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Hallo. I'm going to recommend box sets for company, starting with...
1) Giri/Haji - Joe Barton's broad-shouldered crime thriller moves with balletic grace in dual cases across London and Tokyo, and is stacked with gong-worthy performances https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0009dzp/girihaji
1) Giri/Haji - Joe Barton's broad-shouldered crime thriller moves with balletic grace in dual cases across London and Tokyo, and is stacked with gong-worthy performances https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0009dzp/girihaji
2) Stath Lets Flats - Jamie Demetriou's painfully hapless yet all too plausible lettings agent is a near-folk hero in this comedy, his rivalries real and imagined leading to mostly doomed exercises in proving competence
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/stath-lets-flats
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/stath-lets-flats
3) The Boys - a satirical version of superhero lore, where heroes are corporate shills & marketing tools, used to whip up the religious right, these demi-gods using their powers to murder, extort, and abuse. Oh, and it's funny https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B07QRXJ1Y2/ref=atv_hm_hom_1_c_RdMk00_brws_3_1
4) What We Do In The Shadows - Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi's film makes a triumphant transfer to TV with a new set of vampire housemates who are both reluctant and too lazy to enslave New York. You'll be *ahem* cross if you miss it https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0005bky/what-we-do-in-the-shadows
5) Our Friends in the North - Eccleston. McKee. Strong. Craig. Nine episodes covering the UK from 1964 to 1995, as experienced by a group of pals. Arguably home to the greatest ending to a British TV drama of the 1990s (available on @BritBox_UK)
6) Unbelievable - In the over-saturated true-crime genre, where every story is more sensational than the last, Marie Adler's experience is treated with responsibility. A powerhouse trio of Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, and the incredible Kaitlyn Dever https://www.netflix.com/title/80153467
7) Save Me - Lennie James's frantic scurry in search of his missing daughter is through a London you can taste, the scripts humming with lingo you'd hear bowling down the street. An ensemble cast of dreams, too ( @skyatlantic & @NOWTV)
8) Taskmaster - Probably the seventh or eighth best TV show ever made, a source of endless creativity as comedians are set challenges which require ingenuity & a proper read of the instructions. Also, a true & worrying insight into thought processes https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/taskmaster/watch-online/
9) Garth Marenghi's Darkplace - What began as a Perrier-winning character in 2001 mutated into a spot-on parody of low-budget horror films, all set within a Romford hospital. Bow before the cast - Matthew Holness, Alice Lowe, Matt Berry, & Richard Ayoade
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/garth-marenghis-darkplace
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/garth-marenghis-darkplace
10) House of Cards - 23 years before Netflix's blockbuster reboot changed TV forever, Andrew Davies & Ian Richardson delighted and appalled audiences with Francis Urquhart's conniving strategems to steal power. Some in that audience, though, were taking notes (S1 on @BritBox_UK)
11) Fargo - To take the Coen Brothers' snow-white noir & adapt it for TV was a crime. That was until the first episode arrived in this anthology series, Noah Hawley honouring & expanding the Coens' cold-blooded rogues gallery. Minnesota nice & Minnesota oh-so nasty ( @NetflixUK)
12) This Country - The mockumentary was dead. Then, as advised by Belle & Sebastian's Legal Man - "Get out of the office & into the springtime", released in the same year The Office aired - the format decamped to the Cotswolds. Comedy icons for this country were born @BBCiPlayer
13) The Americans - It's fitting for a series about deep cover Soviet agents living in America during the Cold War that it generally flew under the radar. Matthew Rhys & Keri Russell are magnetic as Russian operatives juggling parenthood & their own American dream @primevideouk
14) It's Kevin - 10.30pm on a Sunday night was no place to conceal one of this century's best sketch series. The Actor Kevin Eldon, portrayed by The Actor Kevin Eldon, is the lynchpin & it's home to one of the best-ever British sketches - The Amish Sex Pistols @primevideouk
15) Marion & Geoff - Five years before cab driver Keith might have become an early YouTube sensation, he was sharing details of his marriage breakdown to a dashcam. Despite being the narrator to his story, the audience was always one step ahead of him. Brydon excels @BritBox_UK
