Little Disasters Season 1: Release Date, Cast, Plot and the Big Questions Answered
Fresh off a May 22 UK bow, Little Disasters—the six-episode adaptation of Sarah Vaughan’s novel—lands on Paramount+ in the US on December 11, 2025, poised to close out the year with a binge-worthy jolt.
Here’s the deal: Little Disasters quietly launched in the U.K. earlier this year and is finally crossing the Atlantic. It’s a glossy, spiky drama about motherhood, friendship, and the moment when picture-perfect lives stop pretending. If you like your domestic thrillers with moral gray areas and messy choices, this one is squarely in that lane.
- What it is: Little Disasters Season 1 (6 episodes), adapted from Sarah Vaughan’s novel
- U.K.: Premiered May 22, 2025
- U.S.: Premieres December 11, 2025 on Paramount+
- Other regions: Rolling out through 2025; those two dates are the only firm ones for now
- Main cast: Diane Kruger (Jess), Jo Joyner (Liz), Shelley Conn (Charlotte), Emily Taaffe (Mel)
- Also starring: JJ Feild (Ed, Jess’s husband), Ben Bailey Smith (Nick, Liz’s husband), Patrick Baladi (Andrew, Charlotte’s husband), Stephen Campbell Moore (Rob, Mel’s husband)
- Paramount+ plans in the U.S.: Essential at $7.99/month (with ads, full on-demand library, some live sports) or Premium at $12.99/month (fewer ads, full Showtime library, offline downloads, and your local CBS live)
What it’s about
Four women — Jess, Liz, Charlotte, and Mel — first clicked when they were all pregnant at the same time. Years later, one brutal night detonates the whole dynamic: Jess rushes her 10-month-old daughter, Betsy, to the ER with a serious head injury, but the story she gives does not square with what the doctors find. And the doctor on duty happens to be Liz, her closest friend. That’s not awkward or anything.
Why everything unravels
Liz does what a responsible ER doctor — that’s A&E if you’re in the U.K. — is required to do and reports the injury to social services. That single call sends shockwaves through all four families. An investigation kicks up, strangers pick apart Jess’s parenting, and every tiny misstep starts to look like a red flag. The friend group frays under suspicion, side-eyes, and long-shelved resentments. The show takes its time teasing out what really happened, and yes, the truth is more complicated than anyone’s first impression.
The ensemble doing the heavy lifting
Diane Kruger plays Jess, the mother whose seemingly immaculate life starts to crack under scrutiny. Jo Joyner is Liz, the longtime friend forced into the worst possible conflict of interest on a night shift. Shelley Conn’s Charlotte and Emily Taaffe’s Mel bring their own pressures and secrets to the fallout, while the husbands — JJ Feild as Ed, Ben Bailey Smith as Nick, Patrick Baladi as Andrew, and Stephen Campbell Moore as Rob — give the domestic stakes some extra bite.
Release plan and where to watch
U.K. viewers got the full six-episode season back on May 22, 2025. U.S. viewers finally get it on December 11, 2025, streaming on Paramount+. Other regions should follow across 2025, but those are the only dates locked in right now.
If you are in the U.S. and deciding how to subscribe: the Essential tier is $7.99 a month with ads and access to the full on-demand library plus some live sports. The Premium tier is $12.99 a month, trims those ads, folds in the full Showtime library, lets you download episodes for offline viewing, and includes your local CBS live channel. Pick your poison.
Bottom line: a tight six-episode spiral about friendship, judgment, and the gray zone between mistake and malice — with a release strategy that finally makes sense if you are stateside.