Well it’s official we’re now in quarantine and in lock down for the next four weeks and that means there’s likely to be a lot of free time on your hands.
If that’s the case then you need a solid binge-guide to catch up on the best long form television series that you need to be watching to help get you through this lock down period.
Check out the full list below:
The Borgias
A historical drama with plenty of dramatic intrigue and dangerous criminal activities, The Borgias charts the rise of Rodrigo Borgia (Jeremy Irons) who brought his way into the Papacy in remained as Pope Alexander VI and who turned the Vatican into his own personal empire. Helping him in this action were his devilishly minded children including his darkly cunning and violent son Cesare (François Arnaud) and his charismatically manipulative daughter Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger). This series has everything from fanatical religion to tightly wound drama, forbidden lusts and salacious sex and a good helping of murder and mayhem set beside the flourishing epoch of the Renaissance. For those who love their historical dramas to run hot, heavy and have a taste for the thrilling, The Borgias makes for an exquisite watch.
Snowfall
Los Angeles, 1983. The crack cocaine epidemic is about to this sunshine city and the lives of a ground intersecting characters will change forever. Our cast include entrepreneurially minded drug dealer Franklin Saint (Damson idris), eager-to-prove himself CIA Agent Teddy McDonald (Carter Hudson), down-on-his-luck Mexican luchador and Cartel bagman Gustavo “El Oso” Zapata (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and Cartel princess Lucia Villanueva (Emily Rios), who wants to get in on her father’s business. All of these players are mixed up the dangerous and evolving game of the burgeoning crack cocaine epidemic, and the late great John Singleton brings his signature vision and SoCal visual style to this gripping crime drama. There’s a lot of fly energy on offer in Snowfall, and it makes for addictive television at it’s best.
Animal Kingdom
The world of film to television adaptations always leads to interesting viewing and in Animal Kingdom, director David Michod’s cult Australian crime drama finds its unique narrative and unforgettable characters moved from inner city Melbourne to the salt sea air and sunny beaches of Venice, California…and it makes for a cracker of a series. An impressive cast lien up here as the Cody clan with Ellen Barkin as Janine “Smurf” Cody, Scott Speedman as Barry “Baz” Blackwell, Shawn Hatosy as Andrew “Pope” Cody, Ben Robson as Craig Cody, Jake Weary as Deran Cody and Finn Cole as Joshua “J” Cody. Together this ‘criminal family’ fill their days with lethal criminal activities and high-rolling surfing in a series that is very much ‘paradise lost’ come true. Animal Kingdom is show that gets under your skin with it’s pot-boiling narrative and fans of the cult classic and new viewers alike will be thoroughly gripped by intensity of this very different crime drama.
Penny Dreadful
There’s nothing like a bit of Gothic Horror to get your blood racing, and Academy Award winning dramatist John Logan (Gladiator, Skyfall) brings his crafted voice to this unique tale of Penny Dreadful which assembles together classic horror archetypes including Dracula, The Wolf Man and Frankenstein and places them in a unique series that is packed to the brim with scares and is certain to get under your skin. The cast for this one is extensively talented and include the likes of Eva Green as traumatised clairvoyant Vanessa Ives, Timothy Dalton as brash and hot tempered former explorer Sir Malcolm Murray, Harry Treadaway as the obsessively crazed Dr. Victor Frankenstein, Reeve Carney as the outlandish and hedonistic Dorian Grey and Josh Hartnett as the complicated, yet violent gunslinger Ethan Chandler, who carries his own terrible secret with him. From its bone chilling story to impressive production design and extensive world building, Penny Dreadful wraps you up in a story that must be devoured…but be warned as this horrifying and scary piece of television is sure to have you on edge.
Strike Back
If you want action then you need to check out Strike Back immediately! This series following the clandestine missions of Special Forces soldiers including British operative Sgt. Michael Stonebridge (Phillip Winchester) and former Delta Force operator Sgt. Damian Scott (Sullivan Stapleton) kit up and muscle up in this no-holds-barred series that sees our protagonists jet-setting off around the world to stop a whole host of dangerous adversaries and mowing down the bad guys with plenty of lead. Created by former SAS soldier Chris Ryan, Strike Back has some serious authenticity to it, and each episode is a massive nail-biter! Seriously, they don’t get more intense than this high-end action series, and Strike Back will seriously get your adrenaline up.
All of these shows are available to stream now on Neon.
