Best Amazon Prime TV shows
In the UK, Amazon had a stuttering start when it came to taking on Netflix in the big streaming battle. This was partly due to a stubborn insistence on Amazon's part to keep its streaming setup separate, hoping to make Lovefilm (a company it acquired when DVDs were all the rage) into an on-demand brand.
This didn't work so along came Plan B. Lovefilm didn't have global appeal, but it did have a backbone on which Amazon built the streaming service we know today - Amazon Prime Instant Video.
Since this move, Amazon Prime has grown into a media powerhouse. Taking, and in some ways surpassing, Netflix's self-serving model to produce its own content Amazon now has a bevy of television shows that are begging to be watched on its own platform. The choice is expansive and that's where we come in.
TechRadar has curated a list of the best Amazon Prime Instant Video TV shows around. Chosen by the team, these are the shows streamed in the UK that are Instant classics primed to offer up hours of compulsive viewing.
It's worth noting that these are the best Amazon Prime TV shows that can be watched instantly when you have Amazon Prime access. There are many more shows you can watch through Amazon but these have to be purchased to be viewed. We will keep this list constantly updated if any paid shows become free that we feel need to be included.
- Check out our in-depth Amazon Prime Instant Video review
Not convinced Amazon is the way forward? Then check out our Best Netflix TV Shows article and see what Amazon's biggest rival has on its service.
1. Alpha House
One of the first successes to come from the Amazon Originals program, Alpha House is the antithesis of Netflix's House of Cards. Yes it has a political edge but the back stabbing is replaced with a little bit of rib tickling. John Goodman is superb as one of four US senators shacked up in the same house.
While the humour may get a little too dry for some, there's warmth in the cynicism and a strange amount of believability in the characters. If you were to choose one comedy that lampoons US politics then go with Veep - but Alpha House is a decent second.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
2. The Americans
The Americans was cruelly mishandled when it originally came to UK TV, so we are glad it has finally found a decent place to reside. The show is a cracking crime period thriller that follows the exploits of a couple of KGB agents posing as US citizens around the time Ronald Reagan became US president.
It may occasionally flit between the ridiculous and the sublime but you would expect nothing more from a show that's main conceit comprises characters duelling with duality. The '80s setting is fantastic, too, though there aren't enough shell suits for our liking.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
3. Black Sails
Johnny Depp may have spent the latter half of his career convincing the world that pirates all look, smell and talk like a Rolling Stone but we prefer Black Sails' interpretation. Exclusive to Amazon Prime, Black Sails treats the pirate legend with a touch more reality and this is pretty much all down to Shakespearean thesp Toby Stephens.
His interpretation of Captain Flint, one of the great characters of Treasure Island, is inspired, as is the cinematography in this high seas romp. Set 20 years before Treasure Island, Black Sails is one bit of piracy we fully condone.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 3 (new Season 3 episodes weekly)
4. Bosch
With 20-something novels to mine for source material, Bosch is a character that was always destined for the small screen. Created by Michael Connelly but brilliantly brought to life by actor Titus Welliver, the series follows the exploits of LA Homicide detective Harry Bosch and features enough grit to pave the longest of driveways.
This is no surprise - the series has been created by Eric Overmyer, who was part of the alumni that created The Wire. Bosch is another show that has been put together by Amazon Studios - proving that streaming services are becoming just as powerful as the HBOs of the world when it comes to producing compelling drama.
Number of seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
5. Catastrophe
6. The Fall
Before he was whipping up a storm as Mr Grey, Jamie Dornan played an effortlessly charming and equally chilling serial killer in The Fall, a fantastic Irish drama that deserves all the acclaim it gets.
Dornan is Paul Spector, a care worker who has a sideline in killing woman. To help track him down, hard-nosed detective Stella Gibson (Gillian Anderson) heads to Belfast to try and capture the murderer. The Fall is a perfect blend of intelligent scripting, nuanced acting and a fantastic premise. Knowing who the killer is from scene one amps up, rather than releases, the show's tension.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
7. Hand of God
Last seen in Sons of Anarchy, Ron Perlman has moved from the mad world of biker gangs into the stranger world of law. Perlman plays a vice-riddled barrister who, after suffering a breakdown, starts to believe he is a messenger from god.