16) Nighty Night - Julia Davis's brand of cul-de-sac terrorism took flight in this savage black comedy, where hairdresser Jill emotionally profiteers from her husband's cancer diagnosis. Her cruelty isn't to be kind, & her cruelty is indecently entertaining @BBCiPlayer
17) Informer - From the start, we know a horrific event is coming, this artful & wily thriller working backwards towards a fateful morning. Nabhaan Rizwan shines as Raza, coerced into working for the security services. So taut, you'll hold your breath like a freediver @BBCiPlayer
18) Deutschland 83 - Six years before David Hasselhoff's pipes were the Californian surf-rescue tinged Horns of Jericho which split the Berlin Wall asunder, an East German soldier was sent undercover into West Germany. This is fiction, but its (all-seeing) eye is so sharp @All4
19) Dickensian - Ambitious crossover events are rarely as ambitious as treating Dickens's characters as contemporaries living cheek by jowl in, erm, Dickensian London. It begins on Xmas Eve with the death of Jacob Marley, a case which introduces a roster of stars @NetflixUK
20) Detectorists - Lance and Andy's search for the past does so much to dictate their present, and even their future, in Mackenzie Crook's matchless comedy. For its gentle, bucolic pace, it contains a large number of punch-the-air in joy moments in 19 perfect episodes @BBCiPlayer
21) Cracker - A one-man therapist's waiting room, Dr Edward 'Fitz' Fitzgerald has more issues than WH Smith. Yet his own failings allow him a deep understanding of criminal mindsets, explored over some of the most unforgettable series in British TV drama @BritBox_UK
22) Chewing Gum - Nowhere near as disposable as its title, Michaela Coel's comedy is a relatable coming-of-age story as Tracey breaks the fourth wall to comment and narrate her life choices. Coel won a Bafta for her performance in 2016, so get chewing @All4
23) The New Statesman - Alan B'Stard is a complete, an utter, Alan. Selfish, venal, mendacious, sadistic, murderous - his good points - B'Stard embodied the worst of Tory excess. Today, he'd be PM. Rik Mayall's finest performance, every sinew projecting arrogance @primevideouk
24) The Defiant Ones - Producers Jimmy Iovine & Dr Dre had been innovators in the studio, but when their talents combined, they formed an epic tech partnership. Director Allen Hughes documents their pop culture shaping-careers, using some super-rare archive footage @NetflixUK
25) Twin Peaks - Years before the 'TV is the new film' yawnsome chat, the Oscar/Bafta-nominated David Lynch made TV his plaything. In academic terms, he fucked shit up. In asking 'Who killed Laura Palmer?', he created an enduring hero, a terrifying villain, & a huge legacy @NOWTV
26) The Terror - Ship's timbers crack like the lips and skin of the sailors in this supernatural account of Franklin's lost Arctic expedition of 1845. Jared Harris, Tobias Menzies, & Ciarán Hinds are among the ice-bound crew stalked by hunger, fear, & something else @primevideouk
27) Vic Reeve's Big Night Out - A smarmy host who may or may not be Satan. Bob Mortimer. A petri dish under a squirrel. This spoof of variety shows moved with the speed of a late-for-work mayfly, cramming in catchphrases & characters which constructed a comic encyclopedia @All4
28) Utopia - 'Where is Jessica Hyde?' was the question not to be asked in Dennis Kelly's vivid graphic novel, where a lost comic holds a prophecy of mankind's future. An A1 ensemble cast features a disturbing turn by Neil Maskell as wheezing assassin Arby. Pure art @primevideouk
29) Thirteen - Before Villanelle, there was Ivy (yes, there was a shot in Killing Eve referencing this image). Jodie Comer shines in this psychological thriller from Marnie Dickens, where Ivy escapes a captor after 13 years locked away. But what's really taken place? @BBCiPlayer
30) PhoneShop - The staff of Sutton's most incident prone phone shop will ring your bell time and time again in this comedy, which will change the way you say 'owl'. Flimsy bravado & quiet mania rules; tariffs change, contracts expire, but people still have their hang ups @All4
31) Around the World in 80 Days - Michael Palin's ripping yarn allowed the Python to coil around the globe in a punishing race against time. In the course of his trip he starred in an Egyptian film, worked as a freighter deckhand, and never lost his Michael Palinness @BBCiPlayer
32) Batman: The Animated Series - Gotham is a forest of Art Deco redwoods in this superb small screen interpretation. Few concessions to its intended audience are made & the voice cast is unforgettable, Kevin Conroy's Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker perfection @itunes
