UK residents looking to find their next favourite series could do worse than a quick rummage in the vaults of the BBC iPlayer. The national broadcaster has been producing shows forever, simultaneously discovering and promoting some of the best talent in British television in the process, while more recently collaborating on several widely acclaimed co-productions from around the world.
Feeling the squeeze of all those streaming fees? Wondering where all that license money is being spent? These ten acclaimed TV shows hiding in plain sight on the platform might provide the answers.
Industry (2020-)
It might be stretching the concept of the ‘hidden gem’ to include Industry on this list. The show, which recently wrapped filming on its upcoming fourth season, was one of the most talked about last year—and yet, there are still reasons to believe it might be flying under the radar, not least given its shutout at the Emmys.
Created by Mikey Down and Konrad Kay (who met in Oxford before briefly working together in finance), the show delves into the depraved, drug-addled, and dog-eat-dog world of young traders attempting to climb the ranks in London’s financial district. Imagine if Succession and Skins had a baby, and you’ll have some idea of what to expect.
Ludwig (2024)
If you want an idea of the protagonist of Ludwig, just imagine what Sherlock Holmes would have been like if Arthur Conan Doyle spent all his free time on the New York Times’ games app.
Played by David Mitchell in full Boomer-luddite mode, the eponymous character is a well-known crossword designer who steps into the shoes of his identical twin brother—a hotshot detective seemingly at the centre of a conspiracy—when the man goes missing, only to discover that his mercurial talents are as applicable to solving crimes as solving Wordle.
It’s a show that works as both a fish-out-of-water comedy (a perfect fit for Mitchell’s unique skills) and a cleverly written case-per-episode procedural where trying to solve the puzzle is all part of the fun.
Fleabag (2016-2019)
Sharp, funny and painfully relatable, Fleabag is the show that made Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s name and ensured that the great Andrew Scott would forever be known as the “Sexy Priest.” It’s also so wildly influential around the world that you could almost forget that the whole thing is available for free on the BBC.
Thanks to its fourth-wall breaking, tell-all approach, the first season arrived like a breath of fresh air, but the second—which reached another level, creatively—now feels like a modern classic, and while Waller-Bridge has since appeared in Star Wars and Indiana Jones, in terms of her cultural impact, Fleabag is yet to be topped.
Small Axe (2020)
It was difficult to know what to expect when Steve McQueen announced that he would take a break from theatrical filmmaking to make a five-part anthology show for the BBC.
The resulting series, Small Axe, notably his first commercial project set in England, is a richly textured exploration of London’s West Indian communities set during McQueen’s time growing up there and has some of the most deeply felt moments of the famously austere director’s career.
Each standalone story is worth seeing, of course, but if you can only see one, it should be Lover’s Rock, an ecstatic tribute to the communal power of music.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North (2025)
Since breaking out in The Kissing Booth and Euphoria, Jacob Elordi has become one of the most interesting and sought-after young actors around—working with the likes of Paul Schrader and Sofia Coppola while still finding time to blow up the internet with movies like Saltburn.
He reunites with that movie’s director in 2026’s Wuthering Heights, but fans eager for a taste of him in period swooning mode should try this sumptuous series from celebrated director (and fellow Aussie) Justin Kurzel.
Based on Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker-winning novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North takes place over three time periods—before, during and after the Second World War—following a young medical student (Elordi) who gets captured and imprisoned in a Japanese labour camp.
Such Brave Girls (2023-)
I was recently put on to Kat Sadler’s dangerously unhinged Such Brave Girls after reading a recommendation from the great Lena Dunham, who accurately described it as “charming, joyful and gross.”
Over two seasons, Sadler and her real-life sister play—at least as far as I can gather—depraved versions of their younger selves. It’s set in an English housing estate and pokes fun at some of the most delicate topics imaginable. To say which ones would kind of ruin the provocative jolt you get from first hearing them. Needless to say, it’s not for the faint of heart, but it is viciously funny.
Wolf Hall (2015-2024)
In 2019, The Guardian ranked Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall the best book of the 21st Century. The novel is the first of a trilogy that tells the story of the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell, one of the most disputed characters in English history. Combined, the three books amount to roughly 2,000 pages, but the 2015 series (which covers the first two) and its 2024 follow-up are a mere 12 episodes long.
They also feature the mighty Mark Rylance and an excellent supporting cast, including Damien Lewis and Claire Foy, all of which can be found free to watch (with a TV licence, of course) on the BBC streamer if, like me, you haven’t yet found the time to tackle Mantel’s epic tome just yet.
Dopesick (2021)
Dopesick is one of the most topical, harrowing and compelling shows in recent years, and it will absolutely tear your heart out. Based on the 2018 novel of the same name, it tracks the rise of the opioid epidemic in the United States through both the story of the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, and the eyes of some of their victims.
These include a local doctor in a small mining town (Michael Keaton, who won an Emmy for his incredible performance) and one of his patients (Kaitlyn Dever, who was also nominated). It’s a tough watch at times, but a gripping and possibly essential one.
I May Destroy You (2020)
It’s not difficult to understand why Michaela Cole has taken so long to follow up, I May Destroy You—one of the best shows of the decade.
The story of a woman trying to get her life back to some kind of normality in the aftermath of sexual assault is so raw and so personal, it’s no surprise that its creator (who became the first Black woman to win the Emmy for writing) and star have gone a bit under the radar ever since.
Sure, she entered the MCU in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, but I May Destroy You remains her most influential work. If you haven’t already, it’s a must-watch.
Normal People (2020)
Seeing as we’re stretching the definition, can an Emmy-nominated, Bafta-winning, wildly popular sensation be classed as a hidden gem? Perhaps not, but it is easy to forget that Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie McDonald’s celebrated adaptation of Normal People, Sally Rooney’s generational best-seller, was once a mid-sized BBC co-production with a relatively unknown cast – and is still readily available on iPlayer anytime.
Whatever the case, it’s also never a bad time to rewatch it. I probably don’t need to mention the two careers that it helped to launch, but I will say that the novel’s time-hopping chapters lend themselves beautifully to the format of a miniseries—the last episode of which never fails to make me cry.
