Netflix/HBO2025 has been an exceptional year for television, delivering everything from long-awaited finales to bold new originals. We’ve been eating good all year round, with Stranger Things, Severance, The Last of Us, Squid Game, Pluribus, and Alien: Earth just a few of the TV hits from the past 12 months.
Some of the biggest success stories have been the releases no one saw coming. Adolescence blew our minds with its one-shot story that delivered a gut-punch of emotions, while The Pitt breathed new life into the medical drama sub-genre.
But that hasn’t overshadowed the returning heavyweights, with 2025 seeing the arrival of the fifth and final chapter of Stranger Things, the last season of Squid Game, and the long-awaited second runs from Severance, Wednesday, and Andor.
So, as 2026 fast approaches, we’ve rounded up our favourite series of the year — the shows that genuinely stuck with us, had us counting down the days for new episodes, or, in many cases, left us in puddles of tears. Below, you’ll find our picks for the best TV shows of 2025, ranked in order of preference.
15: It – Welcome to Derry
Brooke Palmer/HBOWhat it’s about: This prequel to Stephen King’s It explores the origins of Pennywise and the titular town’s sinister past as a new generation encounters horrors lurking beneath its surface.
Why we like it: It: Welcome to Derry is about Pennywise’s reign of terror in the 1960s, but the series offers commentary about trickle-down-trauma, paranoia, and racism instead of just explaining who the iconic villain is. The show doesn’t shy away from the cultural ugliness of the time period, which makes this white-picket slice of Americana even more terrifying.
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14. The Rehearsal
HBOWhat it’s about: Realising that planes are crashing because first officers are too intimidated to challenge their captains, Season 2 of The Rehearsal features complicated role-plays that aim to change what happens in the cockpit.
Why we like it: Nathan Fielder is a mad genius who takes cringe comedy to the next level. But the ground-breaking brilliance of The Rehearsal is that behind the insanity there’s a serious message, and if Season 2 has the desired effect, lives will actually be saved.
13. Task
HBOWhat it’s about: An FBI task force is charged with bringing down the gang of thieves stealing from a drug-running motorcycle gang.
Why we like it: Created by Bad Ingelsby, Task shares much in common with his previous series Mare of Easttown, being a gripping crime drama combined with a fascinating character study. Mrk Ruffalo is terrific as the priest-turned-task force leader, while the Episode 6 shoot-out is an all-timer.
12. The Pitt
MaxWhat it’s about: Over the course of one 15-hour shift at a Pittsburgh hospital emergency room, a team of burned-out medics must overcome personal and professional issues on the clock – including a mass shooting at a local music festival.
Why we like it: While the lawsuit would have you say otherwise, The Pitt is absolutely nothing like ER. The unique hour-by-hour format isn’t the only thing that makes the new TV stand out, though. Think killer performances (sometimes literally), intense relationships, and complicated dynamics. Your heart will stop in Episode 12, when the casualties from Pittfest begin pouring in. Honestly? You won’t be able to breathe again until the show is over.
11. Invincible
Prime VideoWhat it’s about: Mark Grayson’s dad is the most powerful superhero on the planet, but as he develops his own powers, Mark finds out his father might not be the hero that he thought.
Why we like it: Robert Kirkman promised that every episode in Season 3 would feel like a finale – and he delivered (mostly). From the first episode, its pace is breathless while retaining the weight of each plot thread, juggling everything in Mark’s life, the squabbling among the Guardians, and Allen and Nolan’s guilt-ridden space bickering. By the end of every episode (which all have post-credits scenes, by the way), you’ll be fighting the urge to read ahead in the comics.
10. Alien: Earth
Hulu/DisneyWhat it’s about: Set two years before the events of the 1979 movie, Alien: Earth sees a spacecraft called the USCSS Maginot crash-landing on our planet carrying a xenemorph, as well as several new and equally terrifying extraterrestrial species.
Why we like it: Alien: Earth is the best the franchise has been since Isolation; scary, thought-provoking, and thoroughly distinct. It’s true prestige television: a technically brilliant, cinematic show that wouldn’t be out of place on the big screen, but inversely, it commits to its medium rather than feeling like a chopped-up, over-extended film.
9. Peacemaker
HBO MaxWhat it’s about: The second season of Peacemaker is largely concerned with getting the band back together, but the show kicks into high gear when Chris Smith finds a portal to another dimension where he’s popular and his dad is still alive.
