots of opportunities for Sky and iflix to work together and share expertise as both companies continue to expand."

iflix co-founder and Group CEO, Mark Britt added: "We are thrilled to welcome Sky to the iflix family. As pioneers in the global broadcasting industry and true leaders in television and media, they share our passion for delivering market-leading content and services through innovation.

"Sky's investment will further support our commitment to providing our members with the best in entertainment."

• Read the Sky Q review

You may have noticed by now that we're a little obsessed with all things Star Wars at techradar towers, so when Sky offered us the first glimpse of its new Star Wars themed remotes we jumped at the chance faster than a stormtrooper onto a Rebel blockade runner.

The new range of remotes for the Sky+ box have been unveiled to celebrate the return of all six Star Wars movies to their own channel - Sky Movies Star Wars - which will also be playing host to a live broadcast from the premiere of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

There are 10 versions of the remote control to choose from - and although we were quick to judge the Christmas themed Now TV boxes, we're definitely okay with the various designs on display.

Our favourites are, obviously, the remotes that are designed to look a bit like the characters they represent - iconic versions of C-3PO, Darth Vader, the stormtrooper and the amazing R2-D2 remote.

But there are also six art design versions for the likes of Yoda, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, and second versions for Vader and the stormtrooper to (jack)boot.

So, take a look through the new designs and tell us which one you favour: but bear in mind we're going to be keeping the R2-D2 one, so hands off you Jawas...

And if you're in the US or Australia - we're sorry... Maybe someone else will do their own versions.

Sky Movies Star Wars will be available on channel 304 starting December 11 until January 3, and also available to watch via Sky Go.

R2-D2

Yoda

C-3PO

Stormtroopers

Darth Vader

Han Solo

Princess Leia

Luke Skywalker

Starting today Sky+HD boxes are going to see their third update of the year, adding some new functionality specifically to the Sky Movies channels.

After the BBC announced its iPlayer update with new Live Restart feature for its device applications, Sky has come in with its own Watch from Start. It's a simple little feature that gives you an instant download for a movie that's already playing on one of the Sky Movies channels.

Just click the green button to start the download when the prompt pops up and the box will do its downloading magic. You also get the choice of whether to download in SD or HD, depending on what's available.

The download will then start in the background, allowing you to keep channel surfing, then once there's enough of a buffer downloaded another prompt will appear offering to take you directly to the start of your film.

Obviously how long that takes will depend on your broadband connection.

It's arguably even more important for Sky Movies to have this feature - we've skipped over so many films we would otherwise have watched there and then, but for the fact we'd missed the first twenty minutes or so.

Sky is also introducing a personalised library function with the Watchlist.

When you're scrolling through the broad movie selection on your Sky+HD box you will now be able to highlight a film and click the green button on your remote to add it to your Watchlist.

No longer will you feel the sting of choice paralysis every time you want to settle down and watch a film as you can keep your own curated list up to date.

And, speaking of curation, Sky is also introducing a new More Like This feature recommending movie suggestions based on a single film you've got selected. These are based on the existing program tags Sky attaches to its content.

Not appearing in this update, but coming later in the year, Sky is also adding Rotten Tomatoes Audience Scores as star ratings for the wealth of films available on its movie channels.

"This is just the latest in a series of enhancements we're rolling out every few months to make sure Sky+ continues to make TV watching a brilliant experience in homes up and down the country," said Luke Bradley-Jones, Director of TV Products at Sky. "The pace at which we're developing for Sky+ has never been quicker - so customers can look forward to more updates later this year and into 2016."

At the moment these features are going to be added to Sky Movies on the Sky+HD boxes, with no plans as yet for them to make the move over to the channels on either Sky Go or NOW TV.

• The best TVs to watch your movies on.

It looks like Sky is set to try and spoil the launch of BT's new BT Sports Ultra HD channel this weekend by announcing plans for SkyQ, the current name of its advanced 4K-capable set top box.

According to a report by the Telegraph Sky is set to announce the new hardware after its full-year reports are released this week. With the Community Shield kicking off BT's ultra HD coverage that seems like good timing to us.

The replacement for its current Sky+ HD box is being touted as offering subscribers an "Apple and Netflix-style" experience.

What that apparently means is the new interface is going to be more visual and carousel-led than the current hardware.

