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Nowadays, watching the right television shows seems to be integral to your social standing, and sometimes the only way to stay relevant in certain WhatsApp groups. But what about the classic shows that you might have overlooked? We’re talking about those programmes which, in their own way, changed how stories are told on the small screen.
Look below the surface on most of the UK’s free streaming platforms, and there’s a treasure trove of amazing dramas and comedies. Some are cultural staples, while others were just a bit too inventive for when they were released. Many dominated the BAFTAs and Emmys, others just rewrote notions on what could be presented on a TV screen.
So, join us as we scroll through some of the best binge-worthy box sets that you might have overlooked. 1these are the stories which still resonate today.
(2009-2015)
Where to watch: All 4
While Brits might not be able to watch acclaimed medical drama The Pitt until March (unless they break the law or fly with Virgin) this is just about the next best thing.
Edie Falco shakes off the guise of Carmela Soprano to play Jackie Peyton, an emergency room nurse in New York who’s brilliant at her job and terrible at everything else. She’s addicted to painkillers. She’s having an affair. She lies constantly, even when the truth would be easier.
The show received 24 Primetime Emmy nominations. Falco won in 2010 after six consecutive nominations. Merritt Wever won in 2013 for Outstanding Supporting Actress. The June 2009 premiere was Showtime’s most successful ever, pulling in over a million viewers.
What makes Nurse Jackie extraordinary is its refusal to redeem its protagonist. She doesn’t learn lessons. She doesn’t have breakthrough moments where she sees the light and changes her ways. She’s a mess, and the show respects that mess without romanticising it.
The supporting cast, including the incredible Anna Deavere Smith, Merritt Wever, and Peter Facinelli, creates a hospital environment that feels lived-in and real. The medical cases matter, but they’re never the point. The point is watching someone self-destruct in slow motion whilst being genuinely excellent at the one thing that matters to her.
Mini-spoiler: The ending is perfect. You’ll hate it and love it in equal measure.
(2018-2022)
Where to watch: All 4
Lisa McGee’s comedy about five teenagers growing up in Derry during the Troubles became Channel 4’s most successful comedy since Father Ted. In Northern Ireland, it averaged 519,000 viewers and a 64.2% share of the audience. That’s not just popular. That’s cultural phenomenon territory.
The show follows Erin, Michelle, Clare, Orla, and James (the “wee English fella”) as they navigate school, family, and adolescence against the backdrop of 1990s Northern Ireland. The genius of Derry Girls is how it treats the Troubles as background noise to the real drama of teenage life.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Nicola Coughlan (before Bridgerton made her a household name), Louisa Harland, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn are an ensemble that feels like they’ve always been friends. The writing is sharp, the pacing is relentless, and the emotional beats land with surprising weight.
Three seasons. Eighteen episodes. And a hilarious, touching, and near-perfect recreation of a period in British history that doesn’t get discussed enough.
(1997-2003)
Where to watch: ITVX
In an age when teen angst was all the rage on TV, some youngsters had genuinely world-shattering problems to deal with. Joss Whedon’s genre-defining supernatural drama follows Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), a teenage girl chosen to battle vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. What could have been a campy monster-of-the-week show became something far more profound: a meditation on growing up, responsibility, and the weight of destiny.
The show’s influence on television is immeasurable. It pioneered serialised storytelling in genre television, proved that “teen shows” could tackle serious themes, and created a template for strong female protagonists that countless series have followed. The dialogue, witty, self-aware, and emotionally resonant, set a new standard for screenwriting; premeeting everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to Fringe.
The cast, including Alyson Hannigan, Nicholas Brendon, Anthony Head, and later James Marsters, had dynamics that felt genuine and earned. The show wasn’t afraid to take risks: killing major characters, exploring addiction and depression, subverting expectations at every turn.
