TV in 2025 has been a mixed bag. Mostly that’s because a lot of our favourite shows or shows we’d been anticipating didn’t live up to our expectations. Notably, the second season of The Last Of Us, I’m still not sure what happened there. The third season of The White Lotus started promisingly but ended up feeling like creator Mike White hitting the same beats of the first two seasons of the hit show rather than trying something new. Only Murders in the Building is now just a show that returns every year, but feels less important every year, despite the tremendous chemistry of the central trio. Some of our favourite shows from last year didn’t return – I needed Shrinking season three, instead, that’ll be coming to Apple TV in January. Then there’s the White Whale – HBO Max’s The Pitt, which has topped the majority of American best of lists and won awards, and made the case for ‘prestige procedural’ still hasn’t aired in the UK. Confession time: I sought it out and if it had aired here, it would be my number 1 show of the year. Instead, it looks like it’ll finally be available here once the HBO streaming arm arrives in the UK in March of 2026.

But, as always, when we put these lists together, the shows we ended up loving were the shows we either didn’t know were coming or had no expectations for. Families Like Ours, which arrived in the old foreign drama slot on a Saturday night on BBC Four, was a real gem and a must-watch for all those who consider themselves anti-migration. Tina Fey’s The Four Seasons on Netflix was a far more heartfelt and gentle comedy on relationships in your fifties that took us by genuine surprise.  And, for me, as a huge Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fan, Vince Gilligan’s first new project in over a decade turned out to be one of the most original shows in a long, long time. If you’ve not seen the shows on this list, use it as your watchlist. Goodness knows there’s not a lot of exciting TV on over the festive period, so feel free to use this as your watchlist and catch up on the very best shows of 2026.

Editor of www.thecustardtv.com

Luke Knowles.

Severance Apple TV

In the streaming era, and this era of BIG TV, the one thing fans like us bemoan is the wait between each season. Spoiler alert, the long wait for the second season of The Last Of Us didn’t make this list for many reasons. By the time Severance, Apple’s breakout sci-fi series, returned in January for its second season, it had been nearly three years since the first. Luckily, though, the show lost none of its momentum and was even more thrilling than the first season. The story follows a group of workers at the shadowy Lumon Industries. The company has made its name by championing the Severance procedure, which implants chips into the brains of employees who wish to separate their work lives from their personal lives and live as two completely different entities. Adam Scott’s Mark Scout has never met the man he is outside of his minimalistic workspace, and although he knows his ‘outie’ agreed to him being severed but that doesn’t stop him and his other severed collegues from being curious about the lives they lead on the outside and what exactly Lumon is actually doing with the strange data they are tasked with collecting. I’m nervous to talk about specific plot points here as I know many people have yet to start the series, whilst there are even larger sets of people who are unaware the show exists. It’s safe to say Severance is still one of the most original shows of this era. Its ability to ask big questions on the importance of identity, whilst also being darkly funny and truly surprising, is only matched by another Apple show further down on this list, but this show, my god, it’s good and you all need to be watching it now!

Adolescence Netflix

There is an argument that no other show on this list reached the heights, both dramatically and in general conversation, than this mesmerising series. Discussed in parliament, lavished rightly with awards and making a star out of its breakout lead Owen Cooper, who had never acted on camera before this. Right from its opening moments, Adolescence feels special. Anyone who saw Director Philip Barantini’s one-shot film Boiling Point will be familiar with his ability to ramp up unbearable tension by following characters constantly in one setting. Teaming again with the ever-brilliant Stephen Graham,  Adolescence uses what Barantini did with Boiling Point but turns everything up to an uncomfortable but incredible level. The story of a seemingly well-adjusted 13-year-old boy from a normal, stable family is accused of murdering a female schoolfriend, told over four remarkable episodes where the camera never breaks away from the action. Its opening moments grab you and hold you until the brutal closing moments. It almost transcends television. It acts more as a public service announcement and a must-see for any parent, regardless of their child’s age. Likewise, it’s a damning indictment of how we have failed a generation of young men and how social media and podcasts can corrupt the minds of the young people we think we know. It asks questions about the role parents can have when there are so many other influences in children’s lives, it is the most important and impactful television series in a long, long time, as well as being a true marvel in filmmaking and performance.

