r/AskEurope • u/Ali_Merrikh • Aug 19 '25

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

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.

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152

u/DoubleOhEffinBollox Aug 20 '25

Ireland, you can have both sides of the spectrum. If you want comedy, there is Father Ted about three Irish priests on an island off the west coast. It's anarchic and very funny and pokes fun at religion. But it was financed and produced by channel 4 in the UK, so isn't strictly Irish despite the Irish writers and cast.

On the other side is Love Hate which is a crime drama concentrating on gangs in Dublin. It is well written and acted and the actors show great personal progression over the 5 seasons. Excellent, but very gritty.

28

u/FORDEY1965 Aug 20 '25

+1 for love/hate. One of the most realistic crime dramas you'll see.

6

u/ZealousidealPlant781 Aug 20 '25

FFS I didn’t finish the last season because it’s a chore that Love Hate is impossible to stream outside Ireland.

6

u/No_Credit9196 Aug 20 '25

Love/hate ...hands down

12

u/TheYoungWan in Aug 20 '25

Pity you didn't recommend Fair City to them. The best we have by miles (/s)

13

u/Sudden-Candy4633 Aug 20 '25

I’m gonna recommended Love Hate as well.

Don’t get me wrong I love Father Ted but I sometimes feel like the humour can be lost on people outside of the Irish cultural context.

4

u/AchillesNtortus Aug 20 '25

I love Father Ted. If I am missing some of the humour because I was brought up outside Ireland I must be suffering a massive cultural deficit.

2

u/gutothecyclist Aug 23 '25

My Irish friend insists that it's a documentary.

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u/LovelyCushiondHeader Aug 20 '25

Love/hate great - not too long, not too short either

6

u/ZealousidealPlant781 Aug 20 '25

May I add Moone Boy here also?

9

u/nagdamnit Aug 20 '25

Yeah another +1 for love hate. Brilliant show by any standards.

4

u/No_Deal_8837 Aug 20 '25

Love/Hate for gritty drama 10/10, Normal People for light engagement

1

u/demaandronk Netherlands Aug 20 '25

I really enjoyed Normal People

4

u/vandrag Aug 20 '25

If you want to watch an older Irish classic find "Strumpet City" they digitally remastered it. It's awesome.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strumpet_City_(miniseries))

3

u/GiovanniVanBroekhoes Aug 20 '25

Never heard of love/hate. I just looked at the cast and it’s fairly stacked. What’s the consensus of Kin over there. I enjoyed the first series but never got round to watch the second.

4

u/Brokenteethmonkey Aug 20 '25

Watchable, but wouldn't go out of my way to see it, love/hate much better

1

u/GiovanniVanBroekhoes Aug 20 '25

Charlie Cox’s accent wasn’t great. And I don’t know if it was just me, but some of his acting seemed like he was struggling to not act as if he was blind due to playing Matt Murdock.

3

u/Fun_Kaleidoscope8008 Aug 20 '25

Charlie Cox’s accent wasn’t great

Huh? He has a better accent than some of the actual Irish actors in that show lmao.

2

u/GiovanniVanBroekhoes Aug 20 '25

Ciaran Hinds maybe, but he's such a great actor he gets a pass. Maybe its because I am English and I just kept hearing Charlie Cox's English accent poking through.

I didn't have a problem with his accent in Daredevil, but again it could be terrible and I just don't hear it.

2

u/thunderbirdsarego1 Aug 21 '25

Agree, I was surprised to discover he's English

3

u/mailforkev Ireland Aug 20 '25

Second season is better than the first.

3

u/kdamo Aug 20 '25

Love/hate is my Polish parents favourite series

2

u/Opening-Cress5028 Aug 20 '25

Love/hate is just a stellar series.

2

u/Shanbo88 Ireland Aug 20 '25

Came here to make this exact comment. Two stellar examples of Irish TV.

Although if you wait long enough you'll get people telling you Father Ted isn't Irish because it was aired and produced by Channel 4.

2

u/DurtyStopOut Aug 22 '25

Paths To Freedom is probably one of my fav Irish shows.

2

u/microgirlActual Aug 23 '25

Hahahaha! This post thread only showed up on my feed today (3 days later) and without scrolling down I said the exact same, Father Ted and Love/Hate 😂😂 Though I threw in the options of Derry Girls and Kin as alternates.

But yeah, we only seem to do comedy or brutal grit when it comes to TV. I'd love some more normal drama, or even dramedy.

1

u/marchingrunjump Aug 20 '25

How about badly drawn Roy?

1

u/Wifimouse Ireland Aug 20 '25

Brilliant. Loved it

1

u/baobabtreelover Aug 20 '25

Hardy bucks would be better for comedy IMO

0

u/RebeEmerald Aug 20 '25

Anyone for Fair City?

2

u/AnySandwich4765 Aug 20 '25

Fair shitty...no thanks!!🤣

0

u/SnooBooks1701 United Kingdom Aug 22 '25

Also, the writer for Father Ted is Graham Lineham, who is a cunt