The best NOW TV shows (July 2021): the best Sky series in one place

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.

The entire eight series of Game of Thrones are back on NOW TV, which means that the show goes straight back into our best NOW TV show list. Game of Thrones was the biggest thing on TV for years, focusing on the warring factions in Westeros that are all after one thing: to ascend the iron throne. The last season may feel rushed but the show as a whole is absolutely epic.

This one disappears at the end on September but if you get in there quick you can watch one of the best TV shows ever made. The Wire is about a police department looking to undo a drugs empire through wire-tapping in Baltimore. It's a slow burner but one of the greatest studies of America, boiled down into a cracking series that focuses on a slightly different side of Baltimore in each season

Season one and two of Succession are now back on NOW TV until December and they are an absolute must watch. The show focuses on Logan Roy, a media mogul who may or may not be stepping down in the near future. The comedy here is jet black and revolves around the Roy family, their in-fighting and the machinations of the rich and the powerful. Everything from the theme tune to the acting to the script is just an absolute joy.

If you are looking for a Big Little Lies replacement then Mare of Easttown is for you. It stars Kate Winslet who plays a detective in Philadelphia - she is utterly convincing, her accent perfect - trying to solve a murder. Directed by the fantastic Craig Zobel, whose movies Compliance and The Hunt are essential, and created by Brad Ingelsby this is an essential watch.

If you didn’t see this one first time around, then it demands your attention. Riz Ahmed stars in an eight-part crime drama television miniseries that revolves around a grizzly murder. He’s implicated but he doesn’t seem to know anything about what happened or what went on. It’s a taut thriller that exposes some nasty truths about the justice system and everyone involved.

The first two seasons of True Detective are available to stream and they are well worth your time. The first season is a masterpiece of gothic crime, focusing on the grizzly murders of a children in a US town. Starring Hollywood heavyweights Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. The second season loses some of the cool but still does an admirable job of hooking you into another murder mystery.

This was breathtaking TV when it was first released in 2001 and still one of the best TV shows ever made. Exec produced by Steven Spielberg, the show revolves around the people of Easy Company, the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, from 1942 to the end of World War II and what they did in the war. Tom Hanks stars, as does a whole host of now familiar actors

Our editor was so smitten with Boardwalk Empire, when it first aired, that he bought the same shoes Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) wears in the intro to the show. But don't let that put you off: this is an epic gangster drama set during the Prohibition and is packed with old-school charm. Featuring an amazing cast, this is event TV at its finest.

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.

A new gang drama has landed on Sky Atlantic – and therefore you can now watch it on Now TV too. Gangs of London is a hard-hitting new series from action maestro Gareth Evans – the director and driving force behind The Raid and The Raid 2. Set in a fantastical modern-day London, the high-production series follows the stories of rival gangs, and the ensuing chaos and shifting power dynamics in the wake of the death of a criminal kingpin.

One of the most gripping things on TV for a long time, Save Me is about Nelly (Lenny James) whose life is changed completely when he is accused of kidnapping his daughter. Throughout both seasons, the writing is impeccable, the acting sublime and Lenny’s puffer jacket has become as iconic as the sweater Sarah Lund wore in The Killing.

Flight of the Conchords is back on NOW TV and it's still as good as you remember it. Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzi are New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Parody Duo, who move to New York City to conquer America. Packed with brilliant songs and astute comedy, this is a must watch

Ridley Scott's latest is a sci-fi TV show that's been created by Aaron Guzikowski, with the big-name backing of Ridley Scott who directed the first two episodes. It's beautifully shot and is a serious look at what happens when a world is ruled by androids. This one is streaming weekly but already been a huge hit in the US.

If you can get through the first season, which is fun but not a patch on subsequent seasons, then Parks and Recreation is a lot of fun. Originally seen as an Office spin-off, the show focuses on the town of Pawnee and the public officials trying to make where they live a better place. The likes of Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman) are up there with the best sitcom characters and the humour here is full of warmth.

While Blumhouse is best known for its horror movies, it produced this fantastic historical drama that sees Ethan Hawke as American abolitionist leader John Brown, in what was one of the most violent times in US history. Yes there is historical revisionism at play here but there is a lot of fun to be had here.

