The 15 Best TV Shows On Britbox Right Now

Do you love British television, are mad for miniseries, or are simply an anglophile whose PBS Passport doesn’t stretch far enough? BritBox is a great alternative to watch any new, old, or much beloved show that got its start across the pond. The streamer has a solid library that stretches back decades — you can watch everything from shows made popular in the 1970s and 1960s to fresh modern classics created for BritBox itself. Whether it’s from the BBC, ITV, or a number of other Irish or British broadcasting networks, you can find it here and enjoy it.

But which are the cream of the crop? Which entries in that archive will make your subscription worthwhile? This article’s recommendations will include some obvious favorites but take a deeper dive into the streamer’s catalog to find some hidden gems. After all, Whovians don’t need us to tell them that they can get plenty of the Doctor’s adventures on the archive. You can also find staples like “Father Ted” and the BBC miniseries version of “Pride and Prejudice” on there. So are a bunch of “Monty Python” projects, including “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” While some staples might lie among the numbers we’ve selected, many of them are shows or miniseries you won’t find anywhere else — the best of the best. Here are the 15 most interesting, provocative, and just plain wonderful shows to be watched on BritBox.

A miniseries based on the real lives of the always controversial Mitford sisters, “Outrageous” chronicles the privileged but tortured lives of the six sisters (and their one brother) as they take on disparate and sometimes jaw-dropping worlds. Two of the sisters were ardent fascists and became entangled with Nazi upper command — one of them, Unity (Shannon Watson) even became close friends with Adolf Hitler, while Diana (Joanna Vanderham) eventually married British fascist leader Oswald Mosley (Joshua Sasse). At the same time, another sister became a devoted communist whose journalistic efforts in America made her famous, so there’s much fat here to be chewed. 

Excellent performances make this a top draw, with Bessie Carter’s Nancy Mitford standing out the most among a strong ensemble. The series never fails to note the horrors of fascism and point out the bubble the Mitfords live in even as it glories in its glossy joys. The result is beautifully memorable, enough to keep any fans of biopics entertained.

PBS fans are likely quite familiar with the ITV version of “Sanditon,” which has become a staple of PBS’ “Masterpiece Theater” programming block and now has a position on BritBox thanks to PBS’ collaboration with the streaming service in the UK.. The beloved series is currently available to stream in its entirety with all three series ready to go. Though there currently doesn’t seem to be hope for a fourth series, if you love period dramas like “Bridgerton,” then you’ll surely swoon over this one.

Charlotte Heywood (Rose Williams) is an ambitious young woman who dreams of a life of independence and has moved to the shoreside town of Sanditon to get it. She soon begins to attract suitors as the resort town begins to develop itself into a tourism mecca. Who will be the man for her?

It’s tough to wring laughs from a difficult topic, but “There She Goes” does so handily. Its central figure — lively and filled with spirit — is a nonverbal young girl named Rosie (Miley Locke) who has a chromosomal disorder. Her family anxiously does their best for her, coping with their own jealousy and anxiety while trying to help Rosie develop life skills. If you like American sitcoms such as “Speechless” then you’ll find something to love with “There She Goes.”

David Tennant and Jessica Hynes play Simon and Emily, Rosie’s parents, who have been coping with their own ups and downs while raising both their daughter and their put-upon older son, Ben (Edan Hayhurst). Simon is a former alcoholic, and Emily and Simon have been through a major rough patch caused by stress over Rosie’s condition. While the family is in better shape now, Rosie is no angel — she’s human, and has her good days and bad days, her frustrations and her small joys. The show flashes back and forth from the present to the past, when Rosie was an infant with bewildered parents. Fans of “Breeders” will probably love this one for its bare-bones realism regarding the joys and horror of raising children, as will fans of Tennant and Hynes. 

This is a much darker sitcom than any of the ones listed above or below, but if you like “Black Books” or other similarly cynical sitcoms, then “The Dry” might be your next binge watch. Airing on ITV and otherwise exclusive to Britbox, “The Dry” also wrings comedy from situations that definitely aren’t always funny and are often fraught with dramatic tension. Yet it manages to weave the thread between serious and funny in a way that appeals. With a third series arriving sometime in 2026, now’s a good time to catch up on the show’s beginnings.

Recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan (Roisin Gallagher) is coping with both a failed artistic career and the precarious art of keeping herself clean. When she moves back to Dublin and in with her family, she realizes that they all have addiction issues. Her sobriety is threatened not only by the stress of this move, but by a new job. Can the Sheridan family regain their sobriety together — or at least learn to let Shiv be?

BritBox is the epicenter of the cozy mystery genre, which also has a major foothold on PBS. “The Sister Boniface Mysteries” has a fanbase in both locales, but BritBox is the only place you can stream all three series plus both Christmas specials. Why should you take a spin through Great Slaughter? The stakes are just high enough in each episode, and the good sister herself (Lorna Watson) provides an exceptionally entertaining driving force for the action. Like “Murder…She Wrote”? This is a similarly delightful mystery series about a solo lady sleuth that will keep you fully engrossed.