The Studio Apple TV

Part love letter to cinema, part hysterically funny comedy, part cringe comedy, The Studio balanced all these elements into something practically perfect. Co-created by and starring Seth Rogen as devoted cinephile Matt Remick, who gets his dream job when he’s promoted to be the Head of Film Production at legendary movie studio Continental Studios. His vision to make the cinema he remembers so fondly is quickly squashed as he finds himself caught in the cynical, corporate world of studio suits, tasked with greenlighting films while navigating petty dramas and budget battles, as he initially wanted to make great movies, not just manage them. Seth Rogen is fantastic here as Remick, who is in a constant state of stress, juggling so many things and trying to keep everyone around him (these people have no idea about cinema) happy, whilst still holding onto his dream of making the great movies of Hollywood’s heyday. The series uses guest stars, with Rogen and co-creator Evan Goldberg cashing in on all the Hollywood favours to appear as exaggerated versions of themselves. It’s to the show’s credit that none of these cameos feel shoe-horned in or starry for the star’s sake. They feel like they belong in this world. Zoe Kravitz is particularly fantastic here. Martin Scorsese is a standout in the first episode. Remick’s pitch for him to direct the studio’s movie based on the drink Kool-Aid doesn’t go well. Bryan Cranston is unrecognisable as Remick’s eccentric boss, and Ike Barinholtz is awful yet lovable as Remick’s colleague who lost out on the top job. For all its craziness, The Studio has a lot to say about the state of the media industry, and it’s clear Rogen and Goldberg love the medium they are gently mocking. Episodes feel different and distinct, and if another certain BIG show this year hadn’t cornered the market on the ‘oner’ shot, The Studio’s take on the continuous take might be one of the best episodes of the year. But I could also make the case that the double finale, which saw Remick and his team introduce their upcoming slate of films, only for their star, Zoe Kravitz, to accidentally take mushrooms and Cranston’s character to lose his mind, unable to function without Remick’s team literally holding him upright.

Dying for Sex Hulu/FX/Disney+

A mini-series tackling the two biggest taboos in western culture – sex and death – Dying For Sex swept the feet from under us with the most moving, yet oddly life-affirming story of the year. Based on the real events, Michelle Williams stars as Molly Kochan, a young woman who receives a terminal cancer diagnosis and decides to overturn her life to find joy in her final days. Ending an unsatisfying marriage, she sets out on a journey of sexual fulfilment, with her best friend Nikki (Jenny Slate) by her side. Williams is outstanding, conveying the vulnerability, strength, fear and joy that Molly rollercoasters through as she begins to explore her own desires, and tackles trauma which has held her back. But Slate is the runaway star – revelatory as Nikki, the woman who puts her own life and desires on hold to be there for her platonic soulmate, depicting frustration, loss and love with huge depth.

Exploring the connections between illness and sex, highlighting how pivotal a role control plays in both, Dying For Sex illuminates humanity, death and female friendship in a raw and honest light. Rob Delaney is a fantastic support as the man who finally gives Molly what she needs, and Sissy Spacek gives a touching performance as Molly’s estranged mother who wants to right her wrongs. However, the greatest guest appearance is by Custard favourite Paula Pell as the hospice nurse who excitedly details the death process in a speech you’ll never forget. Sob-inducing, sexy and straight-talking, Dying For Sex is a gift of a show. Written by Dawn Glen.

Hacks HBO Max/Sky Comedy

Here in the UK, we were spoiled with two seasons of the multi-award-winning comedy this year after the third season was delayed in finding a UK streaming home. Eventually, Sky broadcast both seasons 3 and 4 of the comedy about aging stand-up comedian Deborah Vance’s (Jean Smart) attempt to regain her previous success by employing youthful, socially conscious Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder). Season 3 saw the stormy relationship between the pair settle into a simpatico, after Deborah’s self-funded special becomes a roaring success, and her ultimate wish – her own late night chat show – comes within her grasp. Inevitably, the accord does not last long as a dubious move from Deborah lands her the chat show but pushes Ava away. In season 4, Ava has blackmailed her way to the job of head writer for Deborah’s show, and the pair are forced to work together to make it a success.

