Whilst away and indeed, often when at home, I like to watch box sets and series on streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, BBC iPlayer or YouTube. I often get asked for recommendations, so I thought I’d set my favourites out here for you to peruse through at your leisure. I hope you enjoy them.
A healthy 40 hours of memories
You’ll love it.
Halt & Catch Fire (Seasons 1-4)
Set in the 1980s, this series dramatises the personal computing boom through the eyes of a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy whose innovations directly confront the corporate behemoths of the time. Their personal and professional partnership will be challenged by greed and ego while charting the changing culture in Texas' Silicon Prairie.
If you remember the 80’s or had a computer in your childhood, this is just a brilliant series to bring those memories back. But it’s so much more than that. The characters are excellent and the relationships superb. I challenge you not to fall for Cameron.
Five series will take you 62 hours to watch!
That’s two days and 14 hours without a break!
Breaking Bad (Series 1-5)
Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realising that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels.
It’s hard hitting, dark in places but highly entertaining.
This one will only take 15 hours of your life.
Narcos (Series 1-3)
Netflix chronicles the rise of the cocaine trade in Colombia and the gripping real-life stories of drug kingpins of the late '80s in this raw, gritty original series. Also detailed are the actions taken by law enforcement as they battle in the war on drugs, targeting notorious and powerful figures that include drug lord Pablo Escobar. As efforts are made to control cocaine, one of the world's most valuable commodities, the many entities involved -- legal, political, police, military and civilian -- find themselves in conflict.
There is so much cash, so many deaths. But you can’t stop watching it.
Just 16 hours of Billy Bob bliss.
He plays it like it’s him.
Goliath (2 seasons)
Once a powerful lawyer, Billy McBride is now a washed up ambulance chaser, who spends more time in bars than the courtroom. When Billy reluctantly agrees to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the massive law firm he helped create, a vast and deadly conspiracy comes to light. Billy and his team end up in a life-or-death trial against the ultimate foe, which could end up helping Billy find redemption and exact revenge on the firm.
Season 2 is more of the same, just he has more money. True binge-watching.
A decent 23 hours of old world madness.
Are you a Tommy or an Arthur?
Peaky Blinders (Seasons 1-4)
Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War. Returning soldiers, newly minted revolutions and criminal gangs are fighting for survival in a nation rocked by economic upheaval. One of the most powerful gangs of the time is the Peaky Blinders, run by returning war hero Thomas Shelby and his family.
The costumes, sets and script are superb. You can’t help but like them, even if they are a very rough bunch.
It’s a single series of 10 hours.
That’s just a single sitting!
Patriot
Following the complicated life of an intelligence officer John Tavner, whose latest assignment is to prevent Iran from going nuclear, which requires him to forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous non-official cover.
This is something quite different. Bits of it are exceptionally funny and it is very well written. An oddball black comedy which was an unexpected highlight of 2017.
Five seasons means it’s a healthy 38 hours!
Nudity alert for those looking for it!
Power (Seasons 1-5)
James "Ghost" St. Patrick, a wealthy New York night club owner who has it all, catering to the city's elite and dreaming big, lives a double life as a drug kingpin.
Ghost wishes to leave the criminal world in order to support his legitimate business interests. James aims to balance these two lives, while avoiding police capture, and looks to resolve his personal life as his marriage crumbles. The show is set and filmed in New York City.
The show also features James' family, which consists of his wife Tasha son, Tariq and daughter Raina. The show also stars James' partner Tommy Egan, love interest Angela Valdes as an FBI agent, and rival drug-dealer Kanan Stark (50 Cent). It’s fast paced, violent and dark. Very watchable.
Two series is 20 hours of Pete
or Marius.
Sneaky Pete (2 seasons)
After leaving prison, Marius takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his cellmate, Pete. He moves in with Pete's long-estranged, unsuspecting family and is roped into the family's bail bond business.
But Marius owes money to some nasty people and they will track him down to get their money back.
It’s not as dark as other series listed here and has many lighthearted moments, so could be one you watch with the wife.
20 hours of lakes, drugs & guns
and white trash
Ozark (2 seasons)
Stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a financial planner who relocates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks (lakes in the middle of nowhere). With wife Wendy and their two kids in tow, Marty is on the move after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong, forcing him to pay off a substantial debt to a Mexican drug lord in order to keep his family safe. While the Byrdes' fate hangs in the balance, the dire circumstances force the fractured family to reconnect.
The locals all look like they’re from St Ouen, so there is plenty of weird stuff going on, but Marty is a cool character and handles things with aplomb.
20 hours of binge
It’s a hot mix that you’ll love.
Startup (2 seasons)
Miami - A desperate banker needs to conceal stolen money. A Haitian-American gang lord wants to go legit. A Cuban-American hacker has an idea that will revolutionise the very future of money itself. Forced to work together, they unwittingly create their version of the American dream - organised crime 2.0.
A brilliant idea... Funded by dirty money. Bitcoin and the underworld coupled with a crooked FBI agent. Ron Perlman and Martin Freeman are just two of the cast that shine.