Timing

There is as yet no official timeline for Sky to start broadcasting in Ultra HD, but it would be unlikely not to at least mention plans for a start of 4K Sky when it does officially announce the new SkyQ box.

With BT launching its BT Sports Ultra HD channel at the weekend it wouldn't be a surprise to see Sky go toe-to-toe on the live sports angle for its UHD content - though, with its huge range of movie channels and TV box-sets, an on-demand UHD setup surely isn't far off.

The new SkyQ box is set to integrate live and on-demand content side-by-side too, and will attempt to learn your viewing habits, a la Netflix, and then offer tailored viewing suggestions based on your previous selections.

The Telegraph report also mentions the new SkyQ box will be capable of 'beaming' content around the house, to multiple devices, and let you watch and record to up to four programs at once.

As soon as the new SkyQ box gets all official we'll have the full low-down.

• Don't wanna sub? NOW TV could be for you - check out our review.

Sky has sealed a significant three-year digital deal with the Premier League to serve up 'near live' clips of major incidents from the season after next including, obviously, the goals.

The Sun and The Times have previously had the rights, but the Murdoch Sky/News UK connection means both will continue to serve this to their subscribers as Sky takes over.

The near live clips will be shown over mobile and online through social networks and apps, and are an increasingly important access point for a younger audience.

At your fingertips

"Sky Sports is the home of the Premier League and this will allow us to offer our customers even more content across mobile and online," said Sky Sports MD Barney Francis.

"The way people watch sport is changing rapidly and this agreement ensures Sky Sports will continue to offer the best coverage across TV, mobile, online and social media.

"However they choose to watch, our customers will have all the defining moments from the Premier League at their fingertips for years to come."

Sky is battling hard in an increasingly competitive landscape for digital rights for sports - with BT becoming a major competitor by grabbing Premier League and, perhaps more pivotally Champions League coverage, and terrestrial networks BBC and ITV teaming up to win the bid for Rugby Six Nations.

• 8 real-life footballers in Rocket League: which one are you?

UPDATE: The box is still on track for August, but Sky tell us that the monthly sports pass is now available at http://www.nowtv.com/sports

Sky is launching a new Now TV box in August, hopefully just in time for the new footie season to start.

The current Now TV box is getting on for two years old now and is ripe for an update. That's exactly what it's getting – again using the same design and components as the latest Roku box, and this time around that's the Roku 3.

It won't though have the same feature set as the Roku box however, which is most definitely a shame given the number of people subscribing to other OTT services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.

The new box's faster processor will come in handy for the updated UI design Sky is putting together for the updated device.

It's also continuing with the updates, promising improved search functionality as well as Netflix-aping features – like automatically playing the next episode of a show – over the next few months.

As well as improvements to the software side, the new Now TV box will also have a wired internet connection – via a standard ethernet port – to offer a robust alternative to the wireless stream.

Just before the new Now TV box drops, Sky will also be launching a new Sky Sports Month Pass as well. Building on its existing day and week passes, the month-long option gives access to all seven Sky Sports channels contract-free.

The Sky Sports Month Pass will be available in July for £31.99.

Sky's Now TV service has been a huge success for the company, with analyst IHS estimating that it is now almost solely reliant on the service for growing its subscriber base.

Over the last year it has added more than 400,000 subscribers with IHS's research indicating that without the service Sky would have actually lost 52,000 subscribers to its traditional pay TV service in the last quarter.

The overall number of pay TV subscribers in the UK has risen by one million in the last year, so Now TV is definitely a big driver for the market.

• Can BT compete with the power of Sky?

With Sky's new NOW TV box announcement came a statistic from the company that suggested that 40% of its users used Netflix - but don't think that makes it likely that an app for the streaming device is on the way.

TechRadar understands that Sky has no plans currently to please almost half of its audience by giving the new NOW TV box the Netflix app, or the 20% of users that are streaming from Amazon Prime.

You can understand the logic of not initially offering a (subsidised) box that allows users to stream rival services, but Sky has often confounded expectations in this area so hopes remained that the Roku-made box would begin to open up to more third-party apps from competitors.

Sky's decision to make Sky Go and, to an extent the NOW TV service, largely platform agnostic has been a major factor in making the service an oft praised boon for the company.

But opening up its own TV box platform to Netflix and Amazon - streaming services that act as direct competitors - remains off the table for now.