While the plot weaves in many pertinent and smart points about women in television, ageing in show business, and the shock reality of getting what you always thought you wanted, in reality, it is all just background music to the lead of Deborah and Ava’s relationship. Einbinder and Smart’s chemistry continues to be the best on TV, whether the pair are at war or working together, creating comedy that is bigger than both of them. Season 4 finally puts fame-hungry Deborah in a position to check her morals and make a decision about the importance of Ava in her life, creating the show’s most powerful and emotional scenes, which makes all the fights worth it. Managers Jimmy and Kayla continue to bring the bigger belly laughs, but the writers give Smart and Einbinder the sharpest, swiftest, smartest lines that keep Hacks at the top of the comedy tree. Written by Dawn Glen.

The Four Seasons Netflix

Tina Fey proves she can write more than just comedy with this surprisingly moving series created, written and starring the SNL alum. Based on the 1980 Alan Alda film of the same name, The Four Seasons follows a year in the lives of three sets of couples who holiday together throughout the year. Fey and Will Forte play Kate and Jack, a dull, old married couple, about to face an empty nest as their daughter leaves for university. They are joined on their vacations by Kate’s best friend from her own time at university – smooth, cool Danny and his outlandish husband Claude – and Jack’s best friend financier Nick and his artsy, kooky wife Anne. Their holiday cart is upturned in spring when Nick announces he is divorcing Anne after 25 years of marriage, and by summer, he’s bringing along his new girlfriend, Ginny.

Retaining much of the New England 80s comedy charm of the original, Fey manages to update the story without losing the spirit of Alda (who makes a delightful cameo) in the exploration of marriage and friendships. Colman Domingo is a shining light, as Danny struggles with ageing, and Forte and Fey have a believable, settled chemistry as the couple having to put their relationship under the microscope, due to the marriage issues of those closest to them. However, it’s Steve Carell who stands out in a role that he can play in his sleep, but he brings so much empathy and truth to Nick, it’s hard not to feel for him as his friends wrestle with his new lease in life. The Four Seasons could have been a very good, light comedic romp, but the twist Fey throws in whips away any veil of politeness and takes the drama into a more raw, real arena that lifts the show up to a whole other level of greatness. Written by Dawn Glen.

Poker Face Peacock/Sky Max

Rian Johnson’s lie-detecting amateur detective Charlie Cale returned for a second season of cool crime capers, starring Natasha Lyonne. The “murder of the week” in small-town America, which paid homage to 70s TV greats like Columbo and Kung Fu, showed no signs of wearing out its welcome, but Johnson took a chance and changed things up early in the season. Resolving the gangster story (with a fantastic guest turn by Rhea Pearlman) – which was the reason Charlie was on the run in the first place – set up a new dynamic which allowed Charlie to examine what she wanted from life, and contemplate settling down.

A brilliantly complex arc featuring Patti Harrison worked in tandem with the self-contained weekly mysteries and led to a thrilling climax that set Charlie on a lonely path once again, with Simon Helberg continuing to be the warm continuity for Charlie, as her FBI contact throughout. Though there were some misses (the alligator episode, namely), the majority of episodes recaptured the joy, ingenuity and uniqueness of the first season, with thrilling, funny and moving stories covering gyms, con jobs, supermarkets and school hamsters. Melanie Lynskey, Jason Ritter, Cynthia Erivo and Sam Richardson were amongst the stellar guest stars through the episodes, which gave Charlie a chance to flex her lie-detecting muscles, but Giancarlo Esposito and Katie Holmes stood out from the crowd in the season’s best episode, directed by Holmes. Sadly, it seems this is the last we’ll see of Lyonne’s turn as the coolest lead on TV, as Lyonne is moving on to other roles, but we’ll be grateful for the time we’ve hung out with Charlie Cale, brief as it is. Written by Dawn Glen.

Families Like Ours BBC Four

A little gem of a show, which aired on BBC Four with no fanfare or buzz, Families Like Ours tells the story of an alternate near future where Denmark faces flooding due to climate change, resulting in the government deciding to evacuate the entire country. Focusing on the extended family of teenager Laura, we follow as her divorced parents, uncle, and friends fight to find new homes for themselves in the rest of Europe. The climate change themes are obvious, but the story becomes much more clearly a lesson on refugees as it explores how even a middle-class family becomes desperate and desolate as they are forced from their home.

