The 30 Best British Shows on Netflix
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 Netlfix alone, there is an overwhelming amount of shows to choose from.
As always, the entertainment team at Esquire dutifully scoured through the streaming-verse to find the best British shows on Netflix right now. The streamer checked every box, scooping up coming-of-age comedies, thrillers, dramas, and romance series, 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 much 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 that is inspired by her real life. The show centers around Mae—a recovering addict and budding comic. Her life is on an upswing until she meets and falls in love with George. It’s the best relationship she’s ever been in, but their whirlwind romance triggers Mae’s addictive tendencies.
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Heartstopper
Heartstopper is based on Alice Osman’s graphic novel. The television series stars Kit Connor and Joe Locke as Nick Olson and Charlie Spring—two highschoolers 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.
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Supacell
Supacell follows a group of Black Londoners who develop superpowers. As they learn to navigate their new abilities, one man realizes he’s the key to their salvation. He’ll have to act fast to keep everyone safe. Their lives (quite literally) depend on it.
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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 loves 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.
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The Stranger
The Stranger is based on Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel. The story follows Adam Prince, a man whose 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.
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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 One, 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. hot and whip smart, Netflix’s most-watched show of all time is a must watch.
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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.
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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 following design-minded Brits as they build their dream homes on a shoestring budget. Unlike the cheery gloss of HGTV, Grand Designs gets real about how building a home can wreck your budget and your sanity. Come for for the spectacular homes, but stay for the deeply human look into the harsh realities of renovation.
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Sex Education
This hit dramedy follows the life of a sex therapist’s son who, upon approaching adolescence, realizes that his home environment of sexual literacy could translate to serious social currency at school. He teams up with his classmate, the resident rebel of his grade, to start a sex advice business for his classmates.
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The Great British Baking Show
Deemed by many as one of the most peaceful watches on Netflix, The Great British Baking Show is Great Britain’s amateur baking competition show. Think Chopped or Cake Boss, but half the stakes and under a draped tent in the midst of rolling meadows.
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Peaky Blinders
A British period crime drama set in the aftermath of WWI, Peaky Blinders is centered on a family-run gang of the same name who at the time held great power in the city of Birmingham. In a phase of shifting powers and structures, the Peaky Blinders gang comes to the attention of the British government, sending a private investigator to thwart their growth.
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Crashing
Pre-Fleabag Phoebe Waller-Bridge writes and stars in this demented Friends-esque comedy-drama. Crashing follows the interwoven stories of six twenty-something roommates living in a reappropriated hospital building.
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The Crown
Based on its creator Peter Morgan’s play The Audience and film The Queen, The Crown follows the life of Queen Elizabeth II from her ascension to the throne in 1947 to her 21st century rule. The historical drama is as compelling as it is accurate, offering a unique lens on one especially influential woman’s life and legacy.
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The Inbetweeners
A classic coming of age sitcom, The Inbetweeners tells of the awkward, in-between days of four suburban teens navigating adolescence. Its candid protagonists are as loveable as they are abhorrent, as they clumsily bull-in-a-China-shop their way through school, sex, friendship, and maturity.
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Broadchurch
Broadchurch is a serial crime drama set in a 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 upon a specific crime investigation.
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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.
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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 Watson has a blog this time around?
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Bodyguard
In this drama, a war veteran is assigned to protect the Home Secretary, an ambitious politician whose platform directly conflicts with the veteran’s own politics. As their relationship progresses, his moral dilemma grows increasingly complicated with his professional obligations to protect her.
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Top Boy
Set in a public housing estate of East London, Top Boy tells the story of two young men running a drug-dealing business with hopes of becoming the local “Top Boy,” or the wealthiest man in the neighborhood. The drama series pivots betweens its high-stakes plotlines and the realism of its various residents’ honest daily struggles.
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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.
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Call the Midwife
Jenny, a newly qualified midwife in 1950s East London, ends up on an unexpected first assignment when she finds herself at a convent. Surrounded by intimidating nuns of varying personalities, Jenny navigates her new environment, developing a unique bond with her fellow nurses and patients.
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Derry Girls
This British sitcom is, ironically, set in Northern Ireland during the near-end of the Troubles in Derry. The hilariously irreverent yet poignant series follows a crew of teens, four girls and one boy, attending an all girls’ Catholic school, as they navigate adolescence amidst a national crisis.
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The IT Crowd
Set in the fictional offices of Reynholm Industries, The IT Crowd follows the antics of three members of Reynholm’s IT team, along with glimpses into its various other departments. The IT Crowd must survive as a self-maintaining microcosm, as the three have been relegated to the company basement.
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Lovesick
This British sitcom follows Dylan Witter, a quite literally lovesick young man, as he must retroactively contact all of his previous lovers to tell them of his recent chlamydia diagnosis. Within Dylan’s episodic flashbacks of lovers past, the series also explores his roommates and their personal lives in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Outlander
Okay, so the show technically is set in Scotland and eventually the United States. But the premise of the show starts out in post-World War II England, so we’re going to count this on the list. And if you’re a fan of hot period dramas (*cough Bridgerton cough*), you may want to dive headfirst into a drama following a 20th-century war nurse falling in love with a mid-18th century Scottish soldier.
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The Irregulars
We all know who Sherlock Holmes is. We all know he had an assistant, Dr. Watson. But did you know there were a slew of young street urchins who would also help out the famed sleuth with his mysteries? This Netflix original explores just that, including exactly how far they’re willing to go to help out their boss.
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W1A
Following the lives of the good people who spend their time working at the BBC, this show is a sardonic tale of what might actually happen within the famed British network on an everyday basis. And Bridgerton fans, listen up: Our good friend Jonathan Bailey has quite an interesting role in this series, so you may want to start queueing up your Netflix accounts right about now.
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Jack Whitehall: Travels With My Father
Some might say that talent runs within a family. And in this case, it’s so clear British comedian Jack Whitehall gets all his humor from his funny-as-can-be dad. As the two venture around the world, you’ll not only be enamored with the sights they encounter, but just how loving (or jesting) the father-son relationship can truly be.
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Anatomy of a Scandal
When a British politician is all about using sex, power, and privilege for his personal gain, nothing can truly go wrong…right? Well, think again. Naturally, like every political drama, a sexual consent scandal may just lead him to the brink of ruin, and drag his marriage right along with it.
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