Seven seasons chart Buffy’s journey from reluctant chosen one to mature leader, with each season functioning as both a standalone story and part of a larger arc. Episodes like Hush, The Body, and the legendary Once More, With Feeling are regularly cited among the greatest television episodes ever made.
The show spawned a spin-off (Angel), influenced everything from Supernatural to The Vampire Diaries, and proved that fantasy television could be smart, sophisticated, and culturally significant. This is television that changed the (psychic) medium.
(2009-2013)
Where to watch: All 4
Five young offenders doing community service get caught in a freak storm and develop superpowers. That’s the premise. The execution is something else entirely.
Misfits won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series. Lauren Socha won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Kelly. The show was sold to over 100 territories and became one of Hulu’s most-watched series when it launched in the United States.
What separates Misfits from every other superhero story is its commitment to showing what would actually happen if terrible people got superpowers. Especially if those abilities were inconvenient or simply rubbish (like Lactokinesis!). These kids aren’t heroes. They’re not even anti-heroes. They’re just people who made bad choices and now have abilities they don’t want and can’t control.
The original cast, Robert Sheehan, Iwan Rheon (long before Game of Thrones), Lauren Socha, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, and Antonia Thomas, created something that feels both dangerous and authentic. The show takes massive risks with tone, structure, and content. Some episodes are comedy. Some are horror. Some are heartbreaking character studies.
Misfits clocked up over 43 million video-on-demand views, making it one of the top ten most-watched shows on 4oD since the service launched. The first two seasons are perfect. The later seasons are uneven but still worth watching.
(2011-2016)
Where to watch: My5
Jim Caviezel starring as a smartly-dressed techno-Jesus in a procedural crime drama that will make you even more paranoid about machines taking over the world? Sign us up for this!
Jonathan Nolan (Christopher Nolan’s brother and co-writer on films like The Dark Knight and Interstellar) created a show that starts as being about preventing crimes before they happen. By the end, it’s a philosophical meditation on artificial intelligence, free will, and what it means to be human. If that sounds bonkers, it is. But few shows have ever gazed quite so hard at our society.
A reclusive billionaire who appears to live in a disused public library (Michael Emerson, fresh off the jumble that was Lost) builds a machine that can predict terrorist attacks by analysing surveillance data. The machine also identifies “irrelevant” crimes involving ordinary people. He recruits a former CIA operative (Caviezel) to help prevent these crimes.
The first season feels like a standard CBS crime drama.; which is probably how they got this past commissioning editors. Good, but not exceptional. Then the show starts building its mythology. By season three, it’s telling stories about competing artificial intelligences, the ethics of surveillance, and whether free will exists in a world where algorithms can predict human behaviour.
A superb supporting cast, including Taraji P. Henson, Kevin Chapman, Sarah Shahi, and Amy Acker, grounds the increasingly complex narrative in genuine human relationships. The show respects the audience though. It builds slowly, rewards attention, and delivers an ending that actually pays off everything it set up.
A complete story with a proper conclusion. This is what television looks like when creators know where they’re going and an audience is willing to trust them.
(2013-2022)
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Steven Knight’s gangster epic follows the Shelby family in post-World War I Birmingham as they build a criminal empire. Cillian Murphy plays Tommy Shelby, a war veteran turned crime boss whose ambition knows no limits.
The show’s visual style – slow-motion walks, anachronistic music, expressionistic lighting – shouldn’t work. It does. The combination of period detail and modern sensibility creates something that feels both historical and timeless.
Helen McCrory (in one of her final roles before her death in 2021) plays Polly Gray, the family matriarch who’s often smarter and more ruthless than her nephews. Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Finn Cole, and Tom Hardy (in a scene-stealing recurring role) round out a cast that understands the assignment.
Six seasons tell a complete story about power, trauma, and the cost of ambition. The show became a global phenomenon, influencing fashion, music, and popular culture. The haircuts alone launched a thousand barbershop requests.
The final season provides closure while leaving room for the upcoming film. This is prestige television worked hard to get its reputation.
