The Best Series You May Have Missed

Baptiste  (BBC iPlayer)

Baptiste is a spin-off series from drama The Missing in which Julien Baptiste, played by Tchéky Karyo, uncovers a complex web of deceit and lies in the criminal underworld of Amsterdam's sex industry.

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Big Little Lies (Amazon Prime)

Three perfect upper-class mothers living the dream in stunning houses in Monterey, California, become embroiled in a murder investigation. A stellar cast includes Meryl Streep (from series two), Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Laura Dern and Zoe Kravitz. 

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Call My Agent (Netflix) 

A new, and final, season launched in the UK last month, so if this French comedy-drama has slipped under your radar, it’s time to get stuck in. The show follows four agents as they attempt to hold together the film agency they work for. Internal politics, power struggles and office affairs abound, topped off with a guest appearance from a French film star in each episode – look out for Juliette Binoche and Isabel Adjani in the earlier series, with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sigourney Weaver billed for season four.

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Chernobyl (Now TV)

A dramatisation of one of the most horrific man-made disasters in history – the 1986 nuclear explosion in the Ukraine. The show explores how the accident happened and follows the efforts of the brave men and women who risked their lives to avert a disaster for the rest of Europe and the world. 

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Doctor Foster (BBC iPlayer)

Suranne Jones stars as Dr Gemma Foster who seems to have the perfect life as a GP and happily married mother. Her world is torn apart when she uncovers why her husband is acting suspiciously. Her family and patients all suffer as a result. Also stars Jodie Corner.

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The Durrells (ITV hub)

The series (26 episodes in total) is based on Gerald Durrell's trilogy of books about his family's life in Corfu in the 1930s. Recently widowed Louisa Durrell (Keely Hawes) uproots her four children from London for a new life in Greece, where they struggle financially and have to adapt to a very different way of living.

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The Honourable Woman (BBC iPlayer)

As children, Nessa Stein (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her brother Ephra (Andrew Buchan) witnessed the assassination of their father, an Israeli arms manufacturer. Now in her 30s, Nessa has taken control of the company and is appointed to the House of Lords. However, a secret from her past threatens to be exposed.

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The Marvellous Mrs Maisel (Amazon Prime)

Late-50s New York comes to life in the form of Midge Maisel, her perfect husband and two kids, as she discovers her talent for stand-up comedy. The show charts her journey from her smart apartment to the downtown cafés and clubs of Greenwich Village. Some episodes are a little slow, but this is a great series to dip into for some understated humour. Feast your eyes on the costumes, too — Midge is one of the best dressed women on TV, with the designer winning awards to prove it.

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Mrs America (BBC iPlayer) 

Cate Blanchett stars in Mrs America, a stylish series set in the 70s depicting the real-life events surrounding the Equal Rights Movement and the culture war between Republican housewives and second-wave feminists. 

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The Night Manager (BBC iPlayer)

The series, which stars Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Elizabeth Debicki and Olivia Colman, was a huge hit when it first aired in 2016 and it won a slew of awards. It’s a gripping story, based on a John Le Carré novel, about a luxury hotel night manager and former British soldier who is recruited to investigate illegal arms sales and infiltrate the inner circle of an arms dealer.

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The Salisbury Poisonings (BBC iPlayer)

Another dramatisation of a real event, the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yuli. The three episodes explore how the police and government worked to stop thousands of ordinary people in Salisbury from becoming exposed to Novichok poisoining. 

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Schitt's Creek (Netflix)

Settle down to 80 half-hour episodes which follow the once-wealthy Rose family who are made bankrupt and move to a ramshackle motel in the only asset they have, a town called Schitt’s Creek. The kooky matriarch (played by Catherine O’Hara), a former soap actress, steals the show with her ridiculous wigs and out-of-place outfits from the likes of Alexander McQueen, Givenchy, Comme des Garçons and Isabel Marant.

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The Split (BBC iPlayer)

A steamy saga involving a formidable family of divorce lawyers and the clients they take on, starring Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan. The reappearance of their estranged father after 30 years forces them to revisit the past. A third season is rumoured.

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Succession (Amazon Prime)

Logan Roy (Brian Cox), age 80, has no plans to step aside as the head of his family-controlled media company but his four children have other ideas. Despite a best-laid succession plan, tempers flare and family loyalties collide in this brilliant dark comedy-drama. A must-see before season three arrives later this year.

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A Suitable Boy (BBC iPlayer)

Based on the novel by Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy is set in post-partition India of the 1950s. As political and religious tensions mount in the run-up to the country’s first elections, the show follows four families, in particular a mother’s efforts to arrange a marriage for her daughter, Lata, who is torn between duty and romance. Filmed on location with an entirely Indian cast, expect gorgeous sets and colourful costumes. 

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The Trial of Christine Keeler (BBC iPlayer)

The six-part series is based on the chain of events surrounding the Profumo Affair, the political sex scandal that rocked the British government during the Cold War of the 1960s. Christine Keeler was a 19-year-old model and dancer who had affairs with both John Profumo, the Secretary of State for War, and Eugene Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché. Starring Sophie Cookson, James Norton, Ellie Bamber, Ben Miles and Emilia Fox.

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The Undoing (Amazon Prime)

A tense, rollercoaster drama starring Nicole Kidman as Grace, a successful New York therapist, and Hugh Grant as Jonathan, her oncologist husband. The couple and their son appear to lead a perfect Upper East Side life until Grace’s world disintegrates when a woman is murdered, Jonathan goes missing and questions abound about his identity. Donald Sutherland reveals a steely, chilling side as Grace’s father.

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Unorthodox (Netflix)

A moving show based on Esty Shapiro, a 19-year-old girl born and raised in Brooklyn’s Hasidic Jewish community, who runs away to Germany to escape her husband and in-laws, as well as the pressure to consummate her arranged marriage and start a family.

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A Very English Scandal (BBC iPlayer)

A highly entertaining account of an infamous political and homosexual sex scandal in the 1970s between leader of the Liberal party Jeremy Thorpe (Hugh Grant) and young stable hand Norman Scott (Ben Whishaw). Scott grows unhappy with being kept a secret while Thorpe’s career takes off – but Thorpe wants him out of the way. Thorpe is put on trial for conspiracy to murder.

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Virgin River (Netflix)

Following a personal tragedy, nurse Melinda uproots from the city and moves to a remote backwater in California to start afresh. As an outsider, things aren’t quite so simple as she aims to gain acceptance and carve out a new life for herself. Two seasons in, this heart-warming drama is definitely binge-worth viewing at the moment.

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