The full season for Hand of God arrived on Amazon Prime in September, after a successful pilot. Don't expect a light-hearted ride - this is one drama that takes a dark turn and doesn't plan on getting any lighter soon.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
8. Into The Badlands
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
9. Lucifer
Born from the frenzied mind of Neil Gaiman, Lucifer may be yet another comic-book adaptation but it's one unlike you have seen before. The show centres on the Lord of Hell himself who is bored with doing all things hellish, so decides to help out the Los Angeles Police Department as a consultant and run his own nightclub called Lux. It's all very tongue-in-cheek - Lucifer has a Fallen1 numberplate - but somehow works. This is down to a great performance by Welsh actor Tom Ellis who plays the titular character the right side of camp. There are currently only a handful of episodes on Prime Video, but more will be added weekly.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1 (new episodes weekly)
10. Mad Dogs
The UK version of Mad Dogs was a breath of fresh air when it first aired. Well, the first season was then it all went a little too strange. This remake - green-lit from Amazon's burgeoning Originals series - takes the best from the UK version and mixes it with a plot that's a little easier to follow and humour that's more laugh out loud than pitch black.
The premise is the same: a bunch of mates go and visit one friend at his luxury villa to celebrate his early retirement, only for murder, mayhem and mind-boggling plot developments to ensue. A touch of genius is the recasting of Ben Chaplin. While he played the rich, retiring Alvo in the UK version here he gets to try his luck in a bigger and better role.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
11. Mad Men
Mad Men is that rare TV show that takes its time to tell its tale. Over seven seasons the decades have changed but the plot has pretty much stayed the same. Don Draper is a brilliant ad man whose charisma blinkers the fact he's a womanising, chain-smoking, alcoholic liar. It's exceptional TV with a cast that is as impressive as the script writing. Now nearing its end, five seasons of the seven season arc are free through Amazon Prime. And the final two seasons are definitely worth paying for.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 5
12. Man In The High Castle
13. Masters Of Sex
Yes, Masters Of Sex could have ended up being a Mad Men rip-off when it first arrived in 2013 but thanks to the brilliance of Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan the show soon elevated above being a copycat.
Sheen is Dr William Masters, a fertility expert who turns his hand to researching the world of sex. Turns out researching sex means having a lot of it, which would all be rather gratuitous if it wasn't wrapped in some of the most intelligent script work around.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
14. Mozart in the Jungle
Now into its second series, Mozart in the Jungle was this surprise winner at the 2015 Golden Globes, where it won Best Comedy Series. The show is a comedy set in the strange world of classical music. Gael García Bernal plays young conductor Rodrigo who replaces a retiring conductor played by Malcolm McDowell. Based loosely on a true story and created by the likes of Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola, it's well worth a watch.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
15. Mr Robot
It's been an agonising wait for Mr Robot in the UK. A critical success in the US, the show with its bleak but brilliant look at the gadget obsessed consumer culture we are all enveloped in, should be a hard sell. But a bidding war between Amazon, Netflix and other more traditional broadcasters prove that even bean counters can see the worth in counter culture. Focusing on the exploits of hacker Elliot (a superb Rami Malek), this is Fight Club for the Tor generation, lifting a lid on a world where what Linux kernel you use is not just a badge of honour but a way of life.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
16. Orphan Black
Some dodgy accents aside, it's a joy to watch Tatiana Maslany take on the multiple roles that are needed for Orphan Black. She launches herself into every one of the characters and is the constant that is needed to make this sci-fi yarn watchable. One of the reasons Orphan Black works so well is that it doesn't take itself too seriously but when it does it makes you believe in the myriad plotlines that flow through the series.
