9 TV Dramas To Binge On Stan (While We Wait For Game Of Thrones)

There’ll be no Game of Thrones airing this April to sate your incessant zombie dragon fetish (how did they get the chains down there?), so what ever is a couch potato to do? Find some new shows! With the rise and rise of streaming, it’s easier than ever to dig in to a back catalog of TV dramas and Stan have a whole lot of the good stuff.

Here’s some of their best TV dramas.

Deadwood

Synopsis: A show set in the late 1800s, revolving around the characters of Deadwood, South Dakota; a town of deep corruption and crime.

Why Should You Watch It: Deadwood, now 15 years old, revolves around the frontier town of the same name and features an incredible cast with a brutal streak that only HBO dramas can get away with. Ian McShane is out of this world awesome as Al Swearengen, owner of the Gem Saloon. Worth watching for him alone… but you also get to see Nick Offerman’s junk, if that’s your thing.


Masters Of Sex

Synopsis: Drama about the pioneers of the science of human sexuality whose research touched off the sexual revolution.

Why Should You Watch It: There’s no Nick Offerman junk here, but with a title like Masters of Sex you’re probably headed in thinking this will be a show for certain inclinations. It’s actually a period drama that’s on par with something like Mad Men and the Sex part takes a backseat (for the most part). Sheen and Caplan carry the whole thing on their shoulders and on-screen they sizzle. Get into this.


Penny Dreadful

Synopsis: Explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, American gunslinger Ethan Chandler, scientist Victor Frankenstein, and medium Vanessa Ives unite to combat supernatural threats in Victorian London.

Why Should You Watch It: One of the weirdest shows – perhaps ever – and definitely the strangest on this list, Dreadful is a dark, brooding tale of witches, werewolves, monsters and more. Named after the ‘penny dreadfuls’, serialised literature of nineteenth century Britain, this one is pulp and horror wonderfully rendered and held aloft by Eva Green’s star turn. After three seasons it reaches a… mostly satisfying conclusion.


MISFITS

Synopsis: A group of young offenders doing community service get struck by lightning during a storm, and begin to develop superpowers.

Why Should You Watch It: The whole superhero schtick is certainly played out these days but Misfits, counting a nerdy, weak Ramsay Bolton among its cast, takes the premise in one of the best ways it possibly can. Wholly original and wonderfully acted (Season 1 is wall-to-wall brilliant), this is one of the best British comedy drama series ever. It’s like Skins for superheroes.


The Borgias

Synopsis: In 15th century, Pope Alexander VI tries to control all power in Italy with the help of his several sons, through murder, intrigue, war and marriage alliances.

Why Should You Watch It: I watched this one around the time that I was running around knifing guys in Assassin’s Creed II and the way that history and reality blended into one may be the reason I remember this so fondly. It’s got Jeremy Irons though. Jeremy Irons! It’s like The Tudors but feels a little less polished and a little more political.


Luther

Synopsis: A crime drama series starring Idris Elba as a near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions.

Why Should You Watch It: Idris Elba helming a British detective show. If you actually need more convincing than that, all hope is lost.


Black Sails

Synopsis: Follows Captain Flint and his pirates twenty years prior to Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel “Treasure Island.”

Why Should You Watch It: We may have reached pirate critical mass just as Black Sails was readying itself for release and thus, this one sailed right under the radar for many. An excellently produced pirate tale that was, in terms of pure enjoyment, rivalling my Game of Thrones watching when the two aired at similar times. A lot to like here.


Preacher

Synopsis: After a supernatural event at his church, a preacher enlists the help of a vampire to find God.

Why Should You Watch It: The first series on this list that is still airing and a show that doesn’t take itself too seriously by throwing a lot of batshit insane elements at you, all at once, and asking you to sit on the edge of your couch just waiting for your TV to beg “Are you still watching?” Of course you are. It’s hard to stop watching Preacher. Dominic Cooper is badass.


Better Call Saul

Synopsis: The trials and tribulations of criminal lawyer, Jimmy McGill, in the time leading up to establishing his strip-mall law office in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Why Should You Watch It: The underappreciated little brother of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul follows a lot of the same beats and ideas that made BB so great. Bob Odenkirk is a god damn genius as Saul Goodman and I feel like this origin story has a little more heart than Walter White and Heisenberg ever did. Another great show that is three seasons deep and continuing on for a fourth this year.



The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

Here are the cheapest plans available for Australia’s most popular NBN speed tier.

At Lifehacker, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.

Comments


4 responses to “9 TV Dramas To Binge On Stan (While We Wait For Game Of Thrones)”

Leave a Reply