Best NOW TV shows to watch in January 2020: 12 must-watch series from Sky

The landmark miniseries dramatises the real-life events of the horrific 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and is the first ever production collaboration between Sky and HBO.

If that wasn’t itself a marker of the 2019 miniseries being about as high-quality as you can get, it’s officially the top rated TV show of all time, with a 9.7-star rating out of 10 on IMDB. This puts it ahead of Breaking Bad, which has been knocked into second place.

We may be in a golden age of telly right now, but it had to start somewhere. And twenty years since it first aired, Sopranos is still among the finest TV shows of all time.

It place in TV history is cemented, but when it first aired HBO was so concerned audiences would think ‘The Sopranos’ was about music, that they popped a gun into the title’s logo design. Wise guys.

Excuse me HBO, just what size are these lies? We’re still not sure, but either way, this is must-watch TV.

The cast of this murder mystery alone demands your attention: Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley head up the ensemble cast, with Meryl Streep joining the recent second season. Witherspoon actually turned down a role in 2017’s Downsizing due to star in Big Little Lies instead. We think she made the right choice.

Telling the story of a high power family squabbling over control of a Murdock-esque media and entertainment conglomerate, 2018 series Succession is equal parts comedy, drama and super sharp satire.

The laughs are no surprise when you see the talent behind the show. It’s written by Jesse Armstrong, co-creator of Peep Show. The second series will premiere in August 2019, so now is the perfect time to catch up with the first season.

Set in the fictional Northern town of Hawley (even though a lot of it was shot in Manchester and other locations across the north west), this TV series is about a working class group of friends who get involved in crime to keep putting food on the table. It stars the brilliant Joe Gilgun of This Is England, Misfits and Preacher fame.

Based on the 1973 film of the same name, Westworld is about parks containing highly intelligent robots, called 'hosts', in which people live out their fantasies. Most of which are horribly violent. But the hosts become more and more human and aware of their roles, so decide to do something about it. The first two seasons provide plenty of edge-of-your-seat viewing and are full of twists and turns.

Good news, Westworld fans. Back in 2018, HBO greenlit the third season of Westworld, called The New World. It's scheduled to be released in the first half of 2020, so expect it to come to Now TV shortly after. The action of the third season will be very different. Dolores is in the real world and Maeve is in another Delos park set in World War II.

This Sky Original series casts the brilliant Mark Strong in the lead role, as a surgeon who runs an illegal medical clinic in a series of tunnels near Temple Station in London for people who are desperate or involved in criminal activity. If his co-star looks familiar, that's because it's Carice Van Houten who played Melisandre of Asshai on Game of Thrones.

We're absolute suckers for anything Damon Lindelof does - Lost is a classic and if you haven't seen The Leftovers, you have to do so immediately. The thought of him making a Watchmen TV series was exciting and the show so far doesn't disappoint. Don't come to this series thinking it is a straight-up adaptation of Alan Moore's classic graphic novel - it isn't. But what it does is build a wonderful universe around the idea of the comic book and some of its characters. It's uncompromising and all the better for it.

While marred by the allegations made against main star James Franco (who plays twins in the show), The Deuce is an utterly gripping look at the porn industry in the '70s. It's assured filmmaking which means that it may not feel like a whole lot is going on but then things fall meticulously into place. The rest of the cast is a wonder - Maggie Gyllenhaal should win all the awards for the show. But it's showrunner David Simon who also needs credit. With this, Treme and The Wire he has cemented himself as the absolute king of the small screen.

It feels like this crime drama has been going for ages, which is correct given it's now entered its seventh season that's just landed on Now TV. Liev Schreiber plays the lead role, Ray, who is a 'fixer', private investigator and bodyguard, depending on whose hiring him. The story follows the ups and downs of his life as his family tie up loose ends from the past and deal with challenges in the present.

The Benedict Cumberbatch-starring drama based on a series of semi-autobiographical novels follows an upper class Brit in the 1980s trying to overcome his addictions. It won two BAFTAs this year: for Best Mini-Series and for Best Actor.

Cumberbatch can thank Reddit for the award-winning role. In a 2013 AMA, when asked which literary character he wants to play next, he replied with Patrick Melrose. Years later, his forum post led to meeting the producers to cast the series.

Britannia has already had a popular first season, but now it's returned for a highly-anticipated second season, which you can watch on Now TV. This historical TV show is set in AD 43 and follows the Roman conquest of Britain starring some names you're bound to recognise, including Ian McDiarmid and David Morrissey.

NOW TV isn’t just about critically acclaimed dramas – the latest reality shows direct from the US are on offer on the service too. Project Runway is the best of them all: aspiring designers battle it out in a knock out competition to win the chance to show a collection at New York Fashion Week and be crowned champ.

The latest series comes with a new host, supermodel Karlie Koss, and new mentor, previous winner Christian Siriano.