Streaming columnist NICK OVERALL says Drive To Survive offers a glimpse into the battle for the soul of the multi-billion dollar Formula 1 business.

The mark of any great doco is one that drives interest in a topic that many would otherwise be uninterested in.

There’s perhaps no better example than Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive, a high-octane series exploring the hyper competitive world of motorsport which has just dropped its sixth season.

This up-close look at the 2023 Grand Prix has seen the show race to the top of the streaming charts yet again, reigniting interest in Formula 1 on a global scale.

Since Drive To Survive first released in 2019 viewership of the Grand Prix has increased by around 70 per cent and boosted ticket sales by almost a fifth.

Slick cinematography spliced together with rip-roaring editing make the races on screen endlessly additive and offer new insight into just how much focus and training is needed to handle such high speeds.

But it’s what happens off the track that keeps viewers coming back. Drive To Survive also offers a glimpse into the battle for the soul of the multi-billion dollar business and the newest season is no less action packed than its predecessors.

From Aussie driver Daniel Riccairdo’s tumultuous return to Red Bull to Lewis Hamilton’s $US100 million deal with Ferrari, there’s plenty here that makes Drive To Survive well worth another lap.

THIS week Amazon Prime Video is rebooting a 2000s classic (or so they’re calling it) with Mr and Mrs Smith. Did anyone ask for this?

Starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine as the titular spy couple, this eight episode series certainly has enough charisma on screen to rival that of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

Rather than being employed by rival spy agencies and sent to kill one another, the characters in this newest take on the story instead work for the same top-secret organisation, which tasks them with being in a fake marriage together.

Of course it’s not long before their espionage takes its romantic turn.

A neat TV premise on paper, but there’s sadly nothing that really makes this reboot stand out.

There’s way more talk than action, something that here should be the other way around, and any attempts at interesting social commentary amidst all this cumbersome dialogue only ever feel lukewarm at best.

If we were in 2005 Mr and Mrs Smith might be able to cut it as a weekend time killer, but in an era where there are so many great TV shows out there it’s safe to say viewers would be dodging a bullet indeed by missing this one.

MEANWHILE, over on Stan this month there’s a severely underrated historical drama film from 2005 that’s just dropped into the platform’s catalogue.

Good Night and Good Luck is the true story of a team of American broadcasters who took on the David vs Goliath mission of exposing Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Amidst the height of the Communist scare in ’50s America, the reporters and producers of CBS boldly took aim at the US military after an air force lieutenant named Milo Radulovich was tried and convicted over his father and sister being deemed Communist sympathisers.

To them, it was a sign that McCarthyism had gone too far, and their resulting attempts to lay bare the exploits of the senator would see members of the army itself trying to shut the story down.

Featuring an all-star cast that includes George Clooney, David Strathairn, Robert Downey Jr, Jeff Daniels, Frank Langella and more, this fascinating 90-minute flick is filmed in black and white, giving it a distinct feel of a film of old despite coming out only 19 years ago.

Those who enjoyed the flashback sequences of Christoper Nolan’s war epic Oppenheimer last year are bound to find more to love here, especially viewers eager to see more of Downey Jr’s serious work.

Good Night and Good Luck is a moody slice of history that makes for a streaming treat.