It's a second blow in the day for British TV fans who like their content, with the news that BT will have exclusive rights to Fear The Walking Dead making it necessary to subscribe to four different platforms to watch the big hitting US shows when they premiere.

• Why broadcast TV is dying

As a Fourth of July special gift, Sky is releasing the latest season of Armando Iannucci's Veep in full.

Forming part of its Sky Box Sets on-demand service, the fourth season will go online in its entirety - along with the previous three seasons - before it is aired in weekly instalments on the Sky Atlantic channel.

This marks a bit of a departure for Sky, prioritising the binge-watching, on-demand habits we've all become addicted to over the standard linear TV model.

It may simply be a one-off Fourth of July gift or it might indicate the big pay TV player could be testing the water for a shift in how its box-set model works alongside the existing live TV channels it offers subscribers.

Money talks

If Sky, with its enormous weight behind it, starts to follow the Netflix model that could spell bad news for the video streaming guys.

Already recent reports are theorising increased competition between the standard pay TV and streaming companies is going to raise the cost of content all round. That would mean at the highest end of the market even Netflix wouldn't be able to compete with the size of Sky's operation in terms of grabbing the most sought-after content.

"Not even Netflix will have the scale to compete with pay TV leaders such as Sky or Canal+ for the whole range of their content line-ups," say the consultants behind the report, 'How to Ride the OTT Wave.'

"Nevertheless, experts anticipate that the battle between traditional and emerging players will continue to inflate overall content costs."

Via Digital TV Europe

• But can Sky deliver HDR like Netflix?

Just about everyone in the galaxy is crossing off the days until Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens, but to make that time pass quicker Sky has bagged the rights to show the entire Star Wars catalogue.

Starting May 4th (when else?) the Star Wars saga will be shown in full over a 48-hour marathon, which includes the six core films, two animated Star Wars series - Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - along with a number of specials and featurettes.

The films will run in both episodic and release order on May 4 and 5. They'll then be available to watch on Sky's Movies channel and On Demand services over the Summer period.

Sky has told TechRadar that it it is still planning to do Blu-ray as part of its Buy and Keep service, but its first task will to bring box sets from television and film to its service.

Sky's Buy and Keep service has hit a fairly large landmark, announcing that you will now receive a DVD, a copy to watch on your set top box AND crucially a digital edition for phone, laptops and tablet when you buy a movie.

For some technophiles the DVD part of this may be more of an issue - although the lion's share of the digital media market still sits with the older format rather than Blu-ray.

Next phase

But Director of Sky Store Nicola Bamford told TechRadar that things were progressing as planned and remained a part of the service's future.

"Blu-ray has always been part of the roadmap and it continues to be so," she said. "We look to the mass-market and 87% of the physical movie sales are in DVD so that's where we have focused our attention."

Bamford would not be drawn on whether we could expect to see the service arrive in 2015, with the next phase of development instead focused on the arrival of the likes of Game of Thrones box sets and groups of movies.

But, despite reservations, the service has 'exceeded expectations' according to Bamford. "The level of support... in terms of marketing and assets from the movie industry have been incredible," she added.

Sky's Buy and Keep service has taken a giant leap forward by finally allowing you a digital edition that you can download to your device.

The whole concept was utterly baffling to us when it was announced due to the lack of a true digital copy, but has been a curiously big hit for Sky even so and is now shaping itself into a very interesting service.

Basically the service now allows you to buy, quickly and through your box or app, a movie that you can watch, stream, download etc over your various devices (through the Sky Store app) plus watch on your set top box and also receive a boxed DVD of that film.

Digital doubts

This appeals to the digital doubters and those who like to stock their shelves with their favourite/every movie, with prices currently ranging between £7.99 and £13.99.

It's a huge step for Sky's service, and should that physical copy embrace the Blu-ray revolution it could become an even bigger deal.

The downside is that you'll have to watch your digital edition through Sky's Store app (you download to the app and it appears in My Library), which raises the spectre of Sky shuttering the service at some point, but it is available in HD when the device/OS is capable of supporting the format.

For existing Buy & Keep customers who have already used the service on their Sky+HD box, all of the movies they have bought will automatically appear in My Library in the app, ready to stream or download.

And we're promised that the service will expand to TV and movie boxsets in the future

Sky has commissioned a second season of its flagship drama Fortitude, after icy killings, quality thesps and, yes, polar bear autopsies went down well for its audience.

