It’s a river, a rainforest and, to many 21st-century consumers, an overgrown online bookshop. But Amazon as a video streaming platform has never quite had the same memeable cool and cut-through as Netflix or the big franchise appeal of Disney+ with all its Star Wars and Marvel offerings. Perhaps not helped by a number of name changes over the years (it’s now just Prime Video, having dropped the Amazon) it’s struggled to gain a clear edge over rivals. That’s surprising given the money it’s poured into shows — The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power is reportedly the most expensive ever made.
But, if you know where to look, there are still plenty of great shows to watch on Prime Video. It first gained traction with British viewers after signing the former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond to make the big-budget motoring extravaganza The Grand Tour in 2015. Since then it’s developed a number of well-regarded originals including the superhero show The Boys, the celebrated All or Nothing sports documentary series (going into the dressing rooms of Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and behind the scenes with José Mourinho at Spurs) and period comedy drama The Marvelous Mrs Maisel.
But with so much on offer for viewers, what are the best Prime Video TV shows you can watch right now?
We’ve created a list of 40 of the best shows on the service both new and old that we will update on a regular basis — so don’t forget to leave your suggestions for great series in the comments below.
Love TV? Discover the best shows on Netflix, the best Prime Video TV shows, the best Disney+ shows , the best Apple TV+ shows, the best shows on BBC iPlayer , the best shows on Sky and Now, the best shows on ITVX, the best shows on Channel 4 streaming, the best shows on Paramount+ and our favourite hidden gem TV shows. Don’t forget to check our critics’ choices to what to watch this week, the best shows of 2024 so far and browse our comprehensive TV guide.
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New for 2024…
Those About to Die
Historical drama, one season, 2024
Merely the mention that Anthony Hopkins is in this latest Roman TV epic piques one’s interest. And rightly so — he’s often the best thing about Those About to Die, Roland Emmerich’s ten-parter, offering his craggy gravitas to all the swords-and-sandals politics and violence, the lashings of sex and the daggers held threateningly to throats. Hopkins is Emperor Vespasian, who is ruling in AD79 having prevailed in the turmoil after Nero’s suicide. Aside from Hopkins’s presence, the big draws are the spectacular Ben Hur-style blood and sport in front of the baying mob at the Flavian amphitheatre (the series is based on the 1958 book that inspired Ridley Scott’s Gladiator).
Mirzapur
Drama, three seasons, 2018-
The Indian drama from 2018 finally returns for a third season. Building on the well-worn Bollywood narrative of the upstanding lawyer and his two sons battling a feared criminal family, this is a visceral tale of small-town villainy. The series’ carefree, amoral mix of dark comedy, bloody violence and graphic sex can sometimes feel jarring, but it’s all anchored by a series of show-stopping performances, not least the star turn from Divyendu Sharma as Munna, the gangland boss’s hot-headed, trigger-happy son.
My Lady Jane
Period drama, one season, 2024
Numerous TV shows have adopted a freewheeling feminist approach to female figures from history, from the brilliant Dickinson (about the poet Emily) to the very good The Great (the Russian empress Catherine). Now Gemma Burgess’s irreverent eight-part satire asks, what if Lady Jane Grey, the doomed 16th-century English queen, had not been beheaded after nine days on the throne? Lacking Dickinson and The Great’s mad wisdom and moral code, My Lady Jane opts for bold vulgarity. Emily Bader’s performance in the lead role is spirited.
Federer — Twelve Final Days
Sports documentary, one-off, 2024
Asif Kapadia, the Oscar-winning British film-maker, is best known for his portraits of Amy Winehouse, Ayrton Senna and Diego Maradona — flawed geniuses who either died tragically young or after years of disgrace and decline. So a glowing autumnal study of a sporting legend as he retires gracefully is a big departure. Using footage originally intended only for private use, he shows Roger Federer in September 2022 in the days between the preparations for his retirement announcement and his final match. At 41, playing doubles with Rafael Nadal in the Laver Cup at London’s O2 arena, Federer ended a career in which he won 20 grand slam titles. It includes tributes from friends and rivals such as Nadal, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Family home movies and on-court highlights punctuate the film.
