If you’re not stuffing your face with cheese, sipping on your third mimosa of the morning, and watching your seventh hour of some long-running TV show, are you even living this Christmas?
The festive season is a time for love, for giving, and for eating, sure… but it’s also time for doing a whole lot and catching up on all of the telly you’ve missed over the years.
There are plenty of good TV shows that have come out this year, but what about the ones that came out years ago? And what about the fact that you definitely haven’t watched them all yet?
We’ve put together a list of TV shows from years gone by that would be absolutely ideal for a binge this festive season.
They’re not all there, but the best ones are.
1. Grey’s Anatomy
Let’s be honest, if you tried to watch the entirety of Grey’s Anatomy over Christmas, you wouldn’t be able to do a single other thing over the festive period.
And probably the following festive period too.
But that’s okay, because Grey’s is addictive, excellent, dramatic, and well worth spending all of your time on this year.
It’s soap operatic, it’s chaotic, and it’s got an insane cast. The perfect bingeable series.
Watch on: Disney+
2. LOST
Probably the best show ever made, LOST changed TV forever.
Its storytelling is beyond exceptional, its cliffhangers are shocking, and it’s got some of the best performances you’re ever going to see from a cast who were relatively unknown at the time.
Sure, the later seasons are weaker, but they’re still great. Except season six. Season six is bad.
Watch on: Disney+
3. Dexter
Michael C Hall made serial killers somewhat empathetic, and for that, we are eternally grateful.
Dexter is the perfect mix of horror, thriller, and drama – a series about a murderer that isn’t overly focused on the killing, and actually has some super touching moments too.
Seasons one and four are worth a rewatch, for sure.
Watch on: Paramount+
4. Desperate Housewives
A lot happens on Wisteria Lane. Like, a lot.
If you’ve never seen Desperate Housewives, you’re missing out on drama, murders, health scares, marriages, breakups, plane crashes, time jumps, suicides, and so much more.
If you have seen it before, what better time for another go round?
Watch on: Disney+
5. The Leftovers
The most crushingly beautiful (and completely devastating) depiction of the apocalypse you’re ever going to see.
Damon Lindelof’s The Leftovers is one of HBO’s finest, and it’s sure to leave you feeling hopeless, desperate, downtrodden, and empty this festive season.
No better time for it.
Watch on: NOW
6. Breaking Bad
A series that needs no introduction, but one you’re getting anyway.
Breaking Bad is God tier TV, and if you’ve never dived in before, now is the time.
Incredible storytelling, gut-wrenching deaths, and an eventual reveal that will leave you shaking in your seat, this show will go down in history – and rightly so.
Watch on: Netflix
7. The Handmaid’s Tale
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel was a watershed moment for women’s science fiction, and the Hulu show that came after it was more of the same.
Plunge yourself back into Gilead and be eternally glad that things aren’t just this bad for women in real life. Kind of.
Watch on: Prime Video