15 Best British TV Shows Of All Time, Ranked

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

You might be under the impression that British television is all reality shows like "The Great British Bake-Off," "Love Island," and "Taskmaster," but the United Kingdom has churned out some of the greatest TV shows of the 20th and 21st centuries. Whether it's on prestigious networks like BBC, SkyTV, or Channel 4, the best British TV shows of all time span many genres, from suspenseful spy thrillers and crime dramas, to underrated comedy series you need to see.

There's far more great television from England to compile into one list, but these 15 shows span several eras of television, and they all somehow remain timeless nonetheless. Some shows have had influence over the worlds of comedy television for decades since they aired, while others are more recent examples of British TV still leading the way in innovative programming. Let us know which of the most iconic British shows we forgot, and like many of the best British shows, maybe someday we'll do a second series?

Here are the 15 best British TV shows of all time.

"Skins" was a groundbreaking teen drama for British audiences, but surprisingly the cast became today's biggest well of fresh talent. The show is an anthology of three different casts across six series, following the lives of different British teens played by future stars like Nicholas Hoult ("Nosferatu") and Daniel Kaluuya ("Get Out"). The seventh series, called "Skins Redux," featured returning cast members, including first season stand-out Hannah Murray ("Game of Thrones"), Jack O'Connell ("Sinners"), and Kaya Scodelario ("The Gentlemen"). 

Given its brutal depiction of the realities of teenage life (even inspiring real-life copycats in the U.K. called "Skins parties"), "Skins" can be seen as a predecessor to future shows you need to watch like "Euphoria" and a more recent British series "Sex Education." As with several other shows on this list, American TV produced a remake on MTV, which drew controversy for its primarily underage cast, but really, it's just a matter of not being able to recapture the magic of this iconic staple of British TV.

If the U.S. has eclectic and nerdy sitcoms like "The Big Bang Theory," the U.K.'s equivalent would be "The IT Crowd." The show follows the employees working at the IT department of an enigmatic corporation in London, of which their actual business remains a mystery as a running gag throughout the show. The Channel 4 sitcom was the launchpad for the career of Chris O'Dowd ("Bridesmaids") and Matt Berry ("What We Do In The Shadows"), with a cast that also included Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson, and Noel Fielding. 

Like "Skins," this was another show that America failed to recreate, with NBC trying to remake "The IT Crowd" in 2007 with Joel McHale, though it never made it past the pilot. It's probably for the best, as it'd be hard to recapture the chemistry of O'Dowd, Ayoade, and Parkinson. That being said, despite the show's final season airing in 2010, they reunited for a one-off special in 2017 to give "The IT Crowd" a proper ending, which was acclaimed by TV critics, proving that maybe the show was gone too soon.  

If you're American, odds are in the past year you were convinced to join the trend of rewatching HBO's "Veep," an Emmy-winning comedy series starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the country's selfish and reprehensible US Vice President that was created by Armando Iannucci. It's a brutally cynical and hilarious satire of American politics, even though Iannucci, a Scotsman, had previously cut his teeth on the British comedy "The Thick of It," starring a pre-"Doctor Who" Peter Capaldi as the British government's volatile director leading a hodge-podge of civil servants in the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship.

The show's entire run, comprised of four series between 2005 and 2012 and two specials in 2007, totaling 23 episodes, was subject to critical acclaim for being not only flat-out hilarious but at times incredibly scathing in its depiction of British politics. If you're one of the many people who agree that "Veep" is one of the best HBO shows of all time, then "The Thick of It" is the unofficial prequel you never knew existed.

It's rare for British TV shows to cement themselves in mainstream pop culture, especially in America, but that's a testament to how popular "Downton Abbey" has become since it first premiered in 2010. The ensemble period drama centers on the aristocratic Crawleys, including but not limited to patriarch Robert (Hugh Bonneville), his wife Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), daughter Mary (Michelle Dockery, above right), and mother Violet (Maggie Smith). The show aired for six seasons, including five specials, and has seen two film adaptations in 2018 and 2022, respectively, with a third on the way. 

Fans of the period piece might have differing opinions on what the best and worst seasons of "Downton Abbey" are, but it's no surprise the show has been as elite in the British television landscape as the Crawleys themselves are in Yorkshire. The Guardian ranked it high on their list of the best shows in the 21st century, though it hasn't been without its fair share of backlash from devoted fans, such as when a certain beloved character was tragically killed off in the third season's special episode. 

Nowadays, when you think of "The Office," you think of Steve Carrell's Michael Scott, the will-they-won't-they romance between Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer), and the hilarious one-liners of Rainn Wilson's Dwight Schrute. However, "The Office" wouldn't exist without a previously successful, albeit far-too-short, British sitcom of the same name from creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Only airing for two seasons with a total of 14 episodes, the U.K. version centers on Gervais as David Brent, the insensitive boss of Wernham Hogg, a British paper company.

