30 Best British Shows on Netflix
It’s a fit night for a pint, innit?
You have to hand it to the Brits—they know how to make great television. I don’t know what they’re doing across the pond, but it’s working. Each new show is better than the last, and on Netflix alone, you’ll find an overwhelming number of brilliant programs to choose from.
As always, the entertainment team at Esquire dutifully scoured the Netflix-iverse to find its best British offerings right now. The streamer checked every box, scooping up coming-of-age comedies, thrillers, dramas, and romance, as if it’s their job (which I suppose it is). Seriously. They’ve got it all. We’ve rounded up our favorites below—including Heartstopper, Sherlock, The Stranger, The Great British Baking Show (!), and so many more.
What are you waiting for? Your adventure awaits. All you need is a Netflix account and an appetite for prestige TV.
Feel Good
Mae Martin dazzles in Feel Good, a coming-of-age story inspired by the actor’s real life. Martin plays Mae, a recovering addict and budding comic whose life is on an upswing until they meet and fall in love with George. It’s the best relationship Mae has ever been in, but the whirlwind romance triggers their addictive tendencies.
Heartstopper
Based on Alice Osman’s graphic novel of the same name, Heartstopper stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke as Nick Olson and Charlie Spring, two high schoolers with nothing in common. Their worlds collide when they’re assigned to sit together in class, sparking an unlikely friendship. As Nick and Charlie get to know each other, they realize their bond might signify something more.
Supacell
Supacell follows a group of Black Londoners who develop superpowers. As they learn to navigate life with their new abilities, one man realizes he’s the key to their salvation. But he’ll have to act fast to keep everyone safe. Their lives (quite literally!) depend on it.
After Life
Everyone grieves differently, but in After Life, Tommy Johnson takes a unique approach. When his wife suddenly dies, Tommy swears to punish the world by adopting the worst attitude possible. The goal is to push everyone away, but it’s no use. His loved ones keep coming back—resulting in a hilarious yet heartbreaking push and pull. After Life is a dark comedy that asks viewers to reassess their relationship with grief and find the humor in loss.
The Stranger
In The Stranger, based on Harlan Coben’s best-selling novel of the same name, Adam Prince’s life is upended when a stranger shares a secret about his wife. The information sends him into a spiral as he races to determine what’s true and what’s not.
Bridgerton
Bridgerton’s Regency-era London is a hotbed of social warfare, where maidens and their ambitious mothers jockey to outmaneuver one another in the competitive world of high-society matchmaking. Reigning over this marriage market is Lady Whistledown (voiced by Julie Andrews), an anonymous scribbler whose tell-all scandal sheet can sink or save a debutante’s fortunes. In season 1, the Duke of Hastings (Regé-Jean Page), who has forsworn marriage, finds a lifeline in Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor), the sheltered but spirited eldest daughter of a powerful family, with whom he masterminds a sham romance that blossoms unbidden into something real. Sexy and whip-smart, Bridgerton is a must-watch.
Land Girls
Set during World War II, Land Girls is centered on four members of the Women’s Land Army, a wartime civil organization that replaced farmhands-turned-soldiers with women ready to work the land. Nancy, Joyce, Bea, and Annie all become Land Girls for different reasons but bond quickly at the Hoxley Estate, where they work the Pasture Farm in the shadow of the opulent manor. As the world around them changes at warp speed, so too do their personal lives, but the Land Girls always have each other, as this winsome series reminds us.
Grand Designs
Can’t get enough of The Great British Baking Show? If you’ve watched every episode, migrate over to Grand Designs, a reality show about design-minded Brits each building their dream home on a shoestring budget. Unlike the cheery gloss of HGTV, Grand Designs gets real about how building a house can wreck your budget and your sanity. Come for the spectacular homes, but stay for the deeply human look into the harsh realities of renovation.
Sex Education
In this hit dramedy, a sex therapist’s son, upon approaching adolescence, realizes that his home environment of sexual literacy could translate to serious social currency at school. He teams up with the resident rebel of his grade to start a sex advice business for his classmates.
The Great British Baking Show
Deemed by many one of the most peaceful watches on Netflix, The Great British Baking Show is Great Britain’s amateur baking competition program. Think Chopped or Cake Boss, but half the stakes and under a tent in the midst of rolling meadows.
Peaky Blinders
A period crime drama set in the aftermath of World War I, Peaky Blinders is centered on the family-run gang of the same name, loosely based on one that held great power in the city of Birmingham at the time. Amid shifting powers and structures, the gang comes to the attention of the British government, which sends a private investigator to thwart its growth.
Crashing
A demented Friends-esque comedy-drama written by and starring a pre-Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Crashing follows the interwoven stories of six 20-something roommates living in a reappropriated hospital building.
The Crown
Based on its creator Peter Morgan’s play The Audience and his film The Queen, The Crown tracks the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her ascension to the throne in 1947 to her 21st-century rule. A historical drama as compelling as it is accurate, it offers a unique lens on one especially influential woman’s life and legacy.
The Inbetweeners
A classic coming-of-age sitcom, The Inbetweeners is about the awkward, in-between years of four suburban teens navigating adolescence. Its candid protagonists are as lovable as they are abhorrent, as they clumsily bull-in-a-china-shop their way through school, sex, friendship, and maturity.
Broadchurch
Broadchurch is a serial crime drama set in the fictional town of the same name in Dorset, England, just off the English Channel. The series follows the town’s local police detectives, with each season focusing on a specific investigation.
Collateral
Carey Mulligan stars as Kip Glaspie, a London-based detective inspector, in this four-part police procedural. Initially assigned to investigate the shooting of a pizza delivery man, Glaspie soon unravels a web of collateral characters.
Sherlock
A contemporary adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous Sherlock Holmes detective series, Sherlock revisits the age-old duo of Holmes, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, and Dr. John Watson, played by Martin Freeman, in modern-day England. Watson, having returned home from serving in Afghanistan, becomes flatmates with Holmes in London and begins assisting him in his investigations. Oh, and did we mention that Watson has a blog this time around?
Bodyguard
In this drama, a war veteran is assigned to protect the home secretary, an ambitious politician whose agenda directly conflicts with the veteran’s own politics. As their relationship progresses, his moral dilemma involving his professional obligation to protect her grows increasingly complicated.
Top Boy
Set in a public housing estate in East London, Top Boy tells the story of two young men running a drug-dealing business who hope to become the local “top boy,” or the wealthiest man in the neighborhood. The dramatic series pivots between its high-stakes plotlines and the realism of its various residents’ honest daily struggles.
The End of the F***ing World
Based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel of the same name, The End of the F***ing World follows an unlikely pair of teens: James, a self-proclaimed psychopath determined to kill his rebellious classmate, and Alyssa, his rebellious classmate. When Alyssa proposes they run away together on an outlandish adventure, James’s elaborate plans to kill her grow complicated as the two develop a unique bond.
34 Terrifying Horror Movies on Netflix
32 Great Thrillers to Stream on Netflix
The 20 Best Comedies on Netflix
The 15 Best Action Movies on Netflix
