best tv series
by rainbowflat | created - 16 Dec 2016 | updated - 15 Feb 2018 | Publicoutstanding series that I've watched since 2012
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1. I, Claudius (1976)
Not Rated | 669 min | Biography, Drama, History
The personal and governmental affairs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty at the beginning of the Roman Empire, as recalled by one of its rulers.
Stars: Derek Jacobi, John Hurt, Siân Phillips, Brian Blessed
Votes: 19,283
2. Brideshead Revisited (1981)
TV-14 | 659 min | Drama, Romance
The life, friendships and romances of the protagonist Charles Ryder-including his friendship with the Flytes, a family of wealthy English Catholics who live in a palatial mansion called Brideshead Castle.
Stars: Jeremy Irons, Diana Quick, Roger Milner, Phoebe Nicholls
Votes: 8,007
3. Edge of Darkness (1985)
307 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
When his daughter Emma is murdered, cop Craven discovers that she was in a GAIA group of activists occupied with exposing Northmoor nuclear waste storage facility for illegal activities.
Stars: Bob Peck, Joe Don Baker, Charles Kay, Ian McNeice
Votes: 4,146
4. The Singing Detective (1986)
415 min | Drama, Musical, Mystery
Tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease, a mystery writer relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations.
Stars: Michael Gambon, Patrick Malahide, Joanne Whalley, David Ryall
Votes: 4,796
5. A Very British Coup (1988)
Not Rated | 148 min | Drama
Disaster befalls the UK under a seemingly corrupt Conservative government. The Labour Party is elected - but committed to radical change, under a firmly left-wing leader. That's not supposed to happen. Who will save the traditional rulers?
Stars: Ray McAnally, Marjorie Yates, Geoffrey Beevers, Keith Allen
Votes: 1,018
6. Our Friends in the North (1996)
TV-MA | 623 min | Drama, History
Drama examining the politics and change across Britain from the Sixties to the Nineties seen through the varying fortunes of four friends.
Stars: Christopher Eccleston, Mark Strong, Gina McKee, Daniel Craig
Votes: 2,351
7. This Life (1996–1997)
TV-MA | 45 min | Drama
A series following the lives of Miles, Milly, Warren, Egg and Anna, five young legal professionals.
Stars: Jack Davenport, Amita Dhiri, Andrew Lincoln, Daniela Nardini
Votes: 2,573
8. That Mitchell and Webb Look (2006–2010)
720 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A comedy sketch show featuring David Mitchell and Robert Webb.
Stars: David Mitchell, Robert Webb, James Bachman, Mark Evans
Votes: 9,504
So many classic sketches.
9. Peep Show (2003–2015)
TV-MA | 25 min | Comedy
Mark and Jez are a couple of twenty-something roommates who have nothing in common - except for the fact that their lives are anything but normal. Mayhem ensues as the pair strive to cope with day-to-day life.
Stars: David Mitchell, Robert Webb, Matt King, Olivia Colman
Votes: 66,274
2003-2015
I don't think there's a show that gives me more lpm (laughs per minute).
10. The Thick of It (2005–2012)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy
The Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
Stars: Chris Addison, James Smith, Peter Capaldi, Joanna Scanlan
Votes: 26,007
11. Black Mirror (2011– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Featuring stand-alone dramas -- sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales that explore techno-paranoia -- "Black Mirror" is a contemporary reworking of "The Twilight Zone" with stories that tap into the collective unease about the modern world.
Stars: Wunmi Mosaku, Monica Dolan, Daniel Lapaine, Hannah John-Kamen
Votes: 636,527
Awesomely high-quality show, almost every episode has been memorable.
12. A Touch of Cloth (2012–2014)
60 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
DCI Jack Cloth and DC Anne Oldman are paired to investigate a series of grisly murders done by a devious killer.
Stars: John Hannah, Suranne Jones, Navin Chowdhry, Adrian Bower
Votes: 4,126
Half-a-dozen long episodes in total, an amazingly silly spoof of the omnipresent police procedural.
13. In the Flesh (2013–2014)
TV-14 | 56 min | Comedy, Drama, Horror
Four years after the Rising, the government starts to rehabilitate the Undead for reentry into society, including teenager Kieren Walker, who returns to his small Lancashire village to face a hostile reception, as well as his own demons.
Stars: Luke Newberry, Harriet Cains, Marie Critchley, Steve Cooper
Votes: 13,898
I think it's the best thing (movie or series) with zombies. (Other contenders: I guess Les Revenants, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Girl with All the Gifts, and the Romero original.) Not so many episodes, sadly.
14. Moonlighting (1985–1989)
TV-PG | 3,073 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
The quirky cases of a former model and a smart aleck detective who manage a private detective agency.
