UKH

What would you suggest that is out over the last 2-3 years?

If you haven't seen this yet then I highly suggest you check out "the Boys"

youtube.com/watch?v=06rueu_fh30&

Ozarks - probably on most people's radars and it has Breaking Bad running through its veins, but that's no bad thing.

Britannia - complete nonsense but it's got some pedigree actors and will probably get me reaching for a Now TV monthly pass when season three becomes available. 

Various Netflix documentaries:

Last Dance - no interest in basketball but this was enjoyable. 

Fear City - how the authorities got the Mafia. Some of the characters have a certain charm but you just know they did some atrocious things.

Ronnie Coleman docu. - again no real interest in bodybuilding but captivated by this. 

Netflix do seem to have a style with their documentaries that appeal to me. 

If you like The Boys you might enjoy Preacher. I've binged 14 episodes in 3 days, loving it.

Lots of the best stuff is older, so in terms of newer stuff:

Rake is pretty good, although on the lighter side. Aussie lawyer drama (very little to do with law)

Ozark as said. 

Vikings (1st couple of seasons) - vikings raiding Britain

Deutschland 83 - cold war east/west spy drama with cool colourful characters

Narcos Mexico - mexican drug cartel drama, faction

The Sinner (1st series is superb) - psychological 'why done it'

Mindhunter "origins of psychological profiling of serial killers drama'

Narcos is brilliant. Mindhunter got cancelled (which apparently happens quite a lot with Netflix stuff - inexplicable).

I'd add Manhunt to the list and Zodiac (film) of similar ilk. 

The Expanse on Prime is pretty awesome! Probably need to like Sci-Fi

Thanks, I’ll have a look.

last lockdown we also enjoyed 

- Fauda - Israeli/Palestine conflict drama. Gritty and superb

- The End of the F*cking World. - umm sort of coming of age meets Thelma and Louise meets Natural Born Killers meets hip. Super fun

- Godless - sort of reverse Western where the women run the show. I’m not a fan of Westerns but I loved it

I thought Fauda was exceptional. There's also a reasonable Israeli series called False Flag, but it isn't as good.

I also second suggestions for Ozark. I think in time it will be viewed as a match for the greatest series . My understanding is that the next series (4) will definitely be the last. 

( I'm a big western fan and enjoyed Godless very much)

Britannia? Awww, no! I watched the first series a few weeks ago and apart from enjoying 'spot the location' with all the stuff that was filmed in the Brecon Beacons, and a couple of the details of the Roman army, I was deeply disappointed!

Barbarians, on the other hand, just come out on Netflix, is way way better.

Disclaimer - I'm a Roman military historian so a bit picky on my Roman(esque) dramas!

Yeah, I think with Britannia the history is best described as fast and loose. For me the mad cap nature and some of the casting was what did it. 

I've developed a bit of an obsession with Devs (FX on the BBC iPlayer).  Very stylish and atmospheric, thought-provoking science/philosophy (only one scene where I really wanted to give one of the characters the killer answer to the question), great music and even poetry (Free, Low, Larkin).  It really captures the Californian private sector high-tech vibe. 

And if potentially existence-ending quantum mechanics isn't enough of a McGuffin to draw you in, there are Russian spies (who aren't necessarily the bad guys), several murders, and Clarissa out of Silent Witness.     

For a bit of light relief try Schitt’s Creek

Criminal (UK) on Netflix is pretty good although only a few episodes long 

The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix is the best thing I’ve seen for a good while.  Expectations were low but it was superb.

Another vote for Godless.  I’m not a fan of westerns either but it was great.

Herr Star is class

2 episodes in on QG. Very good so far.

It was good, but not as clever as it thought it was. 

A couple more I enjoyed were:

McMafia about Russian gangsters in London 

Claws a funny Dixyland Mafia farce based in a manicure parlour.

Yes, it was frustrating that Lily hadn't apparently heard of Schrodinger's cat when she couldn't think of anything with no predictable causal event, and I wouldn't have been persuaded that there was no downside to standing on the edge a dam.  I also wasn't clear how the lights (not to mention the computers) would work in an isolated chamber suspended electromagnetically in a vacuum... but I guess if you've cracked quantum computing maybe that's a detail. 

Still, it had some big ideas and engaging characters.  And it's not often you hear a line like 'It's bullshit, and dualist bullshit, which is the worst sort' in a popular drama!

Better Call Saul is a good watch.

Plus Ron Swanson!

Down to 2 episodes to watch in season 5. I might have repeat Braking Bad.

Not quite a box set but super interesting was a recent three part series on British castles which was re-shown on BBC4. Now on iPlayer.

I actually prefer it due to the way it has all the BB future to allude to. The stuff with Chuck is amazing too. Quite a brilliant standard of script and screen play I thought. 

My partner and I have long discussions after each episode. I'm getting worried about Kim. Things are getting pretty dark.

She's the real slow burn character in the whole thing I think. 

The dismantling of Howard is very interesting too.