The decision to put a teenager at the heart of the story gives it a refreshing energy and highlights the struggles of someone trying to visualise an entirely new future for herself. Amaryllis August is engaging and emotive as Laura, who has to decide whether her father, mother or boyfriend needs her most. Alongside Laura is Lucas, a young footballer with a bright future and a potentially supernatural ability to cut to the truth. The stories of both youngsters show how the smallest decisions have devastating effects on the characters, as we see them all reach levels of desperation and despair they could never have imagined before their world was turned upside down. With all the characters’ stories weaving in and out of each other’s orbit, Laura’s boyfriend, Elias’ (a charismatic and moving turn by Albert Rudbeck Lindhardt) story is the most heart-clutching. Frightening for all the right reasons, extraordinarily human, and a riveting drama in its own right, Families Like Ours is a refugee story that we desperately need – and that more people should see. Written by Dawn Glen.

DeptQ Netflix

Dept.Q felt like the best Nordic Noir had a baby with the Slough House novels.  An ever-evolving crime drama full of unpredictability and jaw-dropping twists, mixed with the brilliantly dark humour that only Slow Horses can normally get away with. Carl, a former top-rated detective wracked with guilt following an attack that left his partner paralysed and another policeman dead, is tasked with leading a new department of misfits to look into cold cases. The cold case at the centre, that of a woman who disappeared from a ferry during a sea crossing, is fascinating, and where that story goes is as surprising as anything The Bridge dreamt up over the course of its run. Carl Mork is a difficult lead character, as disinterested as he is sarcastic, but Matthew Goode plays him in a way that almost puts you on his side. The other members of his motley crew, the mysterious Syrian refugee Akram, who possesses a particular set of skills to get the people he needs to talk to cooperate with him and the shy and quiet DC Rose, are equally interesting to watch as they try to uncover the mystery surrounding the woman’s disappearance. The Nordic Noir DNA is sprinkled throughout. It’s a show that is as interested in the person at the centre of the mystery as it is those trying to find her. As the audience, and this is actually my favourite thing a crime drama of this sort can do, we’re privy to what has happened to the missing woman Merritt. We see her being held captive, and are allowed to work out why she’s there as she tries to do the same. DeptQ is incredibly dark but also incredibly fun. It’s heightened, but not in a way that makes it feel implausible; it just knows what it’s doing and does it at an expert level.

Task HBO/Sky Atlantic

I realise I’m not the average TV viewer. I’ve rewatched Mare of Easttown three times, and I’ve been eagerly awaiting its follow-up from creator Brad Ingelsby. On paper, Task, about a task force put together to track down the people responsible for robbing drug dealers, felt like a well-trodden path. In Ingelsby’s hands, Task isn’t a predictable procedural, but an exploration of two broken people trying to navigate what’s left of their lives. The two men at the centre of the conflict are Detective Tom Brandis (a truly brilliant Mark Ruffalo) and family man Robbie (the hypnotic Tom Pelphrey), and Task is essentially about them both. In another show, Robbie, the man stealing the profits of low-level drug dealers, would be the villain, but Ingelsby isn’t interested in that. There’s a reason why Robbie is doing what he’s doing, for a very personal and understandable reason. He has lost a brother, he’s down on his luck and living in his brother’s house with his niece, who is helping to raise his two young children. The family are just about clinging on. In another life, Robbie and Tom would be friends, bonded by the tragedy that has shaped them into the men they are today. Detective Tom Brandis has been working in recruitment for the FBI after his own family tragedy derailed his life. Where Robbie wants revenge, Brandis wants to bury his problems and is trying to be the family man his broken family has always known. Ingeslby is so skilled that Task never feels miserable; there’s a deep humanity in these people and in the world they inhabit. This isn’t a crime drama; this is a human drama. Originally pitched as a mini-series, Task will be coming back for a second season. The story of the first has been so expertly told that I’m curious what happens next. It is often the case that when an outstanding series gets a second season, I start to worry about the motivations, but I’m fascinated by what Brad Ingelsby will do next.

