As the temperatures drop, our thoughts inevitably turn to things like slow-cooked meats, ugg boots and hibernating on the couch to indulge in a spot of small screen action.
And with the plethora of streaming services now available, being a square-eyed sloth has never been more achieveable.
In that spirit, here are four shows that we reckon have ‘binge-worthy written all over them and will help warm the cockles of your heart as Old Man Winter does his thing outside. So, throw on the onesie, grab a mug of cocoa and start working on those square eyes.
Them
Amazon Prime
Seasons: 1
Uncompromising and visceral, Them is billed as an anthology series that explores terror in America and oh boy what an exploration.
Equal parts David Lynch, The Stepford Wives and Jordan Peele (the horror not the comedy) the first season of Them paints a disturbing and unsettling picture of racism in post-WWII America.
The story centres around a black family who move from rural North Carolina to an all-white neighbourhood in Los Angeles during a period known as The Second Great Migration.
Before too long nefarious forces, both otherworldly and neighbourly, show up and things quickly go terrifyingly haywire.
Godfather of Harlem
Stan
Seasons: 2
In this writer’s humble opinion Forest Whitaker is one of the finest actors of his generation – a claim proven hand’s down in this gritty and gripping crime drama.
Godfather of Harlem tells the true story of notorious New York crime boss Bumpy Johnson who, after serving a ten-year stretch in Alcatraz, returns to Hsrlem to find his neighbourhoos controlled by the Italian mafia.
While the story does tend to dip into cliche territory from time to time, outstanding performances from Whittaker, Vincent D’nofrio make this one extremely watchable.
The Serpent
Netflix
Seasons: 1
Another based-on-real-life drama, this limited series is sure to have true crime fans hooked.
The story centres around French/Vietnamese/Indian serial killer and fraudster Charles Sobhraj who, in the 1970s, preyed on Western tourists traveling the hippie trail of South Asia. Using his victims stolen passports he travels the world with his girlfriend selling stolen gems.
Charles seems to be cutting an unchecked swathe through Bangkok until a plucky young Dutch diplomat takes it upon himself to investigate the disappearance of two tourists.
Riveting.
Monkey
Netflix
Seasons: 2
When I saw this one pop up in my Netflix queue, I literally squealed with delight because, aside from maybe The A-Team and The Goodies, Monkey was my go-to childhood TV fare.
This camp, bizarre and utterly brilliant Japanese series is based on the 16th century Chinese novel, Journey to the West, by Wu Cheng’en and follows the exploits of Tripitaka and disciples Pigsy, Sandy and the titular Monkey as they make a giant pilgrimage from China to India in an effort to obtain holy scriptures which will save the world.
It’s weird, it’s whacky, it’s got fantastic English overdubs, but fair warning – once you hear the show’s impossibly funky theme tune, it will never leave your head!
