The best: Movies and TV shows on 4OD ft. Spaced, Kill List, Peep Show & more

This was a seminal, medical drama series created by legendary author Michael Crichton which followed emergency room doctors and nurses and their daily struggle with saving lives at a chicago hospital. It’s a real gem from the 1990’s and was groundbreaking in terms of its taboo-busting narratives and portrayal of the struggles of medical professionals and patients involved in emergency medicine. It was also revolutionary in terms of cinematography for television being the first show to bring in the long-term use of the steady-cam to create colossal moments of high-voltage tension and intensity. It’s a truly magnificent, gut-wrenching series.

This is a reality TV series which follows different groups of families and friends from all over the UK as they sit down in their living rooms to group-watch the most popular picks on television that week. Though it may sound completely uninteresting it’s a total guilty pleasure to watch the comradery of TV culture as you share in their joint reactions, in their highs and lows and in laughing along with them. It’s just a funny, real cosy watch for anyone who gets invested in films and television series and who is interested in other people’s reactions to the same things.

Specifically tailored to the lockdown lives we now collectively find ourselves in in this unique, global situation, Jamie Oliver shows us some delicious food tips and easy recipes to keep us going.

A British, psychological arthouse horror from Ben Wheatly (Sightseers, High-Rise) that follows a traumatised soldier-turned hit man as he is pressured to take on a new assignment leading him to become further unhinged as he is forced into an even darker and more disturbing world. This devastating thriller brings tension to new levels and also has a unique audiovisual palette which gives its oodles of atmosphere.

No Offence is a punchy police procedural drama set in Manchester created by Paul Abbot (Cracker, Shameless) which follows three female police detectives and treads the fine line between comedy and drama. The characters are all brilliantly well-formed and it’s a witty and instantly bingeable show.

A must see for film buffs of all genres, this multi award-winning show is a stop motion pop-culture parody spoofing everything from The Shining, Back to the Future and Predator to The Godfather, Star Trek and Thundercats. It’s absolutely original, clever and entertaining.

In my opinion, Skins was one of the groundbreaking British television shows of the noughties. Not only did they present a new type of teen drama full of controversial, dark themes and display an array of characters with differing backgrounds, depths and issues but stylistically it exploded onto the scene. With some incredible music, editing, narratives and design choices, Skins led the way for a new type of TV series.

Spaced needs no introductions being one of the most loved and revered Brit cult comedy series of all time. It’s witty and farcical with clever intertextual pop-culture references at every turn. It’s a show written by fans of film and TV for fans of film and TV.

One of my own personal favorite British comedies, Peep Show took ‘cringe’ comedy to new heights. It follows two dysfunctional flatmates (and rather horrible human beings) as they navigate through a series of totally cringe situations from arduous moment to arduous moment. It really is a brilliant show made better by the fact that you don’t like, nor do you need to like, any of the main protagonists of the show to adore it. Their candor and unrelenting, cruel honesty as characters was refreshing for the time. The show also broke new ground in terms of cinematography and use of voice over and inner monologue. You will literally recoil in horror at everything said and done in this show.

This is a spinoff series from the 2006 film of the same name. Written by Shane Meadows (Shameless) and Jack Thorne, it is a period drama that follows a group of young, white supremacist skinheads and ex-skinheads in England in the 1980s. It’s a brutal, terrifying look at a dark time and a brutal ideology but an intense and accomplished piece of television.