What to stream: Grand homes and family favourites

An Italian renovation might have you dreaming of a move overseas this fortnight, while the return of The Gilded Ageoffers a rather more expensive property escape. There’s also plenty for food lovers, plus a Christmas film for anyone ready to get into the festive spirit.

The Gilded Age, season 4
Paramount+ | Paid

The houses are magnificent and the manners can be appalling. Welcome back to the world of New York high society, where having money doesn’t necessarily mean being welcomed through the right front door.

Created by Downton Abbey’s Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age follows the tensions between established wealthy families and ambitious newcomers in late 19th-century America. Carrie Coon and Morgan Spector star alongside Christine Baranski and Cynthia Nixon, whose characters know the considerable power of a well-placed remark. If you’ve followed the social climbing so far, another season is a welcome excuse to settle in.

R.J. Decker, season 2
Disney+ | Paid

Scott Speedman, familiar to Felicity fans as Ben Covington, brings his charm to this crime series about a man attempting a fresh start in South Florida.

His character, R.J. Decker, is a disgraced newspaper photographer and former prisoner who finds a new career as a private investigator. Inspired by Carl Hiaasen’s novel Double Whammy, the series follows cases that veer towards the bizarre, with Decker’s complicated personal life adding to the trouble. It’s an appealing option if you enjoy crime television with some humour rather than relentless gloom.

Recipe of the Year
ABC iview | Free

Some recipes deserve to be preserved for reasons that have little to do with perfect presentation. They’re the dishes requested for birthdays or copied from a relative’s much-used handwritten notebook.

Hosted by Adam Liaw and Pia Miranda, this Australian cooking competition celebrates home cooks and the stories behind their signature recipes. With the Country Women’s Association lending its expertise, the search is on for Australia’s Recipe of the Year. Expect the family histories to be every bit as interesting as what’s being served.

A Dog’s Perfect Christmas
Netflix | Paid

If your dog already has a place on the couch, this Christmas film could be an easy choice for your next night in.

When a medical emergency throws the Goss family’s festive plans into turmoil, devoted basset hound Winstead has his work cut out helping bring everyone together before Christmas Eve. Based on the novel by A Dog’s Purpose author W. Bruce Cameron, the story follows a teenager and her grandfather as they struggle to hold the household together. An early start to Christmas viewing, perhaps, but animal lovers probably won’t need much persuading.

Family Dineasties
SBS On Demand | Free

A favourite family-run restaurant can become part of a neighbourhood’s history, with generations returning for the dishes they grew up eating.

Kylie Kwong and food content creator Kevin La explore that connection in Family Dineasties, celebrating the culinary culture of Western Sydney and the people keeping it alive. The series looks beyond the plate to the family experiences behind these businesses, offering viewers a chance to discover some much-loved local eateries. Best watched with dinner sorted, unless you’re prepared to find yourself hungry halfway through.

1 Euro House
9Now | Free

An Italian house for one euro sounds like the sort of bargain worth reorganising your life around. The renovation bill, of course, is a different proposition.

Shaynna Blaze and Darren Palmer step away from judging other people’s work on The Block to restore a dilapidated property in the Sicilian village of Castronovo. Working with local artisans, they discover what it takes to turn an ambitious purchase into a home. The room reveals will appeal to renovation fans, while the glimpse of Sicilian life offers plenty of reasons to keep watching between transformations.