Searching for something new and exciting? From innovative documentaries to enthralling dramas, here are the top new TV series premiering in May 2026. Discover what's coming to your screen and find your next binge-worthy favourite right here.
Mine your ancestral history for gold in a brand new season of Who Do You Think You Are? Australia. Open your mouth and sing to the sky in colourful drama The Song Contest, then get John Safran to shut his in fascinating documentary Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran!. Thrillers, mysteries, crime series? No matter what you crave, we have you covered in May.
Series coming to SBS On Demand in May
- The Americans, seasons 1-6
- The Dry, season 3
- The Corsican Line
- The Song Contest
- Giro d'Italia 2026
- Eurovision Song Contest 2026
- Who Do You Think You Are?, season 17
- A Gentleman In Moscow
- Maxima, season 2
- Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran!
- Alone Finland
- The Hunt for the Last Nazis
The Americans - seasons 1-6
Starring real-life couple Keri Russell (as Elizabeth Jennings) and Matthew Rhys (as Philip Jennings), The Americans is a period drama about the complex marriage of two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington D.C. shortly after Ronald Reagan is elected President. The arranged marriage of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings grows more passionate and genuine by the day, but is constantly tested by the escalation of the Cold War. Tensions heighten upon the arrival of a new neighbor, Stan Beeman, an FBI agent.
The Americans seasons 1-6 premieres Friday 1 May at SBS On Demand.
The Dry - season 3
The Sheridans are back and about to face their biggest challenge yet – a longheld family secret that blows up all their certainties. Will this shocking revelation upend already fragile relations for good, or could this be the missing piece that will finally fix this most dysfunctional of Irish families?
This season Shiv and the Sheridans are desperately trying to forge new lives, but change is harder than it looks. And as the pressure mounts Shiv is not only starting to question her sobriety, she’s also having to face some hard truths. After all, there’s only so long she can blame her family, the bad men in her life and even the drink: what if the real problem is just… herself?
The Dry season 3 premieres Friday 1 May at SBS On Demand.
The Dry seasons 1-2 are now streaming at SBS On Demand.
The Corsican Line
After 10 years in prison for a heist gone wrong, Reda is finally free. In Corsica, loyalty is supposed to be everything, but his silence has earned him nothing and he is cast aside by his former accomplice and the criminal underworld he once served.
Meanwhile, his estranged sister, Ines, arrives on the island for the first time. As part of the newly formed Anti-Mafia Division, she is determined to take down Carlotti, the ruthless godfather who rules from the shadows.
In a place where no one dares speak of the Mafia and trust is a deadly risk, the siblings form a dangerous alliance to dismantle Carlotti’s empire from within. As bodies pile up, their fight for justice may come at an unbearable cost.
The Corsican Line premieres Thursday 7 May at SBS On Demand.
The Song Contest
Spain, 1968. Esteban Guerra is a young and ambitious politician who has been appointed to an unglamorous post at TVE (Spanish National Television). He aspires to more; he hopes that his time in television can be a trampoline to more relevant roles. But it is not easy to get an opportunity, unless it's something no one wants. For example, trying to win something Spain has never won: the Eurovision Song Contest.
A few months after 6 April 2968, Spain won the Eurovision Song Contest for the first and second to last time. This was much more than just a musical success. Massiel's performance of La la la at the Royal Albert Hall in London became an iconic image of the Spain at the time: a country that wanted to appear modern and open to the West, without abandoning Francoism behind closed doors. It was a difficult balance that gave rise to the slogan: "Spain is different".
The success at Eurovision was built on a happy catchy song with a chorus that meant nothing: on Massiel, an explosive 20-year-old singer who wanted to conquer the world and replaced Joan Manuel Serrat after a huge political scandal; on Televisión Española's efforts, which someone called 'Eurovision Operation'; and, of course, on an incredible and eventful series of accidents.
This is the story of those accidents, the story of that victory. This is the story of The Song Contest.
The Song Contest premieres Thursday 7 May at SBS On Demand.
Giro d'Italia 2026
Australian cycling fans can look forward to watching the 2026 edition of the Giro d'Italia and Giro d'Italia Women all in one place from May 8 to June 7.
The Giro d'Italia is the second-biggest race on the professional cycling calendar, trailing only the Tour de France, and, in 2026, will begin with a three-day sojourn in Bulgaria.
As for the women's peloton, all nine days of racing will remain on Italian soil, with the Grande Partenza taking place in the northern town of Cesenatico.
In a bonus for Australian viewers, SBS On Demand will have its own dedicated Giro d'Italia Hub complete with stage replays, minis, highlights and more.
The Giro d'Italia 2026 will run from May 8 to June 7. For the full schedule, head here.
The men's instalment of the Italian Grand Tour will run from May 8-31, while the women's tour begins on May 31 and concludes on June 7.
Eurovision Song Contest 2026
Watch the 70th Eurovision Song Contest live from Vienna on SBS and SBS On Demand, as Austria hosts for the third time after JJ's 2025 win with "Wasted Love".
SBS is Australia's exclusive home of Eurovision 2026 — your guide to catching every moment. Fire up the smoke machine, get your lipstick on and get ready to party!
