'It's my job to recommend TV shows. These are the 10 to watch in August.'

Block out your calendars, pals.

August is a bumper month for returning TV, with SO many outstanding series coming back for brand new seasons to either binge or enjoy as a weekly drop. Plus, there's a highly anticipated local prestige miniseries and a documentary everyone will be talking about.

Here's what to press play on this month.

Physical - Apple TV+.

Image: Apple TV+.

Physical, one of Apple TV+'s flagship, critically acclaimed series, ends this month, with the release of its third and final season.

ICYMI, the dramedy follows Rose Byrne's Sheila, a stilted '80s housewife who finds release in the world of aerobics. So yeah, expect some fabulous lycra numbers.

In season three, Sheila finds herself having to outrun some fierce new competitors on the road to building a full-fledged fitness empire. It also introduces Zooey Deschanel as Kelly, a network sitcom star-turned-fitspo rival.

Physical's 10 half-hour episode seasons are a fun, satisfying way to spend your day, and season three is no different.

Physical's final season premieres August 2 on Apple TV+.

Heartstopper - Netflix.

Image: Netflix.

Prepare for warm fuzzies, because the most wholesome series on television is BACK.

(If you haven't watched Heartstopper season one, stop absolutely everything you're doing and get on that. It's the most delightful, heart-warming viewing experience I can recall having maybe ever?!)

Season two picks up where we left off, with Nick (Kit Connor) and Charlie (Joe Locke) navigating their new relationship, Tara and Darcy facing unforeseen challenges, and Tao and Elle working out if they can ever be more than just friends.

And it's all happening against a very busy school backdrop. There are exams on the horizon, a school trip to Paris and a prom to plan, so the group have A LOT to juggle on top of their love lives and friendships.

With eight eps coming in at just over 30 minutes each, it's the nicest possible way to spend your time on the couch.

Heartstopper season two premieres August 3 on Netflix.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart - Prime Video.

Image: Prime Video.

The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart is based on Holly Ringland's best-selling novel of the same name and stars a STELLER cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Asher Keddie, Leah Purcell, Alycia Debnam-Carey and Frankie Adams. 

When Alice, aged nine, tragically loses her parents in a mysterious fire, she is taken to live with her grandmother June at Thornfield flower farm, where she learns that there are secrets within secrets about her and her family’s past.

Set against Australia's breathtaking, natural landscape, this family drama spans decades, following Alice's journey as she grows from her complicated past to an emotional climax when she finds herself fighting for her life against a man she loves.

The first three episodes of The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart premiere August 4 on Prime Video, with new episodes weekly on Fridays.

Only Murders in the Building - Disney+.

Image: Disney+.

Our favourite bumbling true crime podcasters are back!

Only Murders is back for its third season, and this time Paul Rudd and MERYL STREEP(!!!) join Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez for more ridiculous, laugh-out-loud funny hijinks.

In season three, we pick up right where we left off. Rudd plays Ben Glenroy, a Hollywood action star whose turn to Broadway has, uh, deadly consequences. Charles, Oliver and Mabel, aided by Ben's co-star Loretta Durkin (Streep), embark on their toughest case yet, all while poor director Oliver desperately attempts to put his show back together.

The first two episodes of Only Murders in the Building season three premiere August 8 on Disney+, with new episodes weekly on Tuesday.

The Trouble With KanYe - Binge.

Kanye West in October 2022. Image: Getty.

How do you go from one of the most revered, innovative artists of a generation to a Holocaust-denying pariah? That is the question this documentary, from journalist Mobeen Azhar, attempts to answer.

It follows Kanye West's journey from one of the most famous and creatively successful artists of all time to his more recent condemnation, as the pop culture world attempts to re-evaluate Ye's standing.

Azhar interviews friends and colleagues of Ye and tackles uncomfortable conversations about mental health, particularly bipolar disorder, head-on.

It's very compelling viewing, especially against the backdrop of Ye's rumoured 2024 Presidential campaign.

The Trouble With KanYe premieres August 9 on Binge.

Painkiller - Netflix.

Image: Netflix.

Painkiller is a fictionalised retelling of the origins and aftermath of the opioid crisis in the United States, highlighting stories of perpetrators, victims and truth-seekers whose lives are permanently altered by the invention of OxyContin.

Across six one-hour episodes and through characters played by Uzo Aduba, Matthew Broderick, Taylor Kitsch and more, the limited series examines crime, accountability and the systems that have repeatedly failed hundreds of thousands of people.

Painkiller premieres August 10 on Netflix.

Cruel Summer - Prime Video

Image: Prime Video.

Cruel Summer is back for another season telling a story about a... cruel summer.

This is the series' second season, but Cruel Summer is an anthology series so you don't have to have watched season one to get involved (although, you should! It's good!)

This time around, it's set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest and follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship.

Once again, the story takes place across three different timelines, tracking the friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan's best friend Luke, a complicated love triangle that blossomed and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward. 

Cruel Summer season two premieres August 11 on Prime Video.

Billions - Stan.

Image: Stan.

Billions is back for one final season, and there's a lot to get excited about (before you mourn its end, of course).

The drama — about the chaotic, often sexy and very egotistical world of high finance — follows two of New York's most powerful titans and their ruthless battle. In the final season, alliances are turned on their heads, loyalties are tested and the betrayal is worse than ever before.

Oh, and Damian Lewis returns as Bobby Axelrod.

Wall Street is quaking.

Billions season seven premieres August 12 on Stan.

Star Wars: Ahsoka - Disney+.

Image: Disney+.

Where are my fellow Star Wars nerds at? Because THIS is the series I've been waiting for.

Star Wars: Ahsoka is about Ahsoka... obviously, a former Jedi Knight played by Rosario Dawson. As always, details about the plot are under heavy guard, but Disney has said the show will follow her "as she investigates an emerging threat to a vulnerable galaxy" after the fall of the Empire.

I mean, duh. There's never not a threat to a vulnerable galaxy! This is Star Wars!

Among the rest of the cast are Mary Elizabeth Winstead, David Tennant, Lars Mikkelsen, Aussie Natasha Liu Bordizzo and Hayden Christensen as Anakin Skywalker(!).

The first two episodes of Star Wars: Ahsoka premiere August 23 on Disney+, with new episodes weekly on Wednesdays.

Mother And Son - ABC iview.

Image: ABC.

Denise Scott and Matt Okine star in this reboot of an Aussie classic.

Anyone of a certain age (sorry!) will remember the original Mother And Son starring Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald, which ran for six seasons from 1984 to 1994. 

In this re-imagined 2023 version, Scott plays Maggie, a widow who sets fire to the kitchen, prompting her recently single son Arthur (Okine) to move back into the family home. Maggie, a former nurse, hasn't been her usual self since the death of her husband, and as Arthur sees it, he has to 'put his life on hold' to care for his mum – but the truth is, there isn't much to put on hold.

Enter shenanigans, wholesomeness and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments throughout the eight-episode season.

Mother And Son premieres 8:30pm, July 23 on ABC iview and ABC TV.

Chelsea McLaughlin is Mamamia's Senior Entertainment Writer and co-host of The Spill. For more pop culture takes, recommendations and sarcasm, you can follow her on Instagram. 

Feature image: Prime Video/Netflix/ABC.