The drama was commissioned to perform alongside the HBO contact that attracts huge audiences to its Sky Atlantic channel - including the jewel in crown that is Game of Thrones.

With average figures of 1.69 million viewers in the UK, and a growing audience across Sky's burgeoning European network, Fortitude also represents a success story outside of the broadcaster's primary content, Premier League football.

"It's a privilege to return to Fortitude. It's a place where the real and the feared live side by side, where old dark secrets thaw out into the chill light of the arctic day. I'd never been anywhere like Fortitude before and I can't wait to go back," said Simon Donald, creator and lead writer on Fortitude.

The Fortitude Season 2 air date is likely to be January 2016.

Forget the election, forget the Apple Watch and the Galaxy S6, the only news today is that Sky's finally heard the pain of its customers and reversed the order of the planner on the Sky+ box.

Yes, you heard it right, the last thing you recorded will now be at the top of your planner and not accessed by scrolling through umpteen pages of old recordings.

The update arrives amid a sea of other (clearly more complicated but less important) changes including a scheduled tab (fist pump) and a delete all (double fist pump).

There's also better trailers for movies, laudable work with the RNIB on accessibility features and a better eco mode.

But, for now, let's just rejoice about the new world order...

More blips

We wanted to re-order TechRadar's blips. But we ran our of time...

• This iPad selfie stick makes us sick
• This Game Boy gun shoots 8-bit pictures at you
• Go play Super Mario 64 in your browser right now

Stan Lee, the creator of superhero icons including Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and X-Men, is forming an alliance with Sky 1 for a new TV series.

Lucky Man follows a down-on-his luck policeman named DI Harry Clayton, played by James Nesbitt, who obtains superpowers (in a Stan Lee creation? Never!) from a bracelet.

The six-part series is based on one of Lee's original ideas. Landing a name like Stan Lee will give Sky some decent firepower in the fight against rivals like Netflix and Amazon, who are commissioning original shows faster than you can say Dr Otto Gunther Octavius.

But Sky's arsenal is certainly growing; other original dramas for 2015 include The Five, The Last Panthers, Birthday, Critical and medical drama Line of Duty. And how could we forget Fungus the Bogeyman?

• The best shows on Amazon Prime right now

There have been a lot of rumours that Sky will launch its 4K service sometime this year, and now to add some fuel on that fire, SES Astra, the company that runs the satellites Sky uses for its service, has launched a 4K demo channel.

This obviously doesn't prove anything in itself, but the service will be broadcast from Astra 2E which is one of the satellites used by Sky in the UK. The demo service has already been airing on Astra's 19.2 degree service, which serves most of mainland Europe.

Astra isn't the only satellite company trying UHD services. Eutelsat is broadcasting a channel that shows 50p 4K content with 10bit colour on Hot Bird. The only other way consumers can currently see 4K is via Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. There still isn't a formal Blu-ray standard yet, and players will be unlikely to arrive much before the end of the year.

Even so, there is plenty of content coming. Older movies are constantly being remastered and converted to 4K, so there is an archive already growing. Sports will almost certainly be one of the drivers for an UHD service, and there's no doubt Sky will be looking for extra ways to pay for its expensive football rights.

Sky is still refusing to announce its plans

Sky still won't say if it has a 4K service arriving soon, in spite of its newly-acquired German service admitting that it will launch a UHD channel later this year.

While that doesn't definitively prove that Sky UK will, it does at least mean there will be content coming from Europe - like football - already in the format.

There is currently a huge amount of debate around 4K standards, like colourspace and copy protection. Until those issues are resolved, we might not get a Sky service in the UK at all.

Via IPTV News

This year will see a new Now TV Box from Sky, sporting upgraded hardware. The news came via Sky's second quarter press release, which made a passing mention to the next-gen box in its lengthy document.

It also makes it clear that Now TV will be a priority for the firm this year, which will put even more of its marketing behind the service.

The current box only offers 720p output, so there's a good chance the new model will offer 1080p. With Sky rumoured to be launching a 4K service this year for satellite viewers it would be nice if the Now TV box got an upgrade to support that too.

However it's pretty unlikely given that Sky's Now TV hardware is built by Roku, which doesn't yet have a 4K box.

We checked with Sky about the news and a spokesperson told us: "we will be launching the next generation NOW TV Box with exciting new features. We will give more details at the appropriate time".

