20 best shows like Desperate Romantics (2009)

In 1935, financially strapped widow Louisa Durrell, whose life has fallen apart, decides to move from England, with her four children (three sons, one daughter), to the island of Corfu, Greece. Once there, the family moves into a dilapidated old house that has no electricity and that is crumbling apart. But life on Corfu is cheap, it's an earthly paradise, and the Durrells proceed to forge their new existence, with all its challenges, adventures, and forming relationships.

Jim Broadbent, Matthew Macfadyen and Sam Claflin take on the lead role of Logan Mountstuart in William Boyd's adaptation of his best-selling novel. From one man's emotional, tumultuous and unpredictable journey through the 20th century comes a funny, moving and ambitious four-part drama. Told through Logan's intimate journals, beginning with the idealism and arrogance of his youth, through the triumphs and tragedies of middle-age, to the unexpected dramas of his twilight years - his story reveals that all our lives are ultimately random, and defined by luck and seemingly inconsequential choices. Hayley Atwell, Natasha Little, Emerald Fennell, Ed Stoppard, Samuel West and Kim Cattrall star alongside Gillian Anderson and Tom Hollander as the lovers, wives, friends and infamous figures he encounters throughout his ordinary and yet utterly extraordinary life.

Almost a decade into his new devoted married life Nathan is rocked to the core when Bob, an unwelcome face from the past, turns up on his doorstep with shocking news, triggering a series of catastrophic decisions.

Raza, a young second-generation British-Pakistani man from London is coerced by Gabe, a counterterrorism officer, into informing.

From There To Here is set in the aftermath of the 1996 Arndale bombing and follows Daniel Cotton, a Manchester family man who is torn between the life he wants and the life he could have.

We arrive with New York heiress Lucy Savage fresh off the transatlantic steamer and ready for love and marriage in exotic climes. But when her husband Hugo does not receive her in the way she expected, she spins off into the surprising, diverse and degenerate world of Tangier in 1955.

Crime drama series following Eve Lockhart, one of Britain's leading forensic pathologists, and her team of scientists at a state-of-the-art forensic research facility.

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 group of six students about to embark on the most exciting period of their lives so far: university!

Set in 1936, the show takes viewers, old and new, back to the lavish world of Belgravia, London. A new set of occupants reside at 165 Eaton Place and viewers see how external and internal influences of the tumultuous pre-war period shape and mould the lives of this wealthy family and their servants.‬

Comedy-drama series set in the fictional Central Asian Republic of Tazbekistan where newly arrived British Ambassador Keith Davies is set the task of trying to secure a £2 billion helicopter contract for the United Kingdom.

Set against the backdrop of the city of Amsterdam, Piet Van der Valk and his team investigate a series of high-profile cases immersed in the worlds of art, politics, addiction, mysticism and the fashion industry.

Recovering addict and comedian Mae tries to control the addictive behaviors and intense romanticism that permeate every facet of her life. Life is further complicated by a new and all-consuming relationship with her new girlfriend George.

Joseph falls into despair when his nine-year-old son Shea leaves for Australia with his ex Debbie. Sufffering the hangover from hell, he walks away from his present life and boards a boat bound for Ireland to confront memories from his childhood.

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

The disappearance of a baby from a small coastal town in Australia is the catalyst for a journey into the disintegrating psychology of a young couple as they deal with an unthinkable tragedy under both the white light of public scrutiny and behind closed doors.

An assassin with a secret, Mia's life is changed forever by a letter from her ex.

A drama dealing with the abduction and murder of a young black girl, soon to be adopted by her white foster family, and the trail of lies, blame, guilt and notoriety which follow.

A series of gripping thrillers that expose the dark side of the people we trust to care for us - doctors.

After being implicated in a deadly scandal, a trader at a leading London bank fights to clear his name, but instead uncovers an intercontinental conspiracy masterminded by powerful forces operating in the shadows.

The six-part series opens with a daring diamond heist before quickly delving into the dark heart of Europe where a shadowy alliance of gangsters and 'banksters' now rules. Naomi is the British loss adjustor charged with recovering the stolen diamonds whatever the cost. Also in pursuit is French-Algerian policeman Khalil.

