Ivan Radford | On 04, Jan 2025

Apple TV+ has won over fans with such hits as Ted Lasso and Slow Horses, but the tech giant’s subscription service has built up a deceptively impressive streaming library of originals that belies its small size.

From feel-good comedies to gripping dramas and eye-opening documentaries, we round up the best TV series on Apple TV+… (For our guide to the best films on Apple TV+, go here.)

Severance

“Am I livestock? Did you grow me for food?” Those are the words of Helly (Britt Lower), a newcomer to Lumen Industries, a gigantic tech firm that specialises in – well, nobody really knows. In a world of corporate security and advanced technology, Lumen has developed a radical technique that all its employees undergo: severance, the separation of one’s mind inside and outside of the office. If that sounds sinister, you’re already on the right wavelength for this brain-bending drama, which dives head-on into the toxic nature of modern society’s work-life balance, with Adam Scott delivering a downbeat turn that becomes more intense the more time he spends at work. If you can’t remember what you do at work, or what your company does, how culpable are you? If you can’t make that moral judgement, do you have any free will? Creator and writer Dan Erickson (The Good Fight) lets these concerns spin round our heads, while director Ben Stiller dizzyingly positions each plate for maximum discomfort. The result is a unique and unnerving, and one of the most worryingly pertinent TV shows in recent memory. Season 2 arrives in January 2025 – don’t wait to get caught up.Read our full review

Foundation: Season 1 and 2

Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels have long been considered unfilmable, thanks to their expansive scope and defiantly abstract subject matter – the compilation of a really big encyclopaedia. If that sounds dry, you’re not wrong, and the books’ challenging nature are compounded by their structure of several separate stories set across hundreds of years. The one recurring character? The universe’s most ambitious dictionary. But Foundation the TV series makes it clear from the off that it’s not doing things by the book. Showrunner David S Goyer charts the tensions and conflicts that arise from the prediction by mathematician Hari Seldon (Jared Harris) that society will soon collapse and a repository of knowledge is needed to help rebuild things. But Goyer also introduces the antagonist of human nature in the form of an emperor who has cloned himself so that he can live on in power forever, played by Lee Pace. It’s a smart move because it allows the show to retain the themes of civilisation, the common good, the value of history and the power of science – while also letting us enjoy watching Lee Pace swagger about as some kind of space king. There really is something for everybody here. Read our full review

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters

This adventurous, action-packed romp deftly balances big monsters and tiny human drama. Read our full review

Silo: Season 1 and 2

This gripping dystopian sci-fi is a thoughtful, surprising thriller about society and truth. Read our full review

Shrinking: Season 1 and 2

This charming, heartfelt comedy about pain and grief is a funny, moving celebration of connecting with others. Read our full review

Slow Horses: Season 1 to 4

This enjoyably low-key thriller is an entertaining walk on the shabby side of spying. Read our full review

Masters of the Air

This soaring WWII drama is a dazzling, dizzying, disorienting feat of TV. Read our full review

Lessons in Chemistry

Brie Larson shines in this entertaining, moving and charming study of empowerment and change – and also science and cooking. If you liked the book, get a taste of this smart, slick adaptation. Read our full review

Bad Sisters: Season 1 and 2

Family loyalty leads to grave consequences in this darkly entertaining thriller, based on the incredible Belgian series Clan. (Pro tip: Don’t worry about sticking around for the second season.) Read our full review

Shining Girls

Elisabeth Moss delivers a gut-wrenching, vulnerable and ferociously committed turn in this twisting thriller. The result is that rare thing: a TV show unlike anything else out there. Read our full review

The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin

Noel Fielding leads a delightfully silly and star-studded cast in this fast and funny romp through history.
Read our full review

Five Days at Memorial

This gripping account of what happened at Memorial hospital after Hurricane Katrina is important, devasting viewing. Read our full review

Ted Lasso: Season 1 to 3

“I can’t help but root for him,” remarks a character in the opening episodes of Ted Lasso, Apple TV+’s new comedy. It’s a sentiment you’ll soon find yourself sharing – even though you likely have no idea who on earth Ted Lasso is. A clueless football coach, he was initially conceived by Jason Sudeikis for a couple of short skits for NBC Sports in 2013 to promote the network’s coverage of Premier League football. Now, seven years on, he’s been fleshed out into a full leading man. Sudeikis is hugely charming in what emerges as the nicest show on TV right now. A delightful, optimistic TV gem. Read our full review

The Morning Show: Season 1 to 3

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” admits Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) several episodes into The Morning Show, Apple TV+’s new newsroom drama. It’s a rare moment of honesty in a show that questions what exactly that is in the modern media age. The result is a star-studded, fast-paced, whip-smart breakdown of the current state of journalism, a show that captures the buzz of a studio, the hum of 24/7 media attention, the pressure of trying to stay true to one’s self while also staying relevant. In other words, it’s everything you could want a flagship TV drama to be. Read our full review

