The evenings are dark and it’s frosty outside – what better time to discover a box set to fall in love with? This year’s seen some excellent shows aired, from fantasy series that will transport you to another world to thrillers that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.
If you’re ready to dive into a new show, here are seven options that are available to stream right now.
1. Slow Horses
Based on Mick Herron’s Slough House book series, this show is perfect if you love a good spy thriller.
Gary Oldman plays an experienced MI5 officer, while Jack Lowden plays the up-and-coming agent who was demoted after a very public training exercise mistake. Slough House, known as “Slow Horses”, is where service rejects go to endure paper-pushing tasks. That is until the agents become entangled in a gambit.
The show blends comedy, tense scenes, and a human redemption story.
The first series aired in April and is available on Apple TV+. Season two premiered in December and the show has already been renewed for a third and fourth series.
2. Sherwood
Sherwood is a crime drama inspired by real events that took place in Nottinghamshire in 2004.
Set in a small mining village, the series starts with the murder of Gary Jackson, a former union activist. The murder fractures the local community, as neighbours begin to suspect each other, and brings back divisions from decades earlier. While the police investigate, they start to suspect there’s a connection between the miner’s strike and Jackson’s interest in police activities.
Sherwood aired in July and you can watch all six episodes on BBC iPlayer now. It has been renewed for a second series.
3. House of the Dragon
The hugely anticipated prequel to Game of Thrones began airing in August, and you can watch all 10 episodes through NOW.
House of the Dragon is perfect for fantasy fans. Set around 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, it explores the civil war succession of the Targaryens, the royal house of the Seven Kingdoms. It’s filled with court politics, fierce fights, and, of course, plenty of dragons.
The cast, including Paddy Considine, Emma D’Arcy, Matt Smith, and Olivia Cooke, have been praised for their performances. The show is expected to win during awards season and there will be a second series.
4. Stranger Things
The first season of the sci-fi show Stranger Things premiered in 2016, and the fourth season aired this summer. So, you’ll have plenty of episodes to keep you entertained if you’ve yet to watch the show.
Set in Indiana, US, in the 1980s, the show focuses on supernatural and mysterious events happening in the small town of Hawkins. When 12-year-old Will goes missing, his mother launches an investigation that leads to government experiments and supernatural creatures.
The fifth and final season of Stranger Things is expected to release in 2024. You can watch the first four seasons on Netflix.
5. Derry Girls
The third and final series of Derry Girls aired this year. The comedy series follows a gang of girls living in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. It follows their lives as they come of age, from completing school exams to celebrating their 18th birthdays, against the backdrop of the Troubles.
It’s filled with one-liners as the cast attends a Catholic girls’ school and finds themselves in absurd situations. It’s a great choice if you want a light-hearted show during winter nights. All three series are available on All4.
6. The Time Traveler’s Wife
Based on Audrey Niffenegger’s novel of the same name, The Time Traveler’s Wife is a science fiction romance between Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble.
Henry’s a man with a genetic disorder that means he time travels with no control over when he’ll disappear or where he’ll end up. Thanks to his connection with Clare, he meets her many times throughout her childhood. The show follows their unusual life together as they try to live normally despite the complexities of their relationship.
The first series consists of six episodes, which can be streamed on NOW.
7. Chloe
This six-part BBC psychological thriller follows Becky, a young woman who is obsessed with the suicide of her childhood friend, Chloe. To find out more about Chloe’s life, Becky creates an alter ego, Sasha, to engineer meetings that will bring her closer to the answers she wants. But she starts to lose herself in the game she’s playing as pretence starts to obscure reality.
With the first series telling a complete story, it’s a great choice if you want something to fill a weekend. You can stream all episodes of Chloe through BBC iPlayer.
