Giri/Haji
Cinematic, stylish, and sometimes brutally violent, Giri/Haji (“Duty/Shame” in Japanese) is a very grown up crime drama, following a Japanese detective – Kenzo Mori – who travels to London to find his brother, who was previously assumed dead but is now wanted for a murder that could kick-start a gang war in Tokyo. Much of the main cast were relatively unknown in the UK when the show premiered on the BBC in 2019 – Mori is played by Takehiro Hira, his brother Yuto by Yōsuke Kubozuka – but more recognisable names include Line of Duty’s Kelly Macdonald as Met Police detective Sarah, and Will Sharpe (The White Lotus) as the charismatic and often hilarious sex worker Rodney. This dark, cool drama is also often surprisingly witty too – sadly, it was cancelled after just one series.
Top Boy
Telling the gritty and often violent story of drugs and gangs in London’s Hackney borough, Top Boy stars two British rappers, Kane Robinson (aka Kano) as Sully and So Solid Crew’s Ashley Walters as Dushane. This is one of the few dramas on this list that isn’t actually over yet, with a fifth and final series on its way in September 2023, but Top Boy’s first four series were eleven years in the making, starting off at Channel 4 between 2011-2013 and then being revived and continued by Netflix six years later. The two earlier series can be found on Netflix as Top Boy: Summerhouse (named after the fictional estate on which the show is set), and both the original and revival have scooped numerous awards, including BAFTAs and a MOBO.
Red Rose
Originally broadcast on BBC Three last year, this teen horror follows a group of friends in Bolton who find themselves at the mercy of the evil Red Rose app, which makes sinister demands that end in deadly consequences if not followed. This isn’t your typical YA horror, though – in fact it uses audience expectations of teen horror to wrong foot us throughout – and also employs the gobby, rough-and-ready culture of British youth (think passing around contraband booze on the moors and playing a drinking game version of the boardgame Guess Who?) to add some excellent humour. Red Rose comes from the producers of Sex Education, and it’s similarly fresh, clever and enjoyable, with its young, up-and-coming cast supported by some recognisable “grownups” including Natalie Gavin (Shameless) and Samuel Anderson (Doctor Who).
The Serpent
True-crime fans will enjoy devouring this 2021 BBC series about the serial killer Charles “The Serpent” Sobhraj, who robbed and killed at least 20 tourists in Thailand and other parts of South Asia during the 1970s, using his victims’ passports to travel the world selling stolen jewels. Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) has understated menace as Sobhraj throughout the show’s eight episodes, Jenna Coleman (Victoria) is compelling and unreadable as his girlfriend and accomplice Marie-Andrée Leclerc and Billy Howle (Chloe) is quietly heroic as the Dutch diplomat Herman Knippenberg, whose investigation into the disappearance of two Dutch backpackers unwittingly leads him to discover Sobhraj’s horrific crimes. The Serpent also brings 1970s Thailand to life with an intoxicating vibrancy that only greatly heightens the experience of watching this skilful retelling of an underrated true crime story.
The End of the F***ing World
This delightfully dark Channel 4 comedy-drama from 2017 starts with a simple premise: 17-year-old James (Alex Lawther, Andor) thinks he’s a psychopath, and decides to kill his mouthy new classmate, Alyssa (Jessica Barden, You & Me). But the pair end up running away together, and what follows is an unpredictable and often bloody joyride through teen romance, trauma and self-discovery, made greatly entertaining by Lawther and Barden’s chemistry and comic timing. The traditional will-they-won’t-they love story is greatly improved by the “will-he-won’t-he kill her” element, and you’ll fly through the two criminally underrated series with ease (and, quite often, unease). Properly dark, properly funny stuff.
Bodyguard
Few dramas unite the nation in quite the way Bodyguard did when it first came out in 2018, with its audience fervently live-tweeting throughout the six gripping episodes, as PTSD-afflicted veteran turned police sergeant David Budd (Richard Madden, Game of Thrones) takes on the extremely challenging job of acting as personal bodyguard to controversial politician Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes, Stonehouse). Five years on, and Bodyguard is too often overlooked in favour of its creator Jed Mercurio’s other big hit, Line of Duty, but it’s a terrific watch, packed full of juicy tension, jaw-dropping moments and action-packed plot, yet still leaving us wanting more. If you missed out the first time around, you’ll thank yourself for rectifying that, and the good news is a second series is reportedly in development.
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