“We watch TV for a living: these are our absolute favourite shows from 2024”

TV shows of 2024

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TV


“We watch TV for a living: these are our absolute favourite shows from 2024”

By Helen Bownass

3 months ago

8 min read

Stylist entertainment director Helen Bownass gathers some fellow TV addicts to pull together the ultimate list of 2024’s greatest shows. 


How many times this year have you scrolled through your TV apps, moaning and groaning that there’s simply nothing good to watch anymore? Or perhaps you’ve been so overwhelmed by choice that you’ve settled for your 95th rewatch of Gilmore Girls.

As we get near to the year’s end, and you hopefully have a little time to reset and recharge, I’m here to help. My gift to you is a list of the best shows of the year to catch up on, rewatch or give you a smug feeling about how great your taste is as you’ve seen them all. Because there’s been a lot of excellent telly this year, including thrilling dramas, subversive comedies and gorgeous love stories to melt even the hardest of hearts. 

I’ve shared my own 2024 favourites, and I’ve asked two of my most TV-loving colleagues to pick their favourite shows from last year, too. Enjoy…

“It’s been an excellent year for telly,” says Stylist Watch List writer Kayleigh Dray. “I’ve dedicated a lot of my time to returning series like Bad Sisters, Shrinking and House Of The Dragon – not to mention bingeing every single episode of Taskmaster – but there have been more than a few new titles that have stolen my heart along the way, too. Here are my favourites…”

Agatha All Along

Agatha All Along

Kathryn Hahn is a treasure we don’t deserve, quite frankly, and she finally gets top billing in this bewitching series as the eponymous Agatha Harkness. 

Set after the events of WandaVision, the insidious and perfidious spellcaster embarks upon the Witches’ Road trials to reclaim her lost powers. If she has any hope of success, though, she’ll need a truly extraordinary coven… which is where the likes of Aubrey Plaza and Joe Locke come in. Throw in a Wicked homage and you have a TV show that’s pure magic.

Watch now on Disney+


Fallout

Fallout

When a mushroom cloud-induced apocalypse forces humanity’s most privileged into a series of underground vaults, they settle into their new existence happily enough… until they’re targeted by a violent raiding party from the world above. 

Cue Ella Purnell’s Lucy venturing topside, where she – aided by Aaron Moten’s Maximus – must take on giant cockroaches, mutated bears, cannibals and lawless ghouls for the very first time. 

Witty, dark as hell, and with a soundtrack to die for, prepare to be engrossed from start to finish. 

Watch on Prime Video now


Ludwig: Anna Maxwell Martin returns for a new BBC detective series… with a twist

Ludwig

Anna Maxwell Martin and David Mitchell are a match made in heaven in this cosy crime drama, which sees a professional puzzle setter (new dream job unlocked) forced to step outside his comfort zone and into the shoes of his identical twin brother who a) has inexplicably vanished without a trace, and b) just so happens to be a top detective in Cambridge. It’s a simple enough premise, but there’s a reason this moreish murder-of-the-week has a cool 100% ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes

Watch now on BBC iPlayer


The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin still

The Completely Made-Up Adventures Of Dick Turpin

And now for something completely different… Noel Fielding as a fashion-forward vegan and dandy highwayman. This underrated series is a very different kind of period drama, skewing more Mighty Boosh/Blackadder than Downton Abbey as it offers up a deliciously irreverent take on the Dick Turpin legend and packs in some serious British star power (Hugh Bonneville, Tamsin Greig, Greg Davies and more) in the process. 

Watch now on Apple TV+


Nobody Wants This. (L to R) Adam Brody as Noah, Kristen Bell as Joanne in episode 107 of Nobody Wants This. Cr. Adam Rose/Netflix © 2024

Nobody Wants This

Kristen Bell and Adam Brody have more chemistry than Walter White’s RV in this utterly joyous romcom, which sees Bell as an agnostic sex podcaster fall head-over-heels for Brody’s hot rabbi. With their wildly different lives and incredibly meddling families to contend with, will the star-crossed lovers ever be able to make a relationship work? It’s a lot of fun finding out. 

Watch now on Netflix


Netflix's Supacell review

Supacell

I couldn’t get enough of this twist on the classic superhero format, which sees five people have unwanted superpowers thrust upon them. 

The quintet are strangers, with little in common other than the fact they’re all Black Londoners, but when visions of an unhappy future are thrust upon them, they have to find a way to work together as a suped-up group. No small thing, when society already has the odds stacked against them. 

Watch now on Netflix


“I have spent many many hours watching TV this year,” confesses writer Shahed Eyazadi, “perhaps too many to admit. Alongside my regular re-watches of New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Office, there have also been some brilliant new shows that I’m already excited to rewatch again pretty soon. Here are six of my faves from 2024.”

Kaos

Kaos

I was heartbroken that Netflix decided not to renew this for a second season, even if it was only to see the chaos and hilarity of Jeff Goldblum’s Zeus. Reimaginings of Greek mythology are easy to come by these days but Kaos brings the well-known figures of this mythology into the modern age and tells a brilliant and funny story of a pretty dysfunctional family. It’s basically Succession but with gods and goddesses instead of media bros in gilets.