The Boys
Superhero thriller, four seasons, 2019-
The world is on the brink of disaster (again) as season four of Eric Kripke’s irreverent adult superhero series kicks off. Murderous congresswoman Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) has her foot in the Oval Office, aided by psychopathic superhero Homelander (Antony Starr). Meanwhile, the leader of our titular vigilante saviours, Billy the Butcher (Karl Urban) has only months left to live. Expect more of the usual boundary pushing comic-book violence but with a somewhat mournful air this time around.
Clarkson’s Farm
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Documentary, three seasons, 2021-
What could possibly go wrong?” ran Top Gear’s totemic question. As the third series of this agricultural caper begins, you sense that Jeremy Clarkson is no longer finding it funny. “Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong,” he intones bleakly in the introduction. It’s August 2022 and Diddly Squat, his 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds, is feeling the effect of the driest summer for 87 years, which has affected the harvest of potatoes and sunflowers. Meanwhile, in the world of human intervention, the farm’s restaurant has been forced to close after a planning dispute with the council. Clarkson must find a way to make money, so he devises a scheme that involves making full use of his unfarmed land to gather the fruits of the woods, meadows and hedges. Old-school Top Gear fans will enjoy his attempt at using a blackberry-harvesting machine, as well as his fittingly pig-headed insistence that, yes, pigs are the future. Living the rural dream? E-I-E-I-no.
Fallout
Sci-fi, one season, 2024–
Like The Last of Us, Fallout is an adaptation of a video game set in a post-apocalyptic America. Instead of a fungal pandemic as this dystopia’s cause, it posits a US v China nuclear war in 2077, after which those able to afford it spend their entire lives underground. In 2296 one of these vault dwellers — Lucy, the drama’s righteous and plucky but naive heroine, played by Ella Purnell, a British actress — emerges into the above-ground wasteland on a rescue mission and discovers that many of the survivors up there are not very nice. Among them is Maximus (Aaron Moten), a mixed-up junior member of a sinister military fellowship that seeks to bring its version of order to the west coast. And then there’s Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins), a former Hollywood actor transformed by nuclear fallout into an undead freak known as the Ghoul and alive for hundreds of years.
American Rust: Broken Justice
Crime drama, two seasons, 2021-
When it first arrived in 2021, this downbeat Pennsylvanian crime drama was unfairly compared with Mare Of Easttown. Adapted by Philipp Meyer from his own 2009 novel and sensitively directed by Dan Futterman, it is a hypnotic tale of murder, guilt and culpability that doubles as a brooding portrait of decaying blue-collar America. Now back for a second season, the quality does not dip. Jeff Daniels continues to unnerve as Del Harris, the local police chief in want of moral purpose, but there really isn’t a weak link in the whole project. The cast includes David Alvarez as Isaac English and Alex Neustaedter as Billy Poe.
The Grand Tour — Sand Job
Motoring docuseries, five seasons, 2016-
Perhaps it’s the heat in Mauritania, northwest Africa — a gentle 48C, and that’s before anyone’s air conditioning packs in — but the oldest lads in town do seem a little subdued as they travel through the desert on the trail of the Paris-Dakar rally “without the boring Paris bit”. They know their grand touring life is coming to a close, but if the producer Andy Wilman sent them to a land filled with “nothing, nothing, nothing” to give them a chance to think about their lucky lives as they splutter across the Sahara, he’ll be disappointed. It’s more of the same schoolboy pranks, light relational aggression, seemingly dangerous stunts and stunning location footage. Apparently Amazon intends to reimagine the show with other hosts when Clarkson, Hammond and May retire. Good luck with that.
Mr And Mrs Smith
Thriller, one season, 2024-
In advance of this supposed reboot of the 2005 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt assassin marriage movie, the showrunner Francesca Sloane wrote an open letter to those who had grumbled “Who needs this show?”. She said she had set out to “make something wholly original’’. Having binged the first series, we would suggest that she has succeeded in that ambition (at least for those young enough never to have watched 1970s shows such as Hart to Hart), which rather begs the question as to why it wasn’t made on its own merits. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are the new undercover operatives working for an unknown boss, strangers whose cute married life is a cover story that thrusts them into rom-com territory. They’re just two people who chose to work on “high risk” missions; and when they met, it was murder.
