The bestTVshows of 2020

With the arrival of Disney and Apple’s streaming services late last year, we all knew this year was going to be a big one for television.

But no-one could have guessed just how important the escapism it offered would become, as a global pandemic forced much of the world into staying close to home.

New content was lapped up by a public desperate for a diversion from lockdown life, and Netflix documentaries such as and Tiger

proved particularly potent. While Covid-19 has affected future productions, it has yet to slow the torrent of content choice available to viewers. Having waded through the plethora of programming unleashed over the past 12 months, Stuff has come up with a list of our favourite shows from this most tumultuous of years.

The Good Fight

While we’re still waiting for the Covid-truncated fourth series to drop here, if you want a satirical and serious look at America’s past four years, then this is the show for you.

It might sometimes wear its partisan politics on its sleeve, but it’s not afraid to lambast the Republicans and Democrats for their hypocrisy and dirty dealings and lament the state of the country’s legislature and judicial systems as awhole.

Each episode offers plenty of laughs, myriad twists and turns and satisfying and enraging outcomes.

They’ve even added fabulously conceived musical animated explainers of tricky topics in recent times.

Then there’s the characters, virtually all of them compelling. From Delroy Lindo’s proud and pugnacious Adrian Boseman to Cush Jumbo’s take-no-prisoners Lucca Quinn and Sarah Steele’s sassy secretary-turnedinvestigator Marissa Gold, we can’t wait to see what troubles they have embroiled themselves in as America’s best modern drama continues to unfold.

The Great

Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult star in this look at the reigns of Russia’s Peter and Catherine the Great that’s a very different pot of borscht to last year’s seriopolitical Helen Mirren drama. This is a black comedic romp, very much in the same vein as writer Tony McNamara’s Baftawinning The Favourite.

Yes, not only does it share a similar 18th-century setting, rabbit-loving monarch and bedroom antics, but it also possesses the same sharp wit and bawdy humour that made McNamara and Deborah Davis’ look at Queen Anne’s court such a hit with audiences.

The Mandalorian

Last year, its arrival heralded a brave new world and an increasingly rare unifying force in an increasingly polarised universe. Its return serves as a welcome salve and a beacon of hope in a time when large-scale storytelling is in desperately short supply.

Thankfully, the second season offers the same giddy mix of intriguing new characters, familiar creatures, exhilarating action and scenes involving THAT child that made the first octet of tales such a delight. There’s plenty of pyrotechnics, a beautiful vein of pithy black humour and just enough pieces of the larger puzzle to keep those invested in the franchise’s lore hooked.

Match Fit

Based on a 2018 British series, this four-part reality show is hilarious, heartfelt viewing. Former All Black greats like Frank Bunce, Eroni Clarke, Ron Cribb and Troy Flavell reunite to try to get on the field for one last game. Under the watchful eye of coaches Buck Shelford and Sir Graham Henry, they have just eight weeks to avoid injury and get themselves into shape.

Providing an opportunity to see these one-time sporting heroes in a new light, it proves that even superstar athletes have their struggles, especially after the spotlight fades. Forget your MasterChefs, Blocks and Bachelorettes, this is – hands down – the best and most important reality show of the year.

Motherland

Now in its second season, this British look at the trials and traumas of middle-class motherhood might just be the funniest show currently screening on television.

An acerbic answer to Australia’s House Husbands, it focuses on an eclectic group of parents who banter, clash and bond during the daily school run. There’s struggling PR executive Julia ( Death Comes to Pemberley’s Anna Maxwell Martin), the chaotic and blunttalking Liz ( After Life’s Diane Morgan), disastrous stay-athome-dad Kevin ( MotherFatherSon’s Paul Ready) and ‘‘Alpha Mum’’ Amanda ( A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Lucy Punch).

Thanks to the brilliant writing quartet of Sharon Horgan ( Catastrophe), Graham Linehan ( Father Ted), Helen Linehan and Holly Walsh, each perfectly calibrated episode is filled with hilarious hijinks, identifiable moments and terrific quips (‘‘you know you’ve had a good night when you find crisps in your knickers.’’).

Motherland focuses on an eclectic group of parents who banter, clash and bond during the daily school run.

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant teamed up for The Undoing.

Cynthia Erivo plays the mysterious Holly Gibney in The Outsider.

Ben Mendelsohn, Cynthia Erivo, Jason Bateman, Paddy Considine and Julianne Nicholson star in this 10-part adaptation of Stephen King’s 2018 novel of the same name. It focuses on a popular teacher who is arrested and charged with raping, mutilating and killing an 11-year-old boy, despite seemingly having awatertight alibi.

A compelling tale full of twists, turns and a sometimes unbearable amount of tension, it feels both timeless and timely and features one of Australian actor Mendelsohn’s finest performances.

Having previously delved into Baltimore’s institutions, the 2003 invasion of Iraq, post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and the rise of New York’s adult entertainment industry, David

Simon returns with another entertaining and engrossing drama.

Like

and this adaptation of Philip Roth’s 2004 book benefits greatly from Simon and regular co-writer Ed Burns’ sharp writing, as well as their ability to create an immersive sense of place and space. John Turturro, Winona Ryder and Zoe Kazan star.

The Queen’s Gambit

(Netflix)

Emma’s Anya Taylor-Joy stars in this seven-part drama based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel of the same name.

It’s the story of orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon, who struggled with addiction from an early age, in trying to achieve her quest to become a Grandmaster. The cast also includes Bill Camp and Thomas Brodie-Sangster.

What makes it compelling, bingeworthy viewing is the combination of sumptuous 1960s production design, gorgeous costuming, Scott Frank’s ( slow-burning, but sharp storytelling and superb direction and a simply mesmerising performance from Taylor-Joy.

Far more nuanced and character-driven than many other entries in the ‘‘search for a missing child’’ genre, this British drama, now in its second season, benefits greatly from its

crazily impressive supporting cast that includes Suranne Jones, Leslie Manville, Ade Edmondson, Stephen Graham and Jason Flemyng, creator and star Lennie James’ compellingly flawed protagonist and some smart writing and direction that hooks the viewer in early and makes you care.

James plays Nelson ‘‘Nelly’’ Rowe, a complicated man whose somewhat chaotic life was thrown into further turmoil by the disappearance of his estranged 13-year-old daughter. While seemingly having brought at least some of the culprits towards facing justice and rescued another young woman, season one ended without resolution forNelly. Now, 17 months after Jodie vanished, he’s hot on the trail of the man he feels perpetrated the crime.

The Undoing

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant play aNew York-based couple whose lives are thrown into turmoil when the mother of one of their son’s schoolmates is found murdered.

Abundantly filled with twists and turns, this six-part adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz’s 2014 tale You Should Have Known offers plenty of opportunities for David E Kelley, the former The Practice and Boston Legal showrunner, to skewer America’s ‘‘injustice’’ and class system, as well as create memorable characters and shocking scenarios that will have you desperate to watch just one more episode.