I’m a TV expert – these are the 13 best TV shows of 2025 so far
Last One Laughing UK
Prime Video
‘Last One Laughing UK’ features Britain’s funniest comics (Photo: Amazon Prime)
I had low expectations for this new comedy format – host Jimmy Carr isn’t exactly my favourite comedian, and I hadn’t heard amazing things about the pre-existing Australian and Irish versions. But how wrong I was. Turns out locking a handful of Britain’s funniest comics and telling them not to laugh is a fast ticket to the most hilarious series I’ve seen in, well, years. Come for Bob Mortimer’s magic show, stay for Daisy May Cooper’s impression of being on a rollercoaster.
Toxic Town
Netflix
Jodie Whittaker is heartbreaking as Susan in ‘Toxic Town’ (Photo: Matthew Towers/Netflix)
Jack Thorne’s dramatisation of the Corby toxic waste scandal didn’t get the attention it deserved – most likely because it was overshadowed by another of his creations, Adolescence, released just two weeks later. But it tells a story the whole country should know. In 1997 Corby’s steelworks were demolished, the toxic waste becoming dust that was breathed in by the locals, leading to babies being born with limb differences. Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood give excellent, heartbreaking performances as two of the affected mothers, whose stories were the centre of the fight for justice.
Adolescence
Netflix
‘Adolescence’ was one of the UK’s most-watched streaming shows ever (Photo: Netflix)
Adolescence isn’t just one of the most popular series of the year – it’s the most watched streaming show of all time in the UK, with 6.45 million people tuning into the first episode in its first week. That means you’ve probably already seen it and there’s no point telling you how good it is – but it really is rare that such a show’s popularity is matched by its quality particularly given the technical aspect of filming it in one single shot. It’s a terrifying story of how the manosphere is infiltrating the lives of our young boys and girls, I have little doubt that we’ll look back on Adolescence as a watershed moment.
The Settlers: Louis Theroux
BBC Two
Louis Theroux returns to gonzo reporting in ‘The Settlers’ (Photo: Josh Baker /Mindhouse Productions /BBC)
Louis Theroux seems to have taken a step back from the front lines of gonzo reporting, favouring interviewing celebs in a cosy podcast studio instead. But The Settlers proved he’s still got it. A follow up to his 2022 documentary The Ultra Zionists, this film sees Theroux travel to the occupied West Bank, where Israeli citizens are claiming the land as theirs and building their own settlements. He meets the architect of the movement for some heated discussions and almost finds himself arrested by the IDF, yet maintains his journalistic integrity and curiosity at every turn.
Amandaland
BBC One
In ‘Amandaland’, Lucy Punch reprises her role as Amanda from ‘Motherland’ (Natalie Seery / Merman / BBC)
If there’s one mum from Sharon Horgan’s excellent Motherland who deserves her own spin-off, it’s Amanda. Lucy Punch reprises her role as the uppity yummy mummy, whose life has fallen off the rails since her divorce – her children are now at state school, she’s had to downsize to South Harlesdon (SoHa, as she calls it) and she even has to support herself with a job. Spin-offs often fall flat, but Amandaland maintains the sharp, sardonic sense of humour of its predecessor – I think that “our Kelly” joke is the best on TV this year so far.
The Traitors series three
BBC One
Series three of ‘The Traitors’ was as compulsive as ever (Photo: Cody Burridge/ Studio Lambert/ BBC)
Every single series we worry that this will be the time The Traitors finally falls off its pedestal, and every single series, we are (thankfully) proved wrong. From the moment Linda gave herself away by looking at Claudia Winkleman when she addressed the Traitors, it was clear that this year’s series was going to be a belter. There were plenty of standout moments, from Alexander’s tuneful gibberish singing in the doll task to Charlotte’s unnecessary fake accent, but the best part was Minah’s rise to legendary Traitor status – and her eventual dramatic demise.
