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Top TV for January

It’s a new year, which means a new set of great television shows to sink your teeth into. From old faithfuls such as, Blackadder and Gavin & Stacey on streaming, to slick American dramas, like Boardwalk Empire on DVD. Plan your January entertainment with our guide to what’s on the box...

On DVD:

Boardwalk Empire (9 January)

Bringing the jazzy corruption of Prohibition era to life in gripping style, HBO’s Roaring ‘20s gangster drama sees Steve Buscemi – building a bootleg empire as Atlantic City treasurer Nucky Thompson – leading a tremendous cast across an operatic canvas. As addictive, brutal and decadent as a shot of illegal booze.

Rent

This is England 88 (23 January)

Still suffering the vibrations from the devastating events of This Is England 86, Shane Meadows’ brilliant ensemble return for another unmissable three-episode combo of humour and heartbreak. If you can survive the gut-punches, there’s a glowing emotional core here thanks to powerful performances from Vicky McClure and Joe Gilgun.

Rent

On TV:

Sherlock Holmes (Series 2, 1 January)

Back with a cocksure swagger, co-scripters Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s modern mystery pulls the wonderful trick of feeling faithful and fresh at the same time. Their fast wit and switchblade dialogue is nailed perfectly by Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman), while the stylish visuals match the oh-so-clever plotting. Funny, smart and massively entertaining.

Reserve

Shameless (Series 9, 9 January)

Eight years and an incalculable number of swearwords later, some of the scuzzy charm has definitely worn off Paul Abbot’s chav melodrama. But it’s still a chaotic distraction, with this new series kicking off with the Gallaghers evicted from the estate and Shane developing a taste for smoking 'Kanda' (that’s dried cowpats, to us and you).

Reserve

Available Now on LOVEFiLM Instant:

Cold Feet (Series 1 - 5)

Like a good relationship, ITV’s comedy-drama about the long, hard road of romance for three thirty-something Manchester couples grew into itself as it went on. Dating, marriage, parenthood, adultery, divorce... it’s all here. Influential, warm and true – ITV has been trying to find something else like it ever since.

Watch Now

The Mighty Boosh (Series 1&2)

Pop-culture nods. Bizarre musical numbers. Animated sequences. Puppets. Welcome to the “Zooniverse”. The absurdist adventures of jazz-man Howard Moon (Julian Barrett) and wannabe glam-rocker Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) are almost too recklessly funny, clever and mad. But you can’t argue a talking gorilla. Well, you can, but...

Watch Now

Blackadder (Series 1–3)

One of the great anarchic Brit comedies began oddly, with some weirdo medieval mugging. But Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) really hit his groove in the Elizabethan second series: scheming, witty and horribly unlucky. Some of Britain’s finest, funniest actors make this an iconic part of TV history. Smoke us a kipper, we’ll be back for breakfast.

Watch Now

Brideshead Revisited

Evelyn Waugh famously declared that he doubted even six Americans would understand his 1945 novel Brideshead Revisited. But this handsome, masterfully acted 1981 adaptation gives them a damn good chance, as middle-aged British Army officer Jeremy Irons wades back through vivid memories of the upper-class family who changed his life. Quiet, subtle and brimming with drama.

Watch Now

Life on Mars (Series 2)

“Am I mad, in a coma or back in time?” Or all three? Modern-day police officer John Simm is still trapped in 1973 with ball-breaking boss DCI Gene Hunt (the terrific Philip Glennister). The Beeb’s hi-concept cop drama is imaginative, smart and dramatic - it shouldn’t work but it really does.

Watch Now

Gavin & Stacey (Series 1- 3)

He’s an Essex bloke living with his parents. She’s a Welsh lass living with her widowed mother. It’s the simple things that made the long-distance relationship between James Horne and Joanna Page such a huge pull for audiences: charming performances, easy going humour, a gentle heart. The most popular Brit sitcom since Only Fools and Horses?

Watch Now

Jonathan Crocker