Expats
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Drama, one season, 2024
If you enjoyed Nicole Kidman’s performance in David E Kelley’s Monterey-set Big Little Lies and icy New York thriller The Undoing then you’ll relish this chance to see her playing another inscrutably troubled character in this tangled drama based upon Janice YK Lee’s 2016 novel. It’s set among Hong Kong’s expatriate community, where Kidman’s Margaret and her family are trying to move on from life-changing calamity.
Best drama
Fargo
Drama, five seasons, 2014-
Since 2014 Noah Hawley’s midwestern anthology crime drama (inspired by the 1996 Coen brothers’ film) has morphed from absurdly thrilling near masterpiece (series two) to overambitious slog (series four). Series five is a return to form. Juno Temple is exceptional as Dot, the mousy stay-at-home mum with a hard-as-nails past, and Jon Hamm is chilling as Roy Tillman, a corrupt North Dakota sheriff. Their paths cross and the result is fraught, funny, surreal and, at times, utterly terrifying.
The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart
Drama, one season, 2023-
In adapting Holly Ringland’s 2018 Australian coming-of-age novel about an orphaned nine-year-old being raised by her mysterious grandmother, the producer-director team of Bruna Papandrea and Glendyn Ivin have made a number of brilliant decisions. They have assembled the perfect cast, headed by the ever-excellent Sigourney Weaver in the central role as the grandmother; but perhaps more importantly they have dialled back on much of the original book’s baroque symbolism, resulting in an intelligently told story of trauma and survival that crackles with all the intrigue of a gothic whodunnit.
Daisy Jones & the Six
Musical drama, one season, 2023
Based on the hit 2019 novel of the same name by Taylor Jenkins Reid, this story of a 1970s band who rise from the 1970s music scene to become one of the biggest acts in the world before imploding is a lightweight but compelling watch. The music is the real star, with an original soundtrack performed by the cast — which included Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough, Sam Caflin and the singer-songwriter Suki Waterhouse — which lifts your spirits and papers over any cracks that may occasionally appear in the story. You’ll soon be tapping your feet.
Dead Ringers
Thriller, one season, 2023
Rachel Weisz plays identical twins Beverly and Elliot Mantle in a TV adaptation of David Cronenberg’s 1998 film starring Jeremy Irons. Both are gynaecologists determined to revolutionise the way that women give birth, and when they begin to look for funding from Rebecca Parker (Jennifer Ehle) for a birth centre of their own, the story rapidly begins to take dark and unsettling turns.
Fifteen-Love
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Drama, one season, 2023
This intense six-part sports drama, created by Hania Elkington, follows a young tennis player (played by newcomer Ella Lily Hyland) who makes a historical accusation of grooming and sexual assault against her former coach, played by Poldark’s Aidan Turner. The abuse, she claims, happened when she was 16 and he was in his mid-thirties. So much more than your average sports show, this series poses the questions: at what point does a relationship tip into abuse and what counts as a criminal offence? Its themes seem more relevant than ever.
The Continental — From The World Of John Wick
Drama, one season, 2023-
Fair play to the creators of the John Wick films. They have gone to the trouble of building a fully realised three-dimensional underworld, so why waste it on just one vengeance-filled dog-loving hitman when there are a wealth of back stories to mine? Especially when there are Hollywood stars such as Mel Gibson seeking redemption via the small screen as the past manager of The Continental assassin hotel. This stylish and action-packed mini-series focuses on Winston Scott (Colin Woodell; Ian McShane in the Keanu Reeves films), taking him back to the rat-infested York City of the 1970s when everything was better than it is now.
Wilderness
Thriller, one season, 2023-
Everything seems too good to be true when we first meet Liv (Jenna Coleman) and Will (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) driving through the US countryside — but before we have a chance to sip from a glass of freshly squeezed schadenfreude it becomes clear that their marriage is far from perfect. Having moved to New York to accommodate Will’s new job, Liv discovers he’s having an affair. But where many might have walked away, Liv accepts Will’s offer to go on a road trip where she plots revenge in the vast expanses of America’s national parks. Coleman steals the show, delivering a pathos-rich performance with just enough rough edges to allow the audience to doubt her reliability as the narrator.
