Between the price hikes, password-sharing crackdowns and general reduction in output, you’d have been forgiven for thinking Netflix and co. didn’t want you to watch TV this year. Yes, the streaming bubble has finally burst – and after more than a decade of gratuitous spending, Ted Sarandos and other astoundingly rich men in suits have had to face up to the dim, blue light of morning telly: it’s time to make the numbers add up.
This meant more zeroes on your subscription fee and fewer big-money productions – but not necessarily a decline in quality. From gripping sci-fi thrillers to Trump-baiting political satires and heartbreaking queer comedies to brutal schoolyard dramas, there’s been plenty of good stuff on the box in 2025. Here are our absolute favourites…
Alex Flood, Managing Editor (Entertainment + Partnerships)
Words by: Jordan Bassett, Paul Bradshaw, Rhian Daly, Alex Flood, Nick Levine, James Mottram, Gary Ryan, Ali Shutler, Surej Singh, Andrew Trendell, Sam Warner and Kyann-Sian Williams
