19 Standout TV Dramas Of 2025 Worth Catching Up On
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19 Standout TV Dramas Of 2025 Worth Catching Up On

From Hollywood imports to gritty British originals, 2025 has delivered a stellar crop of small-screen dramas. Here are x of the best series to catch up on over the Christmas break.

NETFLIX

The Beast In Me 

Since the tragic death of her young son, acclaimed author Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) has receded from public life, unable to write, a ghost of her former self. But she finds an unlikely subject for a new book when the house next door is bought by Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys), a famed and formidable property mogul who was once the prime suspect in his wife’s disappearance. At once horrified and fascinated by this man, Aggie finds herself compulsively hunting for the truth – chasing his demons while fleeing her own – in a game of deadly cat and mouse.  

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House of Guinness  

House of Guinness will fill the Peaky Blinders-shaped hole in your TV schedule. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the show begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and explores the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children – Arthur, Edward, Anne and Ben – as well as on a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the Guinness name. Starring Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air), Louis Partridge (Disclaimer), Fionn O’Shea (Normal People), James Norton (Happy Valley), Dervla Kirwan (True Detective: Night Country) and Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones).   

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Black Rabbit 

Set against the backdrop of New York City’s high-pressure nightlife scene, Black Rabbit centres on two brothers who are pushed to the brink by their duty to family and their pursuit of success. Jake Friedken (Jude Law) is the charismatic owner of Black Rabbit, a restaurant and VIP lounge, poised to become the hottest spot in New York. But when his brother Vince (Jason Bateman) returns to the business unexpectedly, trouble soon follows, opening the door to old traumas and new dangers that threaten to bring down everything they’ve built. Black Rabbit is a propulsive thrill ride and character examination about the way an unbreakable bond between two brothers can shatter their world and everything in its orbit.  

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Adolescence 

This is Netflix’s most talked-about UK drama of the year – and rightly so. Written by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham (who also stars), this four-part series tackles toxic masculinity, youth violence and systemic failure with unflinching honesty. It opens with a raid on the 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) who has been accused of murdering a fellow student. Each episode is shot in a single take, amplifying the intensity and emotional claustrophobia of the story. Also stars Ashley Walters (Top Boy) and Erin Doherty (The Crown).  

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Dept Q

DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) is a brilliant cop but a terrible colleague. His razor-sharp sarcasm has made him no friends in the Edinburgh police force. After a shooting that leaves a young PC dead, and his partner paralysed, he finds himself exiled to the basement and the sole member of Dept Q, a newly formed cold-case unit. The department is a PR stunt to distract the public from the failures of an under-resourced, failing police force that is glad to see the back of him. But more by accident than design, Carl starts to build a gang of waifs and strays who have everything to prove. So, when the stone-cold trail of a prominent civil servant who disappeared several years ago starts to heat up, Carl is back doing what he does best – rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer.  

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Havoc 

Walker (Tom Hardy) is a bruised detective fighting his way through the criminal underworld threatening to engulf his entire city. In the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Walker finds himself with a number of factions on his tail: a vengeful crime syndicate, a crooked politician, and his fellow cops. When attempting to rescue the politician’s estranged son, whose involvement in the drug deal starts to unravel a deep web of corruption and conspiracy, he is forced to confront the demons of his past. A high-octane action thriller written and directed by Gareth Evans (The Raid, Gangs of London), Havoc stars Tom Hardy, Jessie Mei Li, Luis Guzmán, Timothy Olyphant and Forest Whitaker. 

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NOW

All Her Fault 

This is a tense psychological thriller starring Sarah Snook (Succession), Dakota Fanning (The Perfect Couple), Jake Lacy (The White Lotus) and Michael Peña (American Hustle). Based on Andrea Mara’s novel, All Her Fault is a tangled ‘whodunnit’ mystery that brings every parent’s worst nightmare to life. When Marissa Irvine arrives to pick up her son from a playdate with a new friend, she’s shocked to find that the woman who opens the door isn’t a mother she recognises. She’s not the nanny, and she doesn’t have her son. And so begins chaos for the Irvines and their community. Somebody’s buried secrets are to blame for his disappearance, but whose? Every episode is brimming with secrets, twists and a growing body count. 

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The Iris Affair 

The team behind Luther brought to life this thriller starring Niamh Algar (Playing Nice) and Tom Hollander (The Night Manager). When Iris, a reclusive genius, is hired by Cameron to break a seemingly unbreakable code, she soon learns of the dangers it can lead to. Fearing for her life (and the fate of the world) she steals the code and goes on the run across Italy. Cameron races to find her as his wealthy – and dangerous – investors start to close in on him, demanding answers. With both of their lives on the line, can she break the impossible code before her time runs out?  

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APPLE TV

Pluribus

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan worked with Rhea Seehorn on Better Call Saul. He liked what she did so much, he created a show just for her. This is it: a post-apocalyptic thriller that, like his most famous series, is set in Alburquerque. Except this time, most of humanity has succumbed to a virus that joins everyone together in an endlessly happy hive mind. Seehorn’s Carol – cynical, angry, independent minded – appears to be immune. As the full extent of Carol’s situation is unpacked across nine episodes, Seehorn delivers the performance Gilligan hoped for, obstinate and unbreakable in the face of both existential crises and medical emergencies. 

