Eight Netflix miniseries worth digging out, from Carey Mulligan's Collateral to Andrew Scott's Ripley

Netflix is always banging on about its latest ‘groundbreaking’ series or film – and sure, they’ve earned their bragging rights after big hitters like The Queen’s Gambit, Beef, and that endlessly memed Baby Reindeer. But under all the noise, the platform’s quietly become a warehouse of under-appreciated limited series – some of them genuine gems, if you know where to look. Here’s a handful that haven’t had their day in the sun, and frankly, deserve a bit more love. All sorts here: from period footie dramas to mind-bending sci-fi, most of them featuring actors you half-expect to grace the BAFTA red carpet, not just your telly on a Tuesday night.

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The Unheralded Eight

• The English Game (2020): If you’ve never seen Julian Fellowes tackle the origins of football, here’s your shot. It’s Victorian England, the upper crust still think they own the pitch, and football’s transformation from posh past-time to blue-collar obsession gets all the period drama treatment Fellowes is known for. Class conflict, societal mores, and a predictable amount of ‘stiff upper lip’ – it’s more gripping than you’d expect from a show about chaps booting a leather sphere about. Definitely recommended if you liked Downton Abbey but secretly hoped someone would get a red card.
• Collateral (2018): Feels like you could scroll for hours through Netflix’s criminal-stained streets, but this four-parter genuinely stands out. Carey Mulligan leads as a London detective, dragged into a murder investigation when a pizza delivery lad gets shot. It unspools not so much ‘whodunit’ as ‘what’s wrong with all of us’, mixing in immigration, military, politics, and the general untidiness of 21st-century Britain. Heavy, yes, but it manages to make TV crime drama feel freshly urgent, instead of just ticking boxes.
• Dracula (2020): Somehow, this reimagining from the brains behind Sherlock slipped by a lot of people – maybe because, when anyone did talk about it, they were arguing. Claes Bang makes for a hypnotically cold, rakish Dracula, and while the adaptation promptly goes off piste after the first episode, embracing both campiness and horror in the same scene, there’s a real energy here. If you fancy your vampires less Twilight, more cerebral (and a bit over the top), you’ll find moments to love in its three episodes.
• Maniac (2018): Heard of Emma Stone and Jonah Hill as sci-fi leads? This is the one where they go full experimental, playing strangers in a pharmaceutical trial that’s half clinical study, half fever dream. What follows is a rapid-fire genre collision: comedy, drama, trippy fantasy, even a dash of noir. Every episode whiplashes you somewhere new, and Stone especially proves she was always meant for offbeat roles. Not for those who want a gently unfolding plot – it’s chaos, stylishly rendered.

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  Ripley (2024): We all remember The Talented Mr. Ripley from film, but this take is absolute catnip for anyone into stylish, psychological tension. Andrew Scott takes centre stage as the eponymous conman, blending menace and pathos until you’re not sure whether to hate or hug him. Set against a monochrome 1960s Italy, it looks so gorgeous you’ll wish you’d bought a bigger TV. It moves at its own pace and could never be accused of “action-packed” – but if you want to see what Netflix can do when they set out to impress snobby cinephiles, start here.
• The Spy (2019): Sacha Baron Cohen throwing out his comic personas to play real-life Israeli spy Eli Cohen? It sounds weird, but it’s genuinely tense stuff – the true story of a mild-mannered fella who ended up infiltrating the absolute upper echelons of the Syrian regime back in the 1960s. The dramatic turn pays off, especially when you see just how much is at stake. Anyone with a soft spot for slippery espionage drama or a good yarn about ordinary blokes doing extraordinary (if somewhat shady) things will be right at home.
• The Innocent (2021): The Spanish-language thrillers on Netflix have become their own cottage industry, and this twisty mini – based on a Harlan Coben novel – is a prime cut. A man steps in to break up a brawl and accidentally kills someone. After prison and a shot at redemption, his past drags him back under. Expect left-turns aplenty, and don’t blink or your jaw might hit the carpet. If you find subtitles a pain, it might not be your cup of tea, but the binge potential is enormous.
• Bodyguard (2018): It was all over the shop when first released – remember that “explosive” opener? Richard Madden, fresh off Game of Thrones, plays a war vet-turned-bodyguard for a controversial Home Secretary. The action’s tight, the conspiracies properly tangled, and the emotional brute force underneath it all helps it stand out from a sea of James Bond wannabes. Fair warning: if government skulduggery just makes your eyes glaze over, skip it – but if you want suspense and surprise twists by the truckload, you’re in business.

Ripley landed on Netflix in April 2024, bringing Andrew Scott’s layered conman to streaming audiences with a minimalist black-and-white aesthetic.

If you blew past any of these thinking you’d seen it all before, fair — but they might surprise you. Whether you’re hunting for something as meticulous as a Fellowes period piece, as quick-fire as an international thriller, or as oddball as a Jonah Hill fever dream, you’ll find something deserving a slot in your queue.

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