The best TV shows of 2021

The best TV shows of 2021 Macall B Polay/HBO / Channel 4 / BBC/James Stack From Squid Game to Succession, Ted Lasso, Mare of Easttown and Maid, Hugh Montgomery, Amy Charles and Eddie Mullan pick the year’s greatest programmes to binge right now. Inevitably, the fact it has become Netflix's biggest show of all time means a second series is in the works, though whether its high-concept can sustain one is questionable. Alamy I Think You Should Leave By contrast, if you’re looking for a comedy that takes a rather dimmer view of humankind, then US comic Tim Robinson's surreally electric sketch show I Think You Should Leave, now on its second series, is just the ticket: like much sketch comedy, it's scattershot enough that it is difficult to quite distil the essence of its genius, but if it nails one thing repeatedly, it's the fragility of the social contract: from using needlessly crude language on a haunted house tour to stealing someone's dinner across the restaurant table, characters repeatedly drive scenes of spiralling awkwardness with a breathtaking lack of self-awareness that is both excruciating and exhilarating in equal measure. Sure, there are red herrings aplenty, and jaw-dropping moments that lesser shows would simply end the series on, but aside from the Twin Peaks-style murder mystery element, the success of Mare is testament to Ingelsby's writing allowing time for us to get to know the characters, as Mare and her tough-as-nails mother flit in and out of their neighbours' lives, chatting with a beer around a dinner table, or chasing down every detail to find justice and help a town in turmoil heal. Through three series, creator Chris Lang has used the premise of coppers DCI Cassie Stuart and DS Sunny Khan investigating a years-old but newly-unearthed murder as a way to tell powerful stories of guilt, shame and regret – and this year's fourth run, focusing on the discovery of a body on that links four former friends, who were all once trainee police officers, is no less powerful.