Bringing in the newbies

Of course, there is plenty that could be included in that, Sky may finally allow people to install apps on the box like those from Plex and Netflix - something that would be very welcome.

The current Now TV box launched in 2013 and while Sky is reluctant to say how many customers it has, or boxes it has sold, it does mention that it has trebled the "transactions" since 2013 and increased the "buy and keep" by 100%.

Now is also helping Sky to build its audience, the firm says that 90% of customers weren't previously considering joining Sky.

• Now TV review - is Sky's platform a winner?

Sky has rolled out its TV service to the PlayStation 3, although you will need to have a subscription to either multiroom or Sky Go Extra to take advantage of the service.

Sky's TV service is already available on PS4, but has now been rolled out to its older brother for those who are already paying for Sky's shows.

The PS3 will count as one of the allowed devices and when registered will provide the same service as Sky Go.

"Following the success of Sky on PlayStation 4, Sky joining PlayStation 3 further enhances our credentials as the ultimate gaming and entertainment package," explained Fergal Gara, Vice President and Managing Director for Sony Computer Entertainment UK.

Sky has given us a little insight into what everyone else was doing at Christmas by publishing its broadband usage figures.

There's always something reassuring about checking that our Christmas Day is not particularly different from everyone else's festive experience - but beyond peering in windows, which is of course frowned upon - we generally have to ask people.

One thing we do know, thanks to Sky, is that by and large the amount of us using our devices on Christmas Day declines hugely between the hours of 1pm and 3pm - which you would fairly certain was due to us tucking into our Turkey.

But, by the hour of 11pm, probably after snoozing in front of the TV, we're back on our WiFi checking out the early Boxing Day sales or testing out our brand new tablets and phones.

Sk also tells us that network usage, at least in its 5 million households, was up on last year, as you'd expect from an increasingly technophile nation.

Sky has announced that its TV streaming service Now TV is now available on tablets and computers running Windows 8.1.

Arriving just in time for the Christmas period, Now TV brings Windows 8.1 users a bumper lineup of shows and movies for those evenings when the weather outside is frightful.

If it's shows like Game of Thrones and True Detective you're after, an Entertainment pass will cost you £6.99 a month, while a Sky Movies month pass will set you back £9.99. And if it's sports you're after, a week Sky Sports pass will cost you a bit more at £10.99 for seven days.

While the app will not be available on Windows Phone 8.1 at launch, a spokesperson told us that Sky is "always looking at opportunities to make Now TV available on more devices." So there's hope yet.

• Now TV review

Sky has announced that special edition Now TV boxes will go on sale for Christmas, including a fetching Penguin, a Lego Movie tie-in and a glitter box that is possibly the worst looking electronic device known to man.

The cheap little Now TV box continues to provide a great value streaming offering, with a host of offers from Sky to pick up a few months of its premium programming from sport to movies as part of a package.

We were impressed with the Now TV when it arrived and that's still the case, although we are probably sizing up the glitter version as a potential secret Santa for our office nemesis.

The boxes are available from http://www.nowtv/christmasbox and go on sale on November 24 for £9.99.

Sky has updated its iOS and Android Sky+ app with an interesting new feature, allowing users to beam photos stored on their smartphone or tablet direct to their TV.

You'll need to have your compatible Sky+HD box connected to your home broadband connection, and your smartphone/tablet needs to be on the same network, but after that Sky says it's as easy as tapping an icon in the application.

There are already a variety of ways of getting your smartphone content onto your television screen, such as Google Chromecast, but with Sky's entrance into this market it leaves us wondering if there's more to come.

The update is available in both the App Store and Google Play, and it's free to download.

• Sky invests in video startup Pluto.TV, suggests big things ahead for Sky Go

Sky's mobile TV service, Sky Go, has just been given another dollop of channels to its growing lineup.

Channel 5, 5*, 5 USA, ITVBe and British Eurosport 2 are now available for users, bringing the total of live channels up to 70.

That's especially good news for Bat fans that have been waiting to get their teeth stuck into Gotham, the series based on the Batman franchise with a particular focus on Detective James Gordon.

Or if superheroes and villains aren't your thing, we suppose there's always Neighbours.

