Compelling, powerful, intriguiging, realistic. The best drama series are more than just entertainment – pulling you in and not letting go, they present complex characters and powerful stories. But with so many options available for streaming, are you finding it difficult to discover that next great show to binge? No worries. We’ve put our expertise to use and compiled a list of the best drama series.
Everything from powerful historical dramas to gripping crime stories and relatable family conflicts is included in this definitive guide to the top 20 series in the genre. Our list has been ranked by public sentiment and what’s currently trending – if you want to stream the best drama series Australia has to offer, check out this list.
What are the best drama series to watch now?
At Compare TV, we only want to provide fair and balanced content – and our ranking process reflects that. We’re not biased toward what’s new. Our approach involves combining hard data and looking into what’s actually happening in the streaming world. But what else do we do to create the list? We meticulously evaluate what’s trending and the current reactions of viewers, drawing from a variety of sources to give you a genuine sense of what people are watching and loving right now.
From its genre and the primary cast members, to where it’s available on streaming services, these entries feature essential details to help you choose your next great watch. Here, viewers can discover, a concise synopsis, the director, and the runtime – you get a complete overview before you even launch the streaming service.
Unforgotten
Crime •Drama
Overview
London police detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan investigate historic cold cases involving missing persons, murder and long-hidden secrets.
Cast
Sanjeev Bhaskar, Sinéad Keenan, Carolina Main, Jordan Long, Pippa Nixon
The Chosen
Drama •Action •Adventure •History •Family •Kids
Overview
The life of Christ through the eyes of those who encountered him called The Chosen.
Cast
Elizabeth Tabish
Outlander
Drama •Fantasy •Romance •Sci-fi
Overview
The story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Cast
Caitríona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Richard Rankin, Sophie Skelton
Mr Inbetween
Comedy •Crime •Drama
Overview
Ray Shoesmith is a father, ex-husband, boyfriend and best friend: tough roles to juggle in the modern age. Even harder when you’re a criminal for hire.
Cast
Scott Ryan, Chika Yasumura, Brooke Satchwell, Jeremy Sims, Damon Herriman
The Gilded Age
Drama
Overview
It’s 1882 and the Gilded Age is in full swing when Marian Brook, a young orphaned daughter of a Southern general, moves in with her rigidly conventional aunts in New York City. With the help of Peggy Scott, an African-American woman masquerading as her maid, Marian gets caught up in the dazzling lives of her rich neighbors as she struggles to decide between adhering to the rules or forging her own path.
Cast
Louisa Jacobson, Denée Benton, Taissa Farmiga, Harry Richardson, Blake Ritson
The Last of Us
Drama •Horror •Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller •Action •Adventure
Overview
Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.
Cast
Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsey
Duration
73 minutes
The White Lotus
Comedy •Drama
Overview
Follow the exploits of various guests and employees at an exclusive tropical resort over the span of a week as with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees and the idyllic locale itself.
Cast
Theo James, F. Murray Abraham, Jennifer Coolidge, Adam DiMarco, Meghann Fahy
The Day of the Jackal
Action •Adventure •Crime •Drama •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
An unrivalled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal, makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.
Cast
Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, Eleanor Matsuura, Chukwudi Iwuji, Úrsula Corberó
Little Fires Everywhere
Drama •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
The intertwined fates of the picture-perfect Richardson family and an enigmatic mother and daughter who upend their lives. Explore the weight of secrets, the nature of art and identity, the ferocious pull of motherhood – and the danger in believing that following the rules can avert disaster.
Cast
Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington, Joshua Jackson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Jade Pettyjohn
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Crime •Drama •Thriller •Mystery
Overview
In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
Cast
Mariska Hargitay, Ice-T, Peter Scanavino, Octavio Pisano
9-1-1
Drama •Action •Adventure •Mystery •Thriller •Crime
Overview
Explore the high-pressure experiences of police officers, paramedics and firefighters who are thrust into the most frightening, shocking and heart-stopping situations. These emergency responders must try to balance saving those who are at their most vulnerable with solving the problems in their own lives.