Sister Boniface is a Vespa-riding nun in the service of St. Vincent’s Convent. She’s a modern woman in spite of her habit — she has a PhD in forensic science. And when she’s not demonstrating her devotion to the Lord, she finds herself offering her services to the local police as murders keep cropping up in the seemingly peaceful hamlet where the convent is settled. Everything from a children’s show to a model and a coven of witches become targets for mayhem, and Sister Boniface dedicates herself to righting it all and making sure the wicked see justice.

There are many Agatha Christie adaptations on BritBox, and we’ve tried to avoid going too heavily into the many, many series, TV movies and miniseries which feature on the streamer. But suffice it to say if you’re a fan of her work, you’ll be well-pleased by what they’ve got on offer. A major highlight of the collection is the 2022 miniseries version of “Why Didn’t They Ask Evans?,” which earns its berth on this list by being a genuinely great adaptation of the wonderful source novel. Sensational performances bring this tale of golfing, murder, and burgeoning attraction to life and make it a standout among classics like the long-lived David Suchet version of “Poirot.”

Bobby Jones (Will Poulter) is having a bad day on the course when he hits a stray ball over a cliff. He looks down to see a dying man, who blurts out the titular question. A moral vicar’s son, Bobby cannot get the man out of his mind. Teaming up with socialite and fellow golfer Frankie Derwent (Lucy Boynton), Bobby determinedly tries to get to the bottom of things and figure out who killed the mystery man — even as police swear it was no homicide. 

This long-lived sci-fi dramedy was so successful that they tried to make an American version — which lasted for four seasons. But in our opinion, better to stick with the original and its thickly built world of vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural beasties. You’re sure to be enthralled with only a few episodes. With lovable protagonists and stakes that make you feel like your own life is at risk, it’s funny, it’s heartbreaking, and it never stops being interesting.

George Sands (Russell Tovey) is a werewolf who wants to live a normal life in spite of the fact that once every month he transforms into a bloodthirsty monster. John Mitchell (Aidan Turner) is a vampire who’s centuries old and is enjoying everything immortality has to offer. They’re roommates even though werewolves and vampires have been fighting each other for centuries, and together, they try to cope with the unsavory parts of their unearthly existences. Annie Sawyer (Lenora Crichlow) is a ghost who haunts the apartment George and John are renting — invisible to everyone, including her still-living fiancé, Annie is happy to find camaraderie with George and John. They form a close family unit that only gets bigger and more complicated as time passes.

Have a hankering for something that feels like “Elsbeth” or “High Potential,” with a quirky lead solving crimes and using their specific special set of skills to conquer evil? “Ludwig” will definitely scratch that itch for you. It’s got quirk, and it features a loveable protagonist whose special interest in crossword puzzles prime him to help solve the crimes set before him. While the show gears up to film Series 2, you can grab Series 1 over on BritBox and figure out for yourself why it was the BBC’s biggest hit of the 2024-2025 season.

John Taylor (David Mitchell) has a secret double life. Timid and insular, he creates puzzles under the alias Ludwig. His whole life is upended when his detective twin brother, James, disappears. His sister-in-law, Lucy (Anna Maxwell Martin) begs John to pose as his brother to ingratiate himself to the local police force and find out who might have made James disappear. Unfortunately, sniffing out the problem becomes difficult as he takes on James’ caseload — and tries to fool his brother’s partner, Russell Carter (Dipo Ola).

This one’s for people who are obsessed with procedurals like “Blue Bloods,” or “Chicago P.D.” “Blue Lights” has taken Northern Ireland by storm and has been double-renewed by the BBC, which will take the show all the way to Series 4 in 2026. If you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, BritBox has both of the show’s first two seasons streaming in its entirety, which means you’ll have plenty of time to catch up before Series 3 is released some time in 2025. 

“Blue Lights” follows the lives of a set of constables living and working in Northern Ireland. Grace “Gracie” Ellis (Siân Brooke), Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin), and Tommy Foster (Nathan Braniff) are brand-new to the force and spend much of Series 1 settling into their new roles on the team. Season 2 deals with the aftermath of an arms deal gone wrong, which has shaken the team. Romance begins to settle in and life begins to go on. But undoubtedly, more chaos will emerge in the future.

Some classics never go out of style, and “Father Brown” is an excellent example of a timeless British procedural that’s so well-loved by drama fans that it might be engraved upon the social conscious. It’s 12 seasons deep as of this writing, not including Christmas specials. While you can also stream this show on HBO Max, they only have two series from the 2013 version of the show — if you want all of the good Father’s good works, then you’ll have to join up with BritBox. And it’ll be well worth it, because there’s nothing out there that’s quite like Father Brown’s adventures.

Father Brown (Mark Williams) is a kind man coping with a somewhat unkind world: Post-World War II Britain, which is still recovering from the German bombardments and heavy rationing. Living in a countryside parish and tending to the people’s needs, Father Brown has also become quite a sleuth. Unfortunately for him, most of the victims and suspects in his cases are his own parishioners. With a calm hand, he tries to assert justice while also having great pity and empathy for most of his wayward flock. And a bonus for cozy mystery fans everywhere — Sister Boniface makes the occasional guest appearance. 

