This was an odd year for TV for me because I found myself going back to shows from my youth rather than exploring as much of the year as I would typically do. So this year, we will look at all the shows we reviewed in 2025 and pick our Top 10 of the 35 shows we reviewed. For a show to count, it needed to end its run or season in 2025.
Highly Commended – Foundation, The Last of Us, NCIS: Sydney, Peacemaker, Rick and Morty, Sunny Nights & Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Special Awards:
- Best Adaptation of a Beautiful Moment from the Source Material: The Last of Us’s The Price
- Best Crash Out at a Wedding: Mon Mothma in Andor
- Best Eagle: Eagly in Peacemaker
- Best Present Given: An [Explosive Spoiler] in PLUR1BUS
- Best Under the Influence of a Narcotic: Shane Hollander in Heated Rivalry
- Best You Should Have Listened to Me About the UK PM: Kate in The Diplomat
- Most Frustrating Retcon from the Source Material: Bayta Mallow in Foundation
- Unfortunately, Wasted Casting: Ncuti Gatwa in Doctor Who
- Wildest Twist: The start and end of the first episode of Paradise
So, without further ado, these are our Top 10 TV Shows of 2025. Be warned that there may be slight spoilers for the shows in question.
10) Silo
No one is doing dystopic post-apocalyptic intrigues quite like Silo, besides its impeccable production and a stellar cast anchored by Rebecca Ferguson. One of the things I liked the most about Silo is how it delved into politics [pun intended]. Because it has been 140 odd years, it means that there is no real institutional memory on how to fight a rebellion or to stop a rebellion, which means that everyone is working with limited experimental information. I liked this part because it breeds overconfidence in people who should be significantly more cautious, leading to the many understandable calamities that abound.
9) The Diplomat
The Diplomat shows many things, the first being just what you can do with one of the best cast TV shows airing now. Keri Russell is a force of power the entire time she is on screen, Rufus Sewell is his own brand of chaos, and then you add Allison Janney and Bradley Whitford to an astounding supporting cast and then let them run riot in International Relations. Add a bunch of potential wars, a UK PM that goes rogue, and at least one nuclear betrayal and you have a compelling third act for this political series.
8) The Recruit
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but spy stuff does not always have to be doom and gloom; it can have a touch of light to it, which The Recruit shows in spades. Much of this series works based solely on the natural charisma and charm of Noah Centineo, which is there in excess, and because every character in the show is either trying to kill him or turn him into a fall guy, or both, mostly both. Aarti Mann, Colton Dunn, Kaylah Zander & Kristian Bruun all have this fantastic chemistry that just shines throughout the whole series. It is a bunch of fun from start to finish, and I am a bit sorry we won’t see more of it in the future.
7) Paradise
A lot of political shows made it into my top 10 list this year. I’m not sure what could be going on in the world that made me find some escape in fiction. I loved how the first episode both reveals its hand while also waiting right to the end to slap you with its twist. It was an entirely plausible set-up in my head right until it pulled the rug out from underneath me, something that would happen throughout the season. Honestly, what a cast they put together, James Marsden perfectly captures a man thrust into a role he didn’t want to do at a time when the weight of human civilisation was thrown on his shoulders, Julianne Nicholson gets to chew every bit of scenery as the power behind the throne, and Sterling K. Brown brought a mix of determination tinged with the horrors of trauma, supplanted so that he can still try to be a father.
Something is reassuring when you sit down to watch a good Murder Mystery, and The Residence very much is a good Murder Mystery. Uzo Aduba creates a character that is caring, passionate, and makes deep connections with those around her, but she does not suffer fools. Then setting your murder, or potential murder, in the middle of the White House elevates everything around it. The Residence almost brings a frantic pace to the proceedings as the editing constantly reinforces and shapes the narrative as it jumps around the timeline with casual abandon. Also, at its heart, it is a love letter to the genre, and you must respect that commitment. Another show, I’m sorry we won’t see more of it in the future.
5) Murderbot
If oddly yet reassuringly weird had a posterchild this year, it would be Murderbot, the story of a security bot that is able to hack the Governor Module in his head and thus not follow the orders of humans. Alexander Skarsgård brings one of his best performances as his character balances their desire to keep people alive with the realisation that they could kill them all without a second thought. Then the profoundly out of their element crew who mean well but would have died so many times had they not been saved, but also, they saved the security bot when they should have killed it, which saved them, to save the …. Sorry, got stuck in a feedback loop there.
