Best TV shows of the year 2024, 40-31: Until I Kill You, Shōgun and more
Continuing our guide to the very best of 2024's small-screen entertainment.
The Christmas celebrations might be over, but the sparkle of great television doesn’t have to fade with the decorations.
As we step into the new year, what better way to brighten the winter days than by celebrating the very best of the small screen?
At RadioTimes.com, we're thrilled to continue off our annual tradition: the countdown of the year’s top 50 TV shows.
This list isn’t just a look back – it’s a showcase of the incredible creativity and talent that made 2024 a standout year for television. From gripping dramas to eye-opening documentaries, these are the stories that kept us talking, laughing, and binge-watching.
Each day this week, we’ll reveal a new segment of the list. Today, Wednesday 27th December, we’re diving into picks 40-31.
Don’t miss out – follow along every day as we count down to our ultimate No. 1, the show that defined 2024 and captured the hearts of audiences everywhere.
40. Kaos
Available on Netflix
A new series from Charlie Covell, the mind behind Channel 4’s The End of the F***ing World, this dark comedy reimagined the Greek pantheon of gods and reconfigured them within a modern context, breathing new life into the ancient source material.
Jeff Goldblum is commanding as the vain and self-obsessed king of the gods, Zeus, who, after finding a wrinkle on his forehead, fears he is about to fall victim to a prophecy that heralds his destruction. It turns out he’s right to be worried: we soon see that Zeus’s former friend and current prisoner Prometheus (Stephen Dillane) is orchestrating a plan – which involves three unsuspecting humans – to bring him down.
Alongside Zeus, various other mythological figures are given contemporary reimaginings, and while at times it feels like there are too many characters and plotlines stuffed into the mix, the series is inventive, surprisingly moving and chaot kaotically good fun, and also boasts a stellar supporting cast including the likes of Billie Piper and Eddie Izzard. What’s more, although it’s brimming with fun nods to Greek mythology, prior knowledge of the source material isn’t actually required… – Molly Moss, Trends Writer
39. America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
Available on Netflix
If AC/DC's Thunderstruck didn't make it to your Spotify Wrapped, you've had a poor 2024 – because it means you didn't soak in the glory of Netflix documentary America's Sweethearts. Forget Brat summer, Sweetheart summer was where it was at this year, as the streamer told the tale of aspiring Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and their attempts to make it through the gruelling selection process to get themselves on that famous AT&T Stadium pitch.
That tale features drama, tension, jubilation and commiserations, as this group of talented women from across the United States – from support workers to florists – come together to excel in their craft, despite receiving little in the way of financial compensation for their efforts. Beyond all the pom-poms and high-kicks, though, director Greg Whiteley also dives into grittier topics, exploring the physical and mental impact that such high-pressure environments can have on even the toughest of sportspeople. Come for the famous Thunderstruck dance, stay for the no-holds-barred exploration of how it all comes together. – George White, Sub Editor
38. Shōgun
Available on Disney Plus
Based on James Clavell's novel, a popular doorstopper in the 1970s, this terrific slow-burn hit stars Cosmo Jarvis as John Blackthorne, an intrepid English sailor arriving in feudal Japan at the start of the 17th century.
As his assertive free-spiritedness rubs up against the strict honour codes, social protocols and volatile regional politics of the time, his relationship with fallen noblewoman Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai) is a beguilingly unusual courtship. An epic drama with an eye for moving details. – Jack Seale, Writer
37. Until I Kill You
Available on ITVX
Anna Maxwell Martin delivered the performance of her career in true crime drama Until I Kill You, which is saying something considering just how many brilliant performances she’s got under her belt. But even by her own high standards, her portrayal of Delia Balmer was a cut above.
Balmer unwittingly found herself in a relationship with a serial killer and sexual abuser – and came incredibly close to being killed herself, the details of which are depicted in simultaneously unflinching yet restrained detail.
It is a grimly engrossing story that appeals to our collective morbid curiosity. But what makes Until I Kill You an exemplary piece of television, bolstered by Maxwell’s performance, is how it’s told.
This is Balmer’s story; it’s about how the perpetrator bowled into her life, not the other way around, which is something many true crime dramas still fall foul of. It does not glamourise him or seek to understand the man, which is why I will not mention his name here.
Above all else, Until I Kill You is about the incredible strength and dignity Balmer displayed in the face of unspeakable horror. It is a tribute to all that she is, in spite of him, not because of him.
In a genre that continues to expand apace, Until I Kill You is the blueprint. – Abby Robinson, Drama Editor
36. Love Is Blind UK
Available on Netflix
The long-awaited Love Is Blind UK did not disappoint. Hosted by Matt and Emma Willis, 30 new singles were introduced to the pods for the first time and went on an experiment like no other.
While plenty of fans are well aware of how Love Is Blind works, UK viewers were finally given a group of people they could relate to – and went on a romantic journey with each and every one of them.
