1. All or Nothing (2016-present)
A roaringly successful sports franchise encompassing the NFL, Premier League football, ice hockey and rugby union, All or Nothing is very much the authorised story of a season in the life of the Dallas Cowboys, Manchester City, the All Blacks et al. But it occasionally shakes off its heavily mediated shackles and really makes the most of the gobsmacking access, notably with the early months of José Mourinho’s doomed reign at Tottenham. Sunderland ‘Til I Die and Leeds United: Take Us Home, tackling football further down the pyramid, are also well worth a look. (All Or Nothing review)
2. Bosch (2014-2021)
Sometimes a series can thrive by knowing its limitations, and for superior procedural fare, look no further than Michael Connelly and Eric Overmyer’s gumshoe noir. Titus Welliver is the grizzled but honourable LAPD cop pursuing an assortment of very wrong ones indeed, with child killers, corrupt coppers and sexual abusers among those on his hitlist. Boundaries remain stubbornly unpushed and the pacing can tend to the sluggish, but few drama series endure for seven series on a streaming service. Even fewer get not one, but two spin-offs, with Bosch Legacy finding our anti-hero working as a PI; a further unnamed series is coming next year.
3. The Boys (2019-present)
A much-needed counterpoint to the sprawling overreach of Marvel and self-defeating darkness of DC, The Boys offers a grubby, mischievous and enormously satisfying post-twist on the superhero formula. It pits two groups against each other: a band of warring, self-absorbed megalomaniacs carefully packaged to the public as “Supes” to disguise their own corrupt, self-serving practices on behalf of a shadowy corporation, and the band of vigilantes trying to bring them down. Nihilistic and spewing over with black humour, it will bow out next year, but never fear: animated spin-offs Diabolical and Gen V have demonstrated you can’t keep a bad hero down. (The Boys review)
4. Clarkson’s Farm (2021-present)
While Richard Hammond helms an array of low-key televised engineering enterprises for niche digital channels and James May bumbles around the globe on assorted fish-out-of-water scenarios, Jeremy Clarkson has burrowed beneath his carapace of heavy irony and devil’s advocacy to unexpectedly turn 1,000 acres of Oxfordshire farmland into television gold. Amid the anticipated capers, laddish banter (straight-talking farmhand Kaleb Cooper is the show’s breakout star) and ambitious plans gone awry, there is also an honest, impassioned and remarkably moving broadside on behalf of beleaguered British farmers as they labour in a post-Brexit landscape of cheap imports and depleted subsidies. (Clarkson’s Farm review)
5. Dead Ringers (2023)
A superb Rachel Weisz takes the Jeremy Irons role of co-dependent twin gynaecologists driven to the edge by their relationship and increasingly disturbing obsessions in this poised, chilling take on David Cronenberg’s 1988 cult classic. Sharing drugs, patients and sexual partners with a brazen disregard for ethics, the cocksure, morally bankrupt Elliot and shy, straighter arrow Beverly are mesmerizingly flawed protagonists. The gender switch gives Alice Birch’s darkly funny miniseries an extra dimension, with a disturbing examination of how women are treated within a system seemingly not designed with their best interests at heart. (Dead Ringers review)
6. Deadloch (2023-present)
Irreverent almost to a fault, this smalltown Australian procedural initially stumbles with an overfamiliar odd-couple pairing. Smart, calm, instinctive Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) receives unwelcome assistance from noisily self-possessed Darwin copper Eddie Radcliffe (Madeleine Sami) in a murder investigation when the body of a local football coach is discovered on the beach of a small Australian coastal town. But strong ensemble work from Collins’s traditional crew of eager beavers, prejudiced bogans and overpromoted incompetents, allied to wry wit and an off-kilter tone eases Deadloch around Sami’s overbearing performance to make a well-crafted, lightly oddball whodunnit.
