Best Amazon Prime Instant Video 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 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
1. Alias
Before JJ Abrams got Lost he created a spy show that, in hindsight, acts as a tick sheet for future Abrams' projects. Shadowy government goings on (Fringe, check; Lost, check), spies with secret identities (Mission: Impossible, check), knowing pop culture references and many an explosion (Star Trek, check; Super 8, check).
Alias is barmy but brilliant. Jennifer Garner has never been better as Sydney Bristow, while the supporting cast are superb, even if they probably never knew script to script if they were going to end up as a baddy or a goody. Lucky, then, Amazon has every series of Alias on Prime for you to find out.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 5
2. 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
3. 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
4. Arrow
DC may have lost ground to Marvel when it comes to breaking box offices with their superheroes but it is bossing it in the television stakes. Arrow was the first of the new batch of DC heroes on the small screen and still the best.
The plot is very Batman: billionaire playboy turns superhero after a life changing turn of events, but bats are replaced with bows as Oliver Queen cleans up the city he lives in, brandishing more arrows than seen in a whole series of Bullseye. Future linkups with The Flash and some decent action make this a TV show that respects rather than shies away from its superhero roots.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
5. 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: 2
6. 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
7. Twin Peaks
There has never been since and never will be a show like Twin Peaks. It's a show full of contradictions. It should have been far too strange to ever be mainstream but managed Dallas-style recognition when it first aired. It was a show that bandied around many genres - comedy, horror, romance - never quite settling on one, instead ending up as a sort of surrealist soup, served up by the genius that is David Lynch.
Yes, the second season meanders and is bogged down in trivial secondary plots but stick with it to the end and you will be rewarded with some of the most bewildering and harrowing bits of TV you will ever see. And it's coming back in 2016, so it's definitely time to catch up.
Number of seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 2
8. Constantine
The Keanu Reeves film of the same name was a hot mess and we are still not convinced that the TV version isn't going the same way. But at least Constantine the TV show rights a few of the wrongs of the movie. For a start, Constantine is finally British, with a twang of Liverpudlian like in the Hellblazer comics, and at least this detective smokes cigarettes (which in real life is obviously very bad but a key plot point in the comics).
When it was aired on TV in the US, Constantine's battle with demons and the afterlife wasn't a massive success. Viewer numbers dwindled and with it the amount of episodes that were made. But there is hope for a second season and the first is well worth a watch.
Number of seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
9. Community
On the face of it, Community's premise is dull: a collective of nobodies are forced to go to community college for myriad boring reasons. But creator Dan Harmon takes this premise and runs with it Usain Bolt style through endless pop culture references, playful parodies and a huge slab of quirk.
It's a show where the scripts feel like they were conjured up by weed smoke and too many E numbers and we wouldn't have it any other way. A word of warning, though: Community's surreal comedy lives and dies by the mind of Harmon. Which his why there's a notable drop off of decent jokes in the fourth season when he left the show. But when he comes back for the fifth, it is back to its best.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 5
10. Extant
Halle Berry's space series isn't without its faults but compared to the mountains of dross served up on television on a daily basis, it's more than commendable. Berry plays an astronaut who comes home from a sole space mission pregnant.
What follows is a whodunit that ends up being a decent twist on the tried-and-tested sci-fi genre. The series is also executive produced by Steven Spielberg which means it has already been commissioned for a second season.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
11. 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
12. Firefly
Joss Whedon's short-lived sci-fi show had all the trappings of a long-running success (witty scripts, likeable characters, space) but it was hobbled beyond repair when it was first shown on television. Episodes were shown out of order and it was put in a graveyard slot.
Thankfully, none of this deterred the faithful few who loved Mal and his ragtag team of space cowboys so much that Firefly was pushed into cult classic status and even given a movie to wrap things up. Don't be put off that there is just one season here - it's a show that's small but perfectly formed.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
13. Justified
He may not have had the best career in movies, but Timothy Olyphant has become a TV stalwart thanks to a brilliant performance in Deadwood and an even better one in Justified. The premise of Justified is wafer thin - a Miami marshall is reassigned to his backwater home town after a bullet-strewn altercation - but Raylen Givens' (Olyphant) relationship with his family, old friends and foes is forever riveting and frequently bloody.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 5
14. Man In The High Castle
There have been a number of successful Amazon pilots that have made it to a full series but none have the epic potential that Man In The High Castle has. OK, we admit that there isn't a full season run of this Philip K Dick adaptation yet but with one greenlit we couldn't leave this off the list.
This adaptation imagines what the world would be like if Germany had won World War II and the Nazis had taken global control. Turns out it's a bit worse than us all driving around in VW Beetles and wearing Hugo Boss coats.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 0 (1 pending)
15. 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 scriptwork around.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
16. Nurse Jackie
After the enormous success of The Sopranos no one would have minded if the entire cast took early retirement and spent their days eating gnocchi and quaffing down fine Italian wine. Not Edie Falco, though, she went from one mega series to another, playing the titular role in Nurse Jackie.
Falco is phenomenal as the nurse who helps others but can't quite find time to help herself. It's frustrating that there are only five out of the seven series available through Amazon Prime but hopefully by the time you have caught up the rest will come to the service.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 5
17. 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
18. 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. Great acting masks some of the hokier moments of the script but this is all good, grizzly fun.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 3
19. Rogue
Thandie Newton is the latest movie star to try her hand at television drama and we are glad she did. Rogue takes some time to get going but it's a decent enough premise to keep you hooked. Newton is Grace Travis, an undercover FBI agent who is plagued by the notion that she may have been the cause of her son's death.
And if that wasn't enough, she is embroiled in the goings on of the local crime boss. The show has been renewed for a second season, so you can watch knowing that things may actually get resolved.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 1
20. The Shield
Before The Wire offered up its unique slice of cops and robbers, The Shield was bashing heads and dealing in storylines that blur the line between who is meant to be good and who is meant to be bad.
Michael Chiklis leads a superb cast that don't exactly show the LA police department in a good light. This is something that starts in episode one and doesn't let up till the end, which is seven brilliant series away. It may not quite have the gravitas of the aforementioned The Wire but The Shield is still essential television.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 7
21: 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. Beware that only six series are currently streaming on Amazon Prime - you will have to wait a little while before the fitting final season heads to the service.
Seasons on Amazon Prime Instant Video: 6
22: 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
23: 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: 1
24: 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
25: 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: 3
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