English TV series about ambition

Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.

A genre-bending, anti-historical ride through 18th century Russia following the rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great and her explosive relationship with husband Peter, the emperor of Russia.

An explosive 1930s drama following a jazz band in London at a time of huge change.

Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC and first shown in 2011. Written by Peter Moffat, the series follows a set of barristers, and what they do to attain the rank of Queen's Counsel, known as "taking silk."

In a world where everyone is striving for what is not worth having, no one is more determined to climb to the heights of English society than Becky Sharp.

Following the fact-based historical book of the same name, this drama follows the rise of Cromwell as he becomes Henry the VIII's closest advisor. England in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the King dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years and marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope and most of Europe oppose him. Into this impasse steps Thomas Cromwell: a wholly original man, a charmer, and a bully, both idealist and opportunist, astute in reading people, and implacable in his ambition. But Henry is volatile: one day tender, one day murderous. Cromwell helps him break the opposition, but what will be the price of his triumph?

A behind-the-scenes drama and espionage thriller in Cold War-era England that centers on a journalist, a producer, and an anchorman for an investigative news programme.

Mr. Selfridge recounts the real life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's lavish department store. Set in 1909 London, when women were reveling in a new sense of freedom and modernity, it follows Harry Gordon Selfridge ('Mile a Minute Harry'), a man with a mission to make shopping as thrilling as sex. Pioneering and reckless, with an almost manic energy, Harry created a theater of retail where any topic or trend that was new, exciting, entertaining - or just eccentric - was showcased.

An intoxicating love story set in England's first department store in the 1870s. The Paradise revolves around the lives of the people who live and work in the store, each bound in their own way by the power of the world they live in, and the pasts that follow them there. A love story, mystery, and social comedy all in one.

This mockumentary goes behind the microphone of Kurupt FM - the second most popular pirate radio station in West London, receiving up to eight texts per show and playing the finest in UK garage and drum 'n' bass. Co-founded by the MC Sniper and DJ Beats in 2002, the station has now built up a following of over a hundred people and has attracted the attention of the BBC who are making a documentary about the lives of those behind Kurupt FM

Robyn, the sharp and witty publicity maven, is an expert at her craft but a complete self-saboteur when it comes to her personal life. Robyn’s work as a crisis PR strategist is fast-paced and unpredictable, as she counsels high-profile personalities in entertainment, fashion and sports.

The story of a double-glazing showroom in Essex in the 80s, led by charismatic Vincent Swan, and his unscrupulous sales team, Brian Fitzpatrick and Martin Lavender.

The beautiful Spanish princess, Catherine of Aragon, navigates the royal lineage of England with an eye on the throne.

In the first year of uni, childhood best friends Holly and Georgia find themselves drawn to an elite clique. When Holly begins to suspect darkness lurks beneath the glamour, she will do anything to save her soulmate.

A drama about the shifting power in a marriage when the personal and political collide.

Toast of London is a British comedy series following Steven Toast, an eccentric middle-aged actor with a chequered past who spends more time dealing with his problems off stage than performing on it.

Doll & Em is a British comedy series starring real-life friends Emily Mortimer (Em) and Dolly Wells (Doll), filmed in the style of a reality TV show. After a breakup, Doll heads to Hollywood to be with her childhood best friend Em, who's now a successful actress.

Follow Sugar into the underbelly of Victorian London seething with vitality, sexuality, ambition and emotion.

The lives of the editors and journalists working at a left-leaning broadsheet and a populist tabloid.

Ten strangers, drawn away from their normal lives to an isolated rock off the Devon coast. But as the mismatched group waits for the arrival of the hosts -- the improbably named Mr. and Mrs. U.N. Owen -- the weather sours and they find themselves cut off from civilization. Very soon, the guests, each struggling with their conscience, will start to die -- one by one, according to the rules of the nursery rhyme 'Ten Little Soldier Boys' -- a rhyme that hangs in every room of the house and ends with the most terrifying words of all: '... and then there were none.

I'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan, of which two series of six episodes each were produced — the first in 1997 and the second in 2002. The series followed the titular Alan Partridge, a failed television presenter whose previous exploits had featured in the chat-show parody Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, and who is now presenting a programme on local radio in Norwich.Both series were written by Peter Baynham, Coogan and Armando Iannucci; supporting Coogan were Felicity Montagu as his faithful, mouse-like personal assistant, Lynn Benfield; Simon Greenall as Geordie Travel Tavern handyman/BP garage attendant Michael; and Phil Cornwell as disc jockey Dave Clifton.It has been well received by both critics and fans, and was nominated for three BAFTAs, two British Comedy Award, and a Royal Television Society award.

The three-part series centres on the close and often fraught relationship between sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf, and Vanessa’s sexually complicated alliance with gay artist Duncan Grant as they, and their group of like-minded friends, navigate their way through love, sex and artistic life through the first half of the 20th century.

On the surface William Travers is a picture of success. An accomplished criminal barrister happily living with his wife in rural Suffolk. However, Travers is still recovering from a traumatic series of events that have shaken his belief in the legal system.Reluctantly, he is drawn into a case that involves his old friend Martin Newall who faces conspiracy and murder charges while at the same time being investigated by a vicious and vengeful detective DS Mark Wenborn.