• Sky invests in video startup Pluto.tv, suggests big things ahead for Sky Go

(Probably not) off the back of the news that Pluto may reclaim is planet status again, Sky has just chucked a load of money at Pluto.TV, a US-based service that pulls together online video content into easy-to-navigate channels.

Sky's invested $500,000 into the platform, in a move that suggests it may be looking to use the tech to boost its Sky Go service, among other possibilities.

Sky's remaining coy on the specific reasons behind the buy, but there's certainly a calling for a more comprehensive online aggregation platform in the UK, and this could be just the ticket.

Emma Lloyd, Director, Corporate Business Development at Sky, said in a statement: "This partnership enables Sky to draw on the ground-breaking work Pluto.TV are doing to help viewers discover and enjoy the best of online TV through an intuitive and editorially rich TV platform. As we learn about new trends in the way people watch TV, we look forward to sharing our own expertise in content creation, packaging and promotion."

• TV is definitely not stuck in the 70s, and here's the proof

Sky's Now TV subscription service has claimed another major partnership, with the service now launching its monthly passes to premium movies and entertainment content on Apple TV.

Although the sports offering was already on Apple TV, the extra functionality allows customers to use the monthly entertainment and Sky Movies passes - two of the key parts of Now TV.

That means that aside from day passes to the Sky Sports offerings, Apple TV owners can also sign up for a month to access the likes of the back catalogue of programmes like Lost, The West Wing and Mad Men as well as the likes of Boardwalk Empire's final season live.

And let's not forget the chance of catching up on mighty Walking Dead's first four seasons - even the one where they're on a farm and nothing much happens for most of the time.

According to Sky's release - the Sky Movies Month Pass, Entertainment Month Pass and Sky Sports Day Pass activate immediately upon purchase and are billed directly to customers' iTunes accounts.

With the Premier League transfer deadline just days away this is arguably one of the most important times for football fans to keep up with sports news, and for anyone with a NOW TV Box it's getting a little easier to do just that.

There's now a dedicated Sky Sports News HQ app available for the device and you don't even need to have a Sports Pass to use it, though you do need a Sky pass of some kind, be it movies, sports or entertainment.

If you have a Sky Sports Day Pass or Sky Sports Week Pass then you'll also be able to keep watching Sky Sports News HQ for 30 days after it's expired.

Cheap entertainment

If you don't already have a Now TV Box you can get one for just £9.99 and we were rather fond of it in our review, though while it includes key Sky services along with the likes of 4oD and iPlayer, it inevitably lacks Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video in an attempt to push Sky's own movie streaming service on you.

• Chromecast is another affordable media streamer.

Sky's director of product Luke Bradley-Jones has insisted that televisions channels are going nowhere, despite the explosion of catch-up and DVR viewing.

Speaking to TechRadar as a key update for Sky+HD boxes adds algorithmic suggestions and smart series links, Bradley-Jones insisted that sometimes viewers just want to sit back and let the channel controllers decide on their viewing.

"Suggestions was something that we spent a lot of time on modelling, but however clever you are sometimes you just want something served up on a plate through the channels," he said.

"However, the number of people using search to find programmes is at the best part of a couple of million, with our new look meaning that its accelerating - and our on demand box sets are hugely popular."

Second screen use

Bradley-Jones also sounded a note of caution around second screen use - insisting that some types of programming are better suited to being watched with tablet or phone in hand than others.

"There's a big growth in the use of second screens around sports - like the Ryder Cup or Formula One," he said.

"But with the total rebirth of the drama genre in the last five to ten years I think people are still seeking out a more immersive, 'sit back' experience outside of things like reality TV and sport."

The latest Sky+ HD update is rolling out, bringing a number of eagerly awaited new features including suggestions and a Smart Series link that will both record the current showings as well as future seasons.

The Smart Series feature is likely to prove particularly popular, building on the still clumsy Nevermiss system that is available through the website portal to ensure that customers do not miss the start of their favourite series.

"I look at it as proof that we are evolving," Sky's director of TV products Luke Bradley-Jones told us. "The Smart Series Link builds on both what we have done with series link and Nevermiss and creates something really simple.

"It serves a basic need that we all recognise and empathise with. Catch-up TV helps but sometimes things are not available for a number of reasons so it does not takes the threat of missing out on programmes you love."

The Suggestions feature is also a key addition, bringing algorithmically-generated suggestions culled from recording history and downloads. The feature has, of course, been a key selling point for Virgin's rival TiVo service for several years.