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Political action thriller, four seasons, 2018-23
Jack Ryan has been played on the big screen by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine, but in this Amazon Original small-screen adventure The Office’s John Krasinski plays the titular CIA agent who ends up in the field after discovering a number of suspicious financial activities connected to terrorists. Executive produced by Michael Bay, this series, as you might expect, has more than its fair share of spectacular explosive moments, which are held together by intriguing twisty political plots and high-level espionage.
The Devil’s Hour
Thriller, one season, 2022-
Lucy (Jessica Raine) is a social worker with more than her fair share of problems at home, not least the fact that she wakes up at 3.33am exactly every day to terrifying visions and begins to build an odd relationship with Gideon (Peter Capaldi), a criminal who has a nonlinear relationship with time. Elsewhere her son is shut off from society and she is somehow inexplicably drawn into a series of local murders and becomes entwined in the investigation.
Little Fires Everywhere
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Drama, one season, 2020
Based on Celeste Ng’s novel, Little Fires Everywhere stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington in a mystery drama based in the upmarket Cleveland, Ohio, neighbourhood of Shaker Heights. When the apparent perfection of the Richardsons’ lives in the suburbs is rocked by metaphorical and literal fires, the question is asked how the arrival of Mia (Washington) and her daughter to the area may have influenced a dramatic change in all their lives.
The Rig
Supernatural drama, one season, 2023-
Something isn’t right off the coast of Scotland as the crew of an oil rig find they’re unable to get home as scheduled after their platform is surrounded by a mysterious thick fog. This turns out to be the least of their worries as they battle for survival against Mother Nature herself in a fun — but at times a little clichéd — supernatural thriller. Starring Emily Hampshire, Iain Glen, Martin Compston and Mark Bonnar, this is the first Amazon original series to be made entirely in Scotland.
Nine Perfect Strangers
Drama, one season, 2021-
Created for television by David E Kelley (Big Little Lies) and adapted from the novel of Liane Moriarty, we follow the stories of nine strangers as they attend a retreat at Tranquillum House, an offbeat wellness centre in a fictional town in California. The guests, who include characters played by Melissa McCarthy, Michael Shannon and Samara Weaving, bring with them more than their fair share of baggage, which is unpacked in an unorthodox way by the mysterious Tranquillum owner Masha Dmitrichenko (Nicole Kidman). An intriguing and at times explosive series with some fine performances from its stars.
Best comedy
The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Period comedy-drama, five seasons, 2017-23
Rachel Brosnahan stars as Miriam “Midge” Maisel in this spot-on comedy drama set in the 1950s and 1960s about a housewife who discovers she has a talent for stand-up comedy and pursues her passion against the odds. Despite being a woman in a male-dominated world, Midge continues to hone her talents and find a voice while navigating personal and professional hurdles. A charming period piece in the smoke-filled comedy clubs of New York City, you will understand when you watch why the show has won Golden Globes and Emmys galore.
I’m a Virgo
Comedy, one season, 2023
What would you do if you were 13ft tall? This show, perhaps the wackiest of the year so far, asks that question. A wonderfully strange comedy, it tells the story of Cootie (Jharrel Jerome), a 13ft-tall Oakland teenager, and his belated entry into society. It’s so much more than a bizarre coming-of-age story, though. It’s a look at race relations and capitalism through naive eyes. Never has a depiction of modern America been so hilariously stupid yet profound.
Sprung
Comedy, one season, 2022
Any TV show set during the Covid pandemic already has one strike against it. This delightfully goofy sitcom about a group of non-violent prison inmates released into the wild during lockdown immediately feels horribly dated. However, grit your teeth and ride out the premise and you’ll be rewarded greatly. Produced by Greg Garcia (the man behind the cult early-Noughties comedy My Name is Earl), this is a sharp, fresh ensemble treat with a dream role for The Good Wife’s Martha Plimpton.
