1. Ozark
Who: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney.
What: When Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) gets on the wrong side of a Mexican drug boss, he must move to the Ozark Lakes, Missouri, to launder money for the cartel and keep his family alive. Over three seasons (the third dropped at the end of March), we watch as Marty and his wife, Wendy (Laura Linney), get sucked further and further into the world of working for a dangerous – and powerful – drug cartel.
Why binge: If you liked Breaking Bad, you’ll love Ozark. Also, Julia Garner as sharp, foul-mouthed Ozark resident Ruth Langmore, and esteemed British actress Janet McTeer as steely lawyer Helen Pierce are just *chef’s kiss*.
2. Unorthodox
Who: Shira Haas, Amit Rahav, Jeff Wilbusch.
What: One of Netflix’s latest offerings, Unorthodox is adapted from Deborah Feldman’s memoir of the same name and centres on Esther ‘Esty’ Shapiro, a young Hasidic Jewish woman who flees her orthodox home, tight-knit religious community and arranged marriage in Brooklyn for a new life Europe. Here, in cosmopolitan Berlin, she is taken in by a group of musicians – until she realises she may not be able to escape her past.
Why binge: 24-year-old Israeli actress Shira Haas is remarkable as Esty. This is her breakthrough role and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
3. Sex Education
Sex Education
Who: Emma Mackey, Aimee Lou Wood, Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa.
What: If you haven’t already watched Netflix’s hit teen drama then now is the perfect time to get bingeing, as back in February, the streaming giant announced it will be returning for a third season. The show centres around Otis, a shy high-school student who is roped into setting up an underground sexual advice clinic – with advice garnered from his sex therapist mother – with his rebellious classmate Maeve.
Why binge: There’s nothing quite like it. It normalises subjects which are too often shied-away from – female sexual pleasure, masturbation, orgasm, and just about every sex-related query going – and does it with soul. It’s funny, moving, smart and infectious, with a razor-sharp script and a truck-load of charm.
4. Doctor Foster
Who: Suranne Jones, Bertie Carvel, Jodie Comer.
What: One of the BBC’s most loved dramas of recent years – and arguably the show that made the nation fall in love with Jodie Comer – Doctor Foster is an edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting, sometimes fist-pumping, often-wince-inducing drama about a woman who suspects her husband is having an affair. Dr. Gemma Foster (Suranne Jones) begins investigating her husband Simon’s (Bertie Carvel) actions, until what started out as suspicion turns into a dark – and seriously gripping – obsession.
Why binge: We are total Jodie Comer stans at GLAMOUR HQ, but Suranne Jones’s performance is what had us coming back for more episode after episode. Hell hath no fury like Dr. Foster scorned.
5. When They See Us
Who: Marquis Rodriguez, Jharrel Jerome, Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse.
What: When a woman is attacked whilst jogging in Central Park in the summer of 1989, five black teens from Harlem are arrested, interrogated and convicted. They are the ‘Central Park Five’: Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, Korey Wise and Raymond Santana, and this is a four-part dramatised account of their real story.
Why binge: It’s a gut-wrenching, gripping look at how five young men of colour were victims of a broken justice system and systemic racism – something that director Ava DuVernay reminds us is still very much alive (Trump’s reaction is shown through press conference coverage), and how what happened to the Central Park Five back in 1989 could just as easily happen today.
6. Friends
Who: Jennifer Aniston, David Schwimmer, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry.
What: Only the most famous group of friends in history. The beloved sitcom ran for 10 years, between 1994 and 2004, won 60 awards (including a BAFTA), was nominated for 63 Emmys, and raked in 8.6 million viewers for its finale episode in the UK, where it’s currently the most streamed show on Netflix. And back in March, the cast revealed there will be a reunion episode happening at some point in the near future. WE CAN’T WAIT.
Why binge: Guys, it’s Friends. Do you need a reason?
7. Gilmore Girls
Who: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson.
What: Gilmore Girls is a much-beloved, Emma Award-winning comedy-drama about a mother-daughter relationship. Young, single mum Lorelai Gilmore raises gifted, Ivy League-bound daughter Rory Gilmore in the small town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut.
Why binge: We love this show for its quick, witty, thoughtful, often sarcastic dialogue, and how with each episode, it feels like we’re cozying up in a little corner of Rory and Lorelai’s world. Plus, if you’ve never seen it, there’s 7 seasons on Netflix and a four-part reunion series, set a decade after the finale. Aren’t you lucky?
8. The Crown
Who: Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter, Josh O’Connor.
What: This Golden Globe-winning series chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times.
Why binge: You’ve got three seasons of royal drama to catch up on before S4 drops – though we’re not too sure when that will be, Netflix announced the casting of Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season 4 last April, so you best get bingeing.
9. The Bodyguard
Who: Richard Madden, Keeley Hawes, Gina McKee.
What: After thwarting a terrorist attack, war veteran David Budd (Richard Madden) finds work in the Met Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection branch, as a bodyguard for the controversial home secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes). Budd finds himself torn between his duty to protect and everything he believes in.
Why binge: After that opening scene on the train, you won’t need a reason. You’ll be hooked.
10. Happy Valley
Who: Sarah Lancashire, James Norton, Siobhan Finneran.
What: A BBC drama centred on hard-nosed but troubled police sergeant, Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire), in West Yorkshire. When the man who drove her daughter to suicide is released from prison, Catherine’s world is turned upside-down as she also attempts to solve a complex kidnapping and drug-related case.
Why binge: This isn’t just your standard Brit cop drama – sure, there’s murder, mutilation, drugs, kidnapping, prostitution and blackmail – but Happy Valley has a real human quality to it, too, seen particularly in Catherine’s relationship with her grandson as she battles with the grief of losing her daughter. ‘Second series syndrome’ doesn’t apply here; in fact, we think we might’ve enjoyed S2 more than S1.
11. Glow
Who: Alison Brie, Marc Maron, Betty Gilpin.
What: Netflix’s comedy made waves when it landed in 2017, and in all honesty, we’d happily rewatch it all again. GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling) is a feisty, funny, feminist comedy-drama following a female wrestling league on TV in 1980s America. It centres on out-of-work actress Ruth (Alison Brie) and her best friend Debbie (Betty Gilpin), who end up cast in the same show and sloughing it out in the ring. There’s leotards, outrageous ’80s make-up and plenty of LOLs.
Why binge: Did we mention the feminism and leotards?
12. The Thick of It
