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It feels like a cliche, but I’m going to say it anyway: this year has been an embarrassment of TV riches. And while some of the big shows, such as The White Lotus and The Last of Us were highly anticipated, it was the bolts from the blue, such as Adolescence,The Pitt and The Studio, which held our attention. Below are the 25 best shows of the year, as chosen by our critics.
You may not agree with all the picks – we’d love you to tell us your favourites in the comments below – but hopefully, they give you something to think about. Enjoy!
CRAIG MATHIESON’S TOP PICKS
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in the second and final season of the Star Wars series Andor.
Andor (Disney+)
We all knew where the second and final season of this ambitious Star Wars espionage thriller would conclude: right where the 2016 film Rogue One began. But there was nothing preconceived or inevitable in the storytelling that unfolded over 12 gripping episodes. Revealing the realities of waging revolutionary conflict against an authoritarian system, Tony Gilroy’s show matched betrayal and madness to inspiration and defiance. A galaxy far, far away felt much closer to home, as the sparks of a beloved space opera rebellion were lit by the likes of Diego Luna’s uncompromising Cassian Andor and Stellan Skarsgard’s tormented Luthen Rael. What a mighty achievement.
Jenny Slate (left) as Nikki and Michelle Williams as Molly in the comedy Dying for Sex.
Dying for Sex (Disney+)
After a recent rewatch of this blackly comic and bittersweet drama about a young woman who upends her life to experience sexual pleasure after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, I need to adjust my original praise: this brilliant show is even better than I thought. Michelle Williams gave the television performance of the year, playing someone who in the face of death is fully alive in ways brave and heartbreaking. Williams’ Molly Kochan, alongside Jenny Slate as her committed bestie Nikki Boyer, goes on a kink-fuelled journey that feels, above all else, genuine.
Rhea Seehorn (left) shines in a virtuoso performance in Pluribus.Credit: Apple TV
Pluribus (Apple TV)
Having mastered the criminal antihero with Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, Albuquerque auteur Vince Gilligan absolutely hit the 2025 nail on the head with his brain-bending vision of an unlikely heroine trying to save a planet that considers her an anomaly. Few shows took a more audacious swing this year than Pluribus, and certainly no other connected so sweetly.
Central to virtually every scene, Rhea Seehorn’s Carol Sturka is a misanthropic novelist who has to make a case for a way of life 8 billion people have abandoned. She’s stubborn, sarcastic and self-destructive. With the series still under way, we should treasure her every move.
Mark Ruffalo captures FBI agent Tom Brandis’ sagging, soulful trek in Task.
Task (HBO Max)
Between Mare of Easttown and this crime thriller about the flaws of our many personal faiths, showrunner Brad Ingelsby is not doing a lot for the image of rural Pennsylvania. But that’s just a necessary cost of creating some of the most soulful, relentless television on offer. With Mark Ruffalo and Tom Pelphrey as flawed adversaries – as, respectively, a worn-thin FBI agent toting personal tragedy and an armed robber seeking vengeance for his family – who deserved more than trying to best each other, Task went deep into family dynamics, organised crime and the hope that one day you can earn the right to leave your wrongs behind.
DEBI ENKER’S TOP PICKS
Jeremy Allen White in The Bear. Credit: FX/Disney
The Bear (Disney+)
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A classic tall poppy, this inspired Chicago-based series about a hectic sandwich shop turned sleek fine-dining restaurant was initially greeted with effusive acclaim and subsequently criticised for a lack of plot development. Phooey. It deserves nothing but sustained admiration for its soulful portrait of a delightfully disparate group of people discovering a sense of community and pride in a common purpose.
Over four beautifully crafted seasons, the series has offered a veritable feast: rich character studies, wry humour and deeply moving drama. And there are continually surprising treats, too. This season’s breakout episode, escaping the pressure-cooker of the restaurant to follow Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) to a hair appointment as she wrestled with career choices, was a joy. Like the food that it reverently showcases, Christopher Storer’s series is a triumph of expertise, precision and innovation.
