The 30 best drama series on Netflix right now
From Adolescence and Baby Reindeer to hit BBC and ITV shows, these are the best dramas on Netflix
Netflix drama series are the bread and butter of the streaming platform, and these are the 30 best ones you can watch now.
It doesn’t matter if it’s Netflix, Amazon Prime, or ITVX: a good, addictive drama is perhaps the most unifying type of TV show there is. Fervent discussions online, excited conversations in the office, and a nation (if not the world) glued to their screens, desperate to know what happens next.
So, given that Netflix is the biggest streamer in the world, we’ve rounded up the best dramas available to binge.
To be clear, just because a show has drama doesn’t mean it’s immediately eligible. For example, Stranger Things is predominantly sci-fi and horror, so don’t expect to see it on this list (you can find it on our list of the best Netflix series, though).
30. Mr Mercedes
- Year: 2017 – 2019
- Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Harry Treadaway, Holland Taylor
- Creator: David E. Kelley
- Length: 3 seasons, 30 episodes
What it’s about: Bill Hodges, a retired detective haunted by a brutal unsolved case, begins receiving strange, taunting messages from a psychopath who may be connected to his past.
Why to watch: Four words: Stephen King detective drama. Yes, Mr Mercedes is an adaptation from the master of horror’s archives, and while it doesn’t fit the tidy, typical confines of the genre, it’s intense, eerie, and very bingeable.
29. Years and Years
- Year: 2019
- Cast: Russell Tovey, Rory Kinnear, Emma Thompson
- Creator: Russell T. Davies
- Length: 1 season, 6 episodes
What it’s about: The Lyons family experience political, economic, and cultural change over the course of 15 tumultuous years in the UK.
Why to watch: Years and Years is a true hidden gem from Channel 4 – undeservedly so, because it should be widely and perennially revered. Coming from Russell T. Davies, it’s as bleak and dispiriting as Black Mirror at its best – but it’s also a sublime, perceptive, and entertaining drama.
28. The Big C
- Year: 2010 – present
- Cast: Laura Linney, Oliver Platt, John Benjamin Hickey, Gabriel Basso
- Creator: Darlene Hunt
- Length: 4 seasons, 40 episodes
What it’s about: Recently estranged from her husband and diagnosed with cancer, teacher Cathy Jamison decides to live life on her own terms, consequences be damned.
Why to watch: The Big C, a wry, life-affirming comedy series, is a testament to Laura Linney. Even when it dips in quality (series 3 is woeful), she is eminently, joyously watchable in everything she does, while still emphasising the sad darkness inherent in its story.
27. The Crown
- Year: 2016 – 2023
- Cast: Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Matt Smith
- Creator: Peter Morgan
- Length: 6 seasons, 60 episodes
What it’s about: From her ascension to the throne in the 1940s to the early 21st century, The Crown portrays the life of Queen Elizabeth II through some of the most significant and affecting events of her reign.
Why to watch: It may have begun as Netflix’s most prestigious TV show, but by the time you reach its later seasons, The Crown can feel like a regal soap opera. That’s not a bad thing, especially when you have a series with such a good ensemble; casting Emma Corrin as Princess Diana was a masterstroke.
At its best, it’s riveting, enlightening television about perhaps the most famous family in the world. At its worst, it’s a subversive costume drama.
26. Mad Men
- Year: 2007 – 2015
- Cast: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, January Jones
- Creator: Matthew Weiner
- Length: 7 seasons, 92 episodes
What it’s about: Donald Draper, one of the most talented ad executives at an agency in New York, tries to balance his immense success at work, the pressure of selling dreams, and being able to look at himself in the mirror.
Why to watch: Breaking Bad may be AMC’s most famous series, but the network’s original storytelling began in 2007 with Mad Men. Nearly 20 years later, you could argue it’s one of the most seminal TV shows of the 21st century, reshaping the medium just like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.
Even its quietest moments (probably someone smoking – aptly, it’s an unfortunate ad for looking great with a cigarette) are captivating, and it features some of the best-written characters to ever grace the small screen.
