Streaming service Paramount+ has finally launched in the UK with a long list of content, but eager fans were disappointed to discover that some episodes are missing from shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, The 4400 and more.
Furthermore, due to complex licensing deals, some shows – like CSI, NCIS, Medium and others – only have their later seasons on Paramount+, making it impossible to start watching from the beginning of the series.
Paramount+, the major American streaming service, officially launched in the UK on June 22 (though in practice it went live one day earlier).
The service is available as a standalone app on all the major streaming devices – Amazon Fire TV, Roku, Apple TV and others, and is also available as an Amazon Prime Video Channel.
- Sign Up to Paramount+ Directly (With Free Trial)
- Sign Up To Paramount+ Via Amazon’s Prime Video Channels (With Free Trial)
In the UK, Paramount+ costs £6.99/month or £69.90/year, after a free 7-days trial. Sky Cinema subscribers can get it for free – but only if you have a Sky Q or Sky Glass device (see our full guide on how to get Paramount+ on Sky, for free).
Paramount+ Missing Episodes
At launch, Paramount+ UK is touting 8,000 hours of content – TV shows and films (I was able to count 246 separate shows, each with multiple seasons, on launch day).
Some shows, like Halo and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds only dropped the first three episodes on launch day, and will now air new episodes every Wednesday – even though there are more episodes available in the US (Halo already finished its first season over there).
That’s being done intentionally, to keep subscribers interested. However, there seems to be a bug that customers have noticed, where some episodes of older shows are missing.
The missing episodes I was able to identify so far include (Update: A few hours after the article went up, some of the episodes have now been added. But not others are missing) –
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 7, Episodes 25-26 (What You Leave Behind Parts 1-2)
- Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Season 1, Episodes 1-2(These episodes have now been added) - Star Trek: Enterprise,
Season 1, Episodes 1-2(The missing episodes have now been added) - The 4400,
Season 1, Episode 1(This episode has been added)
While I’m sure that’s a temporary technical bug, eager fans who were possibly waiting to watch (or more likely rewatch) these shows, can’t do that yet without the first episodes.
If you notice any other missing episodes – let us know in the comments.
A Paramount spokesperson told us: “We are aware that some series haven’t appeared in full and are working to resolve that. The missing episodes will be available shortly.”
Paramount+ Missing Seasons
Now to something that’s not a technical issue, but is most likely a licensing rights issue: Some popular shows don’t have their earlier seasons on Paramount+ UK, making it impossible to start watching from the very beginning.
Furthermore, the newer seasons of some of these shows are not yet available on Paramount+ UK either.
Some examples include:
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation – Seasons 12-15 available on Paramount+
NCIS – Seasons 14-16 available on Paramount+
NCIS: Los Angeles – Seasons 8-11 available on Paramount+
Medium – Seasons 6-7 available on Paramount+
Hawaii Five-0 – Seasons 6-9 available on Paramount+
Is it better to have at least some of the seasons when you can’t have the full series? That’s debatable, but some shows – like golden oldie Medium (starring Patricia Arquette) – are almost pointless to watch without going through the earlier seasons first.
Regarding the missing seasons, a Paramount spokesperson told us:
“Some seasons of popular shows are licensed to other platforms and we’re working to make them available on Paramount+ soon.
“As a company, Paramount has long been in the content licensing business, and will remain so as we continue to build the offering on Paramount+.”
