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New Scientist recommends Phoebe Waller-Bridge's documentary Octopus!

The books, TV, games and more that New Scientist staff have enjoyed this week

By Bethan Ackerley

25 June 2025

Octopus! Press Images from Amazon Prime

Octopus!

Prime

Phoebe Waller-Bridge has worked on some unusual projects since Fleabag, the comedy-drama that made her name and broke many a heart. , a two-part documentary on Amazon Prime Video about (you guessed it) octopuses, may just be the oddest one yet.

That exclamation mark is an omen of the whimsy to come – this is an eccentric portrait of one of the most unusual animals to have ever lived. Rather than taking a strictly scientific approach, it is a look at octopuses through the eyes of people who adore them. They have many fans, myself included – who knew I was in a club with comedian Tracy Morgan, who credits the cephalopods for their “vulnerability”?

There are many octopuses featured here that I instantly fell in love with, from femme fatale Samantha, who kills her mate during an erotic encounter, to Inky, who broke out of a New Zealand aquarium and made it to the ocean. This is a fitting tribute to our tentacled friends.

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