I think the UK version of Being Human is better than the American remake. For one thing, there’s a nice mixture of drama, horror and humor.
And I’d also recommend the UK original Shameless (which is in its eleventh and final series) and the teen drama Skins (which is in its seventh and final series). In particular, I liked the first two series of Skins (the first generation) and the first couple of series of Shameless (while most of the core family was still on the show). (Both of these programmes were remade for the US market, although the US Skins only lasted one season.)
This is England, the film and the spin-off TV specials gets my vote for the best British drama of recent years.
That said a series that I think the OP would almost certainly love is The Returned/Les Revenants which is a French TV series currently airing in the UK.
Ooh.. I didn’t realize it was a remake (isn’t everyrhing these days?) I think I might be too invested in Kevin Spacey’s version of Frank Underwood to switch versions in the middle, though.
Was there a new I, Claudius, or are you referring to the classic with Derek Jacobi? I vaguely remember watching it on PBS with my parents when it was new. Might be time to watch it again…
I’ve mentioned Episodes before (and will again). Funny British/American comedy. Going back a bit, if you haven’t seen Wonderfalls or Pushing Daisies, give them a try. I also liked The Fades from BBC3 (iirc), but it only runs six episodes.
Let me throw in a vote for the new Netflix original series Orange is the New Black(not British, just great), which is based on a true story about a middle class suberban type lady going to prison because of mistakes she made a decade before.
It’s created by Jenji Kohan, creator of Weeds, and has a similar tone to the first couple of seasons of *Weeds *when it was still good, before it got ridiculous. It features some of the very best acting I have ever seen on television. Uzo Aduba as Crazy Eyes, is particularly good.
The Hour, a BBC show that also ran on BBCamerica, depicts the production of a news show on the BBC, back in the mid 50’s. We see national & international news of the day–as well as the complicated personal lives of characters played by a really superb cast. Warning: It was cancelled after two series of 6 episodes each. If you love the show as much as some of us do, this will make you very unhappy…
Parade’s End is a 5-hour BBC/HBO miniseries based on novels by Ford Madox Ford. Tom Stoppard wrote the script & there’s another of those excellent (mostly) British casts. Set just before & during WWI, the production values are sumptuous & the story witty & interesting. DVD’s & BluRays in the US format will be available in September. When we’ll also see if any of those 5 Emmy nominations result in awards. (The Hour got 2 nominations)
The Bletchley Circle is another BBC series; we saw it on PBS. Set in the early 50’s, four women who’d done top secret codebreaking work during The War use their talents to find a serial killer–and stave off ennui…
If all these exquisite little series leave you a bit hungry–Netflix has 5 series of Mad Men…
New Tricks, about a cold case squad in London. This isn’t your typical cold case squad in that, except for the woman in charge, its members are all officers who have retired. Plots center around the Case of the Week with bits about the squad’s personal lives, which sometimes intertwine. Like when the squad goes after the suspect in a hit & run in which the victim was the wife of one of their own. Some very good television here, I was hooked after seeing that victim’s husband attempting to run over the suspect.
The Wikipedia link has a good rundown of the characters and what channels carry the show. All past seasons are also available on DVD.