The best TV of the year (so far)

From returning favourites to the resuscitation of Noah Wyle’s medical career, and the completely mad mind of Nathan Fielder, this year’s TV offerings have been a mix of the familiar and the thrillingly unexpected.

Sure, we were all excited that The White Lotus was coming back, but it was Adolescence that overtook the conversation. So what’s worth watching? Our critics have a few ideas ...

Owen Cooper (left) stars as Jamie Miller and Stephen Graham as his dad Eddie Miller in the four-part series.

Adolescence (Netflix)

For me, anything starring Stephen Graham is an immediate must-watch, but Adolescence became one of Netflix’s most-watched series for more than Graham’s compellingly raw performance as the father of 13-year-old Jamie (first-timer Owen Cooper, equally as astonishing), who is accused of murdering his female classmate. Aside from the incredible acting, the decision to shoot the four-part series in real time, using single continuous shots, imbued the story with a unique level of tension, at times feeling almost like documentary.

Motivated to create the series after a series of real-life crimes committed by teenage boys in the UK, Graham also co-wrote Adolescence with prolific scriptwriter Jack Thorne. They hoped the series would start a conversation, which it definitely has; UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer backed a move for it to be shown in schools. Technically brilliant, unnervingly naturalistic and urgently topical. And that final – unscripted – scene of Graham in Owen’s bedroom? Utterly heartbreaking. Kylie Northover

Preston Mota as Devin Rowell and Betty Gilpin as his mother Sara in American Primeval.Credit:

American Primeval (Netflix)

This revisionist western series (stay with me) flew under the radar when it landed, perhaps burdened by its dull-sounding synopsis that described it as the story of “a mother and son fleeing from their past in a harsh landscape”. That is true, but it’s also a story of much more, in a Western setting we don’t see often – it opens in Utah in 1857, when the US army, Native Americans and the Mormon militia are all at war with each other.

No brutality is spared – when that first arrow thwacks into the head of a nice Mormon lady enjoying her campsite morning tea, it’s genuinely shocking. With a great cast – including Betty Gilpin and Taylor Kitsch – and incredible cinematography using low angles and tracking shots, it’s not necessarily pacy, but it’s an intense depiction of one of the most brutal periods in America’s history. KN

Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna, and his story were even more political in season two of Andor.Credit:

Andor (Disney+)

In Tony Gilroy’s backstory to a backstory, Star Wars finally has a saga for the grown-ups. And in the second and concluding season (it butts right up against the events of the 2016 movie Rogue One), Andor wraps things up to perfection. Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) is a reluctant revolutionary, but his conversion to the Rebel cause owes little to the Force and almost everything to a revulsion at the brutal way power is wielded by the fascistic Empire. There’s no shortage of action, the world-building is superb, and the politicking is so much more convincing here than in Attack of the Clones (2002), but it’s the sense of real people living real lives in the face of corruption and tyranny that makes it so compelling, and oddly relevant. Karl Quinn

American actor Kaitlyn Dever nails Gibson’s accent – and thirst for attention – in Apple Cider Vinegar.Credit: Netflix

Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix)

This dynamic drama series uses the true story of convicted fraudster Belle Gibson as a foundation for an intriguing, insightful tale of aspiration and desperation. At its heart is the ferociously ambitious Gibson (Kaitlyn Dever), who builds an empire on the back of claims she’s beaten cancer using a healthy diet.

Showrunner Samantha Strauss opens out the tale to feature four women in differing circumstances, weaving in some fictional characters to build a topical tale of media, influencers and conventional and alternative medicine. Directed with flair by Jeffrey Walker, the six-part series features an impressive supporting cast and Dever, an American, delivers a captivating performance as well as nailing the tough-to-master Australian accent. It’s a cautionary tale for our times visually designed to look as enticing as the recipes Gibson so cannily promoted. Debi Enker

Ava Cannon, Claudia Karvan, Nathalie Morris and Carlos Sanson Jr in the final season of Bump.Credit:

Bump (Stan*)