(2007-2013)
Where to watch: All 4
Seven seasons. Three complete cast turnovers. A raw, unflinching look at teenage life in Bristol that influenced everything that came after it.
Skins follows groups of teenagers dealing with mental illness, sexuality, addiction, family dysfunction, and the general chaos of being seventeen. Each episode focuses on a different character, building a mosaic of interconnected lives.
The show launched the careers of Dev Patel, Nicholas Hoult, Kaya Scodelario, Jack O’Connell, and Daniel Kaluuya. The writing room included young writers who brought authenticity to the dialogue and situations.
What makes Skins work is its refusal to condescend to its audience or its characters. These teenagers make terrible decisions. They hurt each other. They’re selfish and short-sighted and sometimes cruel. The show doesn’t excuse this behaviour, but it understands it.
The first two generations (seasons 1-4) are exceptional. The third generation is more uneven but still worth watching. The show’s influence on yoof-focused drama is undeniable. Everything from Sex Education to Euphoria owes something to it.
(1999-2006)
Where to watch: All 4
This is the show that practically invented the second watch-through when it was released on Netflix many years ago. Its impact has resonated down the years, from directly influencing shows like The Diplomat and Scandal, to being the launchpad for stars like Allison Janney, Elizabeth Moss, and Bradley Whitford
Aaron Sorkin’s political drama won 26 Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series for four consecutive years. That’s not just impressive. That’s unprecedented.
The show follows President Josiah Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and his senior staff as they navigate the complexities of running the United States government. But calling it a political drama undersells what it actually does. This is a workplace drama where the stakes could not be higher, as idealism collides with pragmatism head-on.
The walk-and-talk scenes became legendary. The rapid-fire dialogue set a new standard for television writing. The ensemble cast created characters so vivid that Myanmar’s fledgling government used DVDs of the show to study democracy, according to Hillary Clinton.
Lin-Manuel Miranda cited The West Wing as a significant influence on Hamilton. That tells you something about the show’s rhythmic dialogue and its ability to make complex political manoeuvring feel like theatre.
The series officially entered the Max top 10 as of February 2025, more than two decades after its premiere. Which means people are still discovering it. If you haven’t yet, you should.
(2005-2012)
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Remember when politics was fun? No, neither do I. But Armando Iannucci’s profoundly smart satire feels more relevant with each passing year. The show follows the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship as they navigate media scandals, policy disasters, and the constant threat of a foul-mouthed colleague.
Peter Capaldi plays Malcom Tucker, the Prime Minister’s enforcer, with such volcanic intensity that his alarmingly inventive, profanity-laden tirades became legendary. The supporting cast, including Chris Langham, Rebecca Front, and Joanna Scanlan, fills out a world of U-turns, raw ambition, and desperate futility.
The show’s documentary style, improvised dialogue, and overlapping conversations create a sense of barely controlled chaos. Nothing feels scripted. Everything feels painfully real.
Four seasons and several specials chart the rise and fall of various ministers and advisers. The show spawned In the Loop (a feature film) and Veep (the American adaptation that won multiple Emmys).
If you want to understand how British politics really works, don’t watch the news; this is your guide.
(2014-2023)
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer
Sally Wainwright’s crime drama follows Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), a police sergeant in West Yorkshire, dealing with the aftermath of her daughter’s suicide whilst raising her grandson and hunting the man responsible for her daughter’s rape.
This is television that understands trauma without exploiting it. Lancashire’s performance is devastating and restrained, showing a woman who’s survived the worst thing imaginable and kept going because stopping isn’t an option.
Joining her is James Norton as the chilling Tommy Lee Royce, Siobhan Finneran, and Rhys Connah. This is a town which feels specific to the Calder Valley, but is inarguably universal in its emotional truth.
Three seasons tell a complete story spanning nearly a decade. The final season, broadcast in early 2023, provided an ending that honoured everything that came before whilst refusing easy answers.
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