Stars: Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong
Votes: 24,116
Good morrow, sir. I'm Lucentio, come hither for to see fair Padua, pleasant garden of great Italy, to seek out and happily begin a course of learning and studies herein.
You've mistaken me, sir, for someone who careth.
15. The Wire (2002–2008)
TV-MA | 60 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
The Baltimore drug scene, as seen through the eyes of drug dealers and law enforcement.
Stars: Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce
Votes: 375,070
16. Silicon Valley (2014–2019)
TV-MA | 30 min | Comedy
Follows the struggle of Richard Hendricks, a Silicon Valley engineer trying to build his own company called Pied Piper.
Stars: Thomas Middleditch, T.J. Miller, Josh Brener, Martin Starr
Votes: 165,097
17. Rick and Morty (2013– )
TV-MA | 23 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
The fractured domestic lives of a nihilistic mad scientist and his anxious grandson are further complicated by their inter-dimensional misadventures.
Stars: Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke, Justin Roiland
Votes: 597,966
Amazingly good.
18. Nathan for You (2013–2017)
TV-14 | 30 min | Documentary, Comedy
Nathan Fielder uses his business degree and life experiences to help real small businesses turn a profit. But because of his unorthodox approach, Nathan's genuine efforts to do good often draw real people into an experience far beyond what they signed up for.
Stars: Nathan Fielder, Anthony Filosa, Salomon Flores, William Heath
Votes: 38,145
19. City of Men (2002–2018)
30 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A realistic yet humorous look at the lives of Laranjinha and Acerola, two friends who live adventurous and dangerous lives in a Rio de Janeiro slum.
Stars: Darlan Cunha, Douglas Silva, Camila Monteiro, Roberta Rodrigues
Votes: 2,957
20. Danger 5 (2011–2015)
TV-14 | 24 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
It's Christmas in the 1980s, Adolf Hitler is alive and has two Yuletide wishes: Danger 5 dead and the world under his Christmas tree.
Stars: David Ashby, Sean James Murphy, Natasa Ristic, Amanda Simons
Votes: 4,954
Crazy and very funny 60s-retro Australian series about a group of agents trying to complete their weekly mission..and kill Hitler.
21. Forbrydelsen (2007–2012)
TV-MA | 57 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Police detective Sarah Lund investigates difficult cases with personal and political consequences.
Stars: Sofie Gråbøl, Morten Suurballe, Lars Mikkelsen, Bjarne Henriksen
Votes: 30,075
Grr. It's really called Forbrydelsen (The Crime)
22. Borgen (2010–2022)
TV-14 | 58 min | Drama
A political drama about a prime minister's rise to power, and how power changes a prime minister.
Stars: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Søren Malling, Lisbeth Wulff
Votes: 29,804
Amazingly good.
"about how power changes a prime minister" says the IMDb blurb. Uh.... really? Hmm I don't remember her changing a lot, if at all, over the 3 seasons. Someone else who had this in a list on here wrote that season 1 & 2 are great, season 3 is awful. Funny. I thought season 3 was no weaker than the others, maybe better.
In the user comments to Ikiru on here, someone wrote that the first 1/2 is dreadful, but the 2nd half, the finest in cinema. Someone else wrote the complete opposite. Personally I loved both halves. :-)
23. Rita (2012–2020)
TV-MA | 40 min | Comedy, Drama
Schoolteacher Rita is a very outspoken, rebellious woman who is competent in the classroom but needs her own advisor when it comes to her personal life.
Stars: Mille Dinesen, Lise Baastrup, Nikolaj Groth, Carsten Bjørnlund
Votes: 10,068
24. The Legacy (2014–2017)
55 min | Drama
The death of a matriarch brings forgotten secrets out into the open and causes a prolonged battle for the family inheritance.
Stars: Trine Dyrholm, Marie Bach Hansen, Carsten Bjørnlund, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Votes: 3,266
25. Forestillinger (2007)
Drama
Six different people's experiences and perceptions of the same six weeks. Intense intrigue and intense love in the Copenhagen theater environment is unleashed during the creation of a new performance.
Stars: Mads Wille, Sonja Richter, Sara Hjort Ditlevsen, Pernilla August
Votes: 272
Per Fly's Performances A wonderful 6-part Danish series. A view of a (fictional) staged production of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis and its cast and their intertwined lives, through the eyes of a different character each episode. Magnificent stuff, unforgettable. Love, life, art, loss, beauty, tragedy, jealousy, madness etc
26. Spiral (2005–2020)
TV-PG | 52 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Follows criminal investigations in Paris from all the different points of view of those involved.
Stars: Caroline Proust, Audrey Fleurot, Thierry Godard, Philippe Duclos
Votes: 6,724
It's actual name is "Engrenages" which means nothing like "Spiral". It's more like interlocking gears/mechanisms. This is a fabulous series, am currently desperately waiting for the next season to appear..