Slow Horses Apple TV

Surprise, surprise, the most consistent show remains consistent. The fact that Slow Horses returns every year, usually around September, and delivers six fantastically funny, action-packed episodes each time feels more miraculous each time. How do you make one of the best shows of the streaming era even better? You put its most entertaining/irritating character at the centre. Yes, Slow Horses series 5 put Roddy Ho front and centre as his ‘girlfriend’ looks to be implicated in the big scandal of the series. Christopher Chung as Roddy Ho has always been brilliant, but it was great to spend extra time with him this series, particularly when he’s forced to talk to The Park and Diana Taverner. Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas have always been great at sparing with each other, but with Roddy, Diana Taverner was at a loss. The series never misses a step. It always feels politically relevant, with something to say about the state of society, whilst also remembering to be hilarious and surprising. By this point, showrunner Will Smith knows his ragtag band of MI5 rejects so well that their constant banter and bickering feels organic rather than written. The entire cast remains brilliant. Jackson Lamb is still one of the best television characters of all time, and Gary Oldman is still clearly having a great time with it. Long may its brilliance continue.

Riot Women BBC One

Sally Wainwright returns to the BBC after ending Happy Valley in 2023, with another powerhouse of female-focused drama in Riot Women. On the surface, the story of a group of women over 40 who decide to start a rock band, might seem fanciful; in reality, it’s a stirring, funny and touching story of womanhood in all its guises. Joanna Scanlan is the heart of the story, in more ways than one, as Beth – a woman at the brink of taking her own life before her friend Jess’ (Lorraine Ashbourne) calls asking her to start a band, saves her life. Initially started as a bit of a joke for a school fundraising night, the band starts to take on greater meaning and power for Beth, and the women who join her. Newly retired policewoman Holly (Tamsin Greig) and her uptight sister Yvonne (Amelia Bullmore), on guitars, Holly’s young colleague Nisha (Taj Atwal) and her sister Kam (Chandeep Uppal) on backing vocals, Jess on drums and Beth on keyboards need a lead singer – they find that in car-wreck and liability Kitty (Rosalie Craig). Daughter of the local gangster, homeless, reckless and wrecked, she forms a bond with Beth, which turns out to have greater significance than either of them could imagine.

Centring on the invisibility so many women feel when they reach their 50s, the drama tackles a myriad of other women’s issues head-on in a way that so few shows are brave enough to do. The path from laddish banter to abuse; the care burden of daughters, betrayal and abandonment by male partners, and underdiscussed symptoms of menopause are all put under the spotlight and lifted up by Wainwright’s always exemplary characterisation. Having a cast stuffed full of some of Britain’s best female actors makes the band’s dynamics and friendships an easy reality, and Joanna Scanlan and Rosalie Craig make a heart-rending duo that adds a huge amount of warmth and tenderness to the sometimes brutal story. It is a joy to have Northern women speaking Wainwright’s witty, wonderful dialogue on our screens again, and delightful to know it’s returning for a second series. Written by Dawn Glen.

The Diplomat Netflix

Netflix’s cross-Atlantic political drama has made it to its third season – a staggering feat in itself, but that this season may have been its best is quite something. Kerri Russell returns as the titular character, Kate Wyler, the US’s rumpled, down-to-earth English ambassador. The season opens immediately where the second left off, with the person behind the conspiracy that has dominated the previous two seasons, Grace Penn (Allison Janey), becoming US President, throwing Kate and her troublesome husband Hal’s plans for power into chaos. The season hones in on the marriage of Kate and Hal closer than ever, as Penn decides to make Hal her Vice-President rather than Kate, forcing the couple to make or break their tumultuous marriage.

Taking place as much in the US as the UK, the season is a breathless run through the halls of power, as Kate and Hal negotiate, meddle, conspire and clash as Kate wrestles with being both Ambassador and Second-Lady, and whether she even trusts her own husband. Flashbacks to the pair’s courtship illuminate more of their marriage dynamic, and Janey is reunited with her West Wing buddy Bradley Whitford as her First Gentleman in a relationship which acts as a yardstick for Kate and Hal. CIA agent Aidra (Ali Ahn) and Deputy Chief Stuart (Ato Essandoh) continue to be compelling support for Kate, with a complex relationship of their own, and Rory Kinnear is still wonderfully gauche as the British Prime Minister, but Janey steals the show with Penn’s cold hunger for success. Thrilling, gripping, with touches of dry humour, The Diplomat continues to climb the rungs as The West Wing’s successor, and with one of the best cliffhangers of the year, it looks like it will be biting at the Wing’s heels next season. Written by Dawn Glen.