25. House
- Year: 2004 – 2012
- Cast: Hugh Laurie, Omar Epps, Robert Sean Leonard, Lisa Edelstein
- Creator: David Shore
- Length: 8 seasons, 177 episodes
What it’s about: Dr Gregory House is a medical genius who can successfully diagnose any patient. He’s also rude, misanthropic, and addicted to pain medication. Each day, along with his amazing team, he figures out to help people.
Why to watch: House is one of the most addictive shows on Netflix. You’re guaranteed to like it if you watched E.R., and unlike the genre’s yawningly corny offerings (*cough* Grey’s Anatomy *cough*), its sweetness is matched with cutting cynicism.
It’s part medical drama, part comedy, and part unofficial Sherlock Holmes adaptation. That’s an easy TV prescription for anyone.
24. Top Boy
- Year: 2011 – 2023
- Cast: Ashley Walters, Kane Robinson, Michael Ward, Jasmine Jobson
- Creator: Ronan Bennett
- Length: 5 seasons, 32 episodes
What it’s about: Originally airing on Channel 4 before it was revived by Netflix, Top Boy revolves around two drug dealers – Dushane and Sully – as they try to keep control of their London estate and overcome tensions between gangs.
Why to watch: Top Boy’s original run was great; a gritty, homegrown urban crime drama… that was unceremoniously cancelled by Channel 4.
Nobody was happy – especially Drake, who successfully lobbied Netflix to revive it with three fantastic new seasons, with Ashley Walters and Kano reprising their roles alongside a new cast. It’s the UK’s closest match to The Wire, if you needed another reason to watch it.
23. Virgin River
- Year: 2019 – present
- Cast: Alexandra Breckenridge, Martin Henderson, Tim Matheson, Annette O’Toole
- Creator: Sue Tenney
- Length: 6 seasons, 60 episodes (renewed for two more seasons)
What it’s about: Melinda Monroe leaves her big-city life behind to work as a nurse practitioner in Virgin River, a remote town in California. However, small-town living isn’t as easy as she expects, and she needs to heal herself before she can see a new horizon.
Why to watch: Virgin River is pure comfort TV at its finest – small-town melodrama, big emotions, and just enough chaos to keep you hooked.
It’s incredibly soapy, and some things are a bit preposterous (including a woman who’s pregnant for four seasons), but that’s part of the charm. If you want sophisticated drama, look elsewhere: this is a cosy escape, nothing more.
22. Des
- Year: 2020
- Cast: David Tennant, Daniel Mays, Jason Watkins
- Creator: Lewis Arnold, Luke Neal
- Length: 1 season, 3 episodes
What it’s about: Detective Chief Inspector Peter Jay receives a call about the possible discovery of human remains in a house. When they question the homeowner – Dennis Nilsen – he admits to killing at least 12 young boys and men.
Why to watch: Des doesn’t show any of the murders, beginning with his arrest and unnerving confession. This places the focus on Tennant’s incredibly eerie turn, peeling back the layers of Nilsen’s narcissism in his blasé, bewildered interactions with the police.
It’s a deeply unsympathetic portrayal (and one of the best portrayals of a real-life serial killer), and his indifferent demeanour to his own actions will haunt you long after it’s done.
21. Gilmore Girls
- Year: 2000 – 2007
- Cast: Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Scott Patterson, Kelly Bishop
- Creator: Amy Sherman-Palladino
- Length: 7 seasons, 153 episodes
What it’s about: Lorelai and her teenage daughter Rory live in Stars Hollow, a quaint town in Connecticut, learning about life, love, and family as Rory goes through several milestones.
Why to watch: Gilmore Girls has benefited from the Netflix effect: giving a terrific show a new, deserved lease of life, making it so successful (again) that the streamer commissioned a revival.
It was fine, but the original series is wonderful; smart, cosy, with sharp, well-observed dialogue and performances from Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, and its charming supporting cast. There’s a reason so many people watch it every Autumn: it’s the quintessential fall TV show.