One couple stood out amongst the others, as they so often do: Freddie and Catherine. No one knew how their wedding was going to go, and with so many ups and downs inside and out of the pods, it wasn’t too clear for viewers or the couple what was going to happen.
The reunion did not disappoint, either, with Matt and Emma eager to know how things went for the couples and singles once the cameras stopped rolling. With season 2 set to debut in 2025, it makes you wonder just how Netflix will be able to top season 1… – Katelyn Mensah, Entertainment & Factual Writer
35. Passenger
Available on ITVX
ITV’s Passenger is essentially Stranger Things set in the North of England, so as a Stranger Things stan and proud Northerner, I was clearly the target audience.
Wunmi Mosaku, who has carved out a delightfully varied career for herself, plays a no-nonsense detective whose job satisfaction is on the floor after being saddled with a slew of mundane, low-stakes tasks. But when the disappearance of a local girl coincides with some very strange goings-on in around the town, she has no idea what she’s in for – and Andrew Buchan’s screenplay does an impressive job of teasing out the various developments for maximum intrigue.
Now, it would be remiss of me not to mention the finale, which was both rushed and deeply frustrating given a lack of clear-cut answers or a season 2 confirmation. But the fact that it left me desperate for more, as well as its willingness to depart from your typical prime time British crime drama, made it a thoroughly enjoyable, unique watch that has competently argued its case for more.
What are you waiting for, ITV?! – Abby Robinson, Drama Editor
34. Eric
Available on Netflix
Abi Morgan’s beautifully crafted Netflix series is heartbreaking, captivating and inventive in equal supply. Led by Benedict Cumberbatch, the Sherlock star delivers a standout performance as grieving father Vincent, who tries to use his son’s drawings and his own puppet show, Good Day Sunshine, to bring him home. But really, the true scene-stealer is McKinley Belcher III, who propels this series to new heights in his performance as Detective Michael Ledroit.
It’s quite a gamble having such a meaty drama also include a human-size blue puppet, but the sheer randomness of it is quickly alleviated once you realise Eric is more an extension of Vincent’s own psyche, injecting some humour into an otherwise dark series. The greatest thing about this drama and the way in which it’s written is it’s quite the Trojan Horse in the best possible way. It lures you in with one story but delivers emotional gut-punches with its larger web of stories centred on corruption, racism and homelessness. The kind of storytelling that requires your undivided attention and will linger with you long after watching. – Morgan Cormack, Drama Writer
33. The Boys
Available on Prime Video
With the US in an election year, it made sense that The Boys would lean into politics harder than it ever has before – and boy, did it lean in. The satire on The Boys has always been fairly broad and on the nose, but that’s arguably why it works so well. The political landscape in America, and indeed across the world, is big and brash right now, so the satire has to rise and meet it.
This naturally made season 4 perhaps the show’s most divisive thus far, while it was also hindered by a slightly slower start. However, once the guts started spilling and the show’s trademark anarchy took over, it actually proved to be a strong penultimate outing for the superhero series, which led up to one of the strongest and most foreboding finales in its history. With just the fifth and final season to go (before fans have to rely on the multitude of spin-offs for their supe fix), fans will no doubt just be hoping and praying that it sticks the landing. – James Hibbs, Drama Writer
32. Nobody Wants This
Available on Netflix
This romcom charts the unlikely relationship between Kristen Bell’s Joanne, a sex and relationships podcaster who has zero faith to speak of, and Adam Brody’s Noah, a rabbi who is on the verge of being promoted to head rabbi at his temple, such is his standing in the local Jewish community.
On paper, they’re doomed. And yet, they’re drawn to one another like the ham Noah’s mother can’t help but stuff into her mouth when she thinks no one’s watching.
In a world of comedy-dramas (seriously, whatever happened to just making people laugh?!), Nobody Wants This has a seriously impressive gag rate while also delivering a relationship that you’re wholly invested in and root for at every turn.
But it’s not just Joanne and Noah’s relationship that delivers the goods. I could not stop thinking about the dynamic between their respective siblings Morgan and Sasha, played by Succession’s Justine Lupe and Veep’s Timothy Simons, which is ambiguous and teasing and deliciously fun to watch – possibly more so than Joanne and Noah’s, which sets Nobody Wants This apart from your typical romcom.
Season 2 cannot arrive quickly enough. – Abby Robinson, Drama Editor
31. Masters of the Air
Available on Apple TV+
Some 23 years after Band of Brothers and more than a decade since The Pacific, another aspect of the American experience in the Second World War creates a lush but visceral drama. Now we fly with the 100th Bomb Group, aka the Bloody Hundredth, whose bombing raids over continental Europe, launched from a base in Britain, were essential in keeping Germany in check.
Air-punching heroism contrast with horror and loss in a prestige series that delivers tender human drama to go with its big action budget. – Jack Seale, Writer
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