Decades after it began airing, “Red Dwarf” has the gift that never stops giving on its side: A cult audience that won’t quit. Like “Spaced,” it’s nerdy enough to get fans who are deeply into the show’s lore interested in following the characters through a decades-later reboot, but it’s also got character, humor and heart. It’s hard not to love these people, aliens and robots, even though they’re as flawed as the day is long. With all 12 series and two movies on BritBox, you can follow the gang’s adventures from front to back, making it one of the most rewatchable comedies of all time.

Dave Lister (Craig Charles) is the last living human being in existence. It’s not the kind of news anyone would want to hear upon waking up from a three million year-long coma, but Dave adapts to his new situation on the titular Red Dwarf — once a mining ship and now long out of commission — as well as can be expected. With him are Cat (Danny John-Jules), a humanoid-cat hybrid that evolved from the babies Lister’s own pregnant cat gave birth to years ago; a neurotic hologram of his former shipmate, Arnold Rimmer (Chris Barrie); hyper-intelligent Holly (Norman Lovett and Hattie Hayridge), the ship’s supercomputer; and Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) an android who joins the team after being rescued from an asteroid.

It’s pronounced “bouquet.” And that’s something you likely know if you’ve ever spent a weekday evening with your local PBS or BBC-related affiliate. Like “Blackadder,” “As Time Goes By,” “Are You Being Served?,” and “Waiting for God,” “Keeping Up Appearances” has become a signature sitcom staple for generations of comedy-mad TV fans everywhere. It’s still a fun watch to this day, and on BritBox it’s one of the more popular comedy offerings they have.

Hyacinth Bucket (Patricia Routledge) is a class-mad housewife with ambitions. She hosts not-quite-elegant candlelit soirees and tries to ingratiate herself with the rich and the royal. Her husband, Richard (Clive Swift, one of a number of “Keeping up Appearances” actors who have passed away since the show ended) is a councilman who can’t quite stomach her snobbishness yet loves her anyway and often finds himself tangled in her schemes. In constant competition with her neighbors, whom she sees as lower class than her, Hyacinth is frequently foiled by her outrageous trio of sisters: Daisy (Judy Cornwell), Violet (Anna Dawson) and Rose (Shirley Stelfox throughout series 1; Mary Millar from series 2 onward) and their husbands. And then there’s her beloved Daddy (George Webb), whose senile outbursts forever humiliate her. Nevertheless, Hyacinth continues to see herself as a bastion of good breeding and manners — no matter what the rest of the world thinks.

One more Agatha Christie recommendation for the road. The latest “Marple” series lasted for six series and packs in 23 episodes, of which BritBox has every single one. If you’re looking for some tea and cyanide to liven up the end of your work week, you won’t go wrong in selecting this series. It’s one of the better takes on the Marple character, brought to life by two undeniably talented actresses. 

Miss Jane Marple (Geraldine McEwan in series 1-3; Julia McKenzie inherited the role with Series 4 and was with it through the end of the series) is a spinster with a nose for what goes bump in the night. Friends, relatives, and acquaintances of hers tend to meet with horrible ends, and it’s often up to Jane to figure out what on earth has happened and why. Whether it’s a society affair, a small town in chaos, or a getaway that goes sour, Miss Marple always has an answer.

It helped make Idris Elba a household name in the U.K., and now, all five seasons of “Luther” are up and available to stream on BritBox. If you didn’t catch them when they were on Netflix, now is the time to give the whole series a fresh chance.

John Luther (Elba) is a cop with a problem. His driven nature is both a boon and a bane to his detective work, making him great in the field but affecting his personal life severely. He tangles with a criminal named Alice Morgan (Ruth Wilson), who he tries to put behind bars yet comes to respect — and then become attracted to — over the course of the series. After trying to run away to live a normal life with her, Luther finds himself caught between his dogged pursuit of justice and his intense attraction to Alice, which cannot end well for either of them. Who needs Elba to be Bond, when he’s a perfect John Luther?

Once upon a time, James Corden wasn’t the love-to-hate-him Carpool Karaoke guy (or worse: Bustopher Jones from “Cats”). He was best known as the co-creator of this lovely romantic comedy about two cross-class couples who find love in spite of themselves, “Gavin & Stacey.” BritBox has all of the seasons and every Christmas special, a sweet ride that takes the titular couple from their first meeting to the birth of their child.

Gavin Shipman (Mathew Horne) and Stacey West (Joanna Page) have a percolating long-distance virtual relationship that they decide to bring into the real world. Their best friends — laddish Smithy (Corden) and outspoken Nessa Jenkins (Ruth Jones) — semi-disapprove of their buddies’ connection while also being attracted to one another. While Gavin and Stacey meet each other’s families, figure out where to live, marry, and embark on a life together, Smithy and Nessa have a messy on-again-off-again love affair that will result in broken hearts, confused feelings, and a lot of conflict.