Over five rewarding seasons, Bump accomplished what many series don’t: it developed with intelligence and inventiveness. The beautifully calibrated comedy-drama created by Kelsey Munro and Claudia Karvan opens with a shock teen pregnancy and blossoms into an astute and affectionate multi-generational tale. It steadfastly resists cliches: Santi (Carlos Sanson Jr), the sport-loving guy who hooks up with studious feminist Oly (Nathalie Morris) isn’t an insensitive jock, but a loving dad, devoted to his family and his unanticipated partner in parenthood. The couple struggles together from adolescence to adulthood surrounded by a vibrant ensemble as the series tackles love, pain and the whole damn thing. The final season incorporates a storyline involving cancer, and it’s handled in a way that’s bold, revelatory and ultimately almost unbearably moving. Bump’s wonderfully messy community is given a fitting farewell, but it will be missed. Happily, there’s a Christmas movie coming. DE

Michelle Williams (right) as Molly and Jenny Slate as Nikki in the comedy Dying for Sex.Credit:

Dying for Sex (Disney+)

The phrase “ride or die” is in the common vernacular now, often referring to a friendship so unwaveringly close that no hurdle can divide the participants. They’re in it until the end. No show has illuminated that kind of bond more deeply than this wondrous black comedy about a New Yorker with stage four cancer, Molly (Michelle Williams), and the best friend who accompanies her, Nikki (Jenny Slate).

Determined to experience sexual pleasure on her terms, Molly’s journey encompasses drug treatments, experimenting with kinks, and a reckoning with her complicated past. As a sounding board, support network and eventually solemn witness, Nikki is unwavering. The dynamic between the two women is complex, simultaneously hilarious and profound. We’re talking Fleabag-level invention. The frank exploration of Molly’s sexuality deterred some viewers, but Dying for Sex is explicit in many other telling ways. Ride or die with this show. Craig Mathieson

Kaitlin Olson is terrific as Morgan Gillory, a cleaner-turned-sleuth in High Potential. Credit:

High Potential (Disney+)

Never underestimate the value of the reliable show that’s never at the frothy top of your viewing list, but always proves a satisfying solution when you’re unsure what to watch next. This concise and entertaining crime procedural – a guaranteed 42 minutes every episode – about a defiant single mother with a brilliant mind, Morgan (Kaitlin Olson), who goes from cleaning LAPD headquarters at night to working as a consultant to the detectives during the day, hit the ground running with an assured pilot and hasn’t looked back. Each case of the week comes with a visual representation of Morgan’s logic, pithy dialogue, and a solid twist, but beyond that there’s a reminder that first impressions rarely endure. Suspects and colleagues alike underestimate Morgan, just like her sleuthing predecessor Columbo, but she doesn’t make the same mistake. Please give us a weekly episode of this delightful show for years to come. CM

Zach Blampied as Hammer, Aydan Calafiore as Zeke Calogero, with Joe Klocek as Matt Jones and Joseph Zada as Charlie Roth in Invisible Boys.Credit:

Invisible Boys (Stan*)

Set in the regional town of Geraldton in WA, Nicholas Verso’s 10-episode series is a gay coming-of-age drama that seriously leans into the horniness of its four teenage male characters. It’s 2017 and the same-sex marriage plebiscite is under way, which means everyone around the young men has a view about homosexuality, and is happy to share it.

The leads are great, the interlocking storylines believable, and the tone – a mix of pride, anger and empathy – is just right, and leavened with the occasional dose of levity, too. It’s terrific. KQ

Amanda Seyfried as Mickey in the crime drama Long Bright River.Credit:

Long Bright River (Stan*)

Based on Liz Moore’s 2020 novel framed following the US opioid epidemic, this crime thriller is set in a blue-collar Philadelphia neighbourhood ravaged by crime, homelessness and addiction problems. Quietly determined police officer and single-mother Mickey Fitzpatrick (Amanda Seyfried) is a local and has more empathy for the women working the streets than most of her male colleagues. When Kacey (Ashleigh Cummings) goes missing, Mickey starts to suspect the recent deaths or disappearances of several women might be connected. The eight-part series reeks of desperation and despair, and, with its tough yet brittle heroine and gritty portrait of an embattled working-class community, it invites comparisons with Mare of Easttown. Yet, this production seems to have landed without an accompanying outpouring of acclaim despite its qualities. The final episode makes poignant sense of the title. DE