Patriot
Comedy drama, two seasons, 2015-2018
Anyone charmed by Michael Dorman’s taciturn performance as a beleaguered game warden in the second series of the marvellous Joe Pickett (also on Prime) should also check him out in this pitch-black thriller, playing reluctant spy and wannabe folk singer John Tavner. Rudely cancelled before its third season, it is a mix of gallows humour, plotting and brooding existentialism that is ideal for anyone still mourning the passing of Bill Hader’s black-hearted comedy-drama Barry.
Best sci-fi / fantasy
Undone
Sci-fi comedy drama, two seasons, 2019-2022
Across its two seasons, this rotoscope-animated sci-fi drama rewrote visual and narrative rules to tell the story of a day-care worker (Rosa Salazar) whose life is literally upended after a meeting with her dead father’s ghost (Bob Odenkirk). There are rumours of a third season. We can only dream.
The Walking Dead
Supernatural drama, 11 seasons, 2010-22
One of the longest-running and best-loved post-apocalyptic series on TV, The Walking Dead offers a masterclass in how to do zombie TV in a way that will keep audiences coming back for more. Starring Andrew Lincoln as sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes, the series follows his story after he wakes up from a coma to find that the world has been taken over by undead “walkers” and he, along with a small group of survivors, must attempt to live in a world that is hostile to humanity.
The Power
Sci-fi, one season, 2023
Toni Collette stars as Mayor Margot Cleary-Lopez, mother of three and mayor of Seattle, in this compelling sci-fi series that depicts a world where teenage girls are able to electrocute people at will. However, they soon learn they are able to awaken this power in older women in the community too, meaning females become the dominant sex. A fascinating and well-crafted show with a strong feminist message explores what might happen were power to shift suddenly in society and how it would be used and perhaps abused by those who have it.
Good Omens
Fantasy, two seasons, 2019-
Good Omens is written for television by the acclaimed fantasy writer Neil Gaiman and is based on the 1990 novel of the same name that he wrote with Terry Pratchett, who died in 2015. Starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen as demon Crowley and the angel Aziraphale — representatives of Heaven and Hell who have lived a long life together on Earth — the series follows their attempts to prevent the imminent Armageddon that would upset their pleasant existence on the planet.
Star Trek: Picard
Sci-fi, three seasons, 2020-23
Set 20 years after Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) appearance in Star Trek: Nemesis, we return to the life of the starship captain with him retired from Starfleet and living on his family vineyard. Still not fully over the death of his friend Data and the destruction of Romulus, Picard is visited by the synthesised “daughter” of Data and he is once again drawn back into adventures that will require him and his allies to save the future of the universe. Another excellent Star Trek spin-off from the sci-fi franchise.
The Handmaid’s Tale
Dystopian drama, five seasons, 2017-
This acclaimed series, based on Margaret Atwood’s book, is set against the backdrop of a theonomic-governed Gilead who have taken over what was once the United States after a civil war. With fertility rates collapsed, society enslaves fertile women, who are forced to serve as Handmaids to families of the elite ruling classes. A horrifying and deeply chilling show starring Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes, the gripping drama has become a worldwide phenomenon since it first aired in 2017.
Best documentaries
The Greatest Show Never Made
Documentary, one season, 2023-
On a grey morning in 2002, with reality TV booming, 30 contestants gathered in a grotty southeast London park believing they were about to take part in a house-share TV show — but it would never happen. The story told in this truly fascinating documentary is as shady as it is surreal, a quintessentially British tale of dashed dreams, rogue optimism and frayed mental health. Twenty years on, various participants and culprits revisit their bizarre past and retell this very odd story.
Dance Craze
Documentary, one season, 2023-
If you grew up during the early 1980s Joe Massot’s concert movie was your holy grail. A thrilling document of the whole early 2 Tone ska movement (Madness, the Specials, the Selecter, the Bodysnatchers) captured on tour across the UK, it has now been restored to vivid, sweaty clarity.
The Fake Sheikh
Documentary, one season, 2023-
From 1991 to 2012, British reporter Mazher Mahmood was the self-proclaimed “king of the sting”, dressing up as a pretend Arab grandee to ensnare celebrities, politicians, sports personalities and even royals. In this new three-part film, former Panorama producer Ceri Isfryn charts Mahmood’s meteoric rise and fall, speaking to those who worked alongside him and others brought low by his subterfuge. A meticulous true-crime documentary, it is a jaw-dropping portrait of a bygone tabloid age.