Visible: Out of Television

“I think TV profoundly affects the way people feel about themselves,” says someone in Visible: Out on Television, a documentary that examines the relationship of the LGBTQ+ movement and the small screen. The five-part series takes us through the history of both the movement and TV, from the early days when LGBTQ+ people where portrayed as maniacs or deviants to the 1970s when positive portrayals of LGBTQ+ people began to emerge – and through to the current wave of LGBTQ+ creators who have made it within the industry open the door for greater inclusion of talent and voices off screen to wider representation on it. Superb. Read our full review

Little America

“You belong here as much as they do,” a coach tells young student Marisol (Jearnest Corchado) in Little America. A compendium of tales following immigrants coming to America, or Americans born to a generation who did, Apple TV+’s new series is a collection of those little moments – tiny declarations of identity and affirmations of belonging. They hit hard with heart and hope. This heartwarming anthology of coming-to-America tales is an uplifting, inspiring watch. Read our full review

Schmigadoon! Season 1 and 2

Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key star in this delightful musical comedy that sends up golden-age musicals. They play a bickering couple who go on a retreat to strengthen their relationship – only to end up in the titular town and find out that they can’t leave without finding their true love. Cue a host of meddling locals, potential other matches and no end of fun supporting characters, including the town mayor played by Alan Cummings. Add in pitch-perfect pastiches of musical classics, such as Oklahoma!, and you have a fun, charming number. Read our full review

Pachinko: Season 1 and 2

This superb, sweeping drama in three languages — Korean, Japanese and English — begins with a forbidden love and crescendos into a sweeping saga that journeys between Korea, Japan and America to tell a story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning.

Hijack

As exhilarating as it is implausible, this perfectly paced airborne thriller is grounded by a commanding turn from Idris Elba. Read our full review

Lady in the Lake

Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram are superb in this absorbing, nuanced period noir about prejudice, rights and identity. Read our full review

The Essex Serpent

This atmospheric adaptation of Sarah Perry’s gothic mystery is an invigorating portrait of a woman ahead of her time. Read our full review.

Criminal Record

Peter Capaldi and Cush Jumbo are riveting to watch in this dark, gripping crime thriller about a corrupt cop going up against an honest one. Read our full review.

Black Bird

This brooding but understated prison drama – starring Taron Egerton and the late Ray Liotta – packs a gripping, moving punch. Read our full review.

Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson

“I had never made anything that emotional before.” That’s Mark Ronson talking about the song Back to Black and how he used reverb to bring a loneliness and vulnerability to Amy Winehouse’s recording of that seminal track. He describes it as the moment his career as a producer really began, and it’s that personal touch that makes this documentary series such an absorbing and interesting watch. Each episode explores a different technical aspect of music production, from Auto-Tune to sampling. Stuffed with star talking heads and practical demonstrations, the show balances Ronson’s confidence and knowledge with a self-aware sense of humour and an infectious passion and enthusiasm. It’s an emotional watch as much as an educational watch – and guaranteed to delight music lovers. Read our full review

Central Park: Season 1 to 3

From the creator of Bob’s Burgers, Loren Bouchard, the show is a full-on, unabashed musical, a show that isn’t afraid to sing its ambitions and emotions loud and proud. Within the opening episode alone, there are multiple song-and-dance numbers, at least one of which will be stuck in your head for days. By the time you reach Episode 4, the show has grown into a rapturous showstopper that turns its feeling of joy up to 11. Sweet, surreal and stuffed with memorable songs, this animated love letter to parks is a pure delight. Read our full review

Tehran: Season 1 and 2

From the name alone, it’s clear that this miles away from a Ewan McGregor docuseries or prestige US TV drama. The Israeli production hails from Moshe Zonder, one of the co-creators of Fauda, which has become an international hit on Netflix. This has every bit of that show’s suspense and class, cementing the rise of Israeli TV creators on the global stage, something that has been on the cards ever since Prisoners of War was remade into Homeland. This fast, thrilling, stylish spy series is a gripping, grounded ride. Read our full review

Servant: Season 1 to 4

This psychological thriller wastes no time in dishing up its big, juicy reveal. The opening episode introduces us to Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean (Toby Kebbell), a wealthy married couple who are currently dealing with the loss of their baby son, Jericho. To cope, Dorothy has got a reborn doll, a plastic toy figure to stand in for him. And, by the time the 30-minute opening episode is up, things have only gotten eerier. This stylish, sinister thriller is enjoyably ridiculous viewing, although the returns diminish slightly by the final chapter. Read our full review

Defending Jacob

Based on the 2012 New York Times best-selling novel of the same name, this legal drama sees Chris Evans play Andy, an assistant district attorney whose life is good and family is picture-perfect. But things go awry when Ben, a 14-year-old pupil, is found dead in the woods just outside of town – and his son, Jacob (Jaeden Martell), becomes a key suspect. It’s a shock to Andy and Laurie (Michelle Dockery), who find themselves trying to maintain their child’s innocence while also fending off the increasingly hostile town locals. A strong cast grounds this thriller with compelling realism. Read our full review

