When it comes to watching some of the best movies and TV shows produced in the U.K., nothing beats BritBox. The powerhouse streamer has an impressive catalog that includes some of the most noteworthy titles across genres ranging from period dramas to absurdist comedies. With mega hits like The Other Bennet Sister, it has officially arrived in the on-demand viewing space and continues to excel at delivering exceptional content to countries around the world.
BritBox has a vast selection of both old and new titles for viewers across the pond to enjoy. From quirky, classic follies like Mr. Bean to cerebral thrillers like Broadchurch, there is something for everyone. When it comes to rewatchability and binge-worthiness, these 10 TV shows are some of the best, and everyone should keep them on their watchlist.
1
‘The Other Bennet Sister’ (2026)
The Bennet sisters walking together in ‘The Other Bennet Sister’Image via BritBox
Based on the book by Janice Hadlow, The Other Bennet Sister focuses on an interesting and often overlooked character in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The middle sister of the vivacious Bennet family, Mary is an awkward, resolute, and truly unique heroine. Played superbly by Ella Bruccoleri, Mary tries to find her way in a world that seems suited to everyone but her.
The Other Bennet Sister is a triumph and a must-watch for any Austen or period drama fan. It has humor, romance, and candid commentaries about gender roles in society. The series was a tremendous hit for BritBox and earned an impressive 7.3 million views within its first few weeks. It has become so popular that a three-part Christmas special has been announced and is slated to release later this year. Now is the time to see what everyone is raving about and binge The Other Bennet Sister in time for the holiday episodes.
2
‘Ludwig’ (2024–Present)
David Mitchell as the titular Ludwig holding a map and looking to the right confused in LudwigImage via BBC One
John Taylor (David Mitchell) is an introvert who prefers to stay inside and create puzzles as his alter ego, Ludwig. When his sister-in-law Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) calls him in distress because his twin brother has gone missing, he has no choice but to leave his reclusive life behind and intervene. John goes undercover, posing as his missing twin James, which includes taking over his job as a crime scene detective.
Ludwig is a brilliant and charming cozy mystery series. Mitchell is a veteran performer and stellar as always. The series received two BAFTA nominations last year, and fans only expect greatness in the future. It has become a must-watch show on BritBox and has been renewed for a third season before the second season even debuts. There is no time like the present to get in on this winning series before it explodes with even more fanfare.
3
‘The Cleaner’ (2021–Present)
Greg Davies and the cast of The Cleaner Season 3 pose near a shed and look towards the cameraImage via BritBox
Better known as his magnificent persona, the Taskmaster, Greg Davies takes on a whole new challenge in The Cleaner. In this scripted comedy, Davies plays the role of Paul Wickstead, a certified cleaning technician who is called upon to take care of some pretty bloody crime scenes. At each location, Paul has an encounter with a living person connected to the event, and a fascinating discourse develops.
The Cleaner brings an inventive new viewpoint to the crime genre. Instead of focusing on the victim, the series centers around those left behind.The Cleaner uses a practical setup to launch some whimsical scenarios, and it is full of the witty, droll humor that British comedy series are celebrated for.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
01
You’re dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
4
‘Friday Night Dinner’ (2011–2020)
Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, Friday Night Dinner is a hilarious and culinary dysfunctional family sitcom. Every Friday night, Jackie (Greig) and Martin (Ritter) have their two sons over for supper. However, in the Goodman household nothing ever goes to plan, and the quiet family meal soon dissolves into utter chaos.
At 37 episodes long, Friday Night Dinner is a great binge. It has several recurring gags and established story arcs that run throughout the entire series. The finale is solid and includes a culmination of several established themes. All of the cast are phenomenal, and Heap is exemplary as the awkward, eccentric neighbor. Friday Night Dinner is a fan favorite and has a 90% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes to prove it.
5
‘Downton Abbey’ (2010–2015)
The cast of Downton Abbey: The Grand FinaleImage via Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection
The series that launched the renaissance of all things period-specific, Downton Abbey tells the stories of the wealthy Crawley family and the staff who call the grand estate home. Downton Abbey ticks all the marks for excellence. The writing, acting, costumes, set design, and more are all perfection. It won 15 Primetime Emmys, two BAFTAs, and continues to be beloved by devotees.
If you haven’t seen this sweeping series yet, it remains as entertaining and impactful as ever. The interpersonal drama between members of the family and between members of the aristocracy and servants is highly engaging. There are several dynamic plot twists, and it is undeniably binge-worthy, as you will find yourself highly invested from the very beginning.