Currently Amazon is only streaming the first season but by all accounts that's a good thing - the second season and beyond are proving that maybe the source material can't stretch that far. You will still have lots of fun, though.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
17. Outlander
It's happened to us all. One minute you are on honeymoon in the 1940s and the next you are whisked through time to Scotland in the 1700s. That's the premise of Ron D Moore's - Battlestar Galactica - latest drama, which is exclusive to Amazon Prime. Usually romantic period pieces wouldn't be touched by the sci-fi crowd, but this is a decent stab at both genres and the Scotland setting looks absolutely gorgeous in HD.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
18. Red Oaks
The '80s is the en vogue decade when it comes to nostalgia. Not only are Seth Gordon and Adam Goldberg mining the era for their superb prime-time sitcom The Goldbergs, Red Oaks has appeared to prove that it is respectable to set shows in the '80s. Amazon-exclusive Red Oaks - made by another Green, this time David Gordon - focuses on David, a tennis player at the Red Oaks country club and his summer shenanigans. Great casting - Jennifer Grey! - some brilliant nods to '80s films, a short run time means this is a series you can eat up in one neon-fuelled sitting.
19. Ripper Street
For a show that's steeped in murder, it's pleasing to note that we all have Amazon to thank for breathing new life into Ripper Street. After two seasons of the show, which focuses on the lives of the East End of London in the 19th Century, where there is a copycat Jack the Ripper on the loose, it was cancelled by the BBC.
Amazon decided there was enough fan love out there, thankfully, and revived the show for at third showing - one that is now showing on the BBC. Swings and roundabouts. Great acting masks some of the hokier moments of the script but this is all good, grizzly fun.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 4 (new Season 4 episodes weekly)
20: Sons Of Anarchy
Seemingly always vying for the top spot of Best Recently Finished Drama (we may have made up that award) with Breaking Bad, Sons Of Anarchy is a long brooding menace of a show that deserves your attention. Centred on a motorcycle gang that live by their own rules (you can probably guess what their name is from the title) the show is positively Shakespearean in its storytelling and will have you gripped from episode one.
While Ron Perlman steals the show as Clay, Charlie Hunnam's Jax is one of the best tortured souls you will see on any television show. All seven seasons of the show are now streaming on the service.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 7
21: Top Of The Lake
Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss is superb in Top Of The Lake, the latest drama to come from the marvelous mind of Jane Campion. Set in New Zealand and focusing on the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl, this mini series takes a Killing-style metered approach to its storytelling, unpicking the stitches that hold together a small but brittle town that has the titular lake at its centre.
The series was the first ever piece of television to debut at the Sundance Film Festival and for good reason: it rivals anything in recent memory that has hit the big screen.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
22: Transparent
Anything Netflix can do, Amazon Prime can do better it seems, especially when it comes to winning a Golden Globe. Netflix may have made history by being the first streaming service to win a Golden Globe, courtesy of the acting talents of Kevin Spacey in House of Cards, but Amazon went and topped this by winning the Best TV Show prize in 2014 for Transparent.
It was much deserved. Transparent is everything you want in a TV show. It's heartwarming, funny and packs a real punch about a subject that doesn't get enough attention: transgenderism. Jeffrey Tambor's Maura Pfefferman is a television character we hope will be around for a long time.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
23: Vikings
If you have any interest in Norse mythology then the name Ragnar Lothbrok will mean a whole lot to you. Basically he was a king and powerful ruler that was a right git to the English and the French.
Vikings is a series that traces his Norse-based goings on with enough charm and scope to take on Game of Thrones in the sword and sandals stakes. Yes it takes a number of liberties with its source material but the acting is top class, as is the cinematography in a historical romp that's now deservedly in its third season.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 3
24: The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead has been reanimated more times than the zombies that harruange the group of survivors we have all come to know and love. Initially created with Frank Darabont at the helm, he left after the first season then his replacement was eventually replaced and their replacement replaced.
With this in mind, it's amazing that not only has the show consistently managed to improve season after season it has become one of the most successful series ever. Yes it sometimes slumps along slower than a zombie with its legs hacked off but give it time and it will reward you with more drama than you can shake a bloody stump at.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 4
25. The X-Files
The X-Files was one of the first shows that embraced event TV. Yes, it had many 'monster of the week' storylines but creator Chris Carter managed to produce a nine-season long mythology arc that kept viewers coming back for more. That and the brilliant casting of David Duchovny as Fox Mulder and the ever-excellent Gillian Anderson and Dana Scully. With a new 10th season on the horizon, Amazon has put all nine previous seasons on to Prime - all remastered in wide screen. Lovely stuff.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 9
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