Chernobyl , Now (2019) The horror of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster has never been explored on TV with such poignancy. HBO’s harrowing, propulsive drama (which won nine Baftas and 10 Emmys) follows the catastrophe from the moment of explosion, when firefighters and scientists worked to keep the blaze contained, to the days following when politicians deflected blame to avoid international humiliation, to the decades-long suffering by those effected by the radiation. It stars Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson and Paul Ritter in some of their most emotional performances to date, while writer Craig Mazin’s meticulous attention to detail gives the series a dark yet respectful tone.
And though the scenes of the meltdown make for edge-of-your-seat TV, it’s the political fallout and devastating effects of the radiation long after the event that really stick with you. Five episodes The Undoing, Now (2020) If the words “Nicole Kidman, Hugh Grant, warring couple, murder mystery” don’t make you want to watch The Undoing then I don’t know what to tell you. As silly as it is addictive, this David E Kelley series is in the same vein as his most famous export, Big Little Lies , and follows the breakdown of high-flyers Grace and Jonathan Fraser’s marriage after the latter’s mistress is murdered.
It might seem like a by-the-numbers thriller from the outside, but each episodes features an unexpected twist – I promise you won’t see the brilliantly melodramatic finale coming. Six episodes Rain Dogs, BBC iPlayer (2023) Rain Dogs was one of my favourite series of last year and, if you ask me, it deserved a second series. It’s a darkly funny time capsule of what it means to be a single, working-class mother in Conservative Britain but at its core it’s really a love story, following Costello ( Daisy May Cooper giving her best performance since This Country ’s iconic Kerry Mucklowe), her daughter Iris (Fleur Tashjian) and their unreliable best friend Selby (Jack Farthing) as they try to avoid homelessness while also struggling with addiction and – crucially – still trying to enjoy themselves.
Skint Estate author Cash Carraway’s funny, heartfelt sitcom is an all too rare insight into what it’s really like to be working class from a writer who has first-hand experience. Eight episodes Normal People, BBC iPlayer (2020) Normal People was a sensation when it arrived in the early months of the pandemic. Four years later, it’s still one of TV’s most beautiful love stories – proof our adoration of it wasn’t just the result of scrambled lockdown brains.
Directors Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald perfectly translated Sally Rooney’s delicate, enrapturing romance between Irish teenagers Marianne and Connell to the screen. Intoxicatingly nostalgic and beautifully shot (particularly the intimate sex scenes), Normal People is one of those rare unassuming, subtle series that doesn’t try too hard to grab your attention. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to take your eyes off the mesmerising performances from now-Hollywood heavyweights Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal .
12 episodes I May Destroy You, BBC iPlayer (2020) Chewing Gum creator Michaela Coel was better known as a comedian before she made I May Destroy You . But this series turned her not only into an international star, but also one of television’s most powerful and well-respected storytellers. She stars as young novelist and apparent “millennial icon” Arabella, who is raped by a stranger in a bar toilet while on a night out.
Over the pacy episodes Coel – flanked by the excellent Paapa Essiedu and Weruche Opia as her best friends Kwame and Terry – documents the days following the assault as Arabella’s mental state, social life and ability to work begin to unravel. While it certainly does have its laugh-out-loud moments, I May Destroy You is a testament to the complexity of a post-#MeToo world and questions the audience’s own assumptions about Arabella’s life with unforgiving force. 12 episodes Mare of Easttown, Now (2021) Come for Kate Winslet’s transfixing Philadelphia accent, stay for one of the most enthralling TV murder mysteries in the past decade.
Winslet plays Marianne Sheehan – better known as the eponymous Mare – a police detective (and former high school basketball ace) investigating the disappearance of a young local girl who has been missing for the past year alongside the murder of another. Surrounded by a cast of, er, interesting characters, Mare has a lot on her plate including an acrimonious divorce, a custody battle and a meddling mother (Jean Smart). The level of detail and atmosphere packed into just one season is astounding.
Seven episodes The Queen’s Gambit, Netflix (2020) Another lockdown success story (and another adaptation of a novel, this time Walter Tevis’s 1983 book of the same name), chess has never been so exciting . Anya Taylor-Joy is stunning as prodigy Elizabeth Harmon, whose rise to the top is both helped and hindered by her reliance on drugs and alcohol. Credited with kickstarting a “second wave” interest in chess (sales of boards reportedly went up by 600 per cent), The Queen’s Gambit is also one of Netflix’s most decorated series, with 11 Emmys to its name (it’s also the first streaming show to win the award for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series).
