Another strong year for shows saw a bunch of faves return—and a few of them sadly finish. There were new discoveries to make along the way, too, with a couple of newly-minted classics rising towards the upper echelon of this year’s list.
In putting this top twenty list together, our writers were asked for a list of at least ten shows, with 100 points to allocate across their picks (and a maximum of 40 points per show). With the resulting lists aggregated into one, this methodology allowed our writers to champion the viewing that they felt most passionate about, and the results reflect a great year of streaming content—with plenty of recommendations for readers.
Best-of lists by our contributors in Aotearoa, Australia and the United Kingdom: David Michael Brown, Dominic Corry, Adam Fresco, Vicci Ho, Clarisse Loughrey, Daniel Rutledge, Liam Maguren, Steve Newall and Sarah Thomson. Where possible, each entry quotes from Flicks coverage published at the time we saw these shows.
When you’re done here, you can also check out our 20 favourite movies of 2025.
20. Fallout
Its second season may have only just started, but for those of us who’ve been able to see a few episodes, Fallout has confirmed its spot on this list, standing out among a cluttered landscape of post-apocalyptic telly. Reuniting audiences with its core cast (Ella Purnell, Walton Goggins and Aaron Moten), the new season poses more questions, and has room for welcome ambiguity.
“It’s doubt that cements Fallout as one of the greatest shows on television right now,” wrote Clarisse Loughrey: “And arguably the best video game adaptation ever made (if you want to pick that fight with The Last of Us).”
19. Mr. Scorsese
This five-part docuseries on cinema’s greatest living filmmaker—made by an artist already within Scorsese’s own inner circle—celebrates the master and his filmography, but doesn’t look too closely at the more difficult chapters of his life.
“As a whole, Rebecca Miller’s five-part “film portrait” is a robust, near-insurmountable argument for the genius of Martin Scorsese,” wrote Clarisse Loughrey: “Yet it spends its runtime always teetering on the brink of revelation, the true meaning of what his ex-wife Isabella Rossellini meant she called him a ‘saint/sinner’.”
18. How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge)
How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge): Season 1
Three and a bit decades after his first appearance, Alan Partridge still has plenty of what it takes to extract uncomfortable comic reactions. Here, Steve Coogan disappears once more into his self-obsessed, self-thwarting creation as Partridge sets out to make a documentary series on mental health—and, of course, make a total arse of himself.
So painful at times that it can be challenging to watch back-to-back episodes, that’s a compliment to Coogan—and perhaps a hint that when we see even a fraction of our own worst selves in Alan, it can be a challenging reflection.
17. The Righteous Gemstones
The Righteous Gemstones: Season 4
Danny McBride’s phenomenally funny comedy The Righteous Gemstones returned for a fourth and final season, charting the fortunes of a multi-generational family of megachurch preachers. While it couldn’t hit the heights of the previous season (and its ending that felt more complete) this was still a welcome, hilarious victory lap.
“It sums up America perfectly that something that’s meant to be so spiritual and kind of personal can be, you know, exploited into something that involves monster trucks and wire work and all of this crazy stuff that has nothing to do with what the ultimate message is,” McBride explained during our interview about this final season.
16. Paradise
The marketing for Paradise hinted at some mysterious elements, but the first episode played things straight—a secret service agent (Sterling K Brown) investigates the murder of the US President (James Marsden)—until a cliffhanger ending revealed the show was set after a global cataclysm, with the US govt holed up in a massive underground bunker.
“I can’t recall the last time, or any time, a show pulled such a rope-a-dope in its opening ep,” wrote Liam Maguren. “But, boy, what a fantastic surprise and a great payoff for anyone who took a punt on this series.” Late in the season, the eventual depiction of said megatsunami cataclysm was one of the very best episodes of any show this year.
15. Alien: Earth
Prequel series set two years before the 1979 original expanded the universe, with a spaceship crashing on Earth and carrying deadly specimens—some familiar to viewers, others deliciously, dangerously disgusting… Given season-length breathing room to explore some interesting narratives, Noah Hawley never lost sight of what makes the Alien universe tick.
“Alien: Earth reminds us that the series’s terrors were always, ultimately, about what defines humanity,” said Clarisse Loughrey: “Our fragile supremacy at the top of the food chain, and how that’s shaped us into beings of infinite greed and godlike ambition.”
