21 of the best TV box sets on Sky and Now TV right now

The box set: the perfect way to catch up on a series you missed, or to binge on an old favourite. Here are our favourites that you can stream on Sky or Now TV, or buy on DVD/Blu-ray for all you physical media fans. We'll keep this page updated, so be sure to check back for new entries soon.

If you're not in the mood for starting a new box set, we also keep an up-to-date list of the best films on Now TV and Sky, as well as guides on the best movies on Netflix UK and the best films on Amazon Prime UK.

For more TV shows head over to our best Netflix TV series list or picks of the best documentaries.

Penny Dreadful

Set in 1890s London, this horror drama lives up to its title – named after the Victorian periodicals that were the forerunners of pulp novels and comic books – with a mash-up of characters and monsters drawn from classic fiction and folklore. When the mysterious Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) hires travelling gunman Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) to help her find the kidnapped Mina Harker, it kicks off a journey that sees them crossing paths with the likes of Dorian Gray and Victor Frankenstein, while crossing swords with werewolves, witches, and Dracula himself. Although it owes a substantial debt to Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Penny Dreadful is a beautifully shot and expertly acted trip into the macabre – and at only 27 episodes for the complete three season run, is eminently bingeable.

Gangs of London

Created by Gareth Evans, the man behind brutal action crime film The Raid, Gangs of London has been described as the Godfather, but in Spitalfields in East London. It tracks warring groups of international criminals as they vie for control after the assassination of the head of one of the most powerful crime families. It's violent and stylish, mixing the brutality of Peaky Blinders with the drama of McMafia. 

Broad City

The story of two women struggling to get their lives together in ‘the big city’ might not sound very original, but sprinkle in the genius of comedians Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson and you’ve got a fresh, funny and freakish hit. The co-dependent broads have a beautiful friendship that results in some seriously questionable decision-making. Together they end up stuck in the air vents above a Lil’ Wayne concert, on countless drug-fuelled exploits and on an airborne birthright trip to Israel. And that’s not even half of it. So if you’re looking for a ridiculous comedy to laugh yourself silly at while simultaneously feeling thankful that’s not your actual life and jealous of such on-screen adventures, Broad City is the show for you.

The Newsroom

Elements of this show have been roundly mocked for their earnestness, but it remains compelling viewing for fans of The West Wing and Aaron Sorkin's fast-talking, impossibly eloquent characters. It centres on Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) an anchor at the fictional Atlantic Cable News who suffers something of a crisis of faith after going on a viral rant during a public debate. There are three seasons that veer between the sublime and the ridiculous – like The West Wing, you get a strong sense of the creator's personal beliefs. 

Band of Brothers

Forget Saving Private Ryan and Dunkirk, the compelling Band of Brothers remains the outstanding modern depiction of World War II. That Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy and Simon Pegg have background roles in this series following the real story of the 101st Airborne Division shows the vintage of the 2001 series, but it hasn't diminished with age. Damien Lewis is outstanding in the lead role, but he's far from alone in what remains one of the finest HBO shows ever made almost 20 years since the first episode aired. Start a Now TV free trial

Boardwalk Empire

This lavishly expensive HBO series brings the violence and grit of The Sopranos to prohibition era New Jersey. With a stellar cast, including Steve Buscemi and Stephen Graham, and a vast production budget estimated at $18m for the (Scorsese directed) first episode alone, it's a gripping look at an iconic era in American history. There are five seasons to get stuck into, as Buscemi's Nucky Thompson tries to rise to the top of the political and criminal worlds of seedy Atlantic City.

Succession

Part slick HBO drama, part Peep Show-style cringe factory, Succession is the media empire sibling squabble you didn't know you needed. We mention Peep Show as it's from the brain of one of the creators of that masterpiece, Jesse Armstrong, with exec production from Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. It shows. Dig in to two 10 episode seasons of A++ backstabbing and catfighting from an ensemble of unlikeable rogues. If nothing else, watch to play along with the Twitter mentions. Start a Now TV free trial

Game of Thrones

Yes, it might be over now but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth revisiting. How long was it since you watched those early series anyway? The entire eight series – that’s 73 episodes in total – are available on NowTV. If you’ve never seen the series before you can start from the beginning of the adaptation of George R R Martin’s series and binge all the way through, without having to wait months or years for the next season. Start a Now TV free trial

Big Little Lies

This slow-moving, atmospheric show is one of the handful of examples where having a cast full of big-name Hollywood actors doesn't guarantee a cringeworthy flop. And what a cast of heavyweights: Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz are simply spectacular in this modern-day whodunnit. Troubled young mother Jane (Woodley) moves to the area with her young son Ziggy, and is immediately taken under the wing of local queen bee Madeline (Witherspoon) and Celeste (Kidman), triggering a series of events that end in murder.

The HBO series is set in the exclusive (read: rich) Monterrey community, where competitive mothers who prance around their magazine-worthy houses in perfect designer apparel, seem to have it all. But behind the veneer of coddled children (Amabella, in particular, is a grating example) and perfect marriages, they are all hiding very big and ugly secrets: abuse, jealousy, infidelity, rape. The success of this show is not the cast or the haunting, tense scenes: it's the intensely satisfying triumph of friendship over male violence.

