The 10 Best British Dramas on Netflix

One of Netflix’s first collaborations with the BBC is still one of its best original shows. Peaky Blinders follows the exploits of a down and dirty Liverpool street gang led by Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy). The performances are incredible, the violence is brutal, and the soundtrack is all modern rockabilly. [Watch Peaky Blinders on Netflix]

The BBC’s revisionist take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary detective might seem like a gimmick at first glance, but it’s still one of the most breathtakingly brilliant dramas of the 21st century. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman play Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as real, troubled, three-dimensional people and not cardboard character cutouts.[Watch Sherlock on Netflix]

Idris Elba first made a name for himself playing Stringer Bell on HBO’s The Wire, but he became an international star playing this extremely hard-boiled detective. DI John Luther is so committed to solving London’s most brutal crimes, he might be on the edge of falling into the darkness himself. [Watch Luther on Netflix]

The bad news: Netflix doesn’t have the rights to many great Jane Austen adaptations. The good news: They’ve held on to the spectacular North & South for years. Elizabeth Gaskell’s landmark romance is as much a meeting of the minds as it is a love story about Great Britain. The story’s heroes fall swooningly in love in spite of their different classes, backgrounds, and geographically-centered mindsets. [Watch North & South on Netflix]

Black Mirror is undoubtedly one of the most warped British dramas ever made, but it’s also one of the most groundbreaking and thought-provoking. Charlie Brooker’s astoundingly grim social satire likes to look ahead to see what our lives might be if we let technology take over — and what they might be if we let our own flawed human nature take the lead. [Watch Black Mirror on Netflix]

Don’t let the cute promotional photos featuring apple-cheeked nurses breezing through the streets on bicycles fool you. Call The Midwife is a deeply subversive show. It’s a series that confronts the tragic, unfair, and terrifying side of childbirth. I’m serious! Sure, there’s a girl named Chummy and another one named Trixie, but Call the Midwife is an unblinking look at the class divide, racism, sexism, and the importance of affordable health care for all. [Watch Call the Midwife on Netflix]

You’re probably thinking, “Wait a minute, Shameless is an American show. It’s on Showtime. Emmy Rossum is on it!” That’s true, but the show you’re thinking of is based on another scuzzy and soulful British series of the same name. Check both out and see how they stack up. One thing the British version has up on the American one? Young, floppy-haired James McAvoy. [Watch Shameless on Netflix]

There’s nothing better than a crackling British crime drama and Happy Valley is about as good as it gets. Sarah Lancashire’s Catherine Cawood makes for an unlikely super heroine, but as she pulverizes her way through the corrupt little town of Happy Valley, we witness a valkyrie on the warpath for righteous vengeance. [Watch Happy Valley on Netflix]

Broadchurch helped kick off a new golden age of crime dramas. The twist here? Well, the story isn’t just a “whodunnit?” It’s a harrowing look at the sins that a seemingly happy community keeps hidden from plain sight. (That said, the final plot twist is a doozy.) [Watch Broadchurch on Netflix]

These aren’t the fussy British teens from a period melodrama; The kids on Skins are troubled, terrified, and ready to make every mistake in the book. The anthology series raised eyebrows for its candid approach to sex, drugs, and eating disorders, but its legacy is a bit more highbrow. The series has proven to be an incubator for the next generation of Britain’s most talented actors. [Watch Skins on Netflix]