27. Un village français (2009–2017)
TV-14 | 52 min | Drama
Traces the experiences of various residents of a fictional small village just inside the occupation zone during WWII. Deals with issues including collaboration, the Resistance, the fate of French Jews, and war profiteering.
Stars: Robin Renucci, Audrey Fleurot, Thierry Godard, Marie Kremer
Votes: 1,710
I didn't think it likely that this would be anywhere near as good as Engrenages.. but it is.
28. The Returned (2012–2015)
TV-MA | 418 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
In a small French mountain town where everyone knows each other, the dead begin to inexplicably return as if their death never happened. Forcing the townsfolk to confront their difficult past as they seek to understand this phenomenon.
Stars: Anne Consigny, Clotilde Hesme, Frédéric Pierrot, Céline Sallette
Votes: 21,280
Les Revenants I loved Season 1, but lost interest soon after that.
29. Spin (2012–2016)
TV-PG | 52 min | Drama, Thriller
After the assassination of the president, the electoral campaign begins again. The president's former advisor, is trying to promote his foals. The Secretary of State, is also in the running. The dirty tricks multiply.
Stars: Bruno Wolkowitch, Grégory Fitoussi, Philippe Magnan, Yves Pignot
Votes: 798
30. The Bureau (2015–2020)
TV-MA | 50 min | Drama, Thriller
A very unique and captivating series about the "bureau des légendes", the mythical powerhouse within the French Secret Service and its dare devil ghost agents.
Stars: Mathieu Kassovitz, Florence Loiret Caille, Jonathan Zaccaï, Sara Giraudeau
Votes: 14,046
31. Mr. Robot (2015–2019)
TV-MA | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Elliot, a brilliant but unstable cyber-security engineer and vigilante hacker, becomes a key figure in a complex game of global chaos when he and his shadowy allies try to take down the corrupt corporation his company is paid to protect.
Stars: Rami Malek, Christian Slater, Carly Chaikin, Martin Wallström
Votes: 416,633
Season 1 I thought was outstanding... season 2 lost the plot and my interest.
32. South Park (1997– )
TV-MA | 22 min | Animation, Comedy
Follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
Stars: Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Mona Marshall
Votes: 404,649
33. Paranoia Agent (2004–2005)
TV-MA | 25 min | Animation, Drama, Horror
Seemingly unconnected citizens of Tokyo are targeted for bludgeoning by a boy with a golden baseball bat. As detectives try to link the victims, they discover that following the assaults, the victims' lives have improved in some way.
Stars: Shôzô Îzuka, Toshihiko Seki, Mamiko Noto, Michael McConnohie
Votes: 14,114
34. Yes Minister (1980–1984)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy
The Right Honorable James Hacker has landed the plum job of Cabinet Minister to the Department of Administration. At last he is in a position of power and can carry out some long-needed reforms, or so he thinks.
Stars: Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds, Diana Hoddinott
Votes: 16,458
35. G.B.H. (1991)
567 min | Comedy, Drama
Politician Michael Murray's life entwines with headmaster Jim Nelson's, changing their trajectories when their paths cross unexpectedly.
Stars: Robert Lindsay, Michael Palin, Dearbhla Molloy, Alan Igbon
Votes: 820
36. Herrens veje (2017–2018)
60 min | Drama
The story centers on a family of priests: Johannes, Elisabeth, and their sons August and Christian. Johannes is God-like to his sons--he gives, loves, and punishes. His favoritism for ... See full summary »
Stars: Lars Mikkelsen, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Simon Sears, Fanny Louise Bernth
Votes: 1,700
37. Hunderby (2012–2015)
30 min | Comedy
Set in the 1830s, this black comedy centers on a woman who is washed ashore after her ship is wrecked off the English coast.
Stars: Julia Davis, Alexandra Roach, Alex Macqueen, Rufus Jones
Votes: 1,235
38. The Wrong Mans (2013–2014)
29 min | Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Sam Pinkett and Phil Bourne, Berkshire County administration officials, find their lives altered by a case of mistaken identity.
Stars: Mathew Baynton, James Corden, Sarah Solemani, Dawn French
Votes: 7,899
39. You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015–2022)
TV-PG | 30 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
When a group of ordinary people learn that an eight-mile-wide comet is on a collision course with Earth, they hunker beneath the town of Slough to watch the end of the world on television.
Stars: Mathew Baynton, Jenna Fischer, Joel Fry, Gaia Scodellaro
Votes: 7,999
40. Broadchurch (2013–2017)
TV-MA | 1,143 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.
Stars: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Andrew Buchan
Votes: 126,587
41. This Is Not My Life (2010)
44 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
Alec Ross awakes one morning to find that he doesn't know who or where he is and doesn't recognize his wife or children.
Stars: Charles Mesure, Tania Nolan, Miriama McDowell, Tom Cameron
Votes: 620
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