What It Feels Like for a Girl
BBC Three
Laura Haddock as Lisa and Ellis Howard as Byron in ‘What It Feels Like for a Girl’ (Enda Bowe / Hera / BBC)
Every so often, a BBC Three series comes along and knocks your socks off – Normal People, Killing Eve, Gavin and Stacey. What it Feels Like for a Girl did exactly that for me when it burst onto the channel earlier this month. Inspired by writer Paris Lees’ memoir of her misspent youth in the Midlands, it follows Byron (Ellis Howard, who is a revelation) who escapes their father’s abuse by diving into a world of sex, drugs and gender euphoria with a gang of trans women and gay men. It’s hedonistic, heartfelt and a hell of a lot of fun.
Big Boys series three
Channel 4
Dylan Llewellyn as Jack and Jon Pointing as Danny in ‘Big Boys’ (Photo: Channel 4)
There are almost no words to describe the bittersweet gut punch that is the last ever episode of Jack Rooke’s comedy Big Boys. I won’t spoil it here, but as a no-holds-barred, raw meditation on male mental health, there simply is nothing else like it on television. And yet it also manages to be utterly hilarious, making jokes about the rising cost of Tesco meal deals amid a poignant, grief-ridden soliloquy. That it is inspired by Rooke’s real-life experience only makes the series even more touching.
Severance season two
Apple TV+
The second series of ‘Severance’ introduces a whole host of new mysteries (Photo: Jon Pack /Apple TV)
Yes, I agree – Severance season two wasn’t a patch on 2022’s opener. But compared to the rest of this year’s television, it’s still up there as one of the most mind-bending, experimental and daring series. It’s a frustrating watch. Not many questions are answered – we still don’t really know what Lumon is up to – and a whole host of new mysteries are introduced: where has Irving gone? What is Cobel up to? Where did Mr Milchick learn to dance like that? But at least I’m invested, which is more than enough to justify Severance’s place on this list.
The Studio
Apple TV+
Seth Rogan (second from left) is a hapless movie studio exec in ‘The Studio’ (Photo: Apple TV)
Although this comedy about a hapless movie studio exec works more as a sequence of disparate sketches rather than an overarching story, I’ve laughed more at watching Seth Rogen’s Matt Remick schmooze and scramble his way through Hollywood more than at any other TV show this year. Cinephiles will also love the sheer amount of celebrity cameos, some more recognisable than others, from directors Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard to actors Charlize Theron and Steve Buscemi.
The White Lotus season three
Sky Atlantic/Now
Series three of ‘The White Lotus’ is slower but no less brilliant (Photo: HBO)
Some people thought this year’s series of The White Lotus was far too slow, but I think that’s exactly what makes it so brilliant. It opens not with the usual sole dead body but with a terrifying scene of a gunshots ringing through the luxury Thai retreat, only to go back in time and build the tension to fever pitch for the next eight episodes. This year’s cast are an excellent gang too and Parker Posey’s droll imitation of a Southern housewife is probably my favourite performance of 2025 so far.
Dept Q
Netflix
‘Dept Q’ is the sort of police procedural that could run and run (Photo: Justin Downing/ Netflix)
I was pleasantly surprised by Netflix’s foray into the gritty British cop dramas, but Dept Q is a brilliant example of the genre – even if it does have that strange Netflix slickness to it. Matthew Goode is great as the requisite miserable detective, DCI Carl Morck, who is set on a cold case of a missing woman, long thought to be dead but who we know is actually being held captive by mysterious kidnappers. With the story entirely wrapped up within the series, I’m ready for Morck and his misfit team of coppers to take on their next case – Dept Q is the sort of police procedural that could run and run.
American Primeval
Netflix
‘American Primeval’ is a brutal but brilliant western (Photo; Matt Kennedy /Netflix)
If you don’t like violence, I suggest you steer well clear of brutal Western American Primeval. If you don’t mind a bit of guts and gore, however, it’s one of the best series Netflix has made this year. Set in 1857 Utah, the series introduces various factions of the Wild Wild West, from the marauding expansionist Mormons to the misunderstood Native Americans, who have long been at war with one another. And yet this is no “cowboys and Indians” tale of good vs evil – everyone in this version of America’s rugged frontier is out for themselves.
