The best British miniseries
The top 3 according to 1,936 votes from people: I, Claudius (1976) · Pride and Prejudice (1995) · Brideshead Revisited (1981). (Updated Dec 11, 2023.)
From I, Claudius and Brideshead Revisited to Wolf Hall and Small Axe: the best British limited series, from Collider, BritishTV.com and Doux Reviews.
Top 15
-
1
I, Claudius (1976)
Derek Jacobi and the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
-
2
Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle in Jane Austen.
-
3
Brideshead Revisited (1981)
Jeremy Irons and the Flyte family, from Evelyn Waugh.
-
4
Our Friends in the North (1996)
Four Newcastle friends from 1964 to 1995.
-
5
Wolf Hall (2015)
Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell; Golden Globe winner.
-
6
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1979)
Alec Guinness as George Smiley.
-
7
The Singing Detective (1986)
Dennis Potter's musical mystery in a hospital bed.
-
8
Bleak House (2005)
Gillian Anderson in Dickens.
-
9
Edge of Darkness (1985)
Bob Peck investigates his daughter's death and a nuclear conspiracy.
-
10
The Night Manager (2016)
Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie, from John le Carré.
-
11
Small Axe (2020)
Steve McQueen's five films about London's West Indian community.
-
12
Boys from the Blackstuff (1982)
Unemployed Liverpool workers under Thatcher.
-
13
The Missing (2014)
A father searches for his son lost in France.
-
14
And Then There Were None (2015)
Agatha Christie's island of ten strangers.
-
15
Chernobyl (2019)
The 1986 disaster, co-produced by Sky.
How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.
Is something missing?
Comments (12)
Tinker Tailor with Alec Guinness beats the film easily.
Our Friends in the North should be higher, it's an epic.
Edge of Darkness gave me chills, the ending is unforgettable.
Small Axe is beautiful, Lovers Rock especially.
Wolf Hall is slow but Mark Rylance is incredible.
Brideshead Revisited, the definitive costume drama.
I, Claudius is still the gold standard, those performances!
Pride and Prejudice 1995 is the definitive Austen adaptation.
The Night Manager is great fun, Hugh Laurie is a perfect villain.
Bleak House is the best Dickens adaptation for me.
The Singing Detective was decades ahead of its time.
Chernobyl counts as British? Co-production, fair enough I guess.