Take two remotes onto the sofa?

Among some cosmetic improvements, such as DVD cover art for movies and a tile on the homepage that shows all live sports on any TV channel at that moment in time, is an update that looks minor but fixes one of the long-term gripes - an HDMI one touch function.

This means a touch of the Sky button on the remote will turn on both the box and a compatible TV in one go from standby, as well as changing to the correct HDMI input.

The update is now rolling out - with all compatible boxes likely to see the change by Winter.

• This sporting life: behind the scenes of Sky Sports News HQ

Sky has revealed it is ramping up its Sky Sports offering on Now TV, with the addition of a weekly pass.

Given that the Premier League is all set to kick off this weekend, this pass from Sky is a well-timed one.

The new weekly Sky Sports offering allows unlimited access to all seven of Sky's sporting channels and will sit alongside the day pass that's currently available for those looking to get 24 hours of sports content through their Now TV box.

The time is Now

In celebration of the launch, Sky has revealed that it will be selling the Sky Sports Week pass for £10.99 and has dropped the day pass rate to £6.99. This does seem to be a temporary discount, though, so best to take advantage while you can.

Now TV is Sky's answer to the all-you-can-eat services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, and can be accessed from the Now TV box, connected TVs, online and through Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Sky recently announced it was revamping Sky Sports News, rebranding it Sky Sports News HQ. TechRadar was given a behind-the-scenes look at the new studio - one which is set to embrace the Twitter age.

Screens. Lots of screen. That's the immediate impression you get when you arrive at the new Sky Sports News HQ. The channel has been given its biggest ever revamp ready for the football season with the new look being unveiled 12 August.

Key to this look is a brand-new studio that has been created to free presenters from the shackles of the desk and bring some much-needed hustle and bustle to sports news.

"It is the biggest opportunity we have had for totally rethinking how we do the news," said Karen Willmington, who is head of output at the re-jigged channel - and TechRadar's tour guide through the impressive set.

Those familiar with Sky Sports News will also be familiar with the rather static setup - most of the movement is taken up with the constant churn of sports rumour and news from the vidprinter.
Sky Sports News HQ is set to up the ante on the information it will offer.

Social media is much more ingrained in the new setup and presenters will have the freedom of the floor to deliver those all-important breaking stories at a faster pace.

Perfect shot

Around the news desk there are four computer-operated cameras that have been given the freedom of the studio floor.

"The four cameras are controlled robotically by a very expensive 'gaming' station," says Willmington, pointing to a mass of more screens and controls.

"They are controlled one at a time and can go anywhere within the blue vinyl area of the floor."

Because the cameras now shoot 360 degrees, their movement has to be choreographed so shots aren't interrupted by other cameras. And the presenters have to get used to these new movements and the fact there is no one at their helm.

"It's really disconcerting for the first few times when you are in the newsroom and there is no one beside the camera," notes Willmington.

"It's a way of working extensively in the US and is used a lot on rolling news channels as you can get a variety of shots without having to be very labour intensive - and we have used them for the last few years.

"They can still be used manually - so we can get operators in when we have a really busy day."
On our tour, we see John Davies, one of the lead presenters, practicing before the channel launch.

During the dry run, the massive main display is used; sometimes there's one big image, other times their aggregated Tweets are shown off, with the picture split to an outside broadcast or a press conference. It is clear that Sky is looking to embrace all aspects of the media more than ever when the channel launches and the packed newsroom cum studio reflects this.

"It is busy. We have a dedicated team of reporters sat in front of a TV wall and they can see all of the reports coming in," says Willmington.

"This is crucial for, say a Saturday, when you have how many dozens of matches and other sports, the entire wall will be filled with sport. It's an environment where they can be in touch with every bit of information.

"We also have a camera that can shoot right up the entire newsroom. This means that if they are sitting there working the presenter can have a relationship with the reporters. They can do their pieces right here and not have to go up to the set, they will have radio mics on and they can bring breaking news quicker to our viewers. It is a much more flexible environment.

"We have also brought in our digital media staff into the room. They now have allocated space, are sitting with the reporters and the planning team and now have a closer relationship."

Transforming transfer deadline day

Throughout the studio there are touch-screen boards as well, so wherever the presenter ends up they will be able to get access to the information they need to keep any eager sports lover informed. It is the use of these tools that mirrors how we all have started to get our information. Sky knows this and is hoping it can use all of these outlets to broadcast the best sports news.