Kaitlyn Dever plays Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar.Credit: Netflix
Apple Cider Vinegar (Netflix)
Creator, writer and producer Samantha Strauss skilfully broadened the perspective on her “true-ish” dramatisation of the tale of conwoman Belle Gibson, who claimed to have beaten cancer using a healthy organic diet. The witty and astute account of Gibson’s meteoric rise to fame and fortune (followed by exposure and infamy) takes in wellness influencers, the power of social media, girl boss culture, cancer patients, journalists and the shortcomings of conventional medicine. American Kaitlyn Dever is captivating as the brittle, ferociously ambitious protagonist and even manages to nail the notoriously difficult Aussie accent. She’s surrounded by an exceptional supporting cast in a six-part series directed with flair by Jeffrey Walker.
Marie Bach Hansen as Cecile in Secrets We Keep (originally titled Reservatet).Credit: Netflix
Secrets We Keep (Netflix)
Everything appears to be in impeccable order on the surface of life in an upmarket suburb of Copenhagen. But when a Filipina au pair employed by a wealthy and influential family goes missing, her worried friend and fellow au pair, Angel (Excel Busano), frantically endeavours to find her. She’s aided by her sympathetic employer, Cecilie (Marie Bach Hansen), but the ensuing upheavals expose something rotten in the state of Denmark. An elegant executive married to a lawyer and the mother of a troubled teenager, Cecilie is well-intentioned but oblivious to the advantages that accompany her social standing. Created and written by Ingeborg Topsoe, the visually striking and quietly intense six-part domestic drama maintains its tension and unblinking survey of privilege and powerlessness until the shattering final sequence.
Matthew Goode (right) has scored his best role yet in Scottish crime thriller Dept. Q
Dept. Q (Netflix)
Looking gaunt and dishevelled, Matthew Goode cuts loose to compelling effect as fractious DCI Carl Morck, a troubled detective with a keen investigative mind. In the nine-part adaptation of the first book in a series by Danish author Jussi Adler-Olsen, set in a gloomy Edinburgh by series creators Scott Frank and Chandni Lakhani, Morck is consigned to a disused bathroom basement and assigned to lead a unit of police-department outcasts exhuming cold cases. Their inquiries into the disappearance of a prosecutor (Chloe Pirrie) gradually reveal a fiendishly twisted revenge plot. Along the way, Morck finds an unexpected and equally cluey ally in Syrian expat Akram (Alexej Manvelov), who’s as steady as he is jittery. And an appealing odd-couple detective duo is born.
KYLIE NORTHOVER’S TOP PICKS
Kat Sadler (left), Lizzie Davidson and Louise Brealey (bottom) in Such Brave Girls.Credit: BBC
Such Brave Girls (Stan*)
I raved about season one of this unhinged British comedy, and then raved again when this second season arrived following the further adventures of sisters Josie (Kat Sadler) and Billie (Lizzie Davidson) and their mum, Deb (Louise Brealey). Created and written by Sadler (who stars alongside her real-life sister), this pitch-black portrayal of family dysfunction is inspired by her experience with mental illness. But be warned, this is not a gentle portrayal of mental ill-health; everything from abandonment to self-harm is fair play for analysis through humour. It’s at once blackly funny, moving and insightful. And truly unlike anything else on TV.
Something evil lurks in Welcome to Derry.Credit: HBO
Welcome to Derry (HBO Max)
You can keep your long-overdue finale to Stranger Things – Welcome To Derry, a prequel to Stephen King’s horror classic is the real deal. Within the first 10 minutes of this lavishly produced spin-off, there’s an insane body-horror sequence the likes of which I (a seasoned horror buff) have never seen. It’s quite the opener, and sets the tone for this the origin story of Pennywise, the character surely responsible for most cases of coulrophobia (fear of clowns) post-1986. King fans enjoyed a real treat, too, with more than the usual number of King “universe” Easter eggs.