14. The Lowdown
Perhaps the somewhat generic title and imagery were to blame, but it felt way too many people missed this excellent new show from Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo. This charming, funny neo-noir follows a charismatic shambles of a journalist (aka self-proclaimed “truthstorian”) played with relish by Ethan Hawke—who gets himself mixed up with murder, old money, and white supremacists. It’s set in Tulsa, after all…
The white saviour comes in for plenty of ribbing too, Harjo’s First Nations perspective and sense of humour helping The Lowdown ascend from its pulpy foundations.
13. Task
Writer-showrunner Brad Ingelsby followed up Mare of Easttown with this crime drama starring Mark Ruffalo as the head of an FBI task force. Their job—find those responsible for a series of drug house robberies, a spree that’s now starting to leave bodies behind. Like Mare, Task is grounded in its Philadelphia setting, Ruffalo leading the charge as his usual affable charisma disappears beneath accent and affect.
As Liam Maguren said: “Riveting, no-nonsense crime saga that fleshes out three distinct groups of characters before throwing them together at full speed for a memorable collision and a soulful epilogue.”
12. The Chair Company
A low-level embarrassment with an office chair reads like total humiliation to Ron Trosper (Tim Robinson), and leads to a dark obsession in this HBO black comedy. There must have been something wrong with the chair, he thinks, but customer service proves kafkaesque, and off he goes into a conspiracy rabbit hole, becoming increasingly unhinged in the process.
“This is a welcome addition to Robinson’s body of work,” I said of the series: “One that further explores the traits and performance tics that are beloved throughout his other shows.”
11. Slow Horses
Moving away from its increasingly River Cartwright-centred plotting, Slow Horses returned to what it does best: a mysterious terrorist scheme hitting London and the interpersonal chemistry (and comedy) between its Slough House misfit agents. Oh, and the ever-odorous Gary Oldman, of course, whose Jackson Lamb gains some backstory context to clarify some of his seemingly contradictory notions of loyalty, professionalism and camaraderie (and even his revolting socks).
Impressively, as Cat Woods noted, the show has now “maintained momentum and some very clever sight gags, vicious one-liners, and poignant revelations over five seasons, which is a tall order for any writer and their cast.”
10. The White Lotus
A fresh ensemble, a new location, and a new take on an earworm theme song—Mike White’s The White Lotus returned with a hiss and a roar. With Thailand as its backdrop, a new batch of self-obsessed Western tourists assembled for delicious drama and comedy—among them Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Walton Goggins, Aimee Lou Wood, Carrie Coon, Michelle Monaghan, Blackpink’s Lalisa Manoban et cetera. Yeah, pretty much everyone in Hollywood—which only leaves room for Charli XCX next season, as the rumours have it.
As Dominic Corry put it, season three “reveals White’s knack for creating relentlessly captivating characters to be stronger than ever. As it does his tendency for revelatory casting.”
9. I Love LA
Every generation deserves its own ‘young people trying to make it’ show, and Rachel Sennott (Shiva Baby, Bottoms) delivers the goods here in a funny, sexy comedy series—with the odd home truth—set in the world of zillenial Hollywood influencers and their teams. Sennott plays aspiring talent manager Maia, Odessa A’zion her college friend/influencer/client, with a celeb stylist (Jordan Firstman) and filmmaker’s nepo baby (True Whitaker) rounding out this quartet of young ambition.
As Clarisse Loughrey writes, the show captures the impossible balance of modern youthful narcissism: “The need to play model, muse, health queen, businesswoman, queer icon, activist, and psychologist, all while never letting slip that any of it’s a conscious effort.”
8. The Pitt
Instead of medical dramas’ tired case-of-the-week formula, a new intense series centred on a single 15-hour shift at Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Hospital. Back in scrubs after a long time in the break room—ER‘s Noah Wyle, playing head attending physician Dr. Michael “Robby” Rabinavitch.
“It’s a superb work,” wrote Travis Johnson, praising the propulsive pacing, great cast, black humour and commitment to showing the current situation of the American health system. “The Pitt might be the best American drama series I’ve seen in years.” Back for season two early January, this is a good time to catch up on some of 2024’s best (medical) appointment viewing.
7. Poker Face
Charlie Cale and her ear for bullshit returned in a new (last?!) season of Rian Johnson’s star-studded ‘howcatchem’. Over the course of season two, the famous faces popping up were again incredibly impressive: Awkwafina, Alia Shawkat, Cynthia Erivo, Giancarlo Esposito, Haley Joel Osment, John Cho, John Mulaney, Katie Holmes, Melanie Lynskey, Method Man, Simon Rex etc etc.