(BONUS: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Perhaps Batman: The Animated Series' high-point, this is in the top four of best-ever Batman films. A story with arcs for both Batman & Bruce Wayne, driven with noir themes, it packs an emotional depth in its short running time @primevideouk
33) Murder in Successville - A true original, this experiment in improvisation aids & abets a riot of belly laughs. A city populated by celebs is policed by DI Sleet (Tom Davis), a soft-boiled cop accompanied by an actual celeb rookie for a series of bizarre cases @BBCiPlayer
34) Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell - There's magic in this adaptation of Susanna Clarke's novel, not just in this 19th Century England where spells are weaponised. Sparks fly between Bertie Carvel & Eddie Marsan as rival conjurors in this daring & sprightly adventure @primevideouk
35) Yonderland - After providing definitive accounts of the past in Horrible Histories, the writing & performing team produced this spoofy homage of fantasy. One of the funniest family comedies in British TV history, the vast raft of characters provide a vast range of gags @skytv
36) The Good Fight - Some shows attain iconic status when their place in history is better understood from distance. The Good Fight is not one of these shows. Defiantly anti-Trump & his values, it is wickedly inventive, passionate, & full of humour. The goodest of fights @All4
37) Orphan Black - Tatiana Maslany is tremendous in this twisty psychological thriller. As is Tatiana Maslany. And not forgetting Tatiana Maslany. In portraying multiple clones, Maslany fully vanishes within each iteration in a work addressing identity & humanity @NetflixUK
38) Wild Wild Country - In 1981 a cult purchased a ranch in Antelope, Oregon. Locals raised an eyebrow; the cult raised hell, even dabbling in bio-terrorism. Frequently disturbing, especially the glint in the eyes of some former devotees as they share their accounts
@NetflixUK
@NetflixUK
39) The Jinx - 'The thing about a shark, he's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes,' says Quint in Jaws, a quote which floats to your mind's surface during interviews with Robert Durst, real estate mogul & murder suspect. You've *never* seen a doc like this @NOWTV
40) The City and The City - Simply, one of the most beautiful series to have aired on TV in years. Inhabitants of twin cities Besźel and Ul Qoma are directed to ignore the other for ideological purposes, a directive an officer struggles with during a case. Enigmatic @primevideouk
41) Happy Valley - A seam of salty humour runs through Sally Wainwright's snappy thriller, where Sarah Lancashire delivers a career high as weary but relentless copper Sergeant Catherine Cawood. James Norton, too, is at his best, all blue-eyed malevolence @BritBox_UK
42) Stag - A delightfully nasty black comedy which delves into the mechanics of those toxic male friendships defined by a heirarchy of intimidation, & the wolfish glee a newcomer to the group is abused by all. Good fun for us, less so for this pack hunted on a stag do @NetflixUK
43) Two Doors Down - A Scottish Seinfeld, where nothing happens apart from all the drama neighbours drag into the living room of Beth (Arabella Weir) and Eric (Alex Norton). Top cast interplay, with Cathy (Doon Mackichan) & Colin (Jonathan Watson) everyday nightmares @BBCiPlayer
44) Home - In the middle of a national identity crisis, Rufus Jones's comedy dared to say there is hope for a more positive future. The arrival of refugee Sami in the lives of Katy, John, & Peter dismantled stereotypes & observed the UK's own state through a newcomer's eyes @All4
45) Inside No 9 - As likely to touch as torment you, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton's anthologies contain as well-realised characters in 30 minutes it can take a series an entire run to establish. It's not always about the twist, but they continue to surprise @BBCiPlayer
46) Lost in Austen - A curiously high-concept romantic fantasy for ITV, this both celebrated Jane Austen while toying with the tired devices used in adaptations. Jemima Rooper sparkles as an Austen fan who ends up inside Pride & Prejudice & derails the plot @BritBox_UK
47) Penny Dreadful - The irresistible premise of literature's Gothic monsters colliding in Victoriana London exceeds its self-referential pulp heritage. As entrancing and deadly as a cobra's dance, it's a full-blooded horror with brains. Eva Green is entirely bewitching @NOWTV
48) Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 5 years after middling box office success, Buffy Summers moved to the all-American hellmouth of Sunnydale & built her legend. Textured, witty, and even fun, devotees have their favourite episode. Enjoy them all once more, with feeling @primevideouk
