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Hallo. I& #39;m going to recommend box sets for company, starting with...
1) Giri/Haji - Joe Barton& #39;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">https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/e...
1) Giri/Haji - Joe Barton& #39;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">https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/e...
2) Stath Lets Flats - Jamie Demetriou& #39;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/programme...
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/stath-lets-flats">https://www.channel4.com/programme...
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& #39;s funny https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B07QRXJ1Y2/ref=atv_hm_hom_1_c_RdMk00_brws_3_1">https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/...
4) What We Do In The Shadows - Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi& #39;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& #39;ll be *ahem* cross if you miss it https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0005bky/what-we-do-in-the-shadows">https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/e...
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& #39;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 ">https://www.netflix.com/title/801...
7) Save Me - Lennie James& #39;s frantic scurry in search of his missing daughter is through a London you can taste, the scripts humming with lingo you& #39;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/">https://uktvplay.uktv.co.uk/shows/tas...
9) Garth Marenghi& #39;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/programme...
https://www.channel4.com/programmes/garth-marenghis-darkplace">https://www.channel4.com/programme...
10) House of Cards - 23 years before Netflix& #39;s blockbuster reboot changed TV forever, Andrew Davies & Ian Richardson delighted and appalled audiences with Francis Urquhart& #39;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& #39; 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& #39; cold-blooded rogues gallery. Minnesota nice & Minnesota oh-so nasty ( @NetflixUK)
12) This Country - The mockumentary was dead. Then, as advised by Belle & Sebastian& #39;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& #39;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& #39;s Kevin - 10.30pm on a Sunday night was no place to conceal one of this century& #39;s best sketch series. The Actor Kevin Eldon, portrayed by The Actor Kevin Eldon, is the lynchpin & it& #39;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& #39;s brand of cul-de-sac terrorism took flight in this savage black comedy, where hairdresser Jill emotionally profiteers from her husband& #39;s cancer diagnosis. Her cruelty isn& #39;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& #39;ll hold your breath like a freediver @BBCiPlayer
18) Deutschland 83 - Six years before David Hasselhoff& #39;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& #39;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& #39;s search for the past does so much to dictate their present, and even their future, in Mackenzie Crook& #39;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& #39;s waiting room, Dr Edward & #39;Fitz& #39; 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& #39;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& #39;Stard is a complete, an utter, Alan. Selfish, venal, mendacious, sadistic, murderous - his good points - B& #39;Stard embodied the worst of Tory excess. Today, he& #39;d be PM. Rik Mayall& #39;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 & #39;TV is the new film& #39; yawnsome chat, the Oscar/Bafta-nominated David Lynch made TV his plaything. In academic terms, he fucked shit up. In asking & #39;Who killed Laura Palmer?& #39;, he created an enduring hero, a terrifying villain, & a huge legacy @NOWTV
26) The Terror - Ship& #39;s timbers crack like the lips and skin of the sailors in this supernatural account of Franklin& #39;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& #39;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 - & #39;Where is Jessica Hyde?& #39; was the question not to be asked in Dennis Kelly& #39;s vivid graphic novel, where a lost comic holds a prophecy of mankind& #39;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& #39;s really taken place? @BBCiPlayer
30) PhoneShop - The staff of Sutton& #39;s most incident prone phone shop will ring your bell time and time again in this comedy, which will change the way you say & #39;owl& #39;. 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& #39;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& #39;s Batman and Mark Hamill& #39;s Joker perfection @itunes
(BONUS: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Perhaps Batman: The Animated Series& #39; 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& #39;s magic in this adaptation of Susanna Clarke& #39;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 - & #39;The thing about a shark, he& #39;s got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll& #39;s eyes,& #39; says Quint in Jaws, a quote which floats to your mind& #39;s surface during interviews with Robert Durst, real estate mogul & murder suspect. You& #39;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& #39;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
