12 box sets to buy TV lovers for Christmas
From Poldark to Peep Show, here are the shows that will make you popular this Christmas — even with that relative who doesn't really like you...
True Detective (series 1)
Even if you don't like Bourbon or cigarettes, this will make you want to like them. It'll also make you fantasise about sitting in a gloomy bar in the American deep south and self-destruct like the world is ending. All day. Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey are mesmerising as two anti-hero detectives trying to solve a murder. It's all so dark, gritty and beautiful that you may well watch the whole lot in one sitting. Before nipping to the newsagents for a bottle of Bourbon.
Wolf Hall
Henry VIII is everyone's favourite Tudor. Ok, he wasn't the most forgiving husband what with all the death sentences, but he did have a magnetic quality that still has us very much attracted to him today. In this subtle yet gripping adaptation of Hilary Mantel's novel, Damian Lewis plays the tyrant beautifully. But it's really Mark Rylance who has TV lovers hooked on this series, as he plays a quietly pragmatic, flawed and exquisite Thomas Cromwell.
The Wire (series 1-5)
If you haven't watched this cult US show about narcotics, politics, crime and education in Baltimore, you're probably fed up with people saying, "you have to watch it, it's incredible." So instead of buying this for yourself, just get it for someone else and then watch it with them....before telling all your friends how incredible it is. By the end of the series you'll feel you know Baltimore better than Britain.
Poldark
Unless you've been living in a Cornish mine, you know the score with this one. Aiden Turner. Scything. Cornwall. 18th Century. Eleanor Tomlinson. Lots and lots of lust, drama and injustice. Why would anyone not want to watch this?
Raised by Wolves
The ideal show for anyone who complains about how eccentric their family is. Because Caitlin and Caroline Moran's sitcom is about a loving, hilarious brood who are also really quite unusual. The show smashed taboos every week when it first aired — and the destruction was a joy to witness. It's also about the universal, tricky experience of being a teenager. And a female one at that.
Peep Show (series 1-7)
The perfect TV present for the masochists in your life. The agony of watching Mark, Jez and Super Hans navigate awkward situations is addictive and glorious. And part of that joy comes from the fact that we all recognise ourselves in the characters. So as the glorious show enters its final ever series, this is a perfect present for anyone who loves watching TV that makes them laugh — and also want to die inside.
Mad Men (all 7 series)
The show that made Brits frantically book holidays to New York ended this year in a finale that divided its fans. You'd be doing the recipient of this box set a huge favour by giving them full access to a whole seven series of shiny-haired Don Draper and his world of advertising, women and deeply flawed humanity. Warning: like True Detective, this will make you want to smoke. Inside. In a suit.
The entire collection is available here
Breaking Bad (the complete series)
If you give this to a friend or relative for Christmas, expect not to see them for a good week or two until they've binge-watched their way through the entire series. It follows the fortunes of high school chemistry teacher, Walter White (Bryan Cranston), who has extremely questionable morals...Jet-black humour pervades this addictive drama, which deals with the brutal reality of gangsters, drug users and ill-fated gangsters. It's got RadioTimes.com's digital heart beating a little faster just thinking about it...