49) Rev - In the doghouse as often as he's in a dog collar, the travails of Reverend Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) drew a faithful TV congregation as he confronted the realities of a London parish. Weary realism is balanced by a big heartedness & a faith in humanity @BritBox_UK
50) Battlestar Galactica - Not even the computing power of the Cylons would have calculated the 2003 reboot of the hokey post-Star Wars sci-fi series would be so philosophical. By analysing humanity, religion, & politics, it launched the series into a new dimension
@primevideouk
@primevideouk
51) The Larry Sanders Show - 'No flipping,' urged talk show host Larry between guests on his chat show & that command applied to his own temperament. Garry Shandling's masterpiece asked what is a comic constructed to be digested in small chunks like all the time? @primevideouk
52) Back to Life - The prodigal return is given an empathetic twist by Daisy Haggard in her redemption-com, where locals view Miri to be the girl she was 18 years ago. Tragedies of miscommunication are artfully played for laughs without cheapening real world issues @BBCiPlayer
53) Deadwood - Filth. Absolute filth. The streets of frontier outpost Deadwood are awash with muck, the mouths of its mix of chancers, con artists, & killers just as grimy. Ian McShane glimmers as saloon shyster Al Swearengen, King Rat in this empire of dirt @NOWTV/ @skyatlantic
54) Top of the Lake - The return of Jane Campion to TV after 23 years was complemented by the casting of ascending star Elisabeth Moss, one of this era's definitive small-screen performers. This cop thriller aches with a near-poetic loneliness and displacement @NetflixUK
55) Godless - The West is no place for a man, not in this Western which hands the weaponry of the Western genre - from the literal arsenal to the abstract heroism - to the women of La Belle, a town almost without boys to cow. Men, though, cower from its fearsome femmes @NetflixUK
56) Famalam - Sketch comedy had been as neglected as the nation's current hairstyles until this troupe of writers & actors emerged with a raft of skits. From subversive (the warring gang vids are sublimely executed) to silly smart (the re-casting of Midsomer Murders) @BBCiPlayer
57) Born to Kill - A teenage angst of a more sinister variety plays out in Tracey Malone & Kate Ashfield's psychological drama, as Sam's (Jack Rowan) awakenings include murder. Rowan's shifts are no more than a dreamy weightiness clouding his eyes, this a deadly infatuation @All4
58) Lovesick - The jumping off point for this comedy drama was Dylan (Johnny Flynn) learning he has chlamydia & needing to contact his previous partners. Hence its original C4 title Scrotal Recall. Away from the title, it's a wise, sweet, & funny view of relationships @NetflixUK
59) Harlots - What do you mean you're not watching The Great 18th Century Sex Wars of Covent Garden? How stale & lifeless historical dramas are compared to the lusty energy of the intrigues between rival madams & their famed employees. Much more than a romp or five @starzplayuk
60) Sex Education - Laurie Nunn's Moordale may be a fantastical John Hughes utopia nestled in verdant Welsh hills, but real-world issues are deftly handled, often hilariously. It's Netflix's best original series & the cast are talents set to deservedly dominate @NetflixUK
61) Yes, Minister - A week is a long time in politics, about as long as one of Sir Humphrey Appleby's deviously constructed sentences. Antony Jay & Jonathan Lynn's satire relishes in the detail of government wrangles, Sir Humphrey a masterclass in verbal contortions
@BritBox_UK
@BritBox_UK
62) Devs - 'What,' Tom Waits would ask, 'the hell is he building in there?' A tech guru's dream is devised within what resembles a mausoleum in this thriller, the secrets inside too dangerous to know. Alex Garland chips away at the spaces where tech & humanity diverge @BBCiPlayer
63) The Last Kingdom - 'My name is Uhtred. I am the son of Uhtred,' is the introduction which might as well end with, 'prepare to die.' This adaptation of Bernard Cornwall's historical novels is caked in blood & mud, offhand cruelty mingling with 9th century politics @NetflixUK
64) Man Like Mobeen - Peakys reversed, Guz Khan's other crew from Birmingham's Small Heath find themselves the victims of viral videos, injured by WWE moves, & falling prey to both local crims & cops. Motivated to protect family & friends, Mobeen's past is less kindly @BBCiPlayer
65) Guilt - All two squabbling brothers have to do is keep a secret after a driving accident; instead, they accelerate towards their downfall. Neil Forsyth's Coenesque black comedy closes the walls in on the terrific pairing of Mark Bonnar & Jamie Sives ( @iplayer from 14th Nov)