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The Last Frontier 

The Last Frontier is a ten-episode thriller that follows Frank Remnick (Jason Clarke), the lone US marshal in charge of the quiet, rugged barrens of Alaska. Remnick’s jurisdiction is turned upside down when a prison transport plane crashes in the remote wilderness, setting free dozens of violent inmates. Tasked with protecting the town he’s vowed to keep safe, he begins to suspect the crash wasn’t an accident, but the first step of a well-crafted plan with far-reaching and devastating implications.   

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The Studio 

This Emmy-winning satire skewers Hollywood with razor-sharp wit and a killer cast. Seth Rogen stars as Matt Remick, the new head of a struggling film studio, navigating egos, chaos and corporate absurdity. As movies struggle to stay alive and relevant, Matt and his core team of infighting executives battle their own insecurities as they wrangle narcissistic artists and craven corporate overlords in the ever-elusive pursuit of making great films. The cast also includes – wait for it – Catherine O’Hara, Zoë Kravitz, Bryan Cranston, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Dave Franco, among other A-listers. 

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Down Cemetery Road 

Author Mick Herron’s latest TV adaptation is a great series to watch if you’ve already binged your way through season five of Slow Horses. Another twisty thriller, Down Cemetery Road delves into the aftermath of a house explosion in a quiet Oxford suburb and the disappearance of a girl. Neighbour Sarah (Ruth Wilson) becomes obsessed with finding her, enlisting the help of private investigator Zoë (a formidable Emma Thompson). Soon, the two women find themselves in a complex conspiracy that reveals people long believed dead are still alive.  

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Your Friends & Neighbours 

Jon Hamm stars in this black comedy as Coop, a hedge-fund manager turned burglar who targets his wealthy neighbours to maintain appearances. Created by Jonathan Tropper (Warrior, Banshee), it’s a sharp take on suburban secrets and moral decay. Amanda Peet and Olivia Munn co-star, and the show’s mix of satire, suspense and social commentary has earned it rave reviews. Already renewed for season two, it’s one of Apple’s best originals this year. 

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PRIME VIDEO

Dope Thief 

Dope Thief is an eight-part crime drama executive-produced by Ridley Scott, who also directs the first episode. Starring Atlanta and Bullet Train’s ever excellent Brian Tyree Henry, the show is based on Dennis Tafoya’s book of the same name. It follows long-time Philly friends and delinquents who pose as DEA agents to rob an unknown house in the countryside – only to have their small-time grift become a life-and-death enterprise, as they unwittingly reveal and unravel the biggest hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern seaboard. 

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Lazarus 

Sam Claflin leads the cast in this thriller from Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst – the duo behind The Stranger and Stay Close. Claflin plays a man who returns to his family home after the suicide of his father (Bill Nighy) to be haunted by experiences he can’t explain. What starts as grief spirals into something darker as he becomes embroiled in a web of cold-case murders, all while wrestling with the unsolved killing of his sister 25 years earlier.  

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The Girlfriend 

This six-part thriller is a psychological tug-of-war between two formidable women. Robin Wright plays Laura, a high-powered mother suspicious of her son’s new girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke). What begins as maternal concern spirals into obsession, manipulation and violence. Based on Michelle Frances’ bestselling novel, it’s part domestic noir, part social satire. The show’s clever storytelling from both women’s perspectives creates the kind of boiling-point tension that will make you want to binge it.   

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DISNEY+

A Thousand Blows   

Brought to the screen by Peaky Blinders’ Steven Knight, this six-part series is set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London. Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) and Alec Munroe (Francis Lovehall), best friends from Jamaica, find themselves thrust into the criminal underbelly as they enter London’s thriving bare-knuckle boxing scene. Hezekiah finds fortune and fame through the art of pugilism, but he attracts the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), who sets about exploiting his talents to further her criminal enterprise. Meanwhile, the menacing and self-declared emperor of the East End boxing world, Sugar Goodson (Stephen Graham), determines to destroy Hezekiah, whose ambitions to fight in the West End threaten everything he has built.  

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BBC IPLAYER

The Narrow Road to the Deep North  

This is a savagely beautiful five-part series charting the life of Dorrigo Evans (played by Jacob Elordi as a young man, with Ciarán Hinds as the older Dorrigo), through his passionate love affair with Amy Mulvaney (Odessa Young), his time held captive in a POW camp, and his later years as a revered surgeon and reluctant war hero. An adaptation of Australian author Richard Flanagan’s Booker prize winner, The Narrow Road to the Deep North is an intimate character study of a complex man, a compelling portrayal of the courage and cruelty of war, and an unforgettable story of survival through the darkest of times.   

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King & Conqueror 

King & Conqueror is a historical drama series starring James Norton as Harold Godwinson and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror. Harold of Wessex and William of Normandy were two men destined to meet at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, allies with no design on the British throne, who found themselves forced by circumstance and personal obsession into a war for possession of its crown. This eight-parter tells the story of a clash that defined the future of a country – and a continent – for a thousand years, the roots of which stretch back decades and extend out through a pair of interconnected family dynasties, struggling for power across two countries and the sea. 

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