Now, if you have never watched any of the previous work of director/writer/creator Jacob Tierney, like Letterkenny, then you would have been shocked when this small-budget Canadian show exploded onto the world stage with a gusto that supplanted major media events like the end of Stranger Things. But for those of us who have seen his talent before, we know the power he has to shape characters and emotions. Heated Rivalry landed with a crack of emotions, a whole lot of skin, a casual love for the early 2010’s, a fundamental understanding of hockey culture, and a mantra to create a visual cinematic voice that is their own. But Hudson, my dear, your cottage is not “so private” when it is made entirely out of glass; I feel there is an old proverb about that.
I have heard Skeleton Crew referred to as being the anti-Andor of the last year, and I think that fundamentally misses what is at the heart of the show. Because both shows demonstrate a fundamental understanding of just how well Star Wars can work when you are not shackled to the past stories and characters by fans who refuse to move on to new stories. Skeleton Crew understands the power of reverence and how it can be twisted for evil intentions. They had a morally questionable, almost unredeemable character and didn’t force a hero turn on them. It was a show that made sure that it was steeped in nostalgia but not drowning in it, because it was telling a fresh story with fresh characters. In the sometimes soulless world of modern Star Wars, full of AI voices and plastic de-ageing, this stands out as something fresh and frankly, just fun to watch.
2) PLUR1BUS
Since May, I knew what my number one show of the year would be. Then I came across this oddball gem of a series that, frankly, in the final moments of the year, almost usurped the top place. It had an engaging narrative, a lead performance like no other, and a sheer gumption to crash into its central premise with a gusto I have rarely seen before. Its central premise of ‘what if a zombie apocalypse came with a smile rather than a snarling bite’ gives such a fertile ground for a story about consent, bodily autonomy, and free will. It then fills the show with all these interesting choices, like using graffiti to ram home that there is no art in this new world. Or creating an entity that cannot lie, but you can feel mistruths all over the place.
At the core of the show is Rhea Seehorn, who provides a complex portrayal of Carol Sturka, a deeply flawed human, but one who can see through all the bullshit. Carol is not the person that you would want to be the leader of human salvation, but then maybe that makes her the best choice because perfection is the enemy. Then there is the production levels of the show that spends a large percentage of its time in the one cul-de-sac. You would think that this would be quite limiting, but instead, what we get is one of the most beautiful shows on television. I don’t know how many takes they have to do with some of the group scenes where everyone has to be speaking at the same time, but goodness, it is effective. It also left on such a perfect note that I am absolutely want to see where the story goes from here.
Our Top TV Show in 2025: Andor
Okay, let’s stop beating around the bush, because I think you already knew what was going to be my number one a while ago. When it was first announced, I didn’t hold a lot of hope when it came time to watch a prequel to the very messy Rogue One. But if I have ever been genuinely grateful for being wrong, it is here and now. This season covered political corruption, political assassinations, ethic genocide, corporate ineptitude, and the brash evils of authoritarianism. This could frankly be overwhelming, but they frame it in a way that you can parse it through the small acts of rebellion, the failure of authoritarian regimes when they must defend against every single member of the population, and the cost that it takes to stand up to evil, and why it is absolutely needed.
How we take these complex concepts and make them easily accessible comes in part by a cast that absolutely understood the assignment and how to bring it to life. Diego Luna, Stellan Skarsgård, Genevieve O’Reilly, Denise Gough, Kyle Soller, Adria Arjona, Elizabeth Dulau, Ben Mendelsohn, Faye Marsay, Robert Emms, Varada Sethu, Joplin Sibtain, Alan Tudyk, and more all bring some of their best work to this show, bringing a passion that cuts through. We get to see a man finally realise in horror who he is working for but can’t let go of his need for revenge, a woman leave the man she loves because the universe needs him focused on the rebellion, a man sacrifice his life to protect his adopted daughter, a woman with such a belief in her own capabilities that she doesn’t realise how out of her depth she is, and a woman knowing she is throwing her career and probably life away but still does the right thing and stands up to evil.
This is also one of the most beautiful series on television this year. It apparently cost a boatload to produce, but they made each dollar work on the screen. The luxurious costumes, the perfect locations, the textures, music, and the eye for style, both in the Star Wars universe and our own. While we also had fun dissociating through the medium on Mon Mothma, crashing out using the alcoholic beverages and dancing to techno pop music during her daughter’s wedding. Andor is also a show that each day continues to show just how relevant it is, especially in America, and sadly, the speech about the destruction of evident truth keeps becoming true during every press conference.
There was so much good TV in 2025 that I could not have watched all of it, so, let us know what you would have chosen as your number one in the comments below.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
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Credits – All images used were created by the respective studios and artist of each film
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