Tune in LIVE on May 13, 15 and 17 at 5:00am on SBS and SBS On Demand, with the prime-time Access All Areas broadcasts from May 15 - 17 at 7:30pm.
For more details, head here to read more.
Who Do You Think You Are? - season 17
Who Do You Think You Are? returns to SBS and SBS On Demand on Tuesday 12 May 2026 with eight new prominent Australians embarking on deeply personal journeys into their family history, uncovering stories of love, loss, resilience and long held secrets that continue to shape who they are today.
Leading this year’s new stories are Guy Sebastian, Rosie Batty, Curtis Stone and Matt Day, joining previously announced participants Bruce McAvaney, Essie Davis, Aaron Pedersen and Chrissie Swan.
Across eight episodes, the series delivers some of its most emotional and visually rich storytelling to date, from long-lost family legacies and migration stories, to confronting generational trauma and moments of profound personal connection.
Who Do You Think You Are? season 17 premieres Tuesday 12 May at SBS and SBS On Demand. Episodes air weekly on SBS and SBS On Demand starting Tuesday 12 May at 7.30pm.
A Gentleman in Moscow
Set against the epic sweep of Russian history, and spanning three decades, this is the extraordinary story of Count Alexander Rostov’s incarceration in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel. After the Revolution, Rostov narrowly escapes death by firing squad and is sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Count struggles with captivity until he meets a new friend, Nina, who shows him that the world of the hotel is bigger and more magical than he could ever have imagined. He encounters the colourful cast of characters who live and work there, some of whom he will come to love dearly. The Count will even embark on an electrifying romance with enigmatic actress Anna Urbanova. Stars Ewan McGregor.
A Gentleman in Moscow premieres Thursday 14 May at SBS On Demand.
Maxima - season 2
For most princesses, the fairy tale ends with a wedding. For Máxima, it was only the beginning. From her marriage to Willem-Alexander to the coronation ten years later, she seeks to find balance between love, power and protocol. She soon realizes that keeping the love of the Dutch people is far more difficult than winning it.
As a passionate Argentine, she must find her way between her own ambitions and the family dynamics of the Royal House. The new season follows Máxima’s journey from mother, wife, and future queen to a woman who finds her own voice.
Maxima season 2 premieres Thursday 21 May at SBS On Demand.
Maxima season 1 is now streaming at SBS On Demand.
Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran!
Recent polling suggests Australians are split into two opposing camps on the question of offence: one half think free speech is a right that should not be unduly restricted in a democracy, and the other half believe you can go too far and that offensive speech and ideas should be regulated and those who argue offensive speech and ideas should be regulated to protect the vulnerable.
Australian satirist John Safran has made a career out of being offensive. But in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, as politicians push for new laws limiting offensive speech, John is genuinely conflicted about the value of offence and how we create a more inclusive society without over-regulating speech or harshly condemning people for what they say.
In an effort to explore how Australia navigates issues of offence in 2026, John seeks out a diverse range of Australians who have been accused of going too far, including sex worker, porn creator and brand ambassador Blue-Eyed Kayla Jade, a Nazi with political ambitions, and an exorcist in a tangle with the law.
Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran! asks if everyone should be free to say and believe what they want in a robust multicultural society, or if it’s time for merchants of offence, like John himself, to shut their big fat mouths.
Shut Your Big Fat Mouth John Safran! premieres Sunday 24 May at 7:30pm at SBS and SBS On Demand.
Alone Finland
The world-famous adventure program is coming to Finland! Eight brave competitors from different backgrounds step alone into the wilderness.
Alone Finland participants will film their adventures in the stunning yet unforgiving landscape of the Inari Wilderness. This ancient, almost untouched nature offers competitors both unparalleled peace and constant survival challenges. The landscapes are like straight out of a postcard – but amidst the beauty, there are also great challenges and harshness.
Alone Finland premieres May 31 at SBS On Demand.
The Hunt for the Last Nazis
The Hunt for the Last Nazis investigates how hundreds, if not thousands, of alleged Nazi war criminals were able to immigrate to Australia after World War II and remain in hiding until the government launched a belated attempt to bring them to justice in the 1980s.
In 1961, Australia became the first country on Earth to offer an amnesty to Nazi war criminals. Bob Hawke reversed the decision in 1987, setting up a Special Investigations Unit (SIU) to track down and prosecute 841 Nazi suspects, including the three suspects the documentary focuses on: Ivan Polyukhovich, the only case that went to trial; Konrads Kalejs, who spent his life on the run, using his Australian passport for protection; and Karlis Ozols, believed to be the highest-ranking alleged Nazi living in Australia.
The film draws on rare, never-before-seen video footage and audio tapes from the SIU as detectives race to salvage eyewitness testimony before it vanishes. Among the tapes is a recording of the exhumation of a mass grave in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, and audio recordings of Nazi collaborators admitting the guilt of men now living in Australia.
As the investigation intensifies, Dan follows the trail from Holocaust survivors in suburban Australia to aging eyewitnesses in remote European villages. Time becomes the greatest enemy. Paper records endure, voices fade, tapes deteriorate. With each discovery, the window for testing facts and pursuing accountability narrows.
The Hunt for the Last Nazis premieres Sunday 31 May at 7:30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.