20. Line of Duty
- Year: 2012 – present
- Cast: Martin Compston, Vicky McClure, Adrian Dunbar
- Creator: Jed Mercurio
- Length: 6 seasons, 36 episodes (seventh season confirmed)
What it’s about: DS Steve Arnott joins AC-12, Central Police’s anti-corruption unit. Under Superintendent Ted Hastings, he works with DC Kate Fleming to find crooked cops and uncover the force’s connection to organised crime.
Why to watch: Line of Duty is one of the most addictive crime dramas the BBC has ever produced; it genuinely feels painful not to press play on the next episode after every immense, skin-tingling cliffhanger. Series 3 was the best, but its troughs (the ‘H’ reveal) are far fewer than its peaks. Here’s the good news: Line of Duty series 7 has been confirmed.
19. Bridgerton
- Year: 2020 – present
- Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Regé-Jean Page, Jonathan Bailey, Nicola Coughlan
- Creator: Chris Van Dusen
- Length: 3 seasons, 24 episodes (renewed for three more seasons)
What it’s about: Against the backdrop of the Regency era, the Bridgerton family navigate high society (and scandal) in search of love, facing battles between desire and duty under the watchful eye of gossip writer Lady Whistledown.
Why to watch: Bridgerton is a period drama. That’s a tough sell on its own, but there are three big reasons it’s one of Netflix’s biggest shows ever: steamy sex scenes, attractive and charismatic stars, and deliciously frothy, fun storytelling.
The first season followed Regé-Jean Page and Phoebe Dynevor’s Duke and Duchess. Season 2 shifted to Jonathan Bailey and Simone Ashley, before Season 3 focused on Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton. Here’s the best part: there are (at least) three more seasons in the works.
18. Suits
- Year: 2011 – 2019
- Cast: Gabriel Macht, Patrick J. Adams, Meghan Markle, Sarah Rafferty, Rick Hoffman
- Creator: Aaron Korsh
- Length: 9 seasons, 134 episodes
What it’s about: Mike Ross, a college dropout with a photographic memory, lands a job at a prestigious New York law firm… even though he doesn’t have a degree. Alongside attorney Harvey Specter, he tackles all sorts of cases – all while covering his fraudulent tracks.
Why to watch: Suits has a ridiculous premise that falls apart if you take it too seriously. It’s also brilliant; a whip-smart and entertaining procedural with likeable characters and easy-to-grasp arcs that don’t bog themselves down with legalese.
The last few seasons are pants, but Seasons 1-6 are about as good as ‘crap TV’ gets. Fun fact: it was the most-streamed show in 2023 after it was added to Netflix.
17. Heartstopper
- Year: 2022 – present
- Cast: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, Yasmin Finney, William Gao
- Creator: Alice Oseman
- Length: 3 seasons, 24 episodes (finale film confirmed for 2026)
What it’s about: Charlie, a quiet, gay teenager, falls for Nick, a popular classmate who’s never been with another boy. Their relationship tests them and everyone around them, from concerned friends to frosty family members.
Why to watch: Very rarely does a TV show come along that feels like a genuine force for good. Heartstopper is just that: a coming-of-age queer love story that’s sensitive and instructive, without leaning on the edgy material that made Skins and Euphoria so popular.
Kit Connor and Joe Locke have captured the world’s hearts as Charlie and Nick, and even if you’re turned off by its soppiness, it’s hard to imagine you won’t be won over in the end.
16. The Queen’s Gambit
- Year: 2020
- Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Camp, Marielle Heller, Thomas Brodie-Sangster
- Creator: Scott Frank, Allan Scott
- Length: 1 season, 7 episodes
What it’s about: In 1950s America, orphaned prodigy Beth Harmon discovers a strong aptitude for chess and begins climbing to the top of the game’s world. As her fame grows, so do her inner demons — addiction, obsession, and the pressure to be perfect.
Why to watch: Anya Taylor-Joy starred in incredible movies before she became an A-lister; The Witch, Thoroughbreds, Split, to name a few. It’s The Queen’s Gambit that made her a worldwide star. She’s absolutely magnetic, and she never makes one move out of place.
It also continuously defies expectation (the mere fact that a limited series about a chess champion is on this list should tell you that). Don’t be surprised if you’re digging out that chessboard at the back of the cupboard afterwards.
