The best Star Wars TV shows of all time

Andor is probably the best all-round Star Wars show to date for adult viewers. It comes from the mind of Tony Gilroy, the writer of the Bourne films. And he also had a hand in writing Rogue One. Andor is set during the years before the events of Rogue One, as a group of rebels mount a resistance to the Empire, including Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna). More grown-up and a slower burn than the Star Wars norm, Andor is an espionage thriller you shouldn’t miss. And yes, the first few slower episodes are worth plodding through to get to the good stuff.

This is the show that gave us Baby Yoda but it’s also quite possibly the best Star Wars show of the lot if you’re here for adventure rather than that dark and brooding side of Star Wars. Pedro Pascal is a the bounty hunter of the title, a gunslinger tasked with taking on gangs, aliens and beasts from episode to episode. This is also the show with the most involvement of key Marvel figure Jon Favreau, who wrote most of the episodes in the three seasons released to date.

The Star Wars fan base seems to have decided Obi-Wan Kenobi was a total trash fire of a show. But on release it actually picked up some solid reviews. Sure, there are some plot holes and the choreography of some scenes is patchy. But isn’t it nice to see Ewan McGregor return as Obi-Wan?

The second Clone Wars animated show was a continuation of the The Clone Wars animated movie, which was the very first animated Star Wars movie as it happens. It lasted five seasons in its original incarnation, and was resurrected by Netflix for season six, and years later by Disney Plus in 2020 for a seventh. What a trooper. The series was also better than the animated movie that kicked off this whole endeavour too.

Seeing Rosario Dawson pop up in The Mandalorian as a live-action Ahsoka was a joy for Star Wars Rebels fans and she is fantastic in this new series. Joined by some familiar faces, you have to be caught up on Rebel lore but it's a great watch and one that nails the '70s aesthetic of the original Star wars superbly.

Widely regarded as possibly the best of the animated Star Wars TV shows, Rebels takes over the lineage established in the first six seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. A gang of rebels take on covert ops against the Empire, and generally get up to hijinx that feel at one with the vibe of the original Star Wars movies. It makes sense when the action here prefaces that of A New Hope.

A unique specimen in the world of Star Wars TV, Visions is a true anthology series. Each episode is a stand-alone short film, made by disparate non-US animation studios. There’s an episode by Aardman, one by Song of the Sea creator Cartoon Saloon, while the first season was made by all-Japanese studios. While you don’t get the draw of a continuous story arc, the creativity and differing, yep, visions of the Star Wars universe are worth witnessing.

Creator of the 2008 The Clone Wars and The Bad Batch Dave Filoni returned in 2022 with Tales of the Jedi. It’s an anthology series whose first season is made up of six shorts that touch on different points in the lives of Count Dooku and Ahsoka Tano. Good and bad, light and dark — a classic Star Wars move. It’s an exercise in filling in the gaps in existing lore, but Tales of the Jedi does so in style. The episodes are also only up to 15 minutes long, so why not jump in for a rewatch? A second season has also been commissioned, and is expected in 2024.

This TV show by animation veteran Dave Filoni acts as a sequel of sorts to the Clone Wars animated series from 2008. The "bad batch" in question is a group of powerful Empire clone soldiers who escape the clutches of the emperor amid Order 66 to become a band of space fugitives. It’s a quality show, but is it a must-watch for those who aren’t full-on Star Wars completionists? That is up for debate.

This original Clone Wars show is now often referred to as the Tartakovsky Clone Wars, after its creator Genndy Tartakovsky. It was drawn in a classic animation style, rather than the more CG-like 2008 rebirth. Unfortunately, this generally well-regarded series is no longer considered “canon” by Disney, thanks to conflicts with other pieces of Star Wars lore. It tells side stories set between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Still worth a watch? Absolutely.

Temuera Morrison stars as Boba Fett in The Book of Boba Fett, one of the worst-reviewed Star Wars TV shows in decades. So is it all that bad? It’s a sort of sci-fi western in which Boba Fett is recast as a deal-brokering mayor type in former Jabba the Hutt territory, on Tatooine. Love it or hate it, this one appears to have been blasted out of the airlock, with no plans for a second season.