Billions is a really easy watch. Now 4 seasons long, the show is about Wall Street billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and his constant sparring with a prosecutor who wants to take him down, as he things the way Axelrod is making his money is, well, illegal. We're not quite sure how they manage to keep the show going, stretching the premise like they do but it's fun to watch

The US version of The Office started off as a copycat of the UK original but turned into its own thing once Steve Carrell stopped playing Michael Scott as a David Brent knock-off and more of an optimist who just wants the best from his job and the world. There’s moments of absolute comedy genius throughout and the casting is superb, with many now gone off to do bigger and better things.

This isn’t the show you think it is. Yes, it’s a funny and honest look at parenting, with Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard the frayed parents bringing up two children, but it also goes to places you wouldn’t think it would. The hilarity is punctuated by sadness and heartbreak and this makes for a really rounded show. While the humour is sometimes a tad more vicious than we would have liked (something that is actually brought up in the end), it’s certainly worth a watch.

Now two seasons old, there is a lot to like about Brassic - Sky’s answer to Shameless, which revolves around a group of friends from Lancashire who basically get up to no good. This is all fine and well until one of their girlfriend’s wants to turn a new leaf and look for a better life. Starring Joseph Gilgan, Damien Molony and Michelle Keegan it packs in the laughs and is a really easy watch.

It's not often a SyFy original features on our best NOW TV shows list but Resident Alien is fantastic, heartwarming stuff. It features Alan Tudyk as an alien who tries to act human in a small, American town. This is a fish-out-of-water tale that is packed with charm and Tudyk is brilliant in the main role.

The Leftovers is fantastic television. Created by Lost scribe Damon Lindelof, and based on a book by Tom Perrotta, it focuses on those who are left behind on Earth after a rapture-like event. Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Liv Tyler all star and, well, we think this is one of the best things on NOW right now.

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.

The Wu-tang Clan are perhaps the greatest hip-hop band of all time and this documentary is a fantastic tale about how they came to be. Following the 9-strong group from their childhood in the Projects of Staten Island, New York to the hustling they did to getting their first record heard, to the stardom after this, this is a fantastic documentary that shines a light on everything from the music business, the racial divide and politics.

Billie Piper is back to her very best as Suzie, a media personality who is about to hit the big time and then nude pictures of her are made public. Piper is back with Secret Diary of A Call Girl scribe Lucy Prebble and it’s a stunning show that sees her character unravel in the most astonishing way. You can stream all episodes now.

This fantastic documentary charts the rise of some of America's greatest comedians, all of which cut their comedy teeth at The Comedy Store. From the rise of the live comedy circuit in the US, to the backlash of not being paid, to the mega stars that found their way thanks to comedy, this is a must watch and features some fantastic talking heads

The Trip To Greece is bittersweet. While it’s fantastic to see Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan back as versions of themselves critiquing restaurants in some of the most beautiful settings of Greece, it’s the final one and we are going to miss this show terribly. The good news is, the impressions are still there, as is the outdoing of one another. But there’s more plot this time around, all there to make sure that we know that this one really is the end.

Saying anything about The Third Day will be putting us well into spoiler territory. So we will just say that this is an absolute treat of a show, that twists and turns in its Wicker Man-esque environment. Created by Utopia's Dennis Kelly, the show is packed with folk horror nods and underlined by a thread of unknown terror. The structure is clever, too, with the first three episodes devoted to the story of Jude Law's social worker who ends up on the mysterious island of Osea (this segment is called Summer). The next three episodes (Winter) star Naomi Harris and try and pick up the pieces of what is going on. If this wasn't high concept enough, a live episode (Autumn) will be shown October 3rd which should tie everything together. The Third Day is currently streaming weekly on NOW TV.

It has never been a better time to revisit Treme. Made by the creator of The Wire, David Simon, it charts how New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and how that community was broken and rebuilt by the natural disaster. It shines a not-very-nice light on the US government and how they deal with people in need. This is a heart-breaking, heart-warming slow burn, filled with the best music and acting ever seen on TV