Struggling for something to watch? We’ve got the definitive answer here, with five of the absolute best-in-class TV series on streaming services at the moment. Smart Pig provide short-term loans for students and conducted their own survey on the UK’s streaming habits; they found that Netflix was the single most popular choice, with 64% of respondents using a subscription – though 49% of those surveyed do not pay for the subscription they use! Whether you pay for, beg, borrow or even steal your streaming accounts, be sure to scour them for these five compelling shows:
Squid Game
The number 1 series in 90 countries, and the most-streamed show in Netflix’s history, Squid Game is a compelling South-Korean drama that follows deadbeat dad Gi-Hun as he enters into a mysterious and deadly series of games controlled by masked men, in the hopes of winning a life-changing amount of money. Tension rises and twists abound, as the show proves its worth amongst audiences across the globe.
Bodyguard
An instant hit with UK audiences, Bodyguard is a nail-biting thriller series about a PTSD-suffering war veteran – played by Richard Madden of Game of Thrones fame – who takes on a position protecting the government’s contentious home secretary. Sparks fly and plots deepen, as things are revealed to not all be as they seem. The BBC reported Bodyguard to have attracted the largest viewing figures to BBC One since Doctor Who’s 2008 Christmas episode.
Fleabag
Another modern BBC classic, Fleabag is the wryly genius work of breakout writer and actor Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Her unique, fourth-wall-breaking narrative style stipples the series, which were developed for television from Waller-Bridge’s 2013 one-woman show of the same name. The titular character monologues her way through relationships, sex, grief and attractive priests (played by the inimitable Andrew Scott), in a weirdly emotional, affecting and hilarious ode to oddness
The Mandalorian
The show that made Disney+ the platform it is today, The Mandalorian is a juggernaut series, an utter refresher for the Star Wars IP and a return to form for actor and director Jon Favreau. The Mandalorian follows a Mandalorian gun-for-hire, as he is tasked with the care of a small, ugly, lovable creature coined by audiences as ‘Baby Yoda’. The series has endless charm, harking back to the same Westerns and TV serials that inspired the original Star Wars films, while offering a fresh take on the world of Star Wars before the events of The Force Awakens.
The Boys
The Boys is Amazon Prime’s sleeper hit, an endlessly-bingeable ode to, and relentless satire of, the superhero genre. The script is flipped as vaunted superheroes abuse their powers to serve their own interests, and a team of ‘villains’, fronted by William “Billy” Butcher (Karl Urban at his vindictive best). With two seasons out and a third on the way, The Boys is a hot ticket for a night of binge-watching.
