Top 18 TV shows of 2018 | Where to watch online in UK | How to stream legally

David Farnor | On 31, Dec 2018

If you’ve ever doubted the idea that we’re in a golden age of TV, 2018 has proven the point and then some. The last 12 months have seen everything from the return of watercooler hits, such as Bodyguard, and binge-friendly drama, such as A Very English Scandal and The Assassination of Gianni Versace, to the rise of word-of-mouth successes (Keeping Faith) and meta live one-off events (Inside No. 9). And, just to top it off, the year still found room for some of the best horror in recent years (The Haunting of Hill House), a female-led spy thriller with a unique sense of humour (Killing Eve) and the debut of an interactive feature-length TV special (Black Mirror: Bandersnatch).

There’s also so much TV, though, that it can be hard to keep up. So when you’re looking back for some of this year’s small screen highlights for your 2019 watchlist, bookmark the below – because these are the top 18 TV shows from 2018, as voted for by our team of writers:

18. The Little Drummer Girl (BBC One / BBC iPlayer)

“This slow-burn spy tale is a sumptuous piece of television with an irresistible number of layers.” Florence Pugh, Michael Shannon and Alexander Skarsgard star in the BBC’s latest John Le Carre adaptation, which sees a young actress recruited to go undercover, setting in motion a thriller of identity and double-crossing directed by Park Chan-Wook. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

17. Inside No. 9 (BBC Two / BBC iPlayer)

“Are me and Steve Pemberton on BBC two now?” Inside No. 9 serves up its most post-modern, formally audacious episode yet with this special Halloween event, which plays on the biggest fear all performers have: a live broadcast going wrong. The editing is remarkable, and the use of archive video to stitch any gaps together is inspired, creating a timeless limbo in the middle of an old studio, where memories of past productions gone wrong are exorcised by the thrill of modern imagination. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

16. The Assassination of Gianni Versace (BBC One / BBC iPlayer)

American Crime Story Season 2 boasts a star-making performance from Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan, who killed the iconic Italian fashion designer. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

15. Better Call Saul (Netflix UK)

Kim and Jimmy drift further apart in Season 4 of the impeccable Breaking Bad prequel, which takes its biggest step yet towards its predecessor, as Gus Fring tightens his grip and Jimmy maps out the road to a darker, amoral future. Read our reviews – and where to watch it online

14. Forever (Amazon Prime Video)

A hilarious, heartfelt study of love, commitment and change, Forever is a quietly profound triumph, with an irresistible, unique hook that sees the lives of married couple June (Maya Rudolph) and Oscar (Fred Armisen) turned upside down. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

13. The Americans (ITV 4)

12. The Good Place (Netflix UK)

NBC’s comedy, about an ordinary woman (Kristen Bell) who is wrongly sent to a pleasant afterlife and must hide in plain sight from its creator (Ted Danson), shows “no sign of playing it safe with a smart, funny second season that never fails to surprise”. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

11. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon Prime Video)

Amazon’s divine comedy about Midge Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), a housewife who leaps from an unhappy marriage to the stand-up comedy stage, burst back onto our screens this year with all the fizz and pop of an Aperol Spritz. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

10. Daredevil (Netflix UK)

Daredevil may have hung up his red suit, but Marvel’s series bows out on a high, with a renewed sense of focus and the return of Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) plus a familiar comic book villain – all knitted together with some astonishing action sequences. Read our reviews – and where to watch it online.

9. Save Me (Sky Atlantic / NOW)

Who knew Morgan from The Walking Dead had it in him? The remarkable Lennie James writes and stares in this grippingly authentic and grittily dark thriller about a father searching for his estranged daughter, who has gone missing. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

8. Sharp Objects (Sky Atlantic / NOW)

Amy Adams and Patricia Clarkson are exceptional in this intriguing, dark psychological thriller about surface appearances and hidden truths, based on Gillian Flynn’s novel. Read our reviews – and where to watch it online.

7. BoJack Horseman (Netflix UK)

BoJack Horseman is its best worst self as Season 5 balances scalding hot takes and ludicrous storytelling – including one episode that’s entirely comprised of one monologue. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

6. The Good Fight (More4 / All 4)

5. The Staircase (Netflix UK)

Netflix’s true crime documentary, which charts the court case of Michael Peterson, a novelist whose wife was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their North Carolina home, is gripping, heart-wrenching television. Clear your schedule for 13 hours – you’re gonna need them. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

4. A Very English Scandal (BBC One / BBC iPlayer)

Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw are a delight in this deliciously entertaining, deceptively topical and deeply moving drama, which chronicles the scandalous relationship between politician Jeremy Thorpe and his lover, Norman Scott. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

3. Killing Eve (BBC Three / BBC iPlayer)

Dark, violent, and endlessly witty, Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s addictively unpredictable thriller about an assassin – Villanelle (Jodie Comer) – and the agent tasked with finding her – Eve (Sandra Oh) – is a funny, female-led treat. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

2. Succession (Sky Atlantic / NOW)

Jesse Armstrong’s impeccably awkward drama about a wealthy family is equal parts comedy and tragedy. Watch out for scene-stealing turns from Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen Read our review – and where to watch it online.

1. The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix UK)

Scary, moving and unbearably gripping, Mike Flanagan’s haunted house thriller is as much family drama as it is horror story, weaving a complex tapestry of trauma and the mechanisms human have devised to cope with it. The result is one of the most terrifying TV shows in recent memory. Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Also recommended:

Counterpart (STARZPLAY)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Hap and Leonard (Amazon Prime Video)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Timeless (E4)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

The Man in the High Castle (Amazon Prime Video)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Keeping Faith (BBC One)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (Netflix UK)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Informer (BBC iPlayer)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

A Series of Unfortunate Events (Netflix UK)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Mozart in the Jungle (Amazon Prime Video)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Mrs. Wilson (BBC iPlayer)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

The Young Offenders (BBC Three)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

The Deuce (Sky Atlantic / NOW)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

GLOW (Netflix UK)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Bodyguard (BBC One)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Lost in Space (Netflix UK)
Read our review – and where to watch it online.

Top 18 TV shows of 2018 | Where to watch online in UK | How to stream legally | When it is available on digital (2024)