6
‘Mr. Bean’ (1990–1995)
Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean covering his face as he peers at a piece of paper in his hand in Mr. Bean, 1990Image via ITV
Rowan Atkinson is the epitome of physical comedy in Mr. Bean. As the title character, Atkinson portrays a misfit individual who always makes the unusual and unexpected choice in any given circumstance. Atkinson’s performance is akin to ancient performance arts such as clowning and commedia dell’arte, which use body language, posture, and slapstick elements to convey humor. The show also deliberately restricts dialogue so it can be enjoyed by viewers in any country.
There are multiple theories as to what makes Mr. Bean tick. Some speculate that he is an alien, or was at least altered by aliens in some way. Others think he is simply an oddball who thinks outside the box. Either way, watching him navigate everyday conundrums is vastly entertaining, and Mr. Bean is still one of the best comedy seriesto watch nearly four decades later.
7
‘Fawlty Towers’ (1975–1979)
John Cleese as Basil and Prunella Scales as Sybil talk to a customer in Fawlty TowersImage via BBC
John Cleese is well known in the industry for his talent for absurdist comedy, as in Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Rat Race, and A Fish Called Wanda. One of his best roles to date is in the 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers. The series focuses on the neurotic Basil Fawlty (Cleese) as he owns and operates a small hotel with his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales). Watching the high-strung and tightly wound Basil try to please customers and work with his wife and long-suffering staff makes for a riot of chuckles.
Fawlty Towers is one of the best British comedy shows of all time and never ceases to deliver on laughs and ridiculous predicaments. It is a masterclass in ramping up tension, taking an already precarious situation and adding more fire. Fans of Cleese and classic British comedies should definitely check Fawlty Towers out; it is one of the greats.
8
‘Broadchurch’ (2013–2017)
Olivia Colman as Ellie and David Tennant as Alec looking to the distance in BroadchurchImage via ITV
Chris Chibnall’s Broadchurch is widely hailed as one of the best British detective shows. It features David Tennant and Olivia Colman as D.I. Alec Hardy and D.S. Ellie Miller, respectively. Tennant and Colman are unmistakable talent, and their onscreen chemistry in Broadchurch is a core part of the magic that drives the series forward.
Broadchurch is a perfect watch for fans of mystery and crime thrillers. Having the events set in a small town makes the show instantly relatable, and the series explores poignant themes about violence, grief, and loss. Broadchurch feels like more than a surface-level crime-of-the-week format. As Collider’s Daniela Gama says, “At its heart, Chibnall’s acclaimed series is more than a murder mystery — it’s a thoughtful exploration of trauma and the consequences of crime and violence.”
9
‘The IT Crowd’ (2006–2013)
Richard Ayoade as Moss and Chris O’Dowd as Roy in The IT CrowdImage via Channel 4
A British TV show that started slowly and grew to massive cult status is The IT Crowd. The quirky workplace comedy has Katherine Parkinson as Jen Barber. Jen is an enthusiastic new employee of Reynholm Industries who is sent to manage an odd duo of IT workers after she fibbed on her CV and overstated her computer knowledge. Chris O’Dowd and Richard Ayoade make up the two-person IT department, and their characters, Roy and Moss, are delightfully eccentric.
The IT Crowd has some truly hilarious plots. One of the best comedic bits is when Roy and Moss convince Jen that a small black box with a light on the top is the internet. The IT Crowdhas won three BAFTAs and remains a continuously quoted and memed treasure trove of fandom. Even though technology has changed dramatically since 2006, humanity’s approach to and interaction with it has remained the same, and The IT Crowd is as funny and relevant now as it ever was.
10
‘Whites’ (2010)
The cast of Whites on BBCImage via BBC
A series that was a decade ahead of its time, Whites is a forerunner to bleak comedies like The Bear and is the BritBox show that everyone should binge. At one season long, viewers can take in all episodes of this witty dramedy in a weekend or a single evening. The show stars Alan Davies as Roland White, an outwardly morose but inwardly emotional head chef at a luxury hotel.
Whites is a must-watch for fans of shows like The Bear. The mix of culinary culture with character drama is fantastic. The humor of Whites is spot-on and walks the thin line of not enough frivolity and too much like a seasoned tightrope walker. It is one of those hidden gem treasures that was tragically canceled too soon, but exists perfectly as it is in its one-season-wonder format.