Philippa Dunne (left) as Anne and Lucy Punch as Amanda in Amandaland.Credit: Stan
Amandaland (Stan)
Another spin-off, this is a vehicle for the hilarious/ghastly Amanda (Lucy Punch), the posh, overbearing alpha mum from Sharon Horgan’s series Motherland. The BAFTA-winning comedy was a biting portrayal of middle-class parenting, in which the mums rarely interacted with their offspring or even their partners. Amandaland takes place a couple of years later, focusing on Amanda. Freshly divorced, she’s had to close her “lifestyle” store, move to the suburbs and – the horror – send her kids to a state school. She finds herself begrudgingly befriending Anne (the brilliant Philippa Dunne) and the series is almost a bizarre love story between the pair while also focusing on the dysfunctional relationship between Amanda and her mother, Felicity, played by Joanna Lumley – in a feat of genius casting.
Mark Coles Smith as Detective Jay Swan.Credit: ABC
Mystery Road: Origin (ABC)
Three years since the first instalment of this prequel series following the younger incarnation of Detective Jay Swan (Mark Coles Smith), this season moves away from the red dirt of the outback. Jay and Mary (Tuuli Narkle) have moved to Mary’s mother’s Country, a fading timber town, shaded by the region’s towering karri trees. They’re now carers for Mary’s young niece Anya, and Mary, now pregnant, is working as a nurse at the local hospital. Jay, of course, is the new detective in town and the local cop isn’t happy. Always brilliant, Robyn Malcolm plays the rough, jaded cop helping keep a town’s dark secrets – which Jay, of course, will uncover. This season features an entirely First Nations writing team and while it’s a different direction from the neo-Western vibe of the first season, it’s no less cinematic.
MEG WATSON’S TOP PICKS
Noah Wyle in The Pitt.Credit: HBO Max
The Pitt (HBO Max)
It won best drama at the Emmys for a reason. This bracing series, set over 15 real-time episodes in a fictional Pittsburgh emergency department, was a word-of-mouth hit at the very start of the year. Fans of ER were the first tune in, curious about a new show made by some key creatives of that ’90 and 2000s classic (including star Noah Wyle). Then it got real-life doctors hooked, impressed by the surprising accuracy of the medicine on screen and the specific challenges and general overwhelm faced by staff. The show is not an easy watch. But its rolling success has proven the continued worth of old formats like the medical drama, and how effective it can be when you let audiences get to know characters – especially ones who feel rooted in the real world – for more than six episodes at a time.
Nathan Fielder (right) in season two of The Rehearsal.Credit: HBO Max
The Rehearsal (HBO Max)
Between this and Tim Robinson’s insane office supply thriller The Chair Company, comedy freaks like me were well-fed this year. But Nathan Fielder literally soared above his competition in the second instalment of this deadpan and absurd doco-comedy. In a season focused on preventing fatal airline disasters (historically a difficult subject to mine for laughs), Fielder produced some of the funniest television I’ve seen in years including 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. I’ll never listen to Evanescence’s 2003 hit Bring Me To Life in the same way again.
From left: Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sui Wonders, Seth Rogen and Kathryn Hahn in The Studio.
The Studio (Apple TV)
Seth Rogen and longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg struck the perfect balance of absurdity and sincerity in this pointy, stylish and cameo-stacked Hollywood satire. And, with 13 Emmys under its belt and a second season on the way, The Studio could truly go anywhere next. A bottle episode with James Cameron on board the Titanic? Sure. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande getting in a fist fight behind the scenes at a viral press junket? That’d be fun. An Uncut Gems-style re-enactment of the Netflix-Warner Bros deal which some critics are saying could kill cinema? Let’s do it!
