Since the beginning of a year-long on-off lockdown, many people have non-surprisingly turned to TV, movies and books to entertain them until the outside world is safe once more.
Henry Cavill in The Witcher / Picture Credit: Netflix
While many shows were highlighted by audiences, there have even been a few where, even if you haven’t seen them, you more or less know the plot and certain things that happened due to fans taking to social media and letting everyone know how much they enjoyed what they saw.
Tiger King (Netflix)
Many have described the first couple months of 2020’s lockdown as the ‘Tiger King era’, as everybody and their mum became obsessed with the story of Carole Baskin and what may have happened to her husband.
Since people checked out this show, audiences were shooting questions and theories out left right and centre. It was actually a great time as so many people got to speak to other fans of the show to exchange ideas – a somewhat positive start to quarantine.
The long-running conspiracy theory is that Baskin killed her husband, and fed him to the tigers at the G.W Zoo.
Despite the potentially gruesome end for Baskin’s partner, it didn’t stop the internet making memes and jokes about the show; many Animal Crossing: New Horizons players even made their own versions of Baskin and sought out tiger villagers in order to make a joke – that’s some serious dedication.
The Mandalorian (Disney+)
With cinemas simply being a no-go at the moment, Star Wars fans weren’t left too long without some entertainment from their favourite franchise.
The Mandalorian, a Star Wars spinoff, came onto Disney+ the day the streaming service launched in the UK (March 24, 2020), and fans were hooked from the start.
Even at the announcement of the show, fans of the franchise were eager to get the series seen. Many watched the episodes as soon as they came out, and would discuss what they saw with friends and other fans online.
The beauty of this show is the fact that it’s release was perfectly-timed, and was a brilliant way to book in what would follow to be a long few months.
This meant that people had something exciting to look forward to every week, and the idea of theorising with others was a thing that kept many people happy during the start of lockdown.
It didn’t even take too long before a second season graced the streaming service!
WandaVision (Disney+)
When news hit the internet that Marvel would be bringing some of their big-screen characters to television, fans did nothing short of jumping through the roof with excitement!
The first show that we were meant to see was The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, but that got pushed back so Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) took their place.
Many fans didn’t expect WandaVision to be as good as it was, and once again they theorised and deducted plot points and meanings out of every episode, every week.
This was a wonderful thing as it brought people together and kept people busy thinking about what was happening with Wanda, and whether or not she was to blame for what was going on…
The show really pushed the limits of what Marvel can do, and now fans will no doubt be itching to watch every other show the company will be releasing.
The Witcher (Netflix)
When new shows hit streaming services all at once, fans go mad most of the time. The Witcher is one of these shows.
The Henry Cavill-led series has a rather complex narrative, jumping between time frames to complete the present story.
This is one of the many reasons people binged the show; with a story weaving convoluted plot points, and the fact you could watch the whole thing in one day probably didn’t hurt either.
Characters are revealed slowly and are intriguing to follow, you root for certain ones and that’s a great way to keep fans entertained – plus Cavill is in it so, there’s that.
The Boys (Amazon Prime)
Based on the comic book of the same name, The Boys was an instant hit on Amazon Prime due to its different and hilarious spin on the superhero.
The show is a crude take on the real down and dirty side of superheroes. Karl Urban leads The Boys to take down a bunch of adversaries and expose their secrets.
This was another show that really did well to manage their audience and keep them watching, as the show has cursing, rude jokes and much more; all the ingredients for a good laugh in lockdown.
The action and unique plotline kept fans fascinated and entertained, making the show one of the most popular quarantine series.
The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel (Netflix)
One thing pretty much everyone loves, is a good mystery; to get comfy with a coffee or hot chocolate and find out what the hell happened at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles (LA).
Crime documentaries have always piqued the interest of many, but lockdown saw a massive uprise in the following of the crazy and macabre that comes with stories of murder, kidnapping, and disappearing.
The documentary tries to find out what happened to one of its guests, Elisa Lam, in 2013. This show was great for people to once again, theorise and share opinions on, and it also kept people focused on the intrigue of the show, rather than the issue of lockdown.
Written by Melissa, who you can follow on Twitter @melissajournal
RELATED: A year of Disney+: Great releases to come from the popular streaming service in 2020/21!
Disney+ was first launched in the UK on March 24th 2020, which turned out to be perfect timing due to the then developing Coronavirus pandemic.
A year on, we’re still in cautionary mode in regard to the virus but luckily we’ve had streaming services like Disney+ to keep us entertained.
Since cinemas haven’t really been accessible, especially to us in the UK, it’s been wonderful still having access to new releases; not only new movies, but new shows too including Marvel’s first small-screen venture with Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany).
In light of the anniversary, here are a selection of films/tv shows that have hit Disney+ in the time since its launch...