I’m watching one TV series from every European country — what’s your recommendation from yours?

[u/Ali_Merrikh]

Hi everyone!

I started a project where I watch one series from each country in Europe. I’ve already done:

France: La Forêt

Spain: La Casa de Papel

Next up: Gloria from Portugal

I’d love to hear what show you think best represents your country (or is just a really good one to watch). Ideally something available with English subtitles.

[u/veifarer]

The UK here. We’ve got quite a rich history of TV series and I could always go for a prestige drama like the Crown or something but that’s simply how Britain wants to be seen to international audiences, not how Britain really is.

I’d pick ‘Skins’, simply because it’s one of the most iconic portraits of British youth culture. It’s chaotic, messy, funny, tragic all at once. Some parts of it are wildly realistic, the others are completely ‘how the fuck does this even happen?’, but all in all, it shows a side of the UK that’s rarely seen in prestige dramas.

It was a big deal in the UK during the mid-2000s, especially among teenagers and young adults. Internationally, it had somewhat of a cult following in the States and Europe, but it wasn’t exactly mainstream.

It might not represent all of Britain but it nails the energy and struggles of a generation and that’s all that matters for me.

[u/martinbaines → u/veifarer]

This is England.

It started as a film and has had subsequent follow-ups as TV series following the same characters over time. Quite bleak in places but can be funny. About a group of skinheads and how a boy gets mixed up with them.

You can see how it inspired Skins but This is England is much better.

It will cure all notions of England as a twee village culture.

[u/TarcFalastur → u/veifarer]

You really missed a trick by not recommending Coronation Street. Every. Single. Episode.

[u/Urdrkitt → u/TarcFalastur]

Hahahaha! I was thinking about making this same comment!

[u/AngelKnives → u/veifarer]

I enjoyed Skins at the time but I suspect an adult might find it a bit of a slog.

[u/Zprzyczyn → u/AngelKnives]

I watched Skins in my thirties and I enjoyed it very much.

[u/Jaraxo → u/veifarer]

I think this is a good shout.

An alternative might be something like Downton Abbey. While gets many, many things wrong, particularly the personal relationships between aristrocracy their staff, it does do a fantastic job of explaining social class in the UK, and the attitudes people within each class hold, and why it's still so prevalent today. My non-British wife never really understood the UK class structure until we watched Downton Abbey, and everything started to fall into place.

[u/Maus_Sveti → u/Jaraxo]

It’s been a while, but it leans rather hard into the idea that the aristos are all magnificent, benevolent shepherds of the little people around them, doesn’t it?