There’s apparently a musical adaptation on the way, too, with original songs from Mitski. Seven episodes When They See Us, Netflix (2019) Ava DuVernay’s urgent drama is based on the 1989 “Central Park jogger” case , which saw five Black and Latino men wrongly convicted of the rape and assault of a white woman in New York. Over the stunning episodes, we follow Raymond, Kevin, Korey, Yusef, and Antron – first as teenagers, and years later when they are exonerated in 2002, as adults – as they are dragged through the courts, then the prison system, despite doing nothing wrong.
A critical denouncement of racial injustice and a recognition of the pain the so-called “Central Park Five” were needlessly put through at the hands of the state, When They See Us is vital viewing. Four episodes Under the Banner of Heaven, ITVX/Disney+ (2022) Crime lends itself well to the miniseries format because there’s a distinct beginning (the crime), a middle (the investigation), and an end (the reveal of the culprit). But that’s not to say they’re always predictable or dull – as proven by Under the Banner of Heaven starring Andrew Garfield and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
Based on a real murder and set amidst a devout Mormon congregation in Utah, it stars Garfield as well-respected Detective Jeb Pyre, whose investigation into the murder of Brenda Lafferty (Edgar-Jones) and her daughter rocks his entire belief system to the core. Could the Church really be involved in such a Godless act of brutality? Seven episodes The Night Of, Now (2016) Another limited series that uses the inherently inquisitorial nature of an unsolved murder to keep us hooked is HBO’s excellent The Night Of. Based on the Peter Moffat’s BBC One series Criminal Justice (which ran for two series), the HBO remake casts one Britain’s best actors, Riz Ahmed , as Naz Khan, a student who spends the night partying with a date only to wake up the next morning to find her stabbed to death.
He’s charged with her murder, but the series keeps us guessing about whether he’s guilty or not. If he didn’t do it, who did? And if he did, will he get away with it? Eight episodes Ripley, Netflix (2024) Patricia Highsmith’s slippery con-man Tom Ripley has had many iterations since his first appearance in the original 1955 novel The Talented Mr Ripley . And if its popularity is anything to go by, Netflix’s new addition to the canon won’t be the last (it’s got 13 nominations at next month’s Emmy awards).
Andrew Scott plays Ripley as a devious ingenue, enticed into a life of crime when he becomes too comfortable living in the lap of luxury. Stylishly shot in black and white (except for bright red blood) and set on the Amalfi Coast in the Sixties, it’s a refreshing – at times even fun – take on the noir character, Scott’s inherent charisma creating a villain you root for against your better judgement. In years to come, it won’t be Matt Damon or John Malkovich who comes to mind when you hear the name Tom Ripley; it’ll be him.
Eight episodes The Underground Railroad, Prime Video (2021) Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins is behind the camera of this heart-wrenching, wide-scoped drama , adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-winning debut novel of the same name. It imagines the famous “underground railroad”- a network of abolitionists and safe houses which helped slaves escape the South to the free states of the north in the 1800s – as an actual railway. Through the eyes of Cora Randall (an enchanting Thuso Mbedu), we travel from Georgia across America, all the while being chased by evil slave catcher Arnold Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton).
Ultimately uplifting and hopeful (though not without its tense moments), you won’t find another take on America’s dark history quite like it. 10 episodes Dopesick, BBC iPlayer/Disney+ (2021) America’s opioid crisis has been the subject of many angry books and documentaries, but few express their disdain for both its cause and its consequences as well as Dopesick. In one of his best performances to date, Michael Keaton plays a doctor who watches his beloved ex-mining community in West Virginia become addicted to OxyContin, a morphine-based pain relief medicine sold by Purdue Pharma.
Meanwhile, we watch as the multi-billionaire Sackler family – owners of Purdue – ignore the adverse effects of their product in favour of skyrocketing profits, while unknowing salesmen (including The Bear’ s Will Poulter ) are sent out to further shill the deadly drug. It will make your blood boil. Eight episodes This Is Going to Hurt, BBC iPlayer (2022) Based on Adam Kay ’s extraordinary 2017 account of his time as a junior doctor, This Is Going to Hurt is a brutal, unflinching insight into the pressure NHS hospital workers face day-in, day-out.