7. The Devil’s Hour (2022-present)
Add the murderous misanthropy of Malcolm Tucker to the time-travelling tragedy of The Doctor and you end up with someone like Gideon Shepherd (Peter Capaldi, of course), a serial killer with a particular interest in the strange young son of Jessica Raine’s social worker, and a mysterious purpose behind his apparently abhorrent behaviour. Tom Moran’s debut series is a startlingly ambitious mystery thriller, all time loops and multiple personalities. The overarching bleakness makes the moments of humour and, especially, heart, hit harder. And despite its apparently despairing tone, this is a love story which, best of all, has a confirmed end point: season two launches this year; season three will land in 2025. (The Devil’s Hour review)
8. Fallout (2024-present)
On the one hand lay The Last of Us, offering a brave new dawn for the videogame adaptation; on the other was Halo, proof that a big-budget fiasco remained a distinct possibility. Happily, Fallout skewed much closer to the former, presenting a different but equally potent possible post-apocalyptic future for our benighted planet. Achieving the impressive double of appealing to veteran gamers and newcomers alike, it tells the blackly comic story of Ella Purnell’s redoubtable Lucy as she ventures across a ravaged Los Angeles, encountering a rogue’s gallery of friends and foes from secretive tech experts to grotesque bounty hunters. (Fallout review)
9. Fargo (2014-present)
Noah Hawley achieves the impossible: tampering with a perfect film to produce a near-perfect anthology series. Each new iteration of the Coens’s founding set-up has attracted an amazing cast to explore another facet of smalltown America, turning Martin Freeman into a homicidal fugitive; confronting Ted Danson with UFOs; pitting Carrie Coon against Ewan McGregor’s scheming twins; and letting Jessie Buckley loose to outwit feuding gangs led by Jason Schwartzman and Chris Rock. Musing on civilisation and savagery, business vs family and much more, this FX series is witty and surprising, ambitious and mysterious, each one a unique example of what television can be. (Fargo review)
10. Good Omens (2019-present)
One of those rare series which turned out to be as good in practice as it was on paper, the first season of the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman adaptation paired Michael Sheen (as fusspot angel Aziraphale) and David Tennant (as louche demon Crowley) – a team so dreamy they roped in their families for lockdown mock-doc Staged. An unfocused season two departed from the book as the pair rallied to protect Jon Hamm’s errant angel, but the first season’s provocative premise – unlikely allies hunt a Home Counties antichrist to avert an Armageddon sought by the forces Heaven and Hell – painted in broad strokes and tiny details with equal punch. (Good Omens review)
11. The Grand Tour (2016-present)
After their noisy exit from the BBC and one of its crown jewels, Top Gear, the next move from Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond would always be keenly watched. And if The Grand Tour effectively boiled down to more of the same, on a bigger budget and minus the consumer bits, perhaps it was none the worse for that. The stunts were spectacular (and sometimes almost lethal), the settings (Colombia, Vietnam, Mauritania) jawdropping, the vehicles enviable and the banter, as ever, a matter of taste. Now feels like a good time for it to bow out. (The Grand Tour review)
12. Hacks (2021-present)
Almost anything involving Jean Smart should be considered worth your attention, whether it’s Frasier, Fargo or Legion, but Hacks (from HBO Max) is one of the rare occasions where someone gifts her a lead role embracing her talents. She plays legendary stand-up Deborah Vance, begrudgingly paired with a thrusting, overconfident young comedy writer (Hannah Einbinder): one craves relevance to revive a flagging career, the other needs a boost after a professional misstep sees her cancelled. They hate each other, of course, but to watch the slow thaw of their relationship is to enjoy a comedy-drama straddling that thorniest of genres with consummate ease. (Hacks review)
13. Homecoming (2018-2020)
Julia Roberts’s first-ever television series (cameos aside) was always going to be an event, and for the most part Homecoming doesn’t disappoint, her presence drawing an enviable ensemble including Sissy Spacek, Joan Cusack and Bobby Cannavale. Adapted from a podcast of the same name by Mr Robot’s Sam Esmail, it casts Roberts as a waitress whose memories of her time as a social worker helping soldiers to adapt to civilian life are oddly hazy. Conspiracies eventually emerge alongside a muted tour de force from Roberts (who gives way to Janelle Monáe for season two), although the endless feints and double crosses mean it doesn’t quite stick the landing.
14. Invincible (2021-present)
Amazon’s other satirical superhero franchise is a very different beast to The Boys. More tender and less vulgar in its analysis of generational superpowers through a coming-of-age animation, it is however still made very much for adults. Teenager Mark Grayson (Steven Yeun), the son of Earth’s most powerful hero, begins to develop his own uncanny abilities alongside the usual growing pains. Who better than his dad (JK Simmons) to step up and mentor him? Well, how about his loving, concerned mother (Sandra Oh) as family skeletons tumble out of the closet? Occasionally derivative, but consistently enjoyable and gorgeously drawn.