Some consider the U.K's "The Office" the best sitcom of all time, while others feel it's aged poorly, though fans would argue that's the point of a show delving into a toxic workplace environment. Ultimately, the Gervais-led "The Office" is a perfect example of how British sitcoms, in which characters are often unlikable and poorly-behaved, compare to American sitcoms, in which there's a lot of hugging and making up. It was followed up in 2016 by a film centered on Gervais' David Brent, though it was not as much of a critical darling as the source material.

If you're a fan of British television, odds are you've probably had a viewing relationship with at least one incarnation of "Doctor Who." The long-running sci-fi classic, centered on the time-traveling adventures of a shape-shifting, intelligent "Time Lord" known only as the Doctor, began in 1963 and ran for 26 seasons. It was later revived in 2005 before becoming one of the most iconic television franchises of all time. It's constantly debated who among the many actors that have played the Doctor is the best (spoiler alert: it's David Tennant or Matt Smith), but to be honest, they all have their highs and lows. 

Obviously, "Doctor Who" earns its spot on this list just out of sheer longevity, but modern "Doctor Who" episodes prove that even though it's been over 60 years since it began, the show still has a lot of strengths, especially when it comes to the relationships between the Doctor and his companions. Overall, as it slowly nears 1,000 total episodes, "Doctor Who" is obviously not a perfect show, but there's clearly a reason why the fun and often campy sci-fi adventures keep generations of British TV viewers coming back. 

Before there was "Oppenheimer," Cillian Murphy was giving the best performance of his career across six seasons of the BBC series "Peaky Blinders," playing Tommy Shelby, the leader of the titular English street gang between 1919 and 1933. As to exactly why "Peaky Blinders" is so popular, this seemingly-dry crime drama became a cult classic through the sheer power of word-of-mouth, as the show eventually attracted incredible talent to its supporting cast, including Adrien Brody, Sam Claflin, and Anya Taylor-Joy.

Between its cinematography, which is vastly above the quality of many shows that aired against it, and its whip-smart writing (supplemented by Murphy's — and it can't be overstated – juggernaut of a performance), "Peaky Blinders" has drawn favorable comparisons to prestige American TV shows like "The Wire," but the ride is far from over. A feature film, "The Immortal Man," will see Murphy, now an Oscar winner, reprise his role as Tommy Shelby for Netflix, which will hopefully draw even more eyes to this incredibly thrilling crime show. 

"The Night Manager" premiered on BBC in 2016, adapting the 1993 novel by John le Carré into one of the most elegant and sexy spy thrillers to ever air on TV. Tom Hiddleston takes center stage as Jonathan Pine, a hotel manager recruited by Olivia Colman's Angela Burr to worm his way into the inner circle of a notorious arms dealer, Richard Roper, played by Hugh Laurie. Hiddleston in particular was so transfixing as a spy that, at the time of the series' release, he was actually in talks to play James Bond. Although that never materialized, "The Night Manager" proved he was more than Thor's evil brother Loki. 

Fortunately, fans don't have to wait too long to see Hiddleston play spy once again, as two additional seasons are on the way, featuring Hiddleston and Colman returning. Only time will tell if the additional series will be a worthy follow-up to the six episodes that premiered nearly a decade ago, but with the same creative team behind it, odds are fans of "The Night Manager" have even more intense spy thriller action coming soon. 

British sitcoms tend to test the limits of the medium far more than American sitcoms, with there being no greater example than the Channel 4 series "Peep Show." The show rivals the likes of "Seinfeld" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" in terms of showcasing the worst main characters in classic sitcoms, featuring comedians David Mitchell and Robert Webb as selfish roommates Mark and Jeremy. The big gimmick of "Peep Show," however, is that it's all filmed from various POV shots from different characters, incorporating characters' inappropriate thoughts into the show's ironic and edgy humor. 

In a rare instance for British TV, "Peep Show" ran for an astounding nine seasons throughout the 2000s, garnering both critical praise and a cult following. It was never a ratings darling for Channel 4, but its stylistic uniqueness and unrelenting dedication to making their characters as unlikable as possible makes it one of the most influential sitcoms of the 21st century... as long as audience members view Mark and Jez as a cautionary tale.

We'll get into the origins of John Cleese shortly, but all you need to know is that by the time "Fawlty Towers" premiered on the BBC in 1975, Cleese was already a comedy icon thanks to his work with Monty Python. If you're a fan of any of their sketches, you'll probably adore a sitcom like "Fawlty Towers," in which Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, the arrogant owner of the down-on-its-luck titular hotel. The cast also includes Basil's temperamental wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), the hotel staff's voice of reason Polly (Connie Booth), and the bumbling waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs). 

Part of what makes "Fawlty Towers" such a revolutionary sitcom is the tendency to lean towards what Cleese considers "suppressed" anger over real anger, lending to the show's absurd and at-times anxiety-ridden humor. Its farcical humor doesn't only make the show feel timeless 50 years after it premiered, but it also makes it without a doubt one of the most influential sitcoms of all time, inspiring other British shows like "Father Ted," and even plenty of iconic American sitcoms like "Cheers." 