Starring Ben Whishaw as a stressed-out, sleep-deprived Kay and One Day ’s brilliant Ambika Mod (see below) as his fictionalised colleague Shruti, this caustic, gut-wrenching drama follows the obstetrics and gynaecology – or “brats and twats” as they call the ward – doctors as they try and fail to balance their personal lives with the demands of the hospital. The devastating twist will have you on the floor. Seven episodes One Day, Netflix (2024) Forget about the terrible 2011 Anne Hathaway film adaptation of David Nicholls’ love story, Netflix’s version is gentler, more in line with the novel – and the accents are much better.
Ambika Mod (a future superstar) plays Emma opposite Leo Woodall’s Dexter, two Edinburgh uni students whose lives intertwine – romantically and otherwise – over the course of a few decades, and each episode catches up with them each St Swithin’s Day. Managing to stay on just the right side of saccharine and cheesy, One Day is charming enough to win over even the toughest cynics. 14 episodes Baby Reindeer, Netflix (2024) Don’t be put off by the legal hullabaloo that followed the release of Richard Gadd’s TV adaptation of his Edinburgh show – Baby Reindeer is a fearless rumination on trauma, and the uncomfortable lengths it can push us to.
Gadd is fantastic as aspiring comedian and bartender Donny Dunn, whose friendship with a regular customer – Martha ( Jessica Gunning , the real star of the show) – soon turns dark when she begins stalking him. But there’s no simple victim/villain story here – Gadd consistently turns the screw on his viewers, making surprising – and at times difficult-to-watch – confessions along the way. There’s a reason it’s become an international phenomenon (and it’s got little to do with Piers Morgan’s input).
Seven episodes Unorthodox, Netflix (2020) The 19-year-old Esty Shapiro (Shira Haas, superb) is trapped in an arranged marriage in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn. That is, until she makes a run for it and ends up in Berlin, where she attempts to live a secular life free of the shackles of endless rules. The first Netflix series filmed in Yiddish and based on the real experiences of author Deborah Feldman (as told in her memoir, Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots ), this is a deeply emotional examination of religion and women’s role within such rigid holy structures.
Esty’s discovery of her own personality and freedom is at once heartening and bittersweet, yet Unorthodox never veers into the sensational or over-the-top schmaltz. Four episodes Band of Brothers, Now (2001) Never mind one of the best limited series, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s Second World War epic is one of the greatest TV dramas of all time. Inspired by a real American regiment traveling across war-torn Europe, Band of Brothers is a love letter to the bravery and camaraderie of the Easy Company, as well as a frighteningly honest depiction of the atrocities that go hand-in-hand with war.
Its impressive ensemble cast is chock-full of fresh-faced actors who have gone on to become superstars, including David Schwimmer (admittedly already famous post- Friends ), Damian Lewis , Dominic Cooper, Stephen Graham, Tom Hardy and James McAvoy. 11 episodes A Very English Scandal, BBC iPlayer (2018) While technically part of an anthology (alonside A Very British Scandal , about the 1963 Argyll divorce, and the forthcoming Prince Andrew vs Emily Maitlis series A Very Royal Scandal ), Russell T Davies’s retelling of the Jeremy Thorpe affair is brilliant enough to stand alone. Hugh Grant gives a fantastic, surreptitiously evil performance as the Liberal Party MP who in 1979 was tried for attempting to have his male lover, Norman Josiffe (Ben Whishaw), murdered when he threatened to expose his sexuality to the public.
Surprisingly funny and at times unbelievable (heightened by the fact it really did happen, of course), it’s hard to believe that it took so long for it to be dramatised. What a treat that Davies got there first and cast Hugh Grant in the Bafta-nominated role that would continue his post- Paddington 2 career renaissance. Three episodes National Treasure, Channel 4 (2016) Inspired by Operation Yewtree – the police investigation into allegations of historical sexual abuse, predominantly against Jimmy Savile – Jack Thorne ’s razor-sharp and uncomfortable series examines the ripple effects of such accusations.
The late Robbie Coltrane cuts an inscrutable figure as the eponymous national treasure Paul Finchley, a veteran comedian accused of raping a number of women at the height of his fame in the 90s. We’re kept guessing as to his guilt, but the revelations destroy not only his life, but the women around him, particularly his long-loyal wife Marie ( Julie Walters ) and his daughter Dee ( Andrea Riseborough ). The closing twist will make you question everything that has come before.