15. Jury Duty (2023)
A con trick so ingeniously conceived that it could only ever really work once (more’s the pity), this glorious reality show hoax from the men behind The Office: An American Workplace placed one Ronald Gladden onto the jury of a trial a which, unbeknownst to him, was a fictional construct from case to courtroom to hide deeply eccentric fellow jurors (including, splendidly, actor James Marsden parodying himself). Part-sitcom, part-prank show and part-documentary scrutinising the US justice system, it shouldn’t work but, thanks to the diligent structure, attention to detail and Gladden’s own fundamental decency, it really does. (Jury Duty review)
16. The Looming Tower (2018)
Why were the September 11 attacks not anticipated and stopped? This is the intriguing premise of this exceptional ten-part thriller from Hulu, adapted from Lawrence Wright’s bestseller by Dan Futterman (Capote), which traces the story back to 1998. The CIA and FBI (led by Peter Sarsgaard’s paranoid establishment man and Jeff Daniels’s crass maverick) are at war while the White House is firefighting amid the Monica Lewinsky scandal. While ultimate responsibility of course lies with al-Qaeda, dysfunctional US intelligence comes out of the 10 hours very badly, and the tension – even as we know what is coming – never abates. (The Looming Tower review)
17. The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022-present)
The most expensive television series ever made, spinning off from one of the most beloved fantasy adaptations of all time? The Rings of Power was a colossal undertaking, digging deep beneath the Middle Earth topsoil and into the history of how the titular rings were forged, climaxing in the unveiling of Sauron himself. Morfydd Clark confidently leads a diverse cast of jobbing thesps (Lenny Henry, Charles Edwards, Joseph Mawle) as crusading Elven warrior Galadriel in what is at best a fascinating folly, at worst a sprawling misfire (see also Amazon’s The Wheel of Time). Amazon’s ostentatious investment meant a second season, due this summer, was inevitable. (The Rings of Power review)
18. Mammals (2022)
Slightly overlooked amid the kerfuffle over James Corden’s bad behaviour in a restaurant, Jez Butterworth’s dark romantic comedy-drama follows Corden’s Michelin-starred chef as he discovers his wife (Melia Kreiling) has been having an affair at the same time as she has a miscarriage. His sister (Sally Hawkins) is disengaged and depressed, her husband Jeff (Colin Morgan) immersed in his work as a lecturer on animal reproduction. Riding roughshod over genre, lacing the story with magic realism and stripping it of moral judgement, it is a series full of left turns and surprises, perhaps the greatest of which being the reminder of just how good Corden can be. (Mammals review)
19. The Man in the High Castle (2015-2019)
An alternative history, set in 1962 and based on a Philip K Dick novel, in which the victorious Axis Powers have carved up America between them: the east has become the Greater Nazi Reich, the west the Japanese Pacific States. The unthinkable has become everyday, while a few bold souls work to undermine the new regime. Frank Spotnitz’s adaptation is fully realised both conceptually and corporeally, making unsettling use of noir tropes, espionage thrills and Apple Pie cliché with Dick’s trademark misanthropy and obfuscation. The absence of star names (Rufus Sewell’s Nazi commandant aside) made it work even better. (The Man in the High Castle review)
20. The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2023)
Amy Sherman-Palladino follows the zeitgeisty zest of Gilmore Girls with an equally spry series about the eponymous Midge Maisel, the comfortably bored 1950s New York housewife who reacts to her husband walking out on her by breaking into the city’s nascent stand-up scene. Pairing the effervescent Rachel Brosnahan with Alex Borstein’s wisecracking agent, over five series it offered an empowering, iconoclastic, affecting and frequently hilarious portrait of singledom for women when such a concept was stigmatised and gossiped about. Even its weakest episodes sailed through on whipsmart dialogue, briskly delivered, earning every one of its many Emmy wins and nominations. (The Marvellous Mrs Meisel review)
21. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024-present)
While the world awaits the fruits of Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s $60m Amazon deal, this is the show she nearly made with Donald Glover. In truth, it is hard to see how Mr & Mrs Smith could have been improved by her presence: Glover has sizzling chemistry with co-star Maya Erskine as they reinvent the 2005 film that turned Pitt and Jolie into Brangelina, playing secret agents in a marriage of convenience whose discrete missions occasionally collide. With charisma to spare and eye-catching guest stars (Michaela Coel! Sharon Horgan! Paul Dano!), this is a glorious caper with hidden depths. (Mr & Mrs Smith review)
22. Mr. Robot (2015-2019)
Predating the QAnon phenomenon by a couple of years, this chilly, absorbing thriller follows Rami Malek’s drug-addled computer programmer down the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories and shadowy cabals courtesy of the titular Mr Robot (Christian Slater, underplaying for once) and his team of hackers. While it doesn’t quite maintain the fierce momentum and claustrophobia of its first series, Malek’s deft, unsettling performance as the ultimate unreliable narrator will keep you guessing all the way to its rug-pulling finale. As an explainer for the online rocket fuel powering the past decade of MAGA madness, it could hardly be bettered.
