Jessica Jones and 10 more of the best TV shows on Netflix UK
The second series of Marvel’s franchise hits small screens to mark International Women’s Day
With so many new shows appearing on television, subscription and streaming services, it’s easy to miss the gems.
From rom-coms and millennial comedies to noir cartoons and political shows, here’s The Week’s list of some of the best Netflix shows you won’t want to miss:
Jessica Jones
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The highly anticipated second season of the Marvel show is being released on Netflix to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The series follows Jessica Jones - played by Krysten Ritter - a trouble-making private investigator with superhuman fighting skills and strength, garnering praise from critics including The Daily Telegraph, which noted its “intrigue and dramatic subtlety”.
“With its blend of dark, pointed humour and noir-style emotional clout, the show does what every good comic book story should: uses a fake world to shine a light on real human problems.”
But what really makes the show stand out is that all 13 episodes of Jessica Jones season two are directed by women, Radio Times reports, a decision which showrunner Melissa Rosenberg says “changed the dynamic of the series”.
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“Because we have so many women as department heads, directors and writers, it has normalised it,” she said. “I was very cognisant on our first episode of a woman being at the head of the table at the production meeting and then right around the time we got to episode three or four, it just became a very normal thing.”
Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories
One of Japan's most intriguing, understated web dramas, Midnight Diner (深夜食堂 Shinya shokudō) is by no means a new show, having originally aired in 2011, with three further series being made in the subsequent years.
But its staying power is largely owed to its unique premise: it is a show ostensibly about nothing, detailing the mundane minutiae of the lives of the eccentric patrons of the show's central location - an overnight diner in downtown Tokyo. Subtle, heartfelt and frequently hilarious, Midnight Diner remains one of Netflix's most rewarding shows.
Altered Carbon
The Huffington Post describes newcomer Altered Carbon as “a sci-fi crime drama set in the future, where humans can transport their minds into new bodies”, although we prefer the San Francisco Chronicle's take: “It's a cyberpunk Game of Thrones, except that winter is already here, three centuries into the future.”
The show was created by Hollywood screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island, Pathfinder) and based on the 2002 novel of the same title by English author Richard K. Morgan, set in a future where our minds are stored on “stacks” - discs that live in the back of our necks.
The Good Place
From the creators of Parks and Recreation, this feelgood comedy about the afterlife begins following the death of Eleanor Shellstrop, played by Kristen Bell. After she dies, Eleanor is relieved to find out that she’s made it into the 'Good Place', but it doesn’t take long for her to realise she’s there by mistake. The show follows Eleanor as does her best to assimilate to her new heavenly home and maintain her cover.
“The characters in the Good Place quickly discover eternal paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – but for astute comedy fans this is simply heavenly viewing,” says The Telegraph.
Black Mirror
One of the darker shows Netflix has to offer, each of Black Mirror's stand-alone episodes offers a bleak but often blackly comic slice of techno-paranoia, each with its own unique cast of characters.
The stories often tap into the collective unease about technology’s place in modern society. Each of the six episodes in Black Mirror’s fourth season “play out like a mini-movie, boldly establishing its own troubling world”, says The Guardian. Plus, since all of the episodes tell separate tales, it’s easy to watch out of order.
Dark
Netflix's Dark is a German sci-fi horror series that “begins with a missing child in the small and very rainy German town of Winden and ends with a total and utter mind-flip of interlinked timelines”, writes Digital Spy. “Some are calling it the next Stranger Things, but we reckon it's a bit more... well... dark.”
A devilishly ambitious and remarkably complex piece of storytelling, Dark, which premiered late last year, is perhaps the perfect antidote to some of Netflix's more frivolous shows.
The OA
This eight-part series, created by and starring Brit Marling, is one of the stranger offerings on Netflix. But it will appeal to those who like drama that features inter-dimensional travel and near-death experiences. The story focuses on blind Prairie Johnson (Marling), a young woman who returns with her vision intact after a long disappearance and suspected kidnapping. Mysterious and addictive, with a compelling plot at its heart.
Master of None
Aziz Ansari writes and stars in this humorous and painfully honest look into modern life – from dating apps to cultural stereotypes. Ansari’s character Dev is an underachieving 30-something living in New York City who can’t decide what he wants from his life, love or career. Sharp, funny writing and Ansari’s charm make this worth watching.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
This American comedy sitcom was commissioned for its 13th and 14th season in April of 2016, making it the longest-running live action series in American TV history. The anarchic comedy focuses on the Gang, a group of five self-centred hypocrites and depraved underachievers who own a run-down Irish bar in south Philadelphia. You can catch all 12 seasons of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Netflix in the UK.
Fauda
This tense political thriller follows the members of an undercover Israeli army counter-terrorism unit who are hunting for a Hamas terrorist. The New York Times describes it as a “gritty, naturalistic thriller” but also a “family drama” as opposing sides live side-by-side with much shared history. Season one is available.
Easy
Joe Swanberg directs this Netflix original rom-com anthology series about a group of Chicagoans looking for love and struggling to hold on to it. Its eight stories capture the awkwardness, tension and passion of relationships, from idealistic vegans who fall for bacon-eaters to jaded couples trying to spice up their love lives. With Orlando Bloom, Gugu-Mbatha Raw and Dave Franco.
Trailer Park Boys
This Canadian mockumentary series follows the boozy misadventures of three long-time loser friends who sell marijuana and run petty scams from their home in the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Nova Scotia. Now in its 11th season, with all seasons available to stream. Den of Geek calls it “brilliant” and a lesson in comedy writing.