Best TV programmes you can watch online

There’s so much choice right now on Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant and Now TV that it can be difficult to decide what to watch! Awful navigation doesn’t help much either. So we thought we’d help with our faves on each streaming service.

Programmes come and go, so check the date at the top of the article to see when we last updated it. Of course there are loads more available, but these are the ones I think are worth watching. You’ll see some shows appearing on a few different services, and others exclusive to just one.

We recommend you swap around the different services to get the best value, and even take breaks where you don’t subscribe to any at all! Make sure you also read our 8 Ways To Get Value From Streaming for all our tips.

Jump to: Netflix / NOW TV / Amazon Prime Instant / 4OD / Blinkbox & iTunes / Unavailable Programmes

Best TV on Netflix

Stream for £5.99 a month (one device), £6.99 (two devices), £8.99 (three devices). 30 day free trial.

For us, Netflix leads the way with two of the best US series available – House of Cards and Breaking Bad, but it’s pretty limited in quality after that.

Essential viewing:

• House of Cards (US remake)
• Breaking Bad
• Arrested Development
• Modern Family (only series 1 & 2)

If you’ve already seen those:

• Orange is the New Black
• Sons of Anarchy
• Justified
• Spiral
• Battlestar Galactica
• The Returned
• Top of the Lake
• Orphan Black (season 1)
• Dexter (seasons 1 – 8 )
• Regular Show (seasons 1 & 2)

Favourites to watch again:

• Sherlock (series 1 – 3)
• The Killing (Danish version)
• Homeland (series 1 & 2)
• Damages
• The Thick of It
• The Mighty Boosh
• I’m Alan Partridge
• Scrubs (seasons 1-6)
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• 24 (seasons 1-8)

LINK: Subscribe to Netflix

Best TV on Now TV

Stream the Entertainment package for £4.99 a month (£6.99 from 16th October) or buy 3 months with Now Box (worth £9.99) for £19.99. Check our NOW TV deals page to see if there are any extra incentives.

This is fantastic when there’s a new series on Sky as you have four weeks to watch most of what’s on their channels. Previous series have included Game of Thrones, Mad Men, The Walking Dead and True Detective. There are also longer term box sets, which change frequently. Movies are a separate subscription.

Essential viewing:

• Mad Men (series 1-7)
• The Walking Dead (Series 1-3, Series 4 soon, Series 5 from mid October for 28 days after each episode airs)
• A Touch Of Cloth
• Yonderland
• Veep (Series 1 until end of September)

If you’ve already seen those:

• Boardwalk Empire (Series 1-4 in full, Series 5 from mid September for 28 days after each episode airs)
• The Leftovers
• Girls (Season 1)
• The Newsroom (Season 1)
• The Blacklist (Season 1)
• Alan Partridge: Mid Morning Matters
• Moone Boy
• A Young Doctor’s Notebook
• Sky Arts documentaries and concerts

Favourites to watch again:

• 24 (series 1-8)
• Six Feet Under

LINK: Subscribe to Now TV

Best TV on Amazon Prime Instant

Stream for £6.99. 30 day free trial.

Amazon Prime Instantwas formally known as Love Film. You can still get DVDs by post, but it’s extra. Definitely has the biggest selection of old favourites.

Essential viewing:

• Mad Men (series 1-4 only)
• 30 Rock (season 1-3 only)
• The Walking Dead (season 1-2 only)

If you’ve already seen those:

• Extant
• Community
• Sons of Anarchy
• Battlestar Galactica
• Deadwood
• Dexter
• The Sarah Silverman Programme (I love this, but it won’t be for everyone!)

Favourites to watch again:

• Doctor Who
• Downton Abbey
• Frasier
• Gavin & Stacey
• Twin Peaks
• Star Trek
• Blackadder
• 24
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Scrubs (seasons 1-9)
• The West Wing

LINK: Subscribe to Amazon Prime Instant

Best TV on 4OD

Free!

As well as being the catch up service for Channel 4, 4OD also has a great back catalogue. All costing you for nothing. There’s so much great archive here that you could easily just make do, though there are adverts.

Recent series you may have missed:

• Utopia
• Toast of London
• Southcliffe
• Black Mirror

Older programmes you might not have seen:

• Sunday
• Buried
• Boyz Unlimited (starring James Cordon)
• Nathan Barley
• The Boys Whose Skin Fell Off, plus 100’s of other documentaries
• Garth Merenghi’s Dark Place
• Traffik

Favourites to watch again:

• Teachers
• Brass Eye
• Shameless
• St Elsewhere
• Hill Street Blues
• Queer as Folk
• Peep Show
• Spaced
• The Inbetweeners
• The IT Crowd
• Drop the Dead Donkey
• Black Books
• Misfits
• Fresh Meat

LINK: Watch 4OD

Best TV on Blinkbox/iTunes

Cost Varies.

You can’t stream or rent TV on Blinkbox and iTunes, only download to own, making them a more expensive option.

LINK: Get Game of Thrones on Blinkbox

TV currently unavailable for streaming

If you’re asking where can I stream True Detective, any of these other programmes, or the most recent series of the most popular US programmes, you’re out of luck. Your best option is to wait, or purchase to own.

• The Sopranos
• The Wire
• Modern Family (series 3 onwards)
• True Blood