23. Nathan For You (2013-2017)
That’s Nathan as in Fielder, the creative genius behind The Curse and The Rehearsal who first came to wider attention in this characteristically awkward, compulsively watchable semi-improvised Comedy Central cringecom. Fielder is the anxious but unsinkable do-gooder dropping into assorted Californian businesses to offer them the questionable benefits of his entrepreneurial wisdom. In one episode, he films a hoax video of a pig rescuing a goat to boost visitor numbers at a petting zoo; in another, he helps out a removals firm by rebranding its work as a free fitness routine. Both wheezes, naturally, went viral for real in this brilliant parody of the complacent emptiness of management consultancy.
24. One Mississippi (2015-2017)
While not as ruthless as Netflix, Amazon is not above canning critical hits for commercial underperformance. Exhibit A: this semi-autobiographical sadcom, hailing from Prime Video’s early incarnation as a disruptor backing niche concerns over obvious big hitters following the mass release of pilot episodes. Tig Notaro (co-creating the show with Diablo Cody) plays the radio host returning to her hometown for her mother’s funeral – a trauma enhanced by her own recent diagnosis with breast cancer. Family secrets seep through the cracks but they are never played for melodrama. If its profound, promising narrative was cut off too soon, One Mississippi remains a low-key masterpiece.
25. Outlander (2014-present)
No one would call Starzplay’s period swooner sophisticated or clever, but its sheer verve could just sweep you along if you’re in the mood. At its peak, it commanded a following comparable to the Twilight series in its fierce loyalty and lurid fan fiction. Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe certainly make a photogenic pairing as the Jacobite Highland clansman and the Second World War nurse thrown back in time for reasons which become clear over the course of its seven series (an eighth and final run is due soon). With dashing heroes, hissable villains and some lovely location work, it is the guiltiest of pleasures. (Outlander review)
26. Reacher (2022-present)
A supersized version of Tom Cruise’s slightly underwhelming take on Lee Child’s beefy hero Jack Reacher, Alan Ritchson (The Biggest Hobo?) is surely the natural successor to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s signature flex of action thriller-plus-wisecracks. His wandering vigilante has already spent two series taking down bad guys, both with and without old buddies, and with 26-and-counting books left in the series, there’s no reason to stop now. Subtle it ain’t, but as a delicious throwback to a relatively uncomplicated world where the solution tends to involve knocking a few heads together, it does very nicely. (Reacher review)
27. Red Oaks (2014-2017)
A throwback coming-of-age sex comedy of hormonal youngsters struggling with the opposite sex and a warring mom and dad, Red Oaks blends grossout and poignancy like John Hughes or 80s vintage Richard Linklater. It certainly counts as onetime wunderkind David Gordon Green’s best project of recent times. Craig Roberts is at his most gauchely endearing as a New Jersey college kid earning a vacation crust as a tennis coach at a Jewish country club while lusting after the president’s daughter. Not subtle, but effortlessly charming, and its irresistible retro vibes are given extra piquancy by casting Dirty Dancing’s Jennifer Grey and My Two Dads’s Paul Reiser.
28. Sneaky Pete (2015-2019)
With something like creative carte blanche after Breaking Bad, one of Bryan Cranston’s next moves was an intriguing one. This family drama, its glossy surface belying darker themes and storylines, tracks the highwire act of trickster Marius Josipovic (Giovanni Ribisi), assuming the identity of a former cellmate to escape the attentions of a brutal gangster (Cranston, having a ball). A high-concept show, to be sure, and the occasional con-of-the-week feel can sap its momentum – but at only three series, and with the great Margo Martindale on board as Marius’s “grandmother”, it’s an undemanding romp.
29. Transparent (2014-2019)
In the vanguard as the debate over gender identity gathered speed and intensity a decade ago, Jill Soloway’s sui generis series follows Jeffrey Tambor’s college professor as he comes out as trans to his three troubled children and grandstanding wife (the enviable ensemble of Gaby Hoffman, Amy Landecker, Jay Duplass and Judith Light). Retrospectively tarnished by reports of unsavoury onset behaviour by Tambor, whose character was duly killed off, it is hilarious, tender and charming, although always stronger on sadness than joy. Political with a small “p” and unapologetically itself right to the feature-length climax – a musical, naturally.
30. The Underground Railroad (2021)
Oscar-winner Barry Jenkins’s visually stunning, conceptually ambitious adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s novel took the real-life phenomenon of the secret routes to transport black slaves from South to North in the 1800s, and made it literal, complete with tracks, tunnels, conductors and engineers. Thuso Mbedu is mesmerising in the lead role of Cora Randall, an enslaved woman running the gauntlet to freedom, hunted by Joel Edgerton’s slave catcher (and his 11-year-old assistant, the unforgettable Chase W Dillon) at every step. The brutalities she endures are frankly, harrowingly depicted, but Jenkins’s magical vision and fundamental humanity ensure the horror is neither overwhelming nor gratuitous. (The Underground Railway review)
All our picks are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video
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