I'm not normally hugely into TV series but recently I've found myself absolutely hooked on a couple of different shows I really want to share with you! I'm obsessed with the following, all of which get 5/5 stars from me.
The Fall - BBC Two
Northern Irish actor and model, Jamie Dornan stars as a cold and calculating killer responsible for the murders of three professional women in the city of Belfast.
This series is well-known and well-loved back in my homeland of sunny "Norn Iron" (that's "Northern Ireland" as it sounds in a native accent by the way- for anyone who's really confused!) and is actually in its second season now, though for some reason completely beyond me I only started watching it a few weeks ago- and my goodness, I really have been missing out all this time!!
I don't know whether it was because I had it in my head that I didn't like crime dramas or whether I just thought a Northern Irish crime drama would be the definition of naff (the accents do make me cringe, I will confess), either way my prejudices have been well and truly challenged and my mind well and truly changed.
There are so many elements to this series that just make it an utterly thrilling viewing experience. The first is for sure the novelty of seeing so many familiar places popping up on the TV (one of the scenes was actually filmed on the street where my friend lives!), but aside from that the plot is just very complex, well-constructed and full of suspense. Plus, Jamie Dornan, in my opinion, makes for one wickedly twisted on-screen killer.
One other thing I really like about the series as well are all of its political undertones and allusions which I think paint a pretty accurate picture of Belfast's complicated social and political dynamics.
'The Fall' Season 2 is currently on BBC Two on Thursdays at 9pm. There are also a limited number of episodes available on BBC iPlayer at the moment.
American Horror Story: Coven - Netflix
In an unassuming New Orleans neighbourhood lives a group of peculiar young women, who after each having found themselves wrapped up in various strange and dark circumstances, have all ended up at Miss Robichaux's Academy, a coven for young witches. Descended from the original Salem witches, their kind is under threat of extinction. However, whether the real danger lies in the outside world, or inside their very own, is a whole other matter.
My housemates and I started watching American Horror Story from the first season as a group when we first moved in to our new uni house. At that time, it was Freshers' Week at uni, classes still hadn't started and we had free time in abundance, which is unfortunately no longer the case at this stage in the term! Needless to say, the first season, Murder House, went down an absolute treat, the second season however? Not so much, and as the weeks went on and with the uni work starting to pile up, that was basically the end of our nightly AHS binge-watching sessions- until now.
As an aside for anyone who's never seen the show, each season features an entirely independent storyline with completely different characters, but played by recurring cast members (for some reason this set-up really confused me before I started watching), so basically you can begin with any season and you won't need to have seen previous seasons to understand what's going on.
Anyway, I thought the second season (Asylum) was so crap it really put me off watching Coven, but recently when I was looking for something new on Netflix I just thought I'd give it a go.
I'm now nearly finished and I can safely say it has well exceeded even the first season in my estimations! The characters are all so interesting with all their own issues, inner-battles and conflicts and it's really intriguing to see how they each develop as the season goes on and we learn more about their individual stories; also, there are parts of this season that are really freaking creepy, which I love.
As much as I do love this season, however, I have to say: as like the rest of the American Horror Story series, it's extremely gory. I think it may actually be the worst for gore so far, so perhaps if you're squeamish this is one to avoid!
Black Mirror - Channel 4/Netflix
With technology in the 21st Century developing at lightning speed, may there be darker consequences to our digital dependency than we could ever have imagined?
This absolutely fab anthology series works quite similarly to American Horror Story in that each episode has a completely distinct and separate plot. At the moment there are two seasons consisting of three episodes each which make some pretty sinister predictions about where our reliance on technology could very easily lead. Would definitely recommend to any tech or social media buffs espeically if you're into dystopian fiction.
Because each episode is different, they were some I liked better than others. A few of my favourites were Season 1, episode 3 and Season 2, episodes 1 and 2!
Have you seen any of these shows? What did you think?
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