There's a tonne of programming available to watch with Peak TV in full force. However, which programmes are worth watching? These are the year's best. BBC One and iPlayer Tony Schumacher's spare drama about life in the ambulance service was inspired by his previous experience as a policeman. In his role as a police officer on the verge of a breakdown, Martin Freeman gave an incredible performance.
Hope is the last thing you would anticipate in a post-apocalyptic world, but this series gives it to you. Station Eleven (written by Patrick Somerville, who got his start on Damon Lindelof's The Leftovers) is a more nuanced drama than previous post-catastrophic pandemic television, which focuses more on death and terror. Drawn on Emily St. John Mandel's 2014 novel, the 10-episode limited series focuses more on reflections on what makes human existence worthwhile than it does on survivalist drama. A number of individuals, including Kirsten, Miranda, and Jeevan, who initially cross paths during a Hamlet theatre production, come to realise that existence isn't truly about surviving at all. It's also a stunning, mysterious series that will at least bring you to tears. Watch it via HBO Max.
The family saga is a tired genre, but Pachinko (based on a novel by Min Jin Lee) reinvents it with a level of artistic skill that is evident in the controlled yet emotional acting of its characters and the grace of its time-shifting story. Four generations of a Korean-Japanese family are shown in the series, from the early years of Japan's occupation to World War II and beyond. It also discusses social warfare, cultural intolerance, and religious strife. The programme begins with sombre documentary footage of Japanese occupation and militarism. Next, the ensemble of Sunja—played by Minha Kim in her youth and by Yuh-Jung Youn in her senior version—dances together in one of Mozasu's pachinko parlours to the song "Let's Live for Today" by The Grass Roots. It serves as a reminder that although history might be terrifying, hope endures.
Some of the best comedies on television, such as Parks and Recreation, Master of None, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, are the product of Michael Schur, who may have achieved his greatest success with The Good Place. The programme innovates by fusing set design, character development, and storytelling, demonstrating that the 20-minute network comedy is far from extinct. The idea is straightforward enough, yet it's carried out so brilliantly that it never comes across as forced or cheesy. Four flawed individuals—the craven Eleanor Shellstrop (a career-best Kristen Bell), the foolish Floridian DJ Jason Mendoza (Manny Jacinto), the vainglorious bombshell philanthropist Tahani Al-Jamil (Jaye Davidson), and the kindly, all-knowing Janet (D'Arcy Carden)—offer a glimpse of heaven and hell in this warm, inventive metaphysical sitcom.
A gut-punch of a Hulu series, Elisabeth Moss plays a fertile woman forced to produce children in Margaret Atwood's dystopian future novel. Its grim dystopia feels shamelessly political, but it also has some humorous moments and flashes of hope every now and again. Try Joe Weisberg's superb Cold War spy thriller The Americans or Tatiana Maslany's Orphan Black, in which a young woman finds out she is one of many lab-grown lookalikes, for more television that delves into dark, captivating stories. Alternatively, watch The OA, which centres on a group of aircraft crash survivors who have to learn how to communicate with one another in their post-apocalyptic new society. And if you're in the need for some humour, check out Schitt's Creek, which won the comedy category in 2020 and created Emmy history.
Four decades of royal intrigue and family strife are followed in this opulent Netflix series starring Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II and Matt Smith as Prince Philip from Doctor Who. The actors' stunning facial likenesses and exquisite historical costumes—which include some very ridiculous hats—are its most striking aspects. Peter Morgan, the show's creator, has no qualms with dramatising the humanity of the frequently unapproachable royals. While there are other TV shows that do this as well, The Crown is the most effective at presenting a lavishly constructed history lesson while simultaneously highlighting the shortcomings in its characters. The story of The Crown's fifth season is once again centred on the internal turmoil of the Windsor family, especially their acrimonious breakup with Princess Diana. Plots like Charles' Annus Horribilis speech and a Tampongate interview feel more current than they have ever felt because of this change.