But, as I note: “Even with all these guest stars, Poker Face would be nothing without its beating heart—star Natasha Lyonne.” And, Cale’s need for connection after all this time on the run—fleshed out in a multi-episode run co-starring the always incredible Patti Harrison.
6. The Studio
Real-life producer mogul Seth Rogen plays newly-minted studio boss Mett Remick in Hollywood comedy series The Studio, feeling like a rare show about movies made by, and for, people who actually care about movies. While satirical, it’s also earnest and auteur-ish, with an appealing idealism about the power storytelling, according to Dominic Corry, who concludes the show is “more interested in the absurdities of the movie business than its soullessness”.
With a gazillion watts of star power guesting, and an ambitious and energetic stylistic approach (that sometimes gets a little too intense), The Studio overdelivered on its somewhat familiar premise—setting awards records in its first season.
5. The Celebrity Traitors UK
We don’t cover much unscripted television here at Flicks, but are certainly not above recognising when it’s great—as was the case here with this superb latest iteration of modern TV’s best unscripted format. Coming across like a combo of frivolous parlour game and Stanford Prison Experiment, The Traitors follows a houseful of “faithful” people trying to unmask the traitors in their midst, before they’re murdered in their sleep by traitors or banished from the show by their suspicious peers.
So much hangs on unpredictable human behaviour (and, yes, judicious editing), but the UK show gets the crucial cast chemistry right each time—and demonstrated here that filling the show with celebs doesn’t have to detract from the delights of following traitors in their scheming and faithfuls in their (often completely clueless) paranoia.
4. Pluribus
Vince Gilligan reteamed with his Better Call Saul star Rhea Seehorn for a new show with a very different premise to his recent crime-adjacent efforts (and more than a dash of his time on The X-Files). Based in his old stomping ground of Albuquerque, New Mexico, but with a global footprint, Pluribus is set in a world where humans have been absorbed into a harmonious extraterrestrial hive mind—with the exception of just a handful of ‘normal’ humans.
What this means for the ‘lucky’ few like Carol (Seehorn) is a life of surreal loneliness, frequently reminiscent of Aotearoa sci-fi great The Quiet Earth. “But Pluribus is a very different kettle of fish,” writes Luke Buckmaster: “The unexpected twist in its premise raises questions (like: is the invasion really a bad thing?) that change the game, allowing Gilligan and his writers to approach an old sci-fi conceit with a new set of tricks”.
3. Andor
Reaffirming the revolutionary, anti-fascist ideals that have been buried somewhere within Star Wars’ DNA for nearly 50 years now, the second and final season of Tony Gilroy’s masterpiece brought even more class and grit to its intergalactic story.
The show’s parallels to the unfolding genocide in Gaza and the rise of fascism in the USA felt somewhat shockingly direct in our increasingly sanitised corporate entertainment space, but as Clarisse Loughrey observed, it’s less about what is referenced than how: “What feels different, here, is partially how upfront Andor is in its allusions and how sophisticated it is in its political outlook.”
And, as Stephen A Russell identified, “Andor leaves us with just enough room to imagine unseen battles. Because all too often, the little guys who stood up die in history’s silence.”
2. Adolescence
Netflix’s gripping four-part series Adolescence was a real watercooler production in the classic sense, a show that surged to the top of Netflix’s charts and prompted plenty of conversation by critics and viewers alike
“When you recall this series, your mind will most gravitate towards human details and remember the people first, said Luke Buckmaster in a feature about the show’s visual approach. “But you’ll also think of where they are; the space around them.”
1. The Rehearsal
A very specific, not very comedic-sounding premise powers the second season of Nathan Fielder’s deeply uncomfortable, incredibly elaborate docu-comedy The Rehearsal: improving aviation safety.
For those that followed the intense and uncomfortable mindfuck of season one, this may have sounded like a disappointingly anodyne concept, but Nathan Fielder took it somewhere special. Building fake airport terminals for his “rehearsals”, staging a musical talent TV show, and ascribing Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger’s piloting heroics to the music of Evanescence are but a few of the many highlights to discover in 2025’s best show.
It all culminated in a deeply personal possible diagnosis for Fielder, paired with a staggeringly ambitious feat of television
As Clarisse Loughrey wrote in a spoiler-heavy piece on the season finale: “
Mission accomplished.