Jenna Owen (left) and Vic Zerbst as PR crisis managers in Optics.Credit: ABC
Optics (ABC)
Is this Australia’s answer to The Studio? A smart, fresh and pacy satire of the crisis PR industry, I think this new comedy from The Feed’s Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst and The Chaser‘s Charles Firth was the most exciting Australian show of the year. The trio bounced off each other so well, deepening the Gen Z v Gen X generational warfare first explored in their viral Contact Tracys sketch during COVID lockdowns, while also expertly skewering the world around them. Disgraced footy players and she-EOs (Grey’s Anatomy’s Kate Walsh) were up for mockery alongside airlines and phone companies in the grips of very familiar scandals. It’s recently been reported that the series — exactly what the ABC should be making to attract younger audiences – won’t be returning for a second season, which is a scandal worthy of the show itself.
KARL QUINN’S TOP PICKS
Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence.
Adolescence (Netflix)
There are many things that made this four-part British drama about a high school murder one of the standout shows of the year: the one-shot structure; the incredible performances, including from Owen Cooper, then aged 14, as the young killer; the unflinching way it tackles a range of issues from toxic masculinity to internet culture to schoolyard bullying to conflicts around parenting and policing. It was craft and substance in perfect harmony, and it resonated massively. One of the most-watched shows of the year on Netflix, and almost certainly the most talked-about, it not only won a swag of awards (including six Emmys), it was also raised and praised in British parliament and as a result made available in classrooms in the UK for free as part of a strategy to combat the rise of the manosphere. Now, that’s impact.
Adam Scott (left) and Britt Lower in Severance.Credit: AP
Severance (Apple TV)
In the second season of Apple’s workplace comedy-drama-mystery, the questions piled up quickly. Will Mark (Adam Scott) succeed in reuniting his work self and his domestic consciousness, or will he die trying? Will he choose his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), now that he has proof she’s not dead, or will he stay true to Helly (Britt Lower)? And how much can he trust Helly anyway? We got some answers by the season’s end, but it’s clear creator Dan Erickson and producer-director Ben Stiller are far more interested in building an intricate, layered, bewildering puzzle than they are in solving it, and for now, at least, that’s just fine. The mythology just keeps getting richer, the twists more mind-bending, the weirdness weirder. I can’t wait for more.
Sydney Chandler as Wendy in Alien: Earth.
Alien: Earth (Disney+)
I fell in love with Alien the moment I saw it in the cinema back in 1979, and despite some ups and downs, the franchise remains a compelling hybrid of sci-fi, horror, social commentary and action. In Alien: Earth, the first TV series (after seven films, excluding the Alien/Predator crossovers), we got something we’ve never really had before: an up-close look at the biology of the terrifying creature at the heart of it all, the xenomorph. That would be reason enough to watch, but there are plenty of others. Chief among them is the performance of Sydney Chandler as Wendy, a hybrid human-android with the embedded consciousness of a terminally ill child. All up, the show does a remarkable feat of breathing new life into a long-established universe.
From left: Owen Thiele as Anton, Lucy Freyer as Billie, Malik Elassal as Samir and Amita Rao as Issa in Adults.Credit: FX
Adults (Disney+)
This sharehouse comedy set in Queens, New York, is an absolute delight. It manages to simultaneously embrace and mock the performative concerns of zillennials without ever stooping to cheap shots. Think the attitude of Search Party, the chaos of The Young Ones and the “we’re all in it together” ethos of Friends, and you’ve just about got the vibe.
LOUISE RUGENDYKE’S TOP PICKS
Editor-in-chief Ned (Domhnall Gleeson) addressing his new staff in The Paper.