Why we like it: Season 1 was a twisted delight, and Season 2 builds on that firm foundation through a story that’s very different to what came before. Highlights including flashbacks that cleverly reshape the narrative, a savage dig at Jared Leto’s band, Eagly’s brutal solo fight, fun Easter eggs in that parallel dimension, and the grandstanding moment where Peacemaker comes face-to-face with himself.
8. The White Lotus
HBOWhat it’s about: You know the drill – a bunch of rich, privileged holiday-makers descend on a luxury hotel in a beautiful destination, where something very bad goes down. This time the location is Thailand, and the bad thing a body floating in the pool.
Why we like it: It’s the perfect cocktail of beautiful scenery and terrible people behaving badly – exactly what The White Lotus does best. Season 3 doubles down on the tension, the awkward humor, and the “oh no, they did not just do that” moments. Thailand gives the series new visual flair, and the central mystery is wildly addictive.
7. Stranger Things
NetflixWhat it’s about: We’re in the endgame now, as Season 5 of Stranger Things finds Hawkins in lockdown, Vecna enacting his final diabolical plan, and our heroes working together to bring him down.
Why we like it: It’s all been building to this, with the Netflix phenomenon drawing to a close via big budget, feature-length episodes that pit TV’s most likeable heroes against the mind-bending evil of Vecna. Season 5 started strong with four episodes that built to an Upside Down crescendo, while now we’re just waiting to see if twin creators the Duffer brother have managed to stick the landing.
6. Pluribus
Apple TVWhat it’s about: When an alien virus turns the people of Planet Earth into a collective hive mind, author Carol Sturka is one of the 13 individuals who remains immune, and makes it her mission to save the world.
Why we like it: Re-teaming Better Call Saul co-creator Vince Gilligan with that show’s breakout star Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus couldn’t be more different to their previous collaboration, being hard sci-fi that’s more akin to The Twilight Zone. We’re loving watching Pluribus, and we’re enjoying the speculation and fan theories about mystery at the heart of the show just as much.
5. The Last of Us
HBOWhat it’s about: Season 2 of The Last of Us is an adaptation of Naughty Dog’s acclaimed video game sequel The Last of Us Part 2. The new series picks up five years after the events of Season 1, and continues to follow Joel and Ellie’s efforts to survive after a global pandemic has destroyed much of civilization.
Why we like it: Season 2 is a phenomenal, punishing adaptation of one of gaming’s greatest and most challenging stories. This is edge-of-your-seat television that calls for compassion… and patience. “You don’t get to rush this.”
4. Squid Game
NetflixWhat it’s about: South Korea’s poor are given the opportunity to win money by playing a series of children’s games, little realising that death awaits those who fail.
Why we like it: After Season 3, it’s clear that Squid Game is the best TV show Netflix has ever produced: a barrier-breaking feat of universal, ruthless storytelling that may never be matched. The games may be over, but its legacy will (hopefully) live on.”
3. Adolescence
NetflixWhat it’s about: Adolescence starts with a 13-year-old boy being arrested on suspicion of a classmate’s murder, and follows his journey, as well as the stories of detectives investigating the crime, a child psychologist assigned to the case, and the effect the tragedy has on his family.
Why we like it: Adolescence is an incredible piece of television. Largely because it’s shot in four single continuous takes that play out over four hours, making the show a jaw-dropping technical feat. But also because it’s anchored by career-best performances from the likes of Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters, and Erin Doherty, as well as remarkable newcomer Owen Cooper. The result is tough to watch, but also one of the best TV shows of the year.
2. Andor
Disney/LucasfilmWhat it’s about: Andor is the second and final season of the Rogue One prequel series that charts the title character’s journey from thief and smuggler to rebel and brave freedom-fighter.
Why we like it: Andor is Star Wars, but barely resembles what’s comes before, with showrunner Tony Gilroy telling a story lacking in space battles and lightsabres, and instead focussing on a disparate group of characters falling under authoritarian rule, and finding the strength to fight back. It’s also the best bit of Star Was since the first two movies.
1. Severance
Apple TV+What it’s about: Severance revolves around a group of office workers who undergo a surgical procedure to divide their brain between office hours and home time.
Why we like it: Severance Season 2 is an astounding achievement; a flawless showcase of craft, performance, and taut, compulsive storytelling. It sticks the landing, meaning it belongs in the highest echelon of television – and we should feel jubilant at its ascendance.
Those are our TV picks, and you can also check out Dexerto’s best movies of the year so far, and our list of 2025’s best games.