5. Informer
In fall 2018, the BBC had quite a list of drama series. Next to Bodyguard, Black Earth Rising and Doctor Who, the BBC also aired Informer. The series begins when a terrorist causes a giant bloodbath. After that event, we go back in time to see how the British secret service was already expecting this terrorist attack. They try to prevent the attack and recruit a British-Pakistani young man as an informer. Informer shows how harsh and ruthless terrorism can be, and not just for the victims. It also shows how teens feel and how they end up doing something as drastic as a terrorist attack. Informer consists of one season, which has six episodes.
4. Whitechapel
The London neighbourhood Whitechapel knows a bloody history of crime and mayhem. Think of Jack the Ripper and the brothers Kray. The detective series Whitechapel uses this history as an inspiration for its story. Detectives Joseph Chandler (Rupert Penry-Jones) and Ray Miles (Phil Davis) solve the most heinous murders in Whitechapel. They're helped by Edward Buchan (Steve Pemberton), a historian who is fascinated by the crimes of the past. Whitechapel is exciting, disgusting and creepy. I consider it to be more of a horror than a detective. Whitechapel consists of four seasons and has eighteen episodes in total.
3. Black Earth Rising
When a major African war criminal is caught, human rights lawyer Eve (Harriet Walter) tries to put him behind bars. Her from Rwanda adopted daughter Kate (Michaela Coel), who is also an attorney, wants to prevent that from happening as he saved a lot of lives during the Rwandan genocide in the nineties. Mother and daughter are on opposite sides, and during the investigation, Kate digs deep in the history of her people. Black Earth Rising is a confronting lesson about African history, which is brought to life with beautiful imagery and symbolism. Black Earth Rising consists of one season of eight episodes.
2. Detectorists
Two dorky friends have a passion for metal detectors and hope to find a treasure once. Their lives aren't exactly easy, but when they grab their metal detectors and head out, all worries disappear. This comedy shines a light on the daily life of those who live in a small community. The friendship between main characters Andy (Mackenzie Crook) and Lance (Toby Jones) is delightful and heartwarming. This amazing story has a lot of beautiful images from the English countryside and has a fantastic soundtrack. Detectorists consists of three seasons and has nineteen episodes in total.
1. Utopia
A group of comic fanatics manage to get a hold of a manuscript of an obscure comic. This book turns out to be the key to several dangerous and controversial scientific experiments. A shady organisation which has conducted these experiments wants to acquire that manuscript, and they don't shy away from using violence. Utopia is a ridiculously good series, which manages to display a nearly perfect conspiracy with a lot of cynism and dark humour. Furthermore, the series has its style with a bright colour palette, extreme violence and bizarre camera work. After two seasons with six episodes each, the series was cancelled. Amazon Prime is working on a remake.
This was my top five. I hope that you'll enjoy this list. Unfortunately, I don't know where you can watch most of these series as some of them are 'old'. If you do manage to find them somewhere, do let me know, so that I can enjoy them once more. Soon there will be more top-five lists!