Watch now on Netflix 


sweetpea review

Sweetpea

Have you ever felt overlooked? Silenced? Belittled? Well, Sky’s new ‘coming of rage’ series, Sweetpea, will strike a chord with you. It definitely did with me. 

Ella Purnell’s (she’s had a busy year!) portrayal of Rhiannon is the standout performance of the show. The emotion delivered in her facial expressions and body movements was so raw and moving and acutely conveys how deeply overlooked Rhiannon is – her anger and vengeance slowly bubbling away under the surface.

Watch now on Sky and Now


everything to know about The Day Of The Jackal

The Day Of The Jackal

A thriller where there’s no clear ‘good’ or ‘bad’. In this series, you could be rooting for Bianca (Lashanna Lynch) one minute, as she pitches to become the agent who hunts down the Jackal (Eddie Redmayne) in front of her sceptical bosses. And the next minute, you’re left open-mouthed as her questionable actions show just how far she’s willing to go to take a man down.

 A real edge-of-your-seat action thriller.

Watch now on Sky and Now 


Nicole Kidman in The Perfect Couple on Netflix

The Perfect Couple

This might be the winner of my favourite show of the year, especially as I watched the whole series in one evening – something I rarely do these days. And what’s not to love about rich people running around trying to figure out (and hide) a murder? Oh, and Nicole Kidman in yet another brilliantly glossy role.

Watch now on Netflix


BBC's We Might Regret This

We Might Regret This

If you’re in the market for a brand new show to sink your teeth into – one that will make you snort with laughter moments after punching you in the gut – this series about the chaotic friendship between a tetraplegic artist (Kyla Harris) and her personal assistant (Elena Saurel) is it. 

It’s messy, dark and so very funny.

Watch now on BBC iPlayer 


Keira Knightley in Black Doves

Black Doves

Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw as a killing pair out for revenge? Absolutely, yes. 

Before watching this series, I had a feeling it would be good, but I was completely blown away. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched a thriller where the story is interesting, the twists are unexpected and the people are hot. A triple threat.

Watch now on Netflix


It’s been a year of heartrending real-life stories, hot sex, giddy romance and sweeping historical epics for me on screen this year. And I’ve loved every single second,” says Stylist’s entertainment director Helen Bownass. “Here are the six shows you can’t afford to miss from 2024’s roster, in my opinion…”

Baby Reindeer

Baby Reindeer

Written by and starring comedian Richard Gadd, this four-part series recounts his real-life experiences of being stalked by Martha (played by Jessica Gunning) after one small act of kindness. 

The series is a harrowing gut punch as it recounts Gadd’s nightmarish experience, but it also slowly reveals how the sexual abuse that Gadd had endured years previously led to his conflicted treatment of Martha. 

We are watching someone face up to and process their trauma in front of our eyes, and it’s utterly unforgettable. 

Watch now on Netflix


Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall in One Day

One Day

Remember back in February when we were all sobbing at our tellies? That was a good time, wasn’t it? 

Those tears were caused by the gorgeous adaptation of David Nicholls’s bestselling book where sarcastic northerner Emma (Ambika Mod) and posh boy Dexter (Leo Woodall) have the world’s longest will they/won’t they relationship across the same day over 14 years

 Watch now on Netflix 


David Tennant in Rivals on Disney+

Rivals

I called Rivals the horniest show on TV when it came out, and I stand by it. The adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s seminal novel – set in the Cotswolds in the 1980s and starring David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Danny Dyer and Emily Atack – is the most fun I’ve had in front of a screen this year. Thank goodness, then, that it’s just been renewed for a second season.

Watch now on Disney+


Shogun on Disney+

Shōgun

This sprawling 10-part series is set in Japan at the dawn of the 17th century when the country is on the verge of civil war. 

When a sailor (Cosmo Jarvis) and his ship are captured, he’s used as a pawn in a power game between the country’s five ruling houses. It’s gory and compelling, with lavish scenery matched by powerhouse performances, particularly from Golden Globe-nominated Anna Sawai.

Watch now on Disney+ 


Andrew Scott in Netflix’s Ripley

Ripley

I was worried a black-and-white version would take away some of the beautiful escapist magic of the beloved 1999 film The Talented Mr Ripley. But Andrew Scott brought something wholly new to the role as Tom Ripley. 

Across eight spellbinding episodes, Ripley worms his way into the privileged world of Dickie (Johnny Flynn) and Marge (Dakota Fanning) before taking over their lives altogether. 

Watch now on Netflix 


everything to know about bbc's the great post office trial

Mr Bates vs The Post Office

This series, which was based on a real-life scandal, was one of the most talked about shows of the year, and for very good reason.

It stars Toby Jones as Alan Bates, who fought for years to have the names of many post office workers cleared after they’d been accused of theft and false accounting when in reality faulty technology was to blame. Unforgettable and important TV. 

Watch now on ITVX 


Images: Netflix; Disney+; Apple TV+; Prime Video; BBC; ITV; Sky 

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