Our Favorite British Shows on Netflix Right Now

Best Historical Crime Drama: Peaky Blinders

If historical crime, sharp suits, and antiquated slang are your thing, this Cillian Murphy-starring series will check all of your boxes.

The series follows the titular gang/family of Irish Romani as they seek to expand their power in Birmingham, England, and contend with a police inspector played by Sam Neill. Look for featured roles from stars including Tom Hardy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Aiden Gillen, Adrien Brody, and Paddy Considine.

Best Dystopia: Black Mirror

Whether you're worried about the effects of technology on the world or just like a good science fiction anthology, there's no better SF showcase on TV than Black Mirror.

The series started out in the UK and then transitioned to Netflix, which has commissioned the creation of multiple new, star-studded seasons and attention-grabbing stunts like the choose-your-own-adventure episode "Bandersnatch," in which the viewer controls the main character and the outcome of the story.

Best Long-Running Drama: Call the Midwife

This long-running and award-winning series follows the work and lives of a group of nurse-midwives in East London in the 1950s and 1960s.

Based on the memoirs of midwife Jennifer Worth, the show has run for 11 series, with annual Christmas specials added in. A drama that tackles social issues amidst the personal and professional lives of its midwives, the series has been one of the BBC's biggest hits in the 2000s.

Best Irish Comedy: Derry Girls

Some with Irish ancestors might have a bone to pick for putting this Irish show on a British TV list, especially given the subject matter, but we'll take the heat for a show this good and this funny.

Set in Derry, Ireland, in the 1990s, just as "The Troubles" are coming to an end, Derry Girls follows a group of friends and family trying to grow up and make their way through the normal teenage drama, oh, and the decades-long sectarian violence that ravaged Derry.

Not the typical backdrop for a comedy, of course, but that makes it all the more effective. An excellent, hilarious show.

Best Football Docuseries: Sunderland 'Til I Die

No list of British TV would be complete without at least one look at the national sporting pastime.

While Netflix's roster of footy shows is a little thin, this is an interesting look at Sunderland AFC, a team that's been relegated from the Premier League to a lesser division (the worst teams in the Premier League are penalized each year with expulsion, while the best teams in the lower league are promoted).

Focused on the team and its relationship with its fans and city, this is a great look at the beautiful game and what it means in England.

Best Spy Thriller: Bodyguard

When former soldier and current security officer David Budd (Game of Thrones' Richard Madden) stops a terrorist attack on a commuter train, he receives a new opportunity: guarding a controversial government minister (Keeley Hawes).

Thrown into a world of intrigue and wide-ranging conspiracy, he must unravel a mystery, protect the minister, and try to reconcile with his estranged wife over the course of 5 heart-stopping episodes.

Best Dramedy: Crashing

Before Fleabag and the hot priest, before Killing Eve and James Bond, Phoebe Waller-Bridge wrote and starred in this one-season comedy/drama about a mismatched group of friends living in short-term apartments in a disused hospital.

When Waller-Bridge's character Lulu joins the group, she upends the relationships of the residents, most notably her long-time friend, and sometime-crush, the already-engaged Anthony (played by Damien Molony).

Funny, heartbreaking, and complex, Crashing will satisfy Fleabag fans looking for more of Waller-Bridge's unique voice.

Best Cookoff: The Great British Baking Show

Sick of the cutthroat and toxic reality TV and competition shows that clutter the airways (and streaming services like Netflix)? The Great British Baking Show (originally The Great British Bakeoff in the UK) is the perfect palate cleanser.

There's no more heart-warming competition show, in which everyone is nice to each other, participants often help struggling competitors, and roving comedians offer as much moral support as they do jokes.

Each season takes competitors through a series of baking challenges, some focused on style and design, others on just baking something that tastes amazing, until a winner is crowned at the end of 10 episodes.

Best Suburban Thriller: The Stranger

While it may be based on an American novel (Harlan Coben's 2015 book of the same name), transferring the story to Manchester makes this squarely a UK show.

In it, suburban dad Adam (Armitage) is approached by a strange young woman who tells him a secret that begins to unravel his life. Soon enough, his wife goes missing, more secrets are revealed, and the tension mounts. It's a fun, twisty thriller.

Best Serial Killer Docuseries: The Ripper

If your tastes turn more to the darker side of life, and to true stories (especially true crime), this docs-series about the serial killer dubbed The Yorkshire Ripper will chill and grip you.

The series focuses on the 13 murders committed by Peter Sutcliffe in Yorkshire between 1975 and 1980 and blunders, institutional incompetence, and misogyny on the part of local police that allowed Sutcliffe to escape capture for so many years. This is a bleak and tragic, but also compelling, series.