Four episodes The Virtues, Channel 4 (2019) Stephen Graham might be best known for his hard man roles as Far Right antagoniser Combo in This Is England and Line of Duty ’s double-crossing bent cop John Corbett, but his work in The Virtues reveals an actor capable of more than shouting and violence. A joint venture by TV titans Shane Meadows and Jack Thorne, this delicate, emotional series casts Graham as Joseph, a middle-aged man who returns to his Irish hometown following the breakdown of his marriage and a subsequent relapse in his alcohol addiction. Reuniting with his sister ( Niamh Algar ) brings up painful, suppressed traumas, which Joseph learns to face head-on.
A masterclass in striking, compassionate storytelling. Four episodes Boys from the Blackstuff, BBC iPlayer (1982) Alan Bleasdale’s classic series is a follow-up to his 1978 play The Black Stuff, which focused on a group of Liverpudlian tarmac layers who lose their jobs amidst the mass unemployment of the 70s. It’s a firm denouncement of Margaret Thatcher’s early years in office and Bernard Hill’s character Yosser became a lightning rod of anger against her seemingly anti-working-class policies.
At the time, Boys from the Blackstuff was so popular that it was re-broadcast just a few months after it was shown – and you might recognise a young Julie Walters among the cast, who was 32 at the time. Its themes are still pertinent today and James Graham’s reworking of the original play is currently touring the UK. Five episodes Kiri, Channel 4 (2018) Sarah Lancashire is best known for her no-holds-barred performance as Happy Valley ’ s straight-talking copper Catherine Cawood, meaning her other – equally brilliant – parts too often get overlooked.
In Jack Thorne’s second series for Channel 4, she is haphazard social worker Miriam Grayson, who is placed in the media’s firing line when one of her charges – nine-year-old Kiri – is found dead following an unsupervised visit with her grandfather. Propulsive, twisty and not as depressing as it sounds, Kiri shines through with Thorne’s skill for creating characters that feel real even amid the most chaotic storylines. Four episodes I, Claudius, BBC iPlayer (1976) This retelling of the early days of the Roman Empire is without a doubt one of the BBC’s most revered dramas in history.
With Derek Jacobi, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed, George Baker, John Hurt, Patrick Stewart, Patricia Quinn, casts don’t come stacked with outstanding British talent like this anymore. It might look a little creaky nowadays, with its slow-mo snakes and soapy zoom-ins, but the story of Claudius’s reign over Rome – and his eventual assassination – is eternally gripping, full of treachery and political plotting. 12 episodes Pride and Prejudice, BBC iPlayer (1995) Pride and Prejudice has been adapted for the screen hundreds of times but Andrew Davies’s take on Jane Austen’s beloved novel is the gold standard.
It stars Jennifer Ehle (Bafta-nominated for her role) as the no-nonsense Elizabeth Bennet, bouncing off Colin Firth’s iconic billowy-shirt-wearing and sullen Mr Darcy (those who are yet to indulge will surely already be au fait with the famous lake scene that turned Firth into a 90s heartthrob). Almost 30 years on since its first broadcast, this is still the definitive Pride and Prejudice adaptation..
. sorry Keira Knightley. Six episodes It’s a Sin, Channel 4/Disney+ (2021) Warning: you will want to stock up on tissues to watch Russell T Davies’s heartbreaking – yet still riotously fun – series about the Aids crisis in 80s London.
Olly Alexander ( rubbish at Eurovision , surprisingly good at acting) is Ritchie, a promiscuous, risk-taking wannabe actor and ringleader of the “Pink Palace” gang of young gay men partying their twenties away. Except their responsible friend Jill (Lydia West), they’re blissfully unaware of the deadly disease ravaging their community until they can’t ignore it. A celebration of friendship and a tribute to all those lost to Aids, It’s a Sin will stay with you long after the final episode.
Five episodes Giri/Haji, BBC iPlayer (2019) Joe Barton’s multi-language crime drama seemed to come out of nowhere in 2019, but soon proved itself one of the best series of the year. Translating to “Duty/Shame”, it follows Tokyo detective Kenzo Mori ( Takehiro Hira ) to London on the hunt for his missing brother, presumed dead after getting involved with a criminal gang. If Kenzo’s hung about his brother’s whereabouts are true, he risks stoking the flames of a gang war back home in Japan.
