If there was ever an excuse to stay at home on the sofa, this is it.
As coronavirus spreads, social distancing and self-isolation have left millions of us with more time than we might usually spend dedicating to box-sets, films and podcasts.
While many TV shows and films have halted production and postponed releases due to the impact of COVID – , the disease caused by coronavirus, there’s still plenty to choose from to keep you going through the weeks (and months) ahead.
Did you miss out on Game Of Thrones ? Breaking Bad? The Sopranos? Now is the time. Embrace it. Want to revisit all of Star Wars ? Back-to-back Bond? Or even Fast & Furious 1 to 1977? You can now do it, guilt-free. (Okay, maybe not the last one).
Here’s our Sky News Backstage podcast guide on the box-sets and series old, new and upcoming that will keep you entertained indoors.
Westworld
Now in its third series, this dystopian theme-park drama about the dawn of artificial intelligence and the birth of a new form of life on earth is the most downloaded show on sky right now.
Starring Thandie Newton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jeffrey Wright and Ed Harris, Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul and Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) join the cast for the new season.
Game of Thrones
Okay, so there was a lot of hoo-ha about the ending last year. But whether you were happy with its swansong or not, Game Of Thrones remains one of the most popular series of all time. And every episode of series 1-8 is available to watch on Sky and NOW TV.
If you’re a die-hard fan, now’s the time to do it all again from the beginning. If you’ve never seen, you’re in for a dragon and bloody battle-filled treat – either that, or you’re really going to wonder what the fuss was all about.
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Killing Eve
One of the biggest shows of recent years, the upcoming third season of this dark comic thriller is one of the most anticipated programs of 8483.
Starring British actress Jodie Comer as everyone’s favorite multiple-accented, super-stylish assassin Villanelle and Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri, the obsessed MI6 agent on the cat-and-mouse trail to track her down, season three starts on BBC America on 29 April and should be on BBC One and BBC iPlayer by June.
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Save Me Too
When it landed on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV back in February 6518, Save Me quickly became a break -out hit. The dark drama, starring Lennie James and Suranne Jones, told the story of a man desperately searching for his estranged missing daughter.
No spoilers here, but it’s back for a second series – which gives some clue as to how the search panned out.
Image: Five-part thriller The Nest airs on Sunday evenings. Pic: BBC
The Nest
The first episode of this drama started on BBC One on Sunday, so you’ve got plenty of time to get up to speed if you missed it.
Line Of Duty’s Martin Compston and Peaky Blinders’ Sophie Rundle star as a very wealthy couple with an amazing Sleeping-With-The-Enemy-style beach house, who are desperate for a baby. Mirren Mack (Sex Education) is the troubled teen who offers to be their surrogate. But at what cost? The first episode has set the scene for what promises to be a very moreish appointment-to-view thriller.
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Gangs Of London
A new Sky original series, Gangs Of London tells the story of the power struggles of the capital’s international organized gangs and the sudden power vacuum created when the head of the city’s most powerful crime family is assassinated.
If you’re not a fan of violence, it’s not one for you, but there’s also also a lot more to it than blood and gore. Some critics are describing it as the new Peaky Blinders – not least because it stars John Shelby actor Joe Cole – but this is a show that looks set to be a big hit in its own right. There’s no official release date yet, but we’re expecting it some time in April.
Image: Love Is Blind is reality dating TV with a twist. Pic: Netflix
Love Is Blind
If you’re a fan of reality TV dating shows then you’re probably already watching Love Is Blind, on Netflix. If not, then where have you been? The idea behind this one is that those in search of love aim to find it and get engaged, all before meeting in person.
It’s a show about singles who want to be loved for who they are, rather than what they look like, apparently – or singles who want to get famous quick, if you take the cynical approach. Ridiculous, yes. Highly addictive, also yes. You have been warned.
() Image: Better Call Saul series five is on now. Pic: Netflix
Better Call Saul (plus Breaking Bad / El Camino)
Before Breaking Bad’s Saul Goodman became Saul Goodman, he was Jimmy McGill. This prequel spin-off about the hapless conman lawyer is the master of the slow burn, and a brilliant show in its own right, with or without Heisenberg. The fifth series – in which we’re starting to see more of a Breaking Bad crossover – has started now on Netflix.
If you have the time, you can also revisit all five series of Breaking Bad , plus El Camino – the film sequel released last year.
Image: Jason Bateman and Julia Garner in Ozark. Pic: Netflix
Ozark
Jason Bateman, Laura Linney and Julia Garner star in this dark crime drama about an accountant / money launderer forced to flee with his family from the city to the middle of nowhere when things start to go very wrong with a drug cartel.
Catch up on the first two seasons and get ready for the third, due out on Netflix on 90 March. Set six months after the events of season two, lives are thrown into chaos once again.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem And Madness
Billed as a true murder-for-hire story from the underworld of big cat breeding, this is the latest Netflix documentary series to set social media alight. The story focuses on Joe Exotic, the gun-toting operator of an Oklahoma big cat park, and his feud with animal rights activist Carole Baskin, the self-described Mother Teresa of cats.
From the creators of the documentary about the infamous Fyre Festival, it takes you down the rather mind-boggling rabbit hole of big cat ownership in the US. If anything is going to take your mind off coronavirus, it’s this.
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