Celebrity Traitors BBC One

When the BBC released the hugely impressive list of celebrities who had agreed to take part in the first celebrity series of the successful reality game show, it seemed as though it was too good to be true. While other shows scrape around for Love Island contestants and YouTube stars, Celebrity Traitors had secured some of the biggest names in British television. Stephen Fry, Alan Carr, Clare Balding, Jonathan Ross, David Oluwago and Nick Mohammed all seem the unlikeliest of candidates to take part in a celebrity reality show, which shows only how successful and admired the “normal” Traitors has been. There was much trepidation that the celebrity version could possibly live up to the “real” seasons, and even more fear that it could ruin the premise of the murder mystery game show with a bunch of self-aware luvvies. Yet, thanks to the calibre of contestants, the outstanding production team, and one of the most inspired risky choices for the role of “traitor”, the show was the runaway success of the year.

Alan Carr as a Traitor – one who must secretly conspire against the “Faithful”, murdering them and avoiding detection – was the funniest, most nerve-wracking, and ultimately brilliant turn on TV. From Jonathan Ross and Cat Burns bent-doubled reaction to his reveal as their fellow Traitor, to his sobbing expression of relief and guilt at his win, every moment of Alan’s reign of terror was televisual gold. Add in Celia Imrie’s fart, Joe Marler’s smarts, Nick’s warmth and brilliance, Claudia’s wry commentary and style, and the entire cast’s inability to vote for the Traitors they were sure existed, and you have the best 3 weeks of TV the BBC could dream of. Credited with bringing back appointment TV, Celebrity Traitors proved that dedicated, creative, hard-working production, with the right cast can lift any format into “can’t miss” watching, which makes even the most jaded viewer look up from their doom scrolling. Written by Dawn Glen.

Pluribus Apple TV

It’s very rare not to know not only where a show is going, and even rarer not to know what a show is about. As someone who is obsessed with Breaking Bad, and by extension, Better Call Saul, excitement was high for Vince Gilligan’s first new project away from his own Heisenberg Universe. All we knew about the oddly named Pluribus was that it was greenlit by Apple TV for two seasons and that Gilligan, who had worked on The X Files before Breaking Bad, had billed it as a ‘genre-bending sci-fi show’.  Even when the trailers were released, the mystery around the show remained. Quick clips of a woman bizarrely licking her way through a box of doughnuts, or someone who looks to have some authority, speaking to our main character, Carol, but with no context at all. It was so original and odd. To their credit, Apple took a gamble in keeping what their new big show was about, as Gilligan wanted people to experience his original idea without knowing anything about it. When it arrived, it was a joy. Carol, (Better Call Saul’s Rhea Seehorn in one of THE performances of the year, maybe the decade) is a famous but frustrated fantasy novelist, annoyed by the books that have made her household name, who ends up being one of the few people left on earth when a strange virus turns everyone else into one entity. It’s a clever take on the dangers of AI, but it’s also such a bonkers idea that it means anything can happen. Seahorn was the standout of Better Call Saul, but Pluribus is her real showcase. The premise sees Carol alone for large parts of each episode, filming videos to send to other people who have been lucky or unfortunate enough to be in her position. The interesting thing is that Carol is the only human with free will who seems concerned about ‘the joining.’ The handful of people like Carol don’t really see any downsides to everyone else walking around like their own personal Echo Dot. There is no crime, Carol learns they can’t lie, there are no murders (discounting the millions of people who died when the joining took place), it looks, at least on the surface, the closest to world peace the world is ever likely to get. Pluribus, might be the show of the year. Something like Apple’s other big sci-fi hit, Severance, comes close in terms of originality, but you really have no idea where this could go, and that fills me with nothing but excitement.

So there you go. How many of these did you watch? Lastly, I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has visited the site, listened to our podcast. I’d like to say a special thank you to Matt Donnelly who keeps the podcast alive week after week, and Dawn Glen as his partner in crime. I’m so grateful to both of them and to all the people who contribute to the site or share our articles on social media.

Have a wonderful Christmas, and here’s hoping 2026 is a great year for television.

Editor of www.thecustardtv.com

Luke Knowles.