Luca Marinelli as Benito Mussolini in Mussolini: Son of the Century.Credit:

Mussolini: Son of the Century (SBS On Demand)

Few series have a made a sharper connection between directorial fervour and vital subject than this charged biographical drama from English filmmaker Joe Wright about the rise to power in the 1920s of Italy’s eventual fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini. As played by Luca Marinelli, in a performance that is compelling in its grotesque hunger and canny appeals to a faltering nation, these eight episodes are a historic primer that bring obvious contemporary comparisons.

Mussolini addresses the camera directly, boasting of his vision and raging at imagined slights, while Wright’s camera turns the studio sets into a representation of his subject’s ambition and how a populace can surrender to them. Mussolini’s chaos and control strategies are the seeds for today’s authoritarian leaders, with these eight episodes showing how the past is never truly absent from the present. CM

Dorrigo Evans (Jacob Elordi) meets Amy (Odessa Young) in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.Credit:

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon Prime Video)

Directed by Justin Kurzel and adapted by Shaun Grant from Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker Prize-winning novel, this five-part series is just as much a love story as it is one of war. Sliding through time between 1940 and 1989, it follows young surgeon Dorrigo Evans (Jacob Elordi), who is torn between his fiancee, Ella (Olivia DeJonge), and his all-consuming passion for his uncle’s young wife, Amy (Odessa Young). It is the memory of Amy that sustains him when is a prisoner of war on the Death Railway in Burma and, later, as an older man (now played by Ciarán Hinds) back in Melbourne. Elordi, who has made his name in mainly overseas productions, is magnetic in his first Australian role in five years, while Kurzel has created a visually lush and devastating story where the horror is human. Louise Rugendyke

Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) and Helen Norville (Anna Torv) at the 31st Logie Awards in The Newsreader.Credit:

The Newsreader (ABC)

Saying goodbye to Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) after three seasons was never going to be easy, but thankfully Newsreader creator Michael Lucas stuck the landing with an ending that was hopeful and emotionally satisfying. Over three seasons, Torv and Reid excelled as the complicated News at Six anchors at the heart of this drama, which dared to tackle big storylines (mental health, sexuality, racism and sexism) and the even bigger 1980s fashion (Helen’s shoulder pads, always). They were ably supported by a cracking support cast – William McInnes as news boss Lindsay Cunningham always looked like he was on the verge of a heart attack, while Michelle Lim Davidson and Stephen Peacocke, as Noelene and Rob, just about stole every scene they were in. In a world where local drama is increasingly rare on free-to-air Australian TV, The Newsreader was a beacon of hope. Let’s just hope there’s more like it – and soon. LR

Jenna Owen (left) and Vic Zerbst as PR crisis managers Nicole and Greta in Optics.Credit: ABC

Optics (ABC)

Former co-stars from SBS’s The Feed Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst (also known as sketch comedy duo Freudian Nip) co-created and wrote this comedy series with The Chaser’s Charles Firth, centred on a crisis PR firm. Zerbst is Greta and Owen is Nicole (Kidman – a gag that is never explained), juniors in the firm that is run by middle-aged men. But when the CEO dies during a meeting, the firm’s owner (Claude Jabour) promotes the girls to co-CEOs. Blissfully unaware this is a “glass cliff” promotion, the pair, both chronically online 20-somethings whose rapid-fire banter is at once irritating and brilliant, actually manage, in most cases, to save their clients – wealthy entrepreneurs, footy players – from PR disasters. Delightfully cynical, Optics takes a swipe at just about everyone, and should, by rights, make Owen and Zerbst stars. I’m hoping for a second season of this one, but I also can’t wait to see what they write next. KN

Noah Wyle stars as Dr Michael Robinavitch in medical drama The Pitt.Credit:

