The most muscular debut of the fortnight belongs to ‘Homem em Chamas’, a Netflix series set in Brazil that blends Hollywood action with a distinctly local identity. Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as a traumatised former special forces operative hired to protect a friend’s daughter, the show has shot to the number one spot on the platform’s global rankings, propelled by a mixture of gripping drama and a setting that resonates deeply with Brazilian audiences. It is a rare example of a non-English-language production achieving such immediate, cross-border dominance, confirming the appetite for culturally specific stories with universal emotional cores.

Yet the streaming landscape remains a place of wildly uneven fortunes. In Britain, Netflix’s ‘Legends’ – an eighties-set drug thriller starring Steve Coogan as an undercover expert – has received a decidedly cooler reception. Critics have described it as engaging but not gripping, authentic but not original. The series draws on real events from the heroin crisis that gripped the United Kingdom in the 1990s, built from interviews with former agents and court records. But the execution, analysts in London note, feels risk-averse, adding to a growing pile of prestige television that looks polished yet fails to take the dramatic risks demanded by a saturated market.

Across the Atlantic, a different kind of diversion has arrived in cinemas: ‘The Sheep Detectives’, a live-action and CGI animated family comedy starring Hugh Jackman as a shepherd who reads murder mysteries to his flock, only to be murdered himself, prompting the sheep to investigate. Early reviews on Rotten Tomatoes are strong, with critics praising the film’s warmth and inventive premise. Directed by Kyle Balda, the picture represents a bet on theatrical exhibition at a time when streaming continues to erode box-office habits. Viewed from Hollywood, its success would signal that family audiences still crave the collective experience of a cinema.

What these disparate titles reveal is a splintering of audience appetites that no single platform can fully satisfy. A Brazilian action drama captures global attention; a British true-crime thriller fails to cut through; a talking-sheep comedy finds favour with critics and families. The lesson for streaming executives and studio heads alike is that the era of the monoculture is over. The winners now are those who commit fully to a distinct premise – whether that means a recognisable Brazilian favela, a melancholic 1980s London, or a flock of woolly detectives – rather than trying to please everyone at once.