It may be too early to declare "Adolescence" one of the greatest British TV shows of all time, considering it only premiered on Netflix in March of 2025. However, the crime drama quickly stunned both audiences and critics with its harrowing story about a 13-year-old boy named Jaime (Owen Cooper), who is accused of murdering a female classmate, and how his family, namely his father Eddie (Stephen Graham), deal with the revelations that arise from his arrest. Each of "Adolescence's" four episodes were shot in one take, making every performance feel all the more engaging and impactful.

The show has already led to real-life discussions from British parliament on countering the effects of figures like Andrew Tate on young men, which plays an integral role in Jaime's implication in the crime. It's far from the easiest watch on this list, but even a few months after its release, it's proven to be one of the most important television shows of the modern era. 

And now, for something completely different. The Monty Python comedy troupe (John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and Terry Jones) was founded in 1969 alongside their sketch series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus." As evidenced by the best sketches from "Flying Circus," the show was ahead of its time in crafting intelligent and absurd humor years before the likes of "Saturday Night Live" or "SCTV," often breaking the format of the show itself to incorporate meta humor, running gags, and non-sequiturs. 

The group are probably best known now for the Monty Python movies, including classics like the Arthurian farce "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the Biblical epic "Monty Python's Life of Brian." However, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" is where it all began for the troupe, creating some of the most influential comedy of the 20th century, even if John Cleese has no idea why they've had such a lasting impact. Some could argue, having premiered in 1969, "Flying Circus" signaled the dawn of a new generation of artists, with their own counter-culture sense of humor. Others would say they're just really funny. 

Who would've expected that one of the most successful shows to come from Channel 4 in the U.K. would be a predominately female-centric sitcom following foul-mouthed students at an all-girls Catholic secondary school in 1990s Northern Island? Well, anyone who's seen "Derry Girls" would attest that it's the Irish teen sitcom you didn't know you needed, starring Saoirse Monica-Jackson as the narcissistic Erin, with her friend group including Nicola Coughlan as well-behaved Clare, Louisa Harland as the dim-witted Orla, Jaime-Lee O'Donnell as the rambunctious Michelle, and Dylan Llewellyn as James, the one male student at their school. 

Airing for three seasons between 2018 and 2022, it has a lot more modern sensibilities than some of the older programs on this list, but doesn't shy away from edgy humor. One of the best examples is in the series' funniest scene, where Coughlan's Clare comes out as lesbian to Monica-Jackson's Erin, a rapid-fire back-and-forth in which Erin at one point retorts, "You know what else is staggering? Your gayness!" And yet, even in the seconds after that line is uttered, the show still manages to find a way to break your heart with Clare's disappointment in her friend's ignorance. 

When it comes to television crime dramas, it's hard to find something better than "Broadchurch." The first series premiered in 2013, starring Olivia Colman and David Tennant as detectives tasked with solving the murder of an 11-year-old boy in the coastal titular town. Part of what makes "Broadchurch" one of the best British crime dramas is how, rather than take on a "case-of-the-week" format, the series delves deep into its central crime and the effect it has on not just the two lead detectives but the community at large. 

The third series strays from the original two by exploring a completely new case, but together, the trilogy made for some of the most compelling television of the past 20 years. It's not a surprise that there have since been plenty of shows like "Broadchurch" that are definitely worth watching, but few of them can keep you on the edge of your seat the way "Broadchurch" can, and that's all a testament to the incredible cast, the juicy mystery, and the sharp writing that's far and away above average for any television show, not just British TV. 

There aren't enough words in the English language to properly convey just how magnificent of a show "Fleabag" is. What began as a one-woman show from writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge was turned into a six-episode series for BBC in 2016, following the misadventures of a young, promiscuous woman struggling to operate a guinea pig-themed cafe after the sudden loss of her best friend. By now, there are plenty of shows like "Fleabag," but few examine grief, sexuality, and womanhood as hilariously and prolifically as its first season. 

However, "Fleabag" really reached another echelon of incredible with its unexpected second season, which premiered in 2019. In season two, Andrew Scott enters the series as "The Priest," a charismatic yet troubled pastor whom Waller-Bridge's Fleabag falls in love with, in spite of his devotion to his god. While the Fleabag/Hot Priest dynamic is perhaps one of television's most beautiful yet tragic love stories, the second season also boasts incredible moments for the show's supporting cast, including Sian Clifford as Fleabag's uptight sister Claire and Bill Paterson as Fleabag's emotionally inept father. 

Where American television shows often continue to the point of exhaustion for the audience, British television has a tendency to leave you wanting more by jam-packing their limited runtime with incredible writing and performing. "Fleabag" is perhaps the best example of this strength, providing only 12 half-hour episodes that'll make you laugh, cry, ponder what it means to be human, and even second-guess your feelings about priests.