The Pitt (Max)

An old-school hospital drama, made by some of the key creatives behind ER, with a mammoth run of 15 episodes rolling out week-by-week. If the success of The Pitt is anything to go by, the future of TV looks a lot like its past. Spanning one day (a 15-hour shift, with each episode shot in real-time) in a Pittsburgh emergency department, this word-of-mouth hit won many fans this year for its emotional honesty, surprising medical accuracy and dedication to its characters. Though you’ll shed tears over the patients – and squirm over a few particularly graphic moments – the heart of this show is the practitioners. Led by the warm and dependable Dr Robby (Noah Wyle), the overworked and PTSD-ridden doctors and nurses in The Pitt became close friends you felt compelled to check in on each week. Thankfully, we can expect another dose in January 2026. Meg Watson

Nathan Fielder in The Rehearsal. Credit:

The Rehearsal (Max)

The only show that’s made me involuntarily scream this year (in a good way), The Rehearsal is unlike anything else on TV. And, honestly, if you haven’t seen it, I don’t know where to start. In the first season of this HBO docu-comedy, creator and host Nathan Fielder ostensibly helped people “rehearse” for events by re-creating elaborate staging in which they could practise. This year he hoped to apply the same logic to end pilot communication issues, which result in fatal airline disasters. Naturally, that involved a fake reality singing competition, an intervention into several pilots’ romantic lives and a re-creation of the entire life of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. This strange show isn’t for everyone. It’s often outright absurd, and perhaps even cruel depending on how much of the “real” aspects you believe. But it’s always saved by Fielder’s seemingly genuine obsession with human connection – and the season ends with the lens turned squarely on himself. MW

Britt Lower as Helly and Adam Scott as Mark in the workplace drama Severance (with added goats).Credit:

Severance (Apple TV+)

For the first few episodes of the second season, I wasn’t entirely convinced. But by the time episode four rolled around – with the Macrodata Refinement team finally getting to experience life outside the office, in a snow-covered vastness – I was utterly hooked. Creator Dan Erickson and producer-director Ben Stiller seem more interested in upping the surreal aspects of their dystopian psychological sci-fi puzzle than in solving it, which might eventually wear a bit thin. But right now, Severance is a perfectly judged and darkly funny conundrum that rewards repeat viewing. I can’t wait for more. KQ

Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Seth Rogen and Kathryn Hahn in The Studio.Credit:

The Studio (Apple TV+)

The Studio deserves to be on this list for its cameos alone. From Martin Scorsese being strong-armed into making a movie about Kool-Aid, to Olivia Wilde posing as a difficult director (echoing the endless rumours about Don’t Worry Darling), we haven’t seen a group of A-listers being so willing to send themselves up since Ricky Gervais’ Extras. But The Studio is more than a group of famous faces goofing around. Co-created by Seth Rogen and his longtime writing partner, Evan Goldberg, this slick and well-produced comedy is a sharp satire on the state of Hollywood. Starring Rogen as an idealistic studio head endlessly stressed by the grind of commercial reality, the show wrestles with IP, AI, diversity and tech takeover. But I don’t want to over-intellectualise it. It’s also simply very funny how Rogen finds a way to spectacularly fall over every second episode. MW

Internet favourites Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus. Credit: HBO

The White Lotus (Max)

Few shows arrived with as much hype as the third season of Mike White’s eat-the-rich satire, which landed – and finished – with more controversy and eyeballs than the first two seasons combined. Set in Thailand, on the island of Koh Samui with an excursion to Bangkok, the mystery of the floating body unravelled over eight episodes, with a side serve of incest, toxic friendships, surprise Sam Rockwell, surprise Australians, surprise shady Greg and enough post-show gossip about stars Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood to fill the internet. And while the show may not have matched the heights of season two – when Tanya McQuoid uttered the forever line “these gays are trying to murder me” – season three still kept us entertained, which, after all, is the point of the whole damn thing. LR

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Do you agree (or disagree) with our critics’ picks? What was your favourite show of the year? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.

*Stan is owned by Nine, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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