7 Foreign Shows for Your Next TV Binge
Want to take your summer binge-watching international? You don't have to cross ponds or oceans to stream these foreign favorites.
The Fall
Where to Watch: NetflixNumber of Episodes: 11
Why It's Binge-Worthy: Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) retains his brutal appeal as a seductive serial killer terrorizing independent young women in Belfast. But the BBC detective show belongs to Gillian Anderson as the Metropolitan Police superintendent tasked with playing cat to his mouse.
A Place to Call Home
Where to Watch: AcornNumber of Episodes: 23
Why It's Binge-Worthy: Missing Downton Abbey? Classes and cultures clash in a similar fashion in this 1950s-set Aussie drama about a woman (Marta Dusseldorp) who returns to New South Wales after two decades abroad. The series even has its own hulking estate, the beautiful Ash Park, where most of the intrigue goes down.
Please Like Me
Where to Watch: Amazon, iTunesNumber of Episodes: 16
Why It's Binge-Worthy: Critics associations should be throwing awards at this Australian comedy's creator-writer-star Josh Thomas, whose depiction of a newly out 21-year-old with a severely depressed mother is as heartwarming as it is boundary pushing. Think Girls without all the self-centered over-privilege.
The Wrong Mans
Where to Watch: HuluNumber of Episodes: 10
Why It's Binge-Worthy: The Late Late Show host James Corden cowrote and stars in this British comedy-action series about two sort-of friends who are perpetually in a bad place. In Season 1, office mail clerk Phil (Corden) and city planner Sam (cowriter Mathew Baynton) set out to foil a kidnapping and end up on the run from the police, MI-5, a Russian hit man, and the Chinese mob. In Season 2, they're living under new identities in the United States when they decide to ditch the witness protection program and return to England. —Aubry D'Arminio
Scrotal Recall
Where to Watch: NetflixNumber of Episodes: 6
Why It's Bingeworthy: Though the title makes Scrotal Recall seem like a gross-out teen sex comedy, this sweet British series is anything but. The pilot begins with twentysomething Dylan (Johnny Flynn) learning he has chlamydia—and that he must inform a decade worth of sexual partners that they might, too. Each episode is dedicated to Johnny's attempt to tell a different woman (in alphabetical order), and flashes back and forth between the present day and their initial romance. Cute and avante-guarde.
Peaky Blinders
Where to Watch: NetflixNumber of Episodes: 12
Why It's Bingeworthy: Slight, pale Cillian Murphy will scare you silly as suave Tommy Shelby, the fictional top dog of the infamous Peaky Blinders gang in post-World War I Birmingham. (The real crew earned their name for hiding razor blades under the rims of their hats.) Season 1 lays the pavement for the gritty BBC crime drama. But Season 2—when Mad Max: Fury Road's Tom Hardy joins the cast as Alfe Solomon, leader of the bootlegging Jewish mob—is the real loot.
Velvet
Where to Watch: NetflixNumber of Episodes: 28
Why it's Bingeworthy: Tres reasons. The Spanish drama has a beautiful backdrop: 1950s Madrid. It's set in a ritzy art deco clothing store called Galerías Velvet, so the costumes are stunning. And it's about two star-crossed lovers: Rich Velvet heir Alberto and store seamstress Ana.