Trying: Season 1 to 4

Trying is a likeable comedy about a couple trying to have a baby – or, more accurately, failing to have a baby.  Rafe Spall and Esther Smith star as Jason and Nikki, an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher and a car hire company employee respectively. Neither of them are hugely smart, neither of them are very well off, and neither of them have much experience with kids. But they are, fortunately, very likeable nonetheless, and a large part of that is Spall and Smith’s natural chemistry. They make each other laugh in a way that feels like the characters want to make each other laugh, and pick up on each other’s faults in a way that feels like they know them only too well. Read our full review

Earth at Night in Color

Nature documentaries are a staple of modern TV, their stunning visuals lending themselves to UHD streaming and their reminder of our planet’s natural wonders chiming with the urgent environmental crisis on our hands. While David Attenborough is the king of this jungle, Tom Hiddleston proves a more then adept substitute, narrating this nocturnal series with an infectious sense of admiration and awe. Read our full review

For All Mankind: Season 1 to 4

The premise for Ron Moore’s alt-history drama is wonderfully simple and full of fascinating potential: what if Russia won the space race? The opportunity for surprises is apparently immediately, as we see the moon landing take place in 1969, only for a Russian astronaut to end up on our lunar cousin, leaving America facing a red moon in the sky. The response is both shame and determination to catch up, and so we follow NASA as it races to get back in the pilot’s seat. It’s a cracking concept for a series, one that resonates with themes of national identity, global politics and scientific progress. Compelling viewing. Read our full review

Dickinson: Season 1 to 3

“Because I could not stop for death…” begins Emily Dickinson (Hailee Steinfeld) in the new Apple TV+ comedy Dickinson. It’s only a matter of minutes until death himself really does turn up in a black carriage to kindly stop for her. And the way you respond to that literal interpretation of the iconic poet’s work will likely dictate how you respond to this bizarre, but bizarrely entertaining, TV show about her. This is an enjoyably unconventional watch. Read our full review

The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray

Samuel L Jackson is one of the most recognisable and exuberant screen presences around. He delivers a remarkably vulnerable, almost unrecognisable performance in The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray, a drama about a man living with rapidly advancing dementia. Thrown into a mystery that he becomes determined to solve, the result is a rich, moving, gripping series. Read our full review

The Afterparty: Season 1 and 2

“Nothing can ruin this night,” declares Aniq (Sam Richardson) as he rocks up to his high school reunion. Cut to: the dead body of a former student being discovered on the beach by his luxury mansion. That’s the kind of playfully dark silliness you can expect from The Afterparty, a murder mystery comedy from Christopher Miller and Phil Lord. The duo are the kings of self-aware comedy and this marks the long-awaited realisation of a dream project for Miller, who serves as showrunner and director, and turns the tropes of a classic detective story on its head – by telling the story eight times over, each time from a different perspective. And, just for LOLs, through the lens of a different film genre too, from rom-com to (the most inspired of all) a musical episode. The result is a smart riff on the way that everyone’s individual biases and viewpoints colour their own memories and worldview, but most of all it’s an excuse for some very funny people to be funny all in the same room. Throw in a Saul Bass-worthy title sequence and you have Apple TV+’s answer to Only Murders in the Building. Read our full review

See: Season 1 to 3

From Peaky Blinders and Taboo to even Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, there’s no doubt that Steven Knight is a man who knows an interesting idea for a TV show when he sees it. That’s true for this Apple TV+ launch title. Set in a post-apocalyptic future where a virus has turned all humankind blind, it’s a fascinating concept executed with a glossy budget and gritty conviction. Read our full review

Sunny

Rashida Jones shines in this dystopian, darkly funny mystery thriller about an American woman in Japan whose husband and son go mssing. When she’s given a robot, Sunny, as company to help her grieve, she finds herself turning cyber-detective to calculate the mystery of what happened. Death. Love. Laughs. Conspiracies. Robots. Salads. This is one of the most original TV series of 2024.

Loot

Maya Rudolph leads a stellar ensemble in this silly and wonderfully heartfelt comedy about a rich woman trying to do the right thing. Read our full review

Mythic Quest

Hailing from creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Megan Ganz, this hugely funny comedy series follows a group of video game developers tasked with building worlds, shaping heroes and creating legends, even though the most hard-fought battles don’t occur in the game — they happen in the office.

STEVE! (martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces

Whether you’re an Only Murders in the Building lover or a longtime fan of the unpredictable comic, Morgan Neville’s documentary about Steve Martin is a fascinating watch that smartly divides its subject’s life into stages: his rise through stand-up to what he’s done since leaving the stage at the height of his popularity.

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock

Fraggle Rock is back, bigger and brighter than ever in this warm and beautiful reboot. Read our full review

 

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