Another vote for End of the F*cking World - it was just brilliant, the most fun I've had in front of a TV screen since the first series of Twin Peaks. Also enjoyed Tales From the Loop - kind of Sci-Fi meets Edward Hopper, with '70s Volvos.... And if you're happy with subtitles, darkness and extremely casual violence, I cannot recommend Gomorrah highly enough - Italian drama about Naples mafia (not the original docu-drama movie of the same name, based on the excellent investigative journalism book of the same name, by Roberto Savaiano, who also had a hand in the production of the subsequent, but fictional, TV drama).

Older classics, in case you missed them - Sopranos, Band of Brothers, The Wire

Absolutely. I too have no interest in basketball but I thought htis was exceptional.

For other sports fans the Movistar documentary, The Least Expected day is worth a watch.

E

Have you watched Ratched?

E

For music fans Hip Hop Evolution is brilliant.

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The Defiant Ones if we're doing this!

I'd say even non fans.

Atlanta too. 

And Girls.

I read something about this recently, seems it is not so inexplicable. Regardless of success/popularity, an EXISTING TV show fades from the "headlines" and thus does not draw in NEW subscribers. Netflix wants NEW subscribers so it will invest in the next new shiny attention-grabbing property, and something somewhere has to give. 

Of course this isn't universal; Bojack Horseman and Schitt's Creek ran/run many seasons but I guess production cost plays a factor too. 

Yes. Netflix is exasperating in what it leaves out and what it chooses to push.

Have a look into Reed Hastings, the CEO, he's got some decent ideas and seems a bit more responsible as a social demagogue than some of his peers.

As I mentioned on another thread, there's a feature film spin off to Gommorah in case you thought Ciro might not stop in the Bay of Naples for too long.

I enjoyed The Stranger on Netflix. All UK actors and filmed, so not sure if it was previously on BBC or developed purely by Netflix, but very good.

Thanks - but seen it already! I'd heard about it ages ago, but it didn't seem to be around on any of the streaming services, or not the ones I have anyway.... than it randomly popped up on one of my free channels! cue much excitment and cancellation of all other plans for that evening, for both me & the mrs

I wouldn't say it was essential, but I enjoyed Big Mouth (on Netflix) more than I initially thought I was going to. Not quite as poignant as Bojack, but has some good observations about navigating adolescence, to the point where I'd think it'd make good viewing for young 'uns were it not absolutely, joyfully filthy

We really like euro crime / gangster series. For content that's available on other platforms than Netflix, Mafiosa on Walter Presents is brilliant, and we really enjoyed Braquo on Amazon Prime. 

Another vote for the Sinner also, in fact there are a lot of good series on Walter presents. 

Paul

Waiting eagerly for the  final series of Engrenages/ Spiral which should be with us  by Christmas.

Thanks for the heads up, just watched The Queen's Gambit this weekend and thought it was super.

The Bridge is good if swedish/danish with subtitles is your thing (iplayer). Not so keen on season 3 mind you.

Just started something new last night with the Harry Potter dude.

Its called Miracle Workers. God wants to wipe out planet earth because it sucks however Daniel Radcliffe and his co-worker make a bet with God to save the world.

The bet is that if Daniel + co-worker win then the world gets saved. If God wins then, bye bye earth and the co-worker has to eat a work in front of all God's staff i.e. angels.

Im only two episodes in, and I'm quite enjoying it. I was watching an episode of Graham Norton when he was interviewing Daniel Radcliffe.

Daniel wasn't too sure if the show was airing in the UK so he suggested that people steal it off the internet. Graham had fit and said people should not do that. Daniel to his credit, pretended to agree with the advice.

Got to admit Daniel is a rather good actor.

For something more parochial I would definitely recommend This Country.

Just watched all three seasons on BBC iPlayer. Similar in style to The Office but I found the two main characters much more engaging. Brilliant observations and lines, especially if you've ever lived in a small town or village.

I had to look that up - he doesn't really come across as a comedian in Devs!

My son also highly recommended this and I'm 7 episodes in...

Very good and the overall themes of popular authoritarianism based on a marketing department deciding what the truth is reminds me of something...  I'm sure that in his own head Trump is Homelander.

It's a tribute to the rest of it that I'm gradually managing to ignore Karl Urban's accent.  I think what he was aiming for was the Fairy Liquid 'no more Mr Nice Baby' but it swerves between the worst cockney since Dick van Dyck and the worst aussie since Pacific Rim*.

* I've just looked him up and actually he's a Kiwi.  In which case, I have to acknowledge his US accent sounds pretty good in Star Trek and Red!

It's rare for a TV programme to capture me, but I put on the first episode of Chernobyl, and ended up watching the entire season that night. Really brilliant show.

Nobody seems to have mentioned Dark on Netflix yet - it's got hints of Stranger Things, until things start to turn, errr, dark. German language, best watched with subtitles rather than the dubbed version. Sons of Anarchy is another not mentioned yet, a (relatively) old'un but a good'un.