The best TV shows to help you through lockdown
22 January 2021, 11:43 | Updated: 22 January 2021, 12:43
Team Heart recommend the TV shows that have helped them through lockdown - including Bridgerton, Cobra Kai and Below Deck.
With all of us spending much of the last year indoors, TV has been more important than ever.
During an extremely difficult time for us all, television has been a welcome distraction and relief - and provided a great way to unwind and spend time with our family.
As well bingeing the huge number of incredible new shows released over the last few months, many of us have found comfort in re-watching old favourites.
With everything from Bridgerton to The Office, here are the shows that have helped Team Heart through lockdown.
Call My Agent!
"I love Call My Agent on Netflix…It’s brilliantly acted, a lot of fun and the best thing is, it’s set in Paris – so you feel like you’re somewhere other than home for an hour! Plus you pick up a bit of the French language!" - Amanda Holden
Watch Call My Agent on Netflix
The Bureau
"It’s a French spy drama. Very tense and keeps you right on the edge of your seat… It’s kept me and my wife engrossed throughout lockdown and killed many an hour on the sofa!" - Jamie Theakston
Watch The Bureau on Amazon Prime
Cobra Kai
"It’s the best nostalgic trip down memory lane you’ll ever get. I’m watching season three at the moment, and
It takes me back to my childhood. I absolutely love it, it’s my absolute guilty pleasure." - JK
The Serpent
"The casting is fantastic, it drew me in, and I just really enjoyed it. I thought it was gripping, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it!" - Kelly Brook
Watch The Serpent on BBC iPlayer
Bridgerton
"I’m absolutely obsessed with this show! During lockdown, I managed to finish it off in three days. My husband can’t stand it but I don’t need him by my side because I’ve got The Duke! It’s easy watching, it’s like a period drama version of Gossip Girl." - Vogue Williams
The Crown
"Good British English traditional royal family repping our country - people love it in the States, and we love it here as well. I love The Crown." - Mark Wright
Black Mirror
"There’s not much that beats Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror! Every episode is a completely different story to the last, so no matter what you’re into, you’ll find an episode you love. The show is an emotional rollercoaster - scary, shocking, hilarious, emotional, thought provoking - A bit like the last 12 months. Sometimes it’s felt like we’re living in a Black Mirror episode. It’s the perfect lockdown watch!" - Pete May, Creative Producer – Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston & Amanda Holden
Below Deck
"Below Deck is basically a modern day Downton Abbey... but on a luxury yacht in the middle of the Caribbean. There’s plenty of drama with a crew full of young, good-looking men and women working for a strict boss.
"But as well as arguments, tears and romances, there are also entitled guests who have paid tens of thousands of dollars to be served. The show is so addictive, I binged the whole eight seasons in less than a month." - Naomi Bartram - Staff Writer (Heart.co.uk)
Brooklyn 99
"I've been absolutely bingeing it throughout lockdown - it's the third time I'm watching it! There are five seasons, 22 episodes per season, and they're 20 minutes long.
"They're ideal - you can whack one on while you're eating your lunch. You can binge three episodes, and it's only been an hour! They will just make you laugh out loud and put a big smile on your face.
"And season six is coming out very soon, so something to look forward to!" - Jake Beckett, Evening Network Producer
The Circle USA
"This hit reality TV show is the USA's take on Channel 4's The Circle. The show follows fourteen contestants living in separate apartments, communicating with each other through a specially-designed social media platform called The Circle. Not all is as it seems, as some players pretend to be someone else (known as 'catfishing') in an attempt to win popularity and the prize of $100,000.
"The show is the perfect binge as we endure a lockdown of our own, and the drama soon kicks in as players begin to question the identities of those they thought were friends!" - Zach Watson, Digital Deputy Managing Editor
Watch The Circle USA on Netflix
Money Heist
"Money Heist has been the best distraction from lockdown. It's tense, fast-paced and every episode leaves you wanting more. It made me gasp, laugh and cry – all while sat on the edge of my seat." - Alice Dear, Staff Writer
The Office UK
"There's something so comforting about watching old shows during a rough patch, and nothing takes me back to a simpler time quite like The Office UK.
"It's one of those rare shows I can just watch on a loop and never get bored, and I still to this day cry every time at the emotional final scene!" - Polly Foreman, Staff Writer
Watch The Office UK on Netflix
Star Trek: The Next Generation
"While some people decided to get fit or up skill themselves during the first lockdown, I decided to challenge myself to watch all of ‘TNG’ before the year was out.
"And despite the scorn of my family and friends, immersing myself in 176 episodes of intergalactic high jinks and drama (and letting the soothing voice of Patrick Stewart wash over me) turned out to be one of the highlights of 2020.
"The series is beloved by sci-fi fans, and for good reason. There’s never a dull moment when it comes to the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his ‘Number 1’ Will Riker (whose gravitational pull for attracting women of all species despite looking like a glowed-up David Brent is mind-boggling) and the rest of the USS Enterprise, including a Klingon and an android. As they cruise through the 24th century looking for new life forms, they get dragged in to random battles and petty interplanetary disputes. Plus there is extra light relief when they play elaborate dress-up in the holodecks, which is undeniably ridiculous.
"Yes it’s corny, and yes the effects and costumes haven’t aged well, but losing myself in a future where we are free to travel anywhere in the universe; money doesn’t exist; and fairness, understanding and equality is the basis of all interactions was a welcome escape to the nightmarish reality of real life." - Emma Gritt, Digital Managing Editor
Watch Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix
Fairy Tale Weddings
"It’s cheesy but it’s oh so magical! Fairy Tale Weddings on Disney+ is probably one of the purest things to binge during lockdown.
"For anyone missing holidays and in need of an uplifting dose of escapism, watching loved-up couples plan their big day at the happiest place on earth is sure to put a smile on your face." - Kavita Masih, Social Media Editor
Watch Fairy Tale weddings on Disney+
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