Best dramas on BBC iPlayer

Writer Jack Thorne is adept at tackling emotive subjects with depth and authenticity, creating stories that shine a powerful light into dark – and often uncomfortable – corners. Following the likes of National Treasure, Kiri and Help, his latest is this considered, devastating four-parter starring an outstanding Sharon Horgan and Michael Sheen.

Nicci (Horgan) and Andrew (Sheen) are parents to Marnie (Niamh Moriarty), who has a rare form of congenital muscular dystrophy. When her already-deteriorating health falls further, it prompts doctors to say that her care should be withdrawn. Her parents vehemently disagree, and the case ends up going to court.

Although there are some superfluous subplots along the way, the final episode’s denouement is as commanding, moving and unbearable as television can get. FRANCES TAYLOR

Series one of this terrific police drama taught us that not everyone can count on getting out alive, so viewers would be wise to be in the brace position before watching the second. One year on, a drug-fuelled crimewave is once again increasing tensions, both inside the force and out on the streets in Belfast. Tasked with navigating this fraught situation are those we met last year, including central duo Stevie and Grace (Martin McCann and Siân Brooke), who are about to see their working relationship put to the test. DAVID BROWN

A series that needs no introduction, but we’ll give it one anyway.

Happy Valley stars Sarah Lancashire as Yorkshire police sergeant Catherine Cawood. When we meet her in season 1, she’s investigating former prisoner Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton), whom she believes is responsible for the death of her daughter. The rivalry between these two incredible characters continues for two more outings, the last of which was released in 2023 and brought the story to a dramatic conclusion.

Indeed, Happy Valley season 3 was hailed as some of the best British television ever made, adding yet more prestige to the career of screenwriter Sally Wainwright – also known for Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack.

If you somehow missed its original run, do yourself a favour and watch now. MORGAN CORMACK

Peter McKenna’s Dublin-set gangster drama grabs you by the throat from the start and doesn’t let up. The second series finds the ruthless Amanda (Clare Dunne) now heading up the Kinsella operations, although her father-in-law Bren (the magnificent Francis Magee), released from prison and bristling with hostility and expletive-filled misogyny, thinks he’s in charge. They’re a family at war – with a Turkish drug cartel, the rest of the criminal fraternity in Ireland and within themselves – so the tension and the violence is shocking. JANE RACKHAM

Drag queen Gabriel and accountant Andy (Siôn Daniel Young and Fra Fee) hope to adopt youngster Jake (Leo Harris) but find that the process results in painful memories bubbling to the surface like unwanted silt. Writer Daf James’s achingly tender script features moments of almost One Day-levels of distress, but amid the high emotion, there’s also a compassionate story about self-discovery, queer culture and parenting struggles. By the end, you’ll be desperately hoping that Jake, who has been placed in foster care after being removed from his violent father, finds his forever home. DAVID BROWN

This cosy crime drama starring David Mitchell as awkward puzzle-setter-turned-accidental detective John “Ludwig” Taylor was the BBC’s most watched scripted show since 2022. The premise – he assumes the identity of his missing detective twin brother – is bonkers and the murders are as daft as those in Death in Paradise, but that’s all part of its charm. Mitchell is perfectly cast as the bumbling imposter solving crimes in Cambridge, and there’s cracking support from Anna Maxwell Martin as Ludwig’s sister-in-law and a slew of impressive guest stars such as Derek Jacobi and Felicity Kendal. JANE RACKHAM

Across the Nottinghamshire landscape, feuds in the community loom as large as the cooling towers on the horizon in series two of James Graham’s superlative state-of-the-nation drama. There are the problems both political (a new mine proposed for the area is causing consternation, with “No New Coal” protestors taking a stand) and personal (a turf war between rival gangs is in danger of being reignited). David Morrissey, Lesley Manville and Lorraine Ashbourne are among the first-rate returning cast, while Monica Dolan, David Harewood and Robert Lindsay add extra heft. FRANCES TAYLOR

Martin Freeman’s excellent Scouse accent is the first impressive thing about a crime drama with many aces up its sleeve. He plays against type as a police inspector demoted to night-time patrol officer: in therapy and on the verge of divorce, he tries too hard to compensate for his woes by taking on drug dealers and helping the vulnerable people they exploit, breaking rules at every turn. Against a tense portrayal of life in Liverpool’s darker corners, Freeman is a restless force of nature. JACK SEALE

Screenwriter Sarah Phelps has adapted plenty of Agatha Christie works, and at the heart of this tragic true story she’s moulded into a four-part drama is a real-life antagonist as calculating and callous as any Christie killer. The pre-titles sequence states this is in memory of Peter Farquhar and Ann Moore-Martin. The deaths of these elderly neighbours, in 2015 and 2017 respectively, were not initially thought to be suspicious. But one man was suspiciously close to both.

Timothy Spall conjures sympathy in spades as the quiet, fragile Peter – a well-respected scholar who lives a solitary and deeply religious life that only begins unravelling once he meets new student Ben (Eanna Hardwicke, exuding cold charm). Emotionally vulnerable, Peter is overwhelmed as the two embark on a relationship. But soon, Peter is having dizzy spells and hallucinating. Unbeknown to the host, he’s welcomed a parasite into his home. FRANCES TAYLOR