"We can't just stay the same. We have got to evolve, we have got to develop," says Willmington.

"We have to encompass everything now in the newsroom. Television, apps, the web, social media. We have teams now to bring all that information, aggregate what people are talking about and ultimately finding out what is the truth and what isn't.

"Obviously on deadline day you will be well aware of the number of different rumours. There is loads of chatter. We can go through all of that, find out what everyone is talking about, what is trending and we will investigate it. Once we know what is true, we will tell you.

"Research shows that as soon as things go yellow on the screen people believe it. For us, things will only go yellow when we are absolutely sure that it is correct.

"Breaking news is massively important but for us it has got to be absolutely right. There is a level of trust that people put into Sky Sports News and we have to maintain that within everything we do."

• Behind the scenes of Sky's Ultra HD trials

For the first time ever, Sky Sports On Demand will be giving every single Barclays Premier League club its own individual channel within the app.

You'll be able to pick from 20 different club sections in the On Demand section of your box, letting you catch up on matches specifically for your favourite team.

You'll also be able to check out interviews, documentaries and features to keep you going between games.

Sky Sports Head of Football, Gary Hughes, said that the new feature was part in response to a "massive growth" in on demand TV viewing.

The new service will kick in with the new football season, in which Sky has scheduled a mightily impressive 116 live Premier League fixtures.

Revamped apps

When it comes to Sky's bevvy of sports apps, there have also been a number of updates. Sky Sports for iPad is now a hub for all Sky Sports video and news content, while the mobile apps now have more of an onus on breaking news. Enhancements to Football Score Centre have also been announced.

TechRadar was at the launch of the new apps and spoke to David Gibbs, Director of Digital Media at Sky Sports, who explained that the app revamps were part of making the Sky Sports experience seamless across platforms.

"Whatever screen you are on, whatever device, you will know it is a Sky Sports service they are using," said Gibbs.

"We have put all of our channels in one place so you can watch and keep up to date all through the app."

According to Gibbs, alongside a new look the apps offer real-time video and up-to-date bitesize video clips.

Sky is using its iPad as a content hub for all Sky Sports channels and will offer up more personalisation than before, as well as more of an embrace of social media. This means you will see aggregated Twitter feeds and the ability to join in the debate with polls.

Football Score Centre's refresh means this app is speedier and offers up enhanced match coverage, betting integration and deeper stats. You can now track four separate teams as well as keep an eye on match statistics.

"We have listened to our users - they want a faster app, the ability to follow more than one team, better UI and more video. And that's what we have delivered," said Gibbs.

Expect to see these new upgrades from the start of the new football season.

• Sky Sports News goes HQ for a big August revamp

The Now TV box has been updated with the YouTube app, bringing yet more content to the low-cost streaming box from Sky.

Although you might be surprised that the YouTube app wasn't already on the boxes, it has now joined the major terrestrial catch-up services, Facebook, TED talks and Flickr, alongside Sky's paid-for Now TV streaming services.

Now TV has been a hit for Sky, as it looks to build its business beyond its traditional satellite platform.

The Now TV service offer Sky's premium content for streaming through limited time subscriptions, including movies, major television shows and, of course, sport.

• Find out why we loved the little streamer in our Now TV box review

Less than a week after appearing on the PS4, Sky's Now TV streaming app has arrived on Xbox One.

The new app nicely adopts Xbox One's tiled interface, but don't worry if it all seems a bit unfamiliar: you'll have full access to all of Now TV's movies, sports and entertainment as per usual.

And since Microsoft has now ditched its subscription requirement to access Live apps, you'll only need to pay the regular Now TV costs - no more 'double dipping'.

Partners in crime

"Sky is an important partner for Xbox," said UK Xbox Live Product Manager Pawan Bhardwaj. "And with the launch of NOW TV on Xbox One, our hands have even more ways to enjoy their favourite TV shows live sport and a movies."

A PS4 system update this week introduced support for 3D Blu-ray playback, with Xbox One set to get the same functionality some time in August.

Now TV joins a selection of Xbox One services including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video and 4oD as it gradually morphs into the multimedia machine we were promised, but still (still) we wait for BBC iPlayer.

• Time to bag yourself an Xbox One? Read our review first