How to watch Big Little Lies for free: Stream both seasons of the hit show anywhere in the world
Here's how to watch both seasons of the multi award-winning TV show Big Little Lies for free anywhere in the world
Big Little Lies became a critically-acclaimed hit after its first season released in early 2017. Created by David E Kelley and based on the novel of the same name by Lianne Moriarty, it went on to dominate award shows in its category, including the Golden Globe Awards and Emmy Awards. It wasn’t a surprise, then, that HBO renewed the series for a second season despite the first season ending at the book’s conclusion.
You can now watch both seasons of hit TV show on Sky TV in the UK; Hulu in the UK and US (weeklong free trial for new customers) and HBO in the US.
The first season of Big Little Lies revolved around the lives of five mothers from Monterey, California, as they go about their everyday lives. The star-cast includes seasoned veterans Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz. If you think that’s a stellar cast, then Season two kicked things up a notch by adding award-favourite Meryl Streep to the mix.
Minor spoilers ahead: Season one focuses on the “Monterey Five” – as the five main characters eventually come to be known – and how the unlikely bond of friendship unites them despite their different backgrounds. What unites them even further is the lie they tell to hide a secret.
In Season 2, Streep, who plays a grieving mother, tests which of the Monterey Five will break first to reveal the dark truth; all this while each of them is dealing with their secret in different ways. While Season 2 has gone past the book, Streep’s commanding screen presence alone makes it worth watching.
At present, there are no plans for season three although the show’s creator Kelley hasn’t completely ruled out that possibility, given there are still some loose ends they could work with. Below, we’ll tell you how to watch (or rewatch) both seasons of Big Little Lies anywhere in the world on your TV, PC or mobile device for free.
How to watch Big Little Lies for free in the UK: Sky and NOW
Sky TV has the license to broadcast all of HBO’s programming in the UK. The series was briefly taken off the service but it’s now available again. Sky TV costs a minimum of £25/mth, but a subscription to the channel will give you access to all of HBO’s TV series – including Big Little Lies – in HD for free. Even better, you can also stream content on your devices using the free Sky Go app.
While Sky TV is a paid-for service, its a-la-carte streaming option NOW is the best contract-free way to get a Sky TV subscription. Even better, new NOW subscribers get a weeklong free trial of the service before it starts charging you around £10/mth. The best feature of this service is that you can cancel at any time, meaning – in theory – you can watch Big Little Lies during your weeklong free trial and then cancel before being charged a penny.
How to watch Big Little Lies for free in the UK and US: Hulu
At present, the best way to watch Big Little Lies for free in the UK and US is to subscribe to popular streaming platform, Hulu that has a host of other TV series including Westworld Lovecraft Country, A Teacher, Game of Thrones, The Wire, The Outsider and more. Even though it’s primarily a US-based service, UK viewers can purchase a Hulu subscription provided you have an international credit card, or a PayPal account.
New Hulu customers can avail of a monthlong free trial, after which subscription plans start at $5.99/mnth. Of course, that’s plenty of time to watch both seasons of Big Little Lies and you can always continue with your subscription to carry on watching other TV series or cancel, depending on what you want.
How to watch Big Little Lies for free in US: HBO
Big Little Lies is produced by HBO, so it’s no surprise that the channel has the best and most in-depth Big Little Lies coverage that’s available. This includes special features, interviews with the cast members, previews and even music from the show. While a lot of this extra content is not geo-restricted (meaning you can watch it regardless of where in the world you are), to watch both seasons of the hit show you’ll need to have either an HBO Go, HBO Max or HBO Now subscription.
What’s the difference between the three? If you have an existing HBO subscription along with your TV package, then you get HBO Go – a website and streaming app that lets you access HBO from your devices, in addition to your TV – for free. HBO Now is a standalone streaming service that costs $15/mth and – until recently – was your only way to access HBO if you didn’t have the channel. It offers the same content as HBO Go.
HBO Max is the new streaming service that includes everything available on HBO Now. Both HBO Now and HBO Max include a seven-day free trial for new customers, giving you enough time to binge-watch both seasons of Big Little Lies over a weekend. Just for context, we finished watching both seasons (14 episodes) in three days because the show is really that gripping!
READ NEXT: How to watch HBO Max in the UK and abroad
How to watch Big Little Lies for free in Canada: Crave
Both seasons of Big Little Lies are available to watch in its entirety on Crave. The Canadian streaming service also has other award-winning shows including Killing Eve, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Homeland and Westworld. Crave is a subscription-based service that costs $9.99, but the first month is free, which means that you can watch the show in your own time without paying a penny and then cancel before your month is up.
How to watch Big Little Lies in the UK: Amazon Prime Video
Alternatively, you can purchase both seasons of Big Little Lies individually on Amazon Prime Video. You’ll need to be ready to spend, though, because each of the seven episodes in both seasons costs £2.49, but if you haven’t watched the show yet, then you’re better off purchasing both seasons individually – they cost £17 each. The good news here is that you’ll have access to the series for as long as you want, unlike the aforementioned streaming platforms that can sometimes remove shows without prior warning.
How to watch Big Little Lies anywhere in the world: use a good VPN service
So you’re ready to discover the dark secret the Monterey Five are hiding but don’t live in any of the countries mentioned above? No problem, we’ve got you covered. You simply need to get a subscription to a good VPN service. VPNs basically use technical wizardry to trick your device into thinking it’s based in a different country by changing its IP address.
Choose a good VPN service (we’ve recommended the best two below), then download and install the VPN on your PC, mobile or any other device. Next, choose the country whose streaming service you want to use from within the VPN. When it connects, simply visit the streaming service website to start streaming both seasons of Big Little Lies. Of course, you may first need to create a login if needed.
READ NEXT: Best VPN service
Among all the VPNs we’ve used, ExpressVPN is not only our favourite, but it’s also the fastest. This means that you can watch Big Little Lies lag-free using any of the streaming services we’ve mentioned above regardless of where in the world you are browsing from. It has 24/7 customer support, works on five devices at the same time and also comes with a no-questions-asked 30-day moneyback guarantee if you’re unhappy. Even better, our readers get three months free if you select the one year plan.
Surfshark VPN is the most pocket-friendly VPN, although it has slower speeds than ExpressVPN. This can result in connection problems and lags, especially if you’re browsing from long distances. For example, it should be fine if you want to connect to a UK server from France, but speeds may suffer if you want to connect to a UK server from the Asian sub-continent. Either way, it’s a great VPN with one of the cheapest long-term plans that we’ve seen.