Adaptation of the novels written by Georges Simenon featuring his fictional French police commissioner Jules Maigret.

The plot follows detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wasserman working together to find a serial killer who left the upper-half body of a French politician and the lower-half of a British prostitute in the Channel Tunnel, at the midpoint between France and the UK. They later learn that the killer—who comes to be nicknamed the "Truth Terrorist"—is on a moral crusade to highlight many social problems, terrorising both countries in the process

A haunting exploration of the mind of Sam, a teenager who's on the verge of acting out hidden psychopathic desires.

Based on Iain Banks's best-selling novel, this romantic mystery follows Stewart as he returns to his childhood home and tries to discover the truth behind his best friend's death.

Four friends who become multi-millionaires when they sell their video game company for a clean £246 million and overnight, the four friends are transformed from "people who play games" to "serious players in the game..." - or are they?

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

Dave is facing the seemingly impossible job of bringing up four kids alone after the sudden death of his wife. And things get even more complicated when he falls in love with his wife's best friend, Sarah. Single Father asks how soon is too soon to fall in love again?

A 17-year-old boy, known only as HIM, caught in the limbo between childhood and adulthood is also trapped in a limbo between the two homes of his divorced parents, each now remarried with new families. Like most boys he finds it hard to process his feelings so tends to “act out”. But his behaviour is also triggered by something else - his primal struggle to contain the terrifying secret of a supernatural power he inherited from his grandfather. A power that only his ageing grandmother understands, who urges him to use his gift only for ‘good’ for she knows if he doesn’t it could end in tragedy. 

Ruth Jones stars as a 40-something mum juggling the ups and downs of family life amid the chaos of her eccentric friends, relatives and children's fathers.

Heroic U.S. Army scientist Dr. Nancy Jaax, working with a secret military specialized team, puts her life on the line to head off an Ebola outbreak before it spread to the human population.

Drama series set in 1943 following the Coyne family and their neighbours as they struggle to maintain a normal life after a US Army Air Force base is set up in the middle of their rural parish.

Adventurer James Keziah Delaney returns to London from Africa in 1814 along with fourteen stolen diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father.

'Unforgotten' follows modern police team DCI Cassie Stuart and DI Sunny Khan, who gradually unravel long-forgotten secrets which have a dramatic impact on their investigation and the four potential suspects. The slow revelation of the secrets will also affect the personal lives of both Sunny and Cassie.

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?

Three-part biopic of the Liverpudlian songbird who would later find fame and fortune. It tells of her rocky road to fame and captures the essence of 1960s Liverpool.

The extraordinary story of Gloucester housewife Janet Leach who played a key role in the uncovering of the crimes of Fred and Rosemary West.

Belgravia, London, November 7th, 1974. Sandra Rivett, nanny of the aristocratic Lucan family, is found beaten to death. Shortly thereafter, the prime suspect, John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, mysteriously disappears. When the manhunt begins, the subsequent scandal shakes the foundations of the British ruling class like never before.

From a young age, 11-year-old, Max, has identified as a girl and as puberty looms, she begins to present increasing signs of gender variance. When Max was eight, her father, Stephen, left the family home. But as Max’s conviction that she’s in the wrong body intensifies, her distress escalates, and Stephen seizes the opportunity to return to live at the family home and support his daughter.

Chasing Shadows' follows a team of special operatives who are tracking down serial killers.

Our World War is a gripping factual drama series offering viewers first-hand experience of the extraordinary bravery of young soldiers fighting 100 years ago. Drawing on real stories of World War One soldiers it uses the visual techniques and imagery familiar from modern warfare – POV helmet camera footage, surveillance images and night vision – to immerse the BBC Three audience in life on the Western Front. Each episode is closely based on first-hand testimony, interviews and memoirs that reveal often hidden and sometimes disturbing aspects of the combat experience.

A young doctor who has graduated at the top of his class from the Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry is thrust out into an isolated and impoverished country side as the village's only doctor. As he learns to adapt to his new lifestyle, he develops a morphine addiction to stay his sanity while realizing what being a doctor in the real world means.