The Paper (Binge)
OK, I admit to a personal bias towards this delightful comedy about a small Midwestern newspaper struggling to remain relevant. Starring Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, the idealistic editor of the Toledo Truth Teller, The Paper grabbed headlines for being a spin-off of the US Office, but at its heart it was a love letter to journalism. It showed that stories don’t need to be big, headline-grabbers to make a difference and that there is value in community. Importantly – and before I get too soppy – The Paper was also funny. Really funny. Gleeson was a great counterpoint to the OTT antics of flamboyant managing editor Esmeralda Grand (played by a glorious Sabrina Impacciatore, last seen in season two of The White Lotus), while Tim Key almost stole the show as the obsequious manager Ken Davies. I’ve watched it twice and yep, I’ll go back for a third helping before season two.
Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) and Helen Norville (Anna Torv) at the Logie Awards for The Newsreader.Credit: ABC
The Newsreader (ABC)
There were few shows I anticipated more this year than The Newsreader. The third season of the Australian drama was a masterclass in acting, writing, direction and production. Wrapping up the story of Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) – two desperately unhappy, yet very talented journalists who just want to be accepted for who they are – was not easy, but the series gave the one-time News At Six co-hosts the ending they deserved. As Helen, Torv was brittle, fierce and brilliant throughout, but it was Dale’s watch-through-your-fingers breakdown at the news desk that will stick with me (especially knowing it was done in one take). How The Newsreader did not win best drama, or any acting awards, at this year’s Logies is no reflection on the show, and more of a reflection of the deficiencies of our biggest TV awards.
Jacob Elordi (left) as Dorrigo Evans and Thomas Weatherall as Frank Gardiner in The Narrow Road to the Deep North.
The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon Prime Video)
Australia has a rich and deep history of war films and TV series. From Vietnam to Gallipoli and Anzac Girls, we have found great value in telling our stories in times of conflict. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, set mainly in the confines of a WWII POW camp on the Death Railway in Burma, is perhaps the most beautiful and harrowing of those I have seen, with a tender performance from Jacob Elordi at its centre. Directed by Justin Kurzel and adapted by Shaun Grant from Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker Prize-winning novel, the five-part series is just as much a love story as it is one of war. It is also, distressingly in parts, incredibly graphic in its violence but never gratuitously. The horror is always human, which is what makes it all the more devastating.
Gary Oldman in season five of Slow Horses.Credit: Apple TV
Slow Horses (Apple TV)
There may have been some low-key grumblings that this fifth season about a bunch of MI5 rejects was a little light, but that is to underestimate the power of Jackson Lamb and his shambolic sidekicks. Yes, this season did not deliver the big action set pieces of seasons two and three, but you’ve got to give these guys a break. Just because it was, er, slower, doesn’t mean it skipped a beat. Supporting characters such as Roddy Ho (Australia’s Christopher Chung) and First Desk Claude Whelan (James Callis) were allowed to obnoxiously step up, while River (Jack Lowden) seemingly stepped back to recalibrate after discovering his father was an ex-CIA assassin. In the middle of it all, of course, is Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. No one farts on screen better than him, and in a year that included Celia Imrie letting one rip on the UK’s Celebrity Traitors, that’s saying something.
Hannah Einbinder (left) as Ava Daniels and Jean Smart as Deborah Vance in Hacks.Credit: NBC Universal
Hacks (Stan)
Where some shows start to wobble in their third or fourth season, Hacks just keeps getting better and better. While the show was occasionally more biting and nasty – some of the fights between Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels were skin-crawlingly vicious – it also proved to be alarmingly prescient about the fragility of late-night TV. Much like her real-life counterpart Jimmy Kimmel, who was suspended by US broadcaster ABC for making comments about the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, Vance was under pressure from her network to censor an interview. Sure, it’s a little bit apples and oranges, but it’s also not a million miles from what goes on in real life. Extra shout-outs also go to Julianne Nicholson’s unhinged “Dance Mom” and the show’s co-creator, Paul W. Downs, whose Jimmy is the unsung hero of the whole damn thing.
Correction: This article previously stated the ABC hadn’t yet made an announcement on the future of Optics. The show has not been renewed for a second season.
*Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.
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