In the near future, an undercover Detective Inspector gunned down and killed during a botched sting is brought back via an experimental Artificial Intelligence project. Full of glitches, he’s got to track down the person who shot him, prove himself as a cop so as not to get shut down, and save his marriage and his friendship, all with his partner Carver to boot.

After a list of names is found in the shoe of a dead woman, one of the named people begins investigating and is drawn to the The Pale Horse, the home of a trio of rumored witches living in a small village. Word has it that the witches can do away with wealthy relatives using dark arts.

At its heart, Banished is a story of survival. Though it is set in the stark historical reality of the founding of the penal colony in Australia in 1788 after the arrival of the First Fleet, it is not the story of Australia and how it came to be. Rather, it is a tale of love, faith, justice and morality played out on an epic scale in a confined community where the stakes are literally life and death.

A troubled war veteran is assigned to protect a controversial politician who may be the target of a terror plot.

When strange young misfit Kim Noakes was just a little girl, her father died in murky circumstances and her mother Tina whisked her away to a remote rural life of seclusion and bizarre survival techniques. Now all grown up, Kim sets out into the real world for the first time to begin a secret mission of honouring her father’s memory.

Dark comedy about a group of obnoxious friends who struggle to survive the Stag Weekend from hell, as a deer-stalking expedition in the Scottish Highlands quickly turns messier than expected.

Julien Baptiste delves into the criminal underworld of Amsterdam's red light district and uncovers a complex web of deceit and lies.

Fermanagh, Irish countryside, 1885. On her 23rd birthday, Beth, who lives on a remote farm with Billy Winters, her tyrannical stepfather, whom she can barely stand, prepares to flee from such a suffocating life with the help of the seductive Liam Ward, without being aware that her decision will unearth deeply buried secrets a long time ago.

A thrilling drama based on the novels by Peter Robinson. Stephen Tompkinson and Andrea Lowe star as the tenacious and stubborn Chief Inspector Alan Banks and the feisty and headstrong Detective Sergeant Annie Cabbot.

The story of the Medici family of Florence, their ascent from simple merchants to power brokers sparking an economic and cultural revolution. Along the way, they also accrue a long list of powerful enemies.

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

A grieving mother is accused of identifying online the man she believes killed her son. But is he really a notorious child murderer or a tragic victim of mistaken identity?

A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.

It's Mayday in a small town steeped in pagan traditions where the crowning of the May Queen is the highlight of the day until suddenly she goes missing.

A chronicle of four friends during a decade in which everything changed, including the rise of AIDS.

Mr. Sloane's titular character is a buttoned-down 1960's man in crisis. Between his failed attempts at marriage, career success and even suicide, it's fair to say that 1969 isn't shaping up to be Watford-dweller Mr. Sloane's year. But with a potential job opportunity on the horizon and the phone number of a prospective new love interest following a chance encounter in his local hardware store, could Mr Sloane's luck be about to change?

Father Michael, a Catholic priest presiding over a Northern urban parish who is Modern, maverick, and reassuringly flawed; must be confidante, counselor and confessor to a congregation struggling to reconcile its beliefs with the challenges of daily life.

A critical and often humorous look at the upper class, tracking the protagonist’s harrowing odyssey from a deeply traumatic childhood through adult substance abuse and, ultimately, toward recovery.

Drama about a fictional British Royal family set in modern day London, who inhabit a world of opulence and regal tradition that caters to any and every desire, but one that also comes with a price tag of duty, destiny and intense public scrutiny.

Secret State explores the relationship between a democratically elected government, big business and the banks.

The citizens of the small British town of Pagford fight for the spot on the parish council after Barry Fairbrother dies.

When tough-acting loner paramedic Maleek is paired with over-friendly divorcee Wendy, their partnership looks dead on arrival. But pretty soon they're giving each other life support.

A group of working-class friends finding unconventional ways to win at life in northern suburbia. These lads have dealt, scammed, bribed and conned their way through adolescence, but now, on the brink of adulthood, their dealing and stealing is catching up with them and a whole load of trouble is heading their way.

By Any Means follows a clandestine unit living on the edge and playing the criminal elite at their own game, existing in the grey area between the letter of the law and true justice.

Danny is a gregarious, hedonistic romantic who gets drawn into the dangerous world of British espionage in this contemporary, emotional thriller. He falls for the anti-social but enigmatic Alex, both from opposite worlds, and they soon realise they’re perfect for each other. But when Alex suddenly disappears, Danny is utterly ill-equipped to take on his complex and codified world. Young, innocent and adrift he needs to decide whether he’s prepared to fight for the truth?

Detective dramas featuring private investigator Cormoran Strike based on the novels by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling's pen name).

8 August 1963: Britain wakes up to news of the biggest robbery in the country’s history. A train has been hijacked and robbed, 35 miles from its arrival in central London. The country is stunned. Who could be behind it? How did they pull off such an audacious raid?