Cast
Peter Krause, Angela Bassett, Oliver Stark, Kenneth Choi, Aisha Hinds
The Sopranos
Crime •Drama
Overview
The story of New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads. Those difficulties are often highlighted through his ongoing professional relationship with psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. The show features Tony’s family members and Mafia associates in prominent roles and story arcs, most notably his wife Carmela and his cousin and protégé Christopher Moltisanti.
Cast
James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Robert Iler, Lorraine Bracco
Downton Abbey
Drama •Romance
Overview
A chronicle of the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the post-Edwardian era—with great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy.
Cast
Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Hugh Bonneville
Game of Thrones
Drama •Fantasy •Action •Adventure •Sci-fi
Overview
Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night’s Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.
Director
ERLİK
Cast
Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Liam Cunningham, Jacob Anderson, Maisie Williams
Fargo
Crime •Drama •Thriller •Mystery
Overview
A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.
Cast
Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Joe Keery, Sam Spruell, David Rysdahl
Dexter
Crime •Drama •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for the Miami Metro Police also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have slipped through the cracks of justice.
Cast
Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Geoff Pierson, David Zayas, James Remar
Duration
53 minutes
Landman
Drama
Overview
Set in the proverbial boomtowns of West-Texas and a modern-day tale of fortune-seeking in the world of oil rigs, the series is an upstairs/downstairs story of roughnecks and wildcat billionaires that are fueling a boom so big it’s reshaping our climate, our economy and our geopolitics.
Cast
Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Jacob Lofland, Michelle Randolph, Paulina Chávez
The Handmaid’s Tale
Drama •Sci-fi •Mystery •Thriller
Overview
Set in a dystopian future, a woman is forced to live as a concubine under a fundamentalist theocratic dictatorship. A TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s novel.
Cast
Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski, Ann Dowd, Madeline Brewer, Max Minghella
Chicago Fire
Drama •Action •Adventure
Overview
An edge-of-your-seat view into the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America’s noblest professions. For the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, no occupation is more stressful or dangerous, yet so rewarding and exhilarating. These courageous men and women are among the elite who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death.
Cast
Taylor Kinney, Kara Killmer, David Eigenberg, Eamonn Walker, Miranda Rae Mayo
Yellowstone
Drama •Western
Overview
Follow the violent world of the Dutton family, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. Led by their patriarch John Dutton, the family defends their property against constant attack by land developers, an Indian reservation, and America’s first National Park.
Cast
Kevin Costner, Kelly Reilly, Luke Grimes, Wes Bentley, Kelsey Asbille
Frequently asked questions
A drama series is unique and unlike a drama movie for one key reason: Drama movies need to fit a narrative into a couple of hours, and a TV show can explore complex characters and intricate plots over many seasons. The outcome? You can get invested in the world and the people who live in it.
We know the best dramas are often timeless – they’re often critically acclaimed, after all, and have a longer, extended popularity with audiences in Australia. That’s probably what makes them more popular than newer series, as they set the standard for modern hits that viewers are might be into today.
Not seen many dramas? We recommend starting with a show that has a compelling, straightforward plot, or a series with a clear protagonist and a focused story – these are great elements that ease you into the genre, after which you can build up to the multi-season series later.
A quick overview of the story and genre allows you to choose a series that aligns with your mood, and that’s what you get with our quick synopsis for each show, as well as details on its sub-genre. In the mood for a historical drama? Want to see a crime thriller drama series? No matter your taste, you’ll discover what you want, here.
Tapping into our need for justice and our curiosity about how the world works, crime dramas are popular. It’s their compelling storylines and relatable characters that make these crime drama series so intriguing, and since they are so compelling to watch, we simply have to recommend them.
If you’re eager to start your binge in a hassle-free way, you can do this after picking a show on our list because each is currently available on a major Australian streaming service. Have a read through to find something you like and then navigate to the streaming service mentioned to sit back and enjoy the drama.
The drama genre is packed with incredible series, isn’t it? That’s good for so many reasons, but also means we can’t include every single one. So, we instead focus on elements beyond personal opinions, exploring trends in the drama series world and more to reveal what collective viewers can’t get enough of.
We never want to be a step behind so the list is always adapting as the world of streaming and best drama series changes. We know that the viewers’ favourites are always changing, too, but rest assured we update the list to reflect what’s currently trending and what new shows are covered in online channels and beyond.
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