15. Yellowstone
- Year: 2018 – 2024
- Cast: Kevin Costner, Luke Grimes, Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley
- Creator: Taylor Sheridan, John Linson
- Length: 5 seasons, 53 episodes
What it’s about: The Dutton family own the largest cattle ranch in Montana. From crooked politicians to rival ranchers, its patriarch and his kids fight to protect their land and way of life from everyone who threatens it.
Why to watch: You could praise Yellowstone for being a Shakespearean drama; it’s ultimately a story about loyalty and bitter betrayal. You could also highlight its spectacular production value, revelling in the dreamy (and dangerous) vistas of Montana.
But there are three reasons why people start Yellowstone and keep watching it: Kevin Costner’s charismatic turn as John Dutton, Beth Dutton being a badass, and its violent, soapy drama.
14. Catastrophe
- Year: 2015 – 2019
- Cast: Rob Delaney, Sharon Horgan, Mark Bonnar, Ashley Jensen
- Creator: Rob Delaney, Sharon Horgan
- Length: 4 seasons, 24 episodes
What it’s about: Rob and Sharon have a steamy six-day fling during a business trip to London. When she realizes she’s pregnant, he moves to the UK, determined to make their relationship work – no matter their (many) differences.
Why to watch: If “a Yank and an Irish woman have a one-night stand” sounds like the beginning of a joke, Catastrophe works tirelessly to find the funniest and emotionally resonant punchlines possible across four seasons.
It wouldn’t work without Rob Delaney and Sharon Horgan’s infectious chemistry; lovers and foils to one another, often in the same scene. However, special credit is owed to The Celebrity Traitors star Mark Bonnar, whose deadpan Scottishness secures some of the show’s biggest laughs.
13. Peaky Blinders
- Year: 2013 – 2022
- Cast: Cillian Murphy, Paul Anderson, Helen McCrory, Sophie Rundle
- Creator: Steven Knight
- Length: 6 seasons, 36 episodes
What it’s about: In the aftermath of the First World War, Tommy Shelby leads the Peaky Blinders gang in Birmingham, clashing with rivals and corrupt officials as they fight for survival – and power.
Why to watch: Violence, politics, impeccable outfits, an expertly curated soundtrack, and one of British TV’s most iconic performances; what else is there to say to convince you to watch Peaky Blinders?
There’s no excuse: now’s the time, by order of the… well, you know.
12. Beef
- Year: 2023
- Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino
- Creator: Lee Sung Jin
- Length: 1 season, 10 episodes (renewed for season 2)
What it’s about: Two strangers – Danny Cho, a struggling contractor, and Amy Lau, a businesswoman on the verge of a huge deal – nearly crash into each other in a car park. Their respective rage goes far beyond the road, with the feud impacting every part of their lives.
Why to watch: An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, something shockingly and addictively illustrated by Beef, one of the best series on Netflix.
Steven Yeun and Ali Wong’s characters are a masterclass in writing: a rock to another’s hard place, both equal parts deplorable and sympathetic. Everyone’s experienced road rage, but Beef will make you think twice about beeping your horn.
11. Ozark
- Year: 2017 – 2022
- Cast: Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, Julia Garner
- Creator: Bill Dubuque, Mark Williams
- Length: 4 seasons, 44 episodes
What it’s about: After a scheme with Mexican drug cartel goes haywire, financial advisor Marty Byrde relocates his family to the Ozarks, where he sets up an even bigger, more profitable money laundering operation.
Why to watch: If each channel has an acclaimed crime drama (Breaking Bad on AMC, The Sopranos on HBO), Ozark is Netflix’s best contribution to the genre, and just as good as its greatest contemporaries.
Laura Linney is incredible, and the series introduced the world to the versatile, imposing screen presence of Julia Garner. It’s Jason Bateman’s performance that makes the show work; a wry, dead-eyed twist on his everyman persona.
10. Normal People
- Year: 2020
- Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Paul Mescal
- Creator: Alice Birch, Sally Rooney, Mark O’Halloran
- Length: 1 season, 12 episodes
What it’s about: Marianne and Connell, two teens in a small Irish town, begin a secretive relationship in school. They have a strong, intimate connection, but complications arise as they grow up and go to university, whether it’s other partners or their own anxieties.