Mud, Sweat and Tears — Premiership Rugby
Documentary, one season, 2023-
After their successful behind-the scenes sporting documentaries such as All or Nothing, Fulwell 73 productions turn their hand to rugby union. Filmed during the 2022-23 Premiership season, this is up-close drama rich in thrills.
All or Nothing
Sports documentary, numerous different seasons, 2016-
Amazon’s premier sports docuseries began life following the fortunes of the Arizona Cardinals in 2016, but has since expanded as a format to include ice hockey, football and rugby. Highlights for British sport fans include the series focused on Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, but it’s also worth checking out the All or Nothing treatment of New Zealand’s All Blacks rugby team, Serie A superstars Juventus and both the German and Brazilian national football teams.
The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team
Sports documentary, two seasons, 2020-
Amazon is pretty good at sports shows, and on this occasion it turns its attention to cricket with this series, which charts the Baggy Greens’ path to redemption after the 2018 ball-tampering scandal. In season one we see captain Tim Paine and head coach Justin Langer rebuilding the reputation of the team both on and off the field. The second series covers the departure of both Paine and Langer and the team embarking on the 2021/22 Ashes series against England.
Cassette — A Documentary Mixtape
Documentary, one season, 2016
The unlikely resurgence of the music cassette as a popular music format was recently celebrated in Marc Masters’s excellent music history book, High Bias. An earlier salute to this most unlikely of comeback stories can be found in Zack Taylor and Seth Smoot’s 2016 profile of the format’s endearingly humble inventor, Lou Ottens.
Ronnie O’Sullivan — The Edge Of Everything
Documentary, one season, 2023-
Offers “unprecedented access” to the king of the baize this brilliant documentary takes us inside the world of one of the greatest snooker players of all time.
Desperately Seeking Soulmate: Escaping Twin Flames
True crime documentary, one season, 2023-
Another week, another show about an online faith that manipulated the vulnerable. This time it’s Jeff and Shaleia Ayan’s “spiritual dating community” Twin Flames Universe. If Marina Zenovich’s docuseries feels a little fuzzy on solid evidence, no matter. A Netflix Twin Flames doc is also due soon.
Model Murders
Documentary, one season, 2023-
British modeller and artist Meggie Foster recreates crime scenes in miniature in an attempt to re-examine the facts. Although these mini-docs rarely run beyond ten minutes, Foster’s skills are compelling and her narrative style is addictive — even if the conclusions are sometimes less than earth-shattering.
Jury Duty
A word-of-mouth smash with four Emmy nominations, this hoax reality TV show — in which an unsuspecting jury member is filmed during a court trial where everyone else is an actor — is a charming delight thanks largely to a fantastic cast of little-known performers and the utterly endearing nature of the show’s dupe, 29-year-old solar contractor Ronald Gladden.
Silver Dollar Road
Documentary film, one-off, 2023-
After his success with the award-winning 2016 documentary I Am Not Your Negro, the director Raoul Peck returns with the story of a black North Carolina family and their war against property developers. Polemic, angering, provocative, it’s also a film about friendship, family and compassion.
Best entertainment
007: Road to a Million
Gameshow, one season, 2023-
Who can resist a camp-as-knickers and loosely James Bond-related competition, produced by Barbara Broccoli and starring Succession’s Brian Cox as a quizmaster watching contestants travel to 007 locations to perform endurance tasks for money? Certainly not Prime Video, which has thrown funds at this mix of travelogue, physical challenge (mountain-climbing and, er, snake-measuring) and for those who survive the tasks deceptively simple general knowledge questions. Cox sits hammily in front of a bank of screens, watching competitors wade into lochs looking for aluminium cases that don’t — no surprise here — self-destruct after 60 seconds. Previewers have been asked not to give away how much prize money is on offer, but we think that our readers might be able to work that out for themselves.
What are your favourite TV shows on Prime Video? Let us know in the comments below.
