THE period around Christmas and New Year’s Day is one of the weirdest in the calendar. People often lose track of the day, time and occasionally the run of themselves as they struggle to fill the time between turkey sandwiches and demolishing the Quality Street.
However, look on the bright side: it’s also a rare opportunity to catch up on some of the best of this year’s TV or re-watch old favourites set to return in the new year.
This has been a brilliant year for television. We’ve had the return of shows like Game of Thrones spin-off House of The Dragon and satirical superhero drama The Boys, and welcomed new streaming favourites such as raunchy romcom Rivals and historical spoof My Lady Jane.
If you’ve been too busy to keep up, don’t worry - we’ve compiled a list of the 10 best and most bingeable shows that will see you through the festive season and safely into January.
Black Doves
Netflix
Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw star in this thriller spy series with a festive twist.
Knightly plays Helen Webb, a spy who has infiltrated the highest levels of the British government by assuming a false identity and marrying a man who goes on to become the defence secretary.
More: Review: Netflix’s hit thriller Black Doves is a sparkly Christmas treat
Her job is to pass state secrets to The Black Doves, an organisation selling top government secrets to the highest bidder.
However, when her lover is mysteriously murdered - suggesting Helen’s secret identity may be in danger - The Black Doves send her old friend, sensitive assassin Sam (Whishaw), to protect her.
Dexter: Original Sin
Paramount+
The prequel to the critically acclaimed hit show Dexter, this series follows a young Dexter Morgan (played by Ireland’s own Patrick Gibson) as he transitions from college student to the vigilante killer we first met in 2006.
Boasting a star-studded cast including Christian Slater, Sarah Michelle Geller, Patrick Dempsey and Michael C Hall, the original Dexter, returning as the show’s narrator, it promises to be packed full of the same tension, drama and odd sense of relatability that had audiences glued to the original series.
House of The Dragon
Sky
Even if you know little of the lore surrounding Game of Thrones, its prequel House of The Dragon will still serve as a thrilling and fabulously binge-worthy diversion over the holidays.
Set 200 years before the events of GOT, the series follows the Targaryen dynasty as it descends into a civil war.
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Much like its predecessor, House of The Dragon doesn’t fail to deliver a shock factor; it is a rollercoaster of emotions with twists and turns that will leave you wanting more even when you reach the season two finale.
The Boys
Amazon Prime
Before The Boys returns for its final season in 2026 it’s worth going back to the beginning to refresh your memory.
Or if you’re fed up of the spate of superhero content that has been continually churned out by the big studios over the last few years, The Boys provides the perfect antidote, with its dark satirical take on adult superhero fans and the way fiction can impact real-world politics.
It’s shocking and violent in places but it’s also creative, funny and addictive.
Stranger Things
Netflix
After yet another painfully slow three year wait, Stranger Things is returning to our screens in 2025.
One of streamer Netflix’s first breakthrough shows, the hype is already starting to build in anticipation of the franchise’s final season.
However, there’s a lot to remember - so why not refresh your memory by rewatching it from the start? Which arguably you’ll need to after three years without a new episode...
My Lady Jane
Amazon Prime
Released in August, My Lady Jane is set in an alternate 16th century England.
Similar to the historical account, Lady Jane Grey is coerced by her mother into marrying Lord Guilford Dudley, which sparks a classic enemy-to-lovers situation that bubbles along throughout the series.
However, unlike the historical account, the world of My Lady Jane is inhabited by Ethians, humans who can take animal form, as well as ordinary humans, known as Verity. In England, the Verity ruling class have driven Ethians out of society; in response, Ethians have formed a group called the Pack.
Jane, despite (seeming) to be a Verity shares an affinity with the Ethians which proves problematic when she is named queen after the mysterious disappearance of her cousin, King Edward VI.
It’s a decidedly odd retelling of an infamous historical event but there’s a lot to love about My Lady Jane. It never takes itself too seriously. It’s escapist fun - teetering on the edge of nonsense – and is perfect festive viewing.
The Bear
Disney+
Much like cooking, quality and consistency are needed to make a good series. The Bear is fine example of both, having reliably delivered a new and impactful season every June for the last three years.
Continuing on that trajectory season 4 of looks set for a summer 2025 release, so now is a great time to get acquainted or catch up with Carmy and the rest of the kitchen.
Season three ended on quite the cliff hanger so rewatching the previous series might be the only way to cope with the agonising wait for the fourth instalment.
With each episode sitting around the half an hour mark it’s a very easy show to watch. The eight-episode first season could be binged in a single sitting let alone the gap between Christmas and New Years.
What We Do in the Shadows
BBC iPlayer
With the season finale released earlier this month, now is the perfect time to watch What We Do in the Shadows in its entirety. Over the course of the horror comedy’s six seasons, this vampire mockumentary has become increasingly popular but with comedy kings like Matt Berry and Kayvan Novak at the helm it’s easy to see why.
It’s another easy watch which you can dip in and out of, and although there’s plenty of death and gore scattered throughout, there’s also a lot laughs and tomfoolery which makes it a surprisingly effective comfort watch.
Rivals
Disney+
Adapted from Jilly Cooper’s infamous novel, Rivals is a refreshing romantic romp that will make you laugh, cringe and cry – possibly all in one scene.
Unmistakably set in the 80s, Rivals follows prolific rake Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) as he teams up with hard-hitting journalist Declan O’Hara (Aidan Turner) to take down Lord Tony Baddingham’s (David Tennant) TV empire.
However, the real action comes from the show’s couples - from flings and affairs to love triangles, Rivals is, well, unrivalled in its raunchy exploration of romance and relationships. For the most part it’s a very silly show but it’s also an absolute tonic.
Yellowstone
Paramount+
Created by Taylor Sheridan, Yellowstone centres around the Dutton Family, who own the Yellowstone Ranch - the largest in Montana. Patriarch of the family, John Dutton (Kevin Costner), leads his family through turbulent times between dealing with developers, the national park, the bordering Broken Rock Indian Reservation and many internal family conflicts.
The series is filled with melodrama, dark secrets, murder and much scandal. All five seasons are available to watch in their entirety as the last instalment aired in December.
And the Western drama doesn’t stop there as the popularity of the show has sparked two spin-off prequels – 1883 and 1923 – with more in the pipeline.