Babylon Berlin

The most expensive German TV production ever lavishly recreates 1929 Berlin, from horrifying slums to glamorous nightclubs, supplying a rich backdrop for this police drama. Lotte Ritter – a street-smart girl from the wrong side of the tracks – secures secretarial work at the police station, but ends up assisting uptight, PTSD-suffering Inspector Gereon Rath in investigating an extortion ring where politicians are filmed with prostitutes, and then in the case of smuggled gold and chemical weapons from Russia. Season three focuses on a series of grisly murders at a film studio. The wars, of course, cast shadows over everything – both the traumatic legacy of WWI, and the rising spectre of the Nazis and WWII – making for a tense film-noir setting where the hedonism of the cabarets feels like the last, desperate party before it all comes crashing down. Stylish, riveting stuff.

Britannia

This frankly unhinged reimagining of the Roman occupation of Britain has two series under its belt and a third season commissioned, so now’s the time to get onboard. Conceived by anarchic English playwright Jez Butterworth, it’s like a thought experiment on how ludicrous a TV show he could get away with. The Romans have invaded Britain, and the power in the land – the mysterious, permanently stoned Druids – are dealing with civil war between the key tribes of the Canti and the Regni. Chuck in a orphaned girl being trained to be the messiah by an outcast lunatic, a possibly demonically possessed Roman general (played with gusto by a scenery chewing David Morrissey), and unfathomable schemes to avert a prophesied end of the world, and you have a surprisingly watchable romp that’s huge amounts of fun, has a gleeful disregard for history, and is peppered with some gems of British psychedelic 60s pop. Start a Now TV free trial

True Detective

All three seasons of True Detective are currently on Now TV and Sky. The first season starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson is an iconic, tense and disturbing investigation spanning decades and while the second is rather uneven by comparison and probably best skipped, the third season starring two-time Academy Award winner Mahershala Ali is a brilliant return to form for the series. Start a Now TV free trial

The Sopranos

The Sopranos is American crime drama at its finest – and arguably one of the best TV shows of all time. Don't believe us: it won 21 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards and a movie covering the film's backstory is in the works. The show charts the life of Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano, and features dealings with his family, mafia and rivals. All six seasons and 86 episodes are on NowTV. Start a Now TV free trial

The Real Chernobyl

You've seen the hit drama and now have a taste for nuclear disaster. This documentary travels to the power plant and its surrounding regions in Ukraine to show the real-world impact of the incident. It talks to the survivors of the disaster and those that helped in its clean-up, telling their uniquely personal stories. As a bonus, there's also footage from the site of the disaster including some helicopter pictures that were captured in 1986. Start a Now TV free trial

Chernobyl

Sky's depiction of the Chernobyl disaster, which saw the explosion of one of the powerplant's nuclear cores, has been ranked as the top TV series of all time on media website IMDB. It fully deserves this place. There's a unnerving level of accuracy and realism with the five episodes of the miniseries. Each is more gripping than the last. At its most frightening, Chernobyl will make you worry about future nuclear accidents, at its least it will have you reaching for the history books to learn more about the disaster. Start a Now TV free trial

The Wire

Spanning five masterful seasons, The Wire explores every flawed aspect of American society through the lens of the city of Baltimore. Whether it's the endemic crime, flawed policing, chronically underfunded inner-city schools and the corrupt political class that sustains it all, every season explores the city from a new angle. It launched several careers for the ensemble cast and is a timeless TV classic. Start a Now TV free trial

Ray Donovan

Liev Schreiber plays a fixer to LA's rich and famous and substitute father to his dysfunctional brothers until their real father, played by Jon Voight, makes an unwelcome return from prison. It's an absorbing mix of crime, fame and family drama as Ray struggles to deal with day-to-day problems and the family's troubled past. Start a Now TV free trial

Dexter

Dexter is a police blood spatter expert, all-round good guy, faithful brother and a serial killer who targets other murderers for justice according to his code. All eight seasons of the classic serial killer drama are on Now TV and Sky at the moment and they're a must-watch for newcomers. Start a Now TV free trial

Fortitude

A big budget, big stars and a chilly setting. When it first aired in 2015, Fortitude tried to cash in on the trend for moody Scandinavian crime dramas. At times its an unquestionable hit, at others not so much. What starts off as a brilliant mystery slowly builds to a dramatic and at times bewildering conclusion. If you can swallow a couple of the more fantastical plot twists its an entertaining, eminently binge-able watch. Start a Now TV free trial

Billions

Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Aaron Sorkin's TV drama is a slow-ish burner. There's plenty of drama but it builds steadily over the two seasons. The series follows the empire of eccentric billionaire Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), who made his fortune in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks by gaming the stockmarket. Attorney Charles "Chuck" Rhoades Jr (Paul Giamatti) has an axe to grind with Axelrod and wants to pursue him for financial crimes. There are, however, complications. Their families are intertwined and a power struggle ensues. Start a Now TV free trial

Twin Peaks

There's a murder in Twin Peaks. But the small US town isn't used to crime, let alone murders. It's so rare that the FBI is called in to investigate the death of young Laura Palmer. But not everything is as it initially seems. This is the premise of the original series of Twin Peaks, first released in 1990. When you've finished the classic there's also the new series, which was released in 2017 and is set 25 years after the original. In the remake the town is left shocked as the homecoming queen is found dead. Start a Now TV free trial

This article was originally published by WIRED UK