11. I May Destroy You

I May Destroy You was, without question, one of the best things we watched on TV last year. The series, which was written, co-directed by and stars Michaela Coel, made huge waves both in the UK and the USA for it’s nuanced and searing look at consent and modern dating. It was also threaded with Coel’s sharp humour and it had a brilliant soundtrack that helped get us through summer.

Watch season one of I May Destroy You on iPlayer.

12. Normal People

Set in Sligo and later in Dublin, Normal People explores the passionate, complex, and at times awkward relationship between Marianne (Daisy Edgar Jones) and Connell Waldron (Paul Mescal) from secondary school through to their university years. Based on the book by Sally Rooney, it’s the gripping show that got us through the first lockdown.

Watch season one of Normal People on iPlayer.

13. Starstruck

BBC Three’s Starstruck was the channel’s biggest new comedy of 2021 and was streamed almost five million times on BBC iPlayer. For good reason, we say, as it’s safely become one of our favourite female-led comedies and we’re over the moon that it’s getting a second season.

The six-part series is a modern romcom that follows the story of Jessie (Rose Matafeo), a millennial woman living in east London and juggling two part-time jobs. On New Year’s Eve, she finds herself in a rather unusual ‘morning-after-the-night-before’ type situation when she realises that she slept with a famous film star called Tom (played by Nikesh Patel). What ensues is a year of ‘will they? won’t they?’ between the two and we couldn’t recommend it enough.

Watch season one of Starstruck on iPlayer.

BBC Three is returning to TV: from I May Destroy You to Fleabag, these are the best series to stream