Pacy, emotional and an entirely fresh take on a very overcrowded genre, Giri/Haji sets itself apart with dexterous use of flashback sequences and even animation. There’s nothing quite like it. Eight episodes Dead Set, Netflix (2008) Before Black Mirror took Channel 4 by storm in 2011, Charlie Brooker made Dead Set for its younger, cooler sister channel E4.
A horror parody of Big Brother (at its height in 2008), it sees the famous house become an unexpected shelter from a zombie apocalypse that ravages the outside world – that is until the zombies break in, of course. With cameos from real past housemates and then-presenter Davina McCall , the attention to detail makes it feel like a real series of Big Brother , the already tense atmosphere heightened by the threat of the undead. Fun, genuinely scary and – in true Brooker form – a sharp satire of both reality TV and zombie horror clichés.
Five episodes Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ITVX (2024) It’s hard to remember the last time a TV drama had such real-world consequences as the powerful Mr Bates vs The Post Office . In 2009, subpostmaster Alan Bates (played passionately here by the ever-reliable Toby Jones) took the Post Office to task over its false accusations of theft and fraud towards his colleagues and this compelling drama documents his fight for justice. Reframing the Horizon scandal as not just a news story, but a life-alteringly devastating – and in some cases deadly – human story made the entire country rally around the subpostmaster victims with such fervour that then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a compensation scheme.
Four episodes Des, ITVX (2020) David Tennant’s version of serial killer Dennis Nilsen might be his best performance yet – so disturbing and creepy it won him an International Emmy and a National Television Award. Starting with the grisly discovery of human remains at Nilsen’s flat in 1983, much of the series consists of police interviews with the killer before sending him to trial, where his cold, cool demeanour will send shivers down your spine. Three episodes Collateral, Netflix (2018) When a pizza delivery driver is shot in central London, seemingly at random, Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie (Carey Mulligan) is tasked with solving the murder.
But it’s not as straightforward as a simple drive-by shooting, and soon Glaspie finds herself embroiled in an underground world of government conspiracies and human trafficking cover-ups. Written by playwright David Hare and with a supporting cast that includes Nicola Walker , Billie Piper and John Simm , Collateral is a complex, morally grey and cerebral series with no right or wrong answers – a tonic for anyone fed up with being spoon-fed easy TV. Four episodes Three Girls, BBC iPlayer (2017) Dramatising the events surrounding the shocking revelation of the Rochdale child sex abuse ring case in 2012 isn’t easy, but Three Girls does so with respect and pathos.
It focuses on victims 14-year-old Holly Winshaw, 16-year-old Amber Bowen and her 13-year-old sister Ruby and their bravery in telling their social worker (eventual whistle-blower Sara Rowbotham , played by a staunchly protective Maxine Peake) about the abuse they were being subject to by 10 local Asian men. Taking the complicated politics in its stride while maintaining deference for the young victims, Three Girls is by no means a comfortable watch, but it’s certainly an important one. Three episodes Quiz, ITVX (2020) One of the most biggest scandals in TV history was when, in 2001, former army major Charles Ingram and his wife Diana were cheated their way to the top prize on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ? using a secret coughing code – they were found guilty two years later.
Michael Sheen’s transformation into former Millionaire host Chris Tarrant in this dramatisation of the affair is so uncanny that it’s almost eerie. He’s fantastic opposite Matthew Macfadyen ( Succession ) and Sian Clifford ( Fleabag ) as Charles and Diana. A story almost too unbelievable to be true, this is addictive as Millionaire itself and the mix of high and low stakes is truly enthralling.
Three episodes Angels in America, Now (2003) Tony Kushner’s seminal 1991 play about a group of New Yorkers whose lives are brought together by the Aids epidemic won the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony – it was only a matter of time before TV bosses wanted a slice of its success. That pedigree brought in Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson , but the real focus is on Prior Walter (Justin Kirk), a gay man who is visited by an angel while he’s dying from the deadly disease. Another heavy, meaningful series about a time in history that should never again be swept under the rug.
Six episodes Beef, Netflix An argument between two strangers following a car accident doesn’t sound like enough material to fuel an entire series, but Beef ’s central feud reaches such a boiling point that they can’t stop getting one over on each other. The two antagonists are Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) and Amy Lau (Ali Wong) and while they’re supposed to hate each other to the bones, it’s their chemistry that makes Beef so brilliant. As their petty attacks on one another get more and more outrageous, the series transforms from a hilarious sitcom into a biting satire of America’s take on the convergence of wealth and ethnicity – one of the most imaginative and original comedies Netflix has ever made.
10 episodes.