Why to watch: Normal People is one of the most intimate and sexually vivid shows that’s ever aired on British TV. As tempting as it is to talk about it on those terms (don’t watch it with your mum and dad), and as inseparable as it is from why the series works, it’s much, much more than that.
It’s among the most soul-stirring love stories ever written, and the fact that people struggle to accept Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones not being a couple in real life tells you everything you need to know.
9. Mindhunter
- Year: 2017 – 2019
- Cast: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv
- Creator: Joe Penhall
- Length: 2 seasons, 19 episodes
What it’s about: What makes a serial killer tick? That’s the basic question in Mindhunter, David Fincher’s series that follows agents Holden Hord and Bill Tench as they interview imprisoned murderers. Alongside psychologist Wendy Carr, they try to apply their twisted, extraordinary learnings to ongoing cases.
Why to watch: There are two reasons Mindhunter is on this list. One, it brought David Fincher’s cerebral, precise, and icy style to TV in one of the most expertly crafted true crime thrillers in the history of streaming.
Secondly, if we remind Netflix how much everyone loved (and still loves) it, maybe they’ll finally make season 3.
8. After Life
- Year: 2019 – 2022
- Cast: Ricky Gervais, Diane Morgan, Tom Basden, Tony Way
- Creator: Ricky Gervais
- Length: 3 seasons, 18 episodes
What it’s about: After his wife dies from cancer, Tony considers killing himself. Instead, he decides to punish the world by doing and saying whatever he wants, when he wants, regardless of how it makes people feel, all while working for his town’s local newspaper.
Why to watch: As a portrait of grief, After Life has a heartbreaking, rightly uncomfortable candour, and then it can swing to the saccharine in the same episode.
Ricky Gervais’ dramatic tact is definitely Marmitey (Derek certainly wasn’t for everyone), his comedic chops aren’t up for debate. It’s likely you’ll cry, either from laughing or its frequently devastating moments.
7. Dept Q
- Year: 2025 – present
- Cast: Matthew Goode, Kelly Macdonald, Chloe Pirrie, Kate Dickie
- Creator: Scott Frank, Chandni Lakhani
- Length: 1 season, 9 episodes
What it’s about: DCI Carl Morck, a miserable but brilliant cop in Edinburgh, is exiled to the basement to take charge of Department Q, a cold case unit that slowly unravels the truth behind a prosecutor’s disappearance.
Why to watch: Scott Frank already has two entries on this list, so why not add a third? Dept Q is his strongest series to date, and one of the very best shows on Netflix.
Think Slow Horses with a dash of Luther; grim, intelligent, and incisively written, anchored on Matthew Goode’s performance as a grumpy, first-rate detective. You’ll binge it in a weekend (or maybe even one night).
6. Adolescence
- Year: 2024
- Cast: Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper, Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty, Christine Tremarco
- Creator: Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham
- Length: 1 season, 4 episodes
What it’s about: A family’s life is upended when Jamie, a 13-year-old boy, is arrested after the murder of a teenage girl. As the investigation unfolds, they’re forced to reckon with the truth and how it led to such a tragedy.
Why to watch: Adolescence, a tragic, masterful ‘real-time’ series from the team behind Boiling Point, forces you to reckon with the corruption of young boys growing up in the ‘manosphere’. That’s extremely uncomfortable for a lot of people – and that’s why everyone needs to see it.
That, and it stars Stephen Graham (who surely qualifies for legend status), starring alongside small-screen stalwart Christine Tremarco and Owen Cooper, who became the youngest person in the history of his category to win an Emmy.
As trite as it may sound, this is an important TV show – and, quite frankly, unmissable.
5. Broadchurch
- Year: 2013 – 2017
- Cast: David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whittaker, Jonathan Bailey, Vicky McClure
- Creator: Chris Chibnall
- Length: 3 seasons, 24 episodes
What it’s about: When the body of a young boy is found on a beach, a small coastal town becomes the focus of a major police investigation and a media frenzy, with two detectives forced to work together to figure out what happened.
