My wife and I, having just caught up on Orphan Black, are starving for another show to get into. In the Sherlock Season 3 thread, someone mentioned how outstanding British dramas have been lately, and someone asked for recommendations, but the question went unanswered. Rather than hijacking that thread, I’ll ask here: What are the really good British shows of the last few years that an American has probably missed?
British TV we watch: Doctor Who, Sherlock, Downton Abbey, just started on Merlin
American TV we watch: Breaking Bad, The Newsroom, Dexter, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Hannibal, Bates Motel, Homeland. Gave up on True Blood, Falling Skies, and Revolution. Couldn’t get into Under the Dome.
Past favs: Joss Whedon stuff, Fringe, Lost, BSG
I’m asking specifically for British TV because I’m less likely to know it, but any and all recs are appreciated
edit: ugh. big ol stupid typo in the title. that’s what I get for posting from my phone
Utopia is probably the most obvious choice. It was a recent British sci-fi show that got a lot of great reviews. I wasn’t overly impressed, myself. It was very dark - much darker than Orphan Black - and I thought that it used shock value to cover up weak writing, but I’m in the minority.
The short answer - as already mentioned - is Broadchurch. No bullshit: TV that treats you like a reasonably intelligent adult.
Available on iTunes, etc.
With the best will … I couldn’t really rec Utopia; there is an issue of style over substance and I don’ think it would travel well.
If you could handle subtitles you’d have an awful lot of fun with Borgen, The Bridge and The Killing. From France, ditto the very smart The Returned.
There is also a very, very long answer - as there’s been quite a lot of good quality UK drama - but Broadchurch will fill the gap.
btw, theabove rec are all series drama - 6-7 hours.
If you prefer 1 hour drama, then there is the truly outstanding The Accused (written by Jimmy McGovern with a range of co-authors) - S1 and S2. This is outrageous quality:
She lived in England until she was 11. She can switch between British and American accents. I’ve been wanting to see this since I’ve heard good things about it.
Seconded. It’s a profane, funny version of what “Heroes” should have been. A warning - it will take a few episodes to get used to the thick accents on some of them, but it’s worth it.
This is probably a bit older than you’re thinking of, but the UK series Cracker with Robbie Coltrane is pretty awesome. I like British dramas (crime ones, especially) b/c they aren’t afraid to go to dark places.
They made a US version which I tried to like but couldn’t.
i enjoyed the uk version of “being human”. they are finally showing the final series on bbc america now. series 1-4 are on netflix, i’m sure series 5 will be on once it has finished showing on bbc am.
I haven’t tried the UK version of “Being Human” yet - I watched a bit of the North American version, and I liked it okay, but I didn’t love it. I think the UK version is on Netflix - I’ll have to give it a try.
I watched with subtitles and it helped a lot. I watched the whole series but I do think the first two were the best and it kind of went off the rails after that.