What to watch on DStv Premium in August 2026

Lion

Years in the making, Lion follows a single wild pride through birth, hierarchy and loss, filmed with the kind of intimacy usually reserved for scripted drama. Jon Favreau, alongside veteran natural history producer Mike Gunton and the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, shapes real footage into a story with genuine stakes: who leads, who's cast out, and who survives the next dry season. Watch it double-billed for the full arc in one sitting. 

Stream from Sunday, 23 August at 9PM on National Geographic channel 181 

Secret Africa: Into the Wild

British explorer Lucy Shepherd sets off on a gruelling, on-foot expedition across Tanzania, joined by an Indigenous Hadza and Akie team who know the terrain better than any map. Their route cuts through mountains, thorn forest and open savannah shared with lions, hyenas and elephants, with no vehicles and no quick way out if things go wrong. The result is a rarely seen side of Africa, and an honest look at what genuine exploration costs the people who still do it on foot. 

Stream from Friday, 21 August at 8PM on BBC Earth channel 184 

The Agency S2

Michael Fassbender returns as Martian, a CIA operative who has spent years disappearing into other people's lives, only to find compartmentalising his past far harder than the job demands. Season two pulls him back toward Samia, the woman he once walked away from, while Richard Gere's station chief and Jeffrey Wright's deputy navigate a widening web of mercenaries, hostile governments and internal betrayal. Adapted from the acclaimed French series The Bureau, it's a slow-burn spy thriller built on character as much as tradecraft. 

Stream The Agency S2 from Wednesday, 5 August at 8PM on M-Net channel 101 

The Miniature Wife

A failed experiment leaves Lindy (Elizabeth Banks) shrunk to six inches tall, and what should be a straightforward fix from her scientist husband, Les (Matthew Macfadyen), drags on for days, then weeks. As Lindy realises her situation might not be entirely accidental, the series turns a bizarre premise into a sharp examination of control within marriage. Dark, funny and genuinely uncomfortable in places, it's less about the shrinking itself than about everything the accident exposes in a relationship that was already fraying.

Watch The Miniature Wife on Monday, 31 August at 9PM on M-Net channel 101

Bad Behaviour

Discipline camps promising to fix troubled teenagers are multiplying fast across South Africa, and this documentary exposes what often happens behind that promise. Three case studies pull back the curtain on the country's version of the Troubled Teen Industry, a term long used in the US and only now gaining traction locally, revealing abuse, exploitation and unchecked power dressed up as tough love. First-person testimony, archival footage, social media clips and dramatised recreations combine to show parents the warning signs before they hand their child over. 

Stream Bad Behaviour from Tuesday, 25 August at 8PM on M-Net channel 101 

The Real Housewives of Orange County S20

Orange County's original Housewives are back for a milestone twentieth season, proving the franchise that started it all still has plenty of drama left in the tank. Old friendships fracture over new grievances, business ventures collide with personal loyalties, and at least one blowout dinner party threatens to unravel a friend group that's survived two decades of scandal already. Twenty seasons in, the ladies of the OC show no sign of slowing down. 

Stream The Real Housewives of Orange County S20 from Saturday, 1 August at 8PM on M-Net channel 101 

The Masked Singer S7

Four huge celebrities go undercover behind elaborate costumes, determined to keep the panel guessing for as long as possible, while four beloved panto legends help steer the investigation. Every performance is a clue and a red herring at once, and the studio audience's gasps say as much as the judges' guesses. Season seven promises the format's usual mix of genuinely impressive vocals and gloriously over-the-top reveals, right up to the moment the mask finally comes off. 

Stream The Masked Singer S7 from Sunday, 2 August at 8PM on BBC Brit channel 120 

Alexander the Great

This premium docuseries retraces the extraordinary rise of Alexander the Great through the eyes of Hephaestion, his closest confidant and lifelong friend. Rather than treat Alexander as a distant historical figure, the series leans into the personal cost of his ambition: the friendships strained, the armies pushed past their limits, and the empire built faster than anyone could govern it. Expect sweeping battle reconstructions alongside a genuinely intimate portrait of one of history's most consequential military leaders. 

Stream Alexander the Great from Thursday, 13 August at 7PM on BBC Earth channel 184 

Springboks vs All Blacks Series