Why to watch: Simply put, Broadchurch is one of the best British crime dramas this side of the millennium; a show that came and went on its own terms with three superb seasons, each just as good as the last (season 1 is the best though). Chris Chibnall’s Doctor Who work may be divisive, but this is unanimously revered.
For any Trigger Point and Line of Duty fans out there, it’s also one of Vicky McClure’s best roles.
4. Better Call Saul
- Year: 2015 – 2022
- Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito
- Creator: Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould
- Length: 6 seasons, 63 episodes
What it’s about: Jimmy McGill tries to leave his conman days behind him and become a straight-laced attorney. However, he can’t live up to his moral aspirations, slowly transforming into his criminal, egocentric alter ego: Saul Goodman.
Why to watch: Vince Gilligan already entered the upper echelons of TV legend with Breaking Bad. Why risk it with Better Call Saul, a prequel about the original show’s soulless, smarmy attorney?
Let’s just say, it’s a good thing the general audience doesn’t call the shots. With some of the strongest visuals on television, nuanced performances, and a carefully plotted arc that casts an unsympathetic sleazeball in a whole new light, Better Call Saul is a staggering achievement.
3. Baby Reindeer
- Year: 2024
- Cast: Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, Tom Goodman-Hill
- Creator: Richard Gadd
- Length: 1 season, 7 episodes
What it’s about: Based on the true story of Richard Gadd’s stalking ordeal, Baby Reindeer follows Donny, a struggling comedian who works in a London pub. When he takes pity on an upset woman, she takes a bit of a liking to him, but it spirals into a violent obsession.
Why to watch: Baby Reindeer should be recognised as one of Netflix’s defining achievements: an overwhelming, harrowing, and indelible account of a man’s grief and trauma that took everyone by surprise when it dropped on the platform.
Its aftermath may have overshadowed its success (its alleged real-life subject is suing the streamer), but as Gadd said when he accepted an award for writing the series, “The only constant factor in any success in television is good storytelling.” This is (almost) as good as it gets.
2. The Haunting of Hill House
- Year: 2018
- Cast: Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, Timothy Hutton, Henry Thomas, Elizabeth Reaser, Kate Siegel, Victoria Pedretti
- Creator: Mike Flanagan
- Length: 1 season, 10 episodes
What it’s about: When the Crain family moves into Hill House, they experience paranormal phenomena beyond their worst nightmares. Decades later, they’re reunited by a horrific tragedy, forcing them to confront the trauma and fear that’s always haunted them.
Why to watch: The Haunting of Hill House isn’t just the best original series Netflix has ever made: it’s the greatest horror TV show of all time.
Mike Flanagan knew that to make a series scary – not just giving you the heebie-jeebies; proper mind-festering stuff that will keep you up at night – you need weighty, powerful drama.
And, despite its frights (keep an eye out for the hidden ghosts), it isn’t a one-and-done experience, with repeat viewings just as rewarding. Turn the lights off, and as R.L. Stine famously wrote, “Beware… you’re in for a scare.”
1. Breaking Bad
- Year: 2008 – 2013
- Cast: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, Dean Norris, Bob Odenkirk
- Creator: Vince Gilligan
- Length: 5 seasons, 62 episodes
What it’s about: When high school chemistry teacher Walter White discovers he has cancer and only two years to live, he resorts to cooking meth to secure his family’s financial future. However, he develops a taste for the wealth and power of becoming a drug kingpin.
Why to watch: Is Breaking Bad the greatest TV show ever made? According to hundreds of rankings across the web, the answer is yes – and they could be right.
It has everything: Bryan Cranston’s iconic, against-type performance, a superb supporting cast, striking visuals, and a rich, shocking, and unpredictable rise-and-fall story. Also, don’t listen to anyone who says it doesn’t get good until Season 2. They’re wrong: it’s phenomenal from start to finish.
If you’re a fan, there’s a prequel on Netflix too: Better Call Saul… and some say it’s even better.
Read more: The 50 best films on Netflix you can watch right now
