Inside the Lightbox is a sponsored feature where we pick shows from their extensive back catalogue that you might like to watch. This week, we get your long weekend sorted with the best shows to binge watch.
Queen’s Birthday weekend is so close we can almost smell the corgi shampoo in the air, and the whole country is gearing up for that precious extra day to hike into the forest, learn a new language or work on that novel. Stop lying: we’ve mostly just got more time to blob out on the couch under a blanket with thousands of hours of television at our disposal.
If you find yourself in this comfortable yet frustrating predicament over the long weekend, we’ve collated together ten of the best long weekend binges courtesy of our TV sponsors at Lightbox. Pick one, lie back, and think of England.
Orphan Black
“A bolt of fresh, femme-powered lightning into a television market still crowded by male anti-heroes.” – Aaron Yap, The Spinoff
With the fourth season of Orphan Black arriving on Lightbox yesterday, now is the perfect time to get into this thrilling sci-fi brain-bender. Emmy award winner Tatiana Maslany plays multiple versions of herself involved in a cloning experiment, some raised as military operatives. So many wigs, so many accents, so many twists and turns.
Binge time: 32 hours
The Expanse
“Expanse is an engaging, sometimes exciting 23rd-century political thriller, detective show and space opera” – Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times
Transport yourself from your couch into the abyss of space and time in The Expanse, set on the colony of Mars about 200 years from now. One for Battlestar fans.
Binge time: 7.5 hours. Easy.
Better Call Saul
“Halfway through season three, the prequel show to Breaking Bad is cruising at new heights of splendour.” – Simon Wilson, The Spinoff
Set well before Walter White ever set his eyes on the blue stuff, Better Call Saul follows the origin story of Saul Goodman, when he was better known as Jimmy McGill. With a stellar cast and the same team behind the scenes of one of the greatest television shows ever made, you should be taking yourself to court if you miss it.
Binge time: 27 hours
Happy Valley
“Think Taken, if Liam Neeson’s daughter was already dead and he was actually a grandma from the north of England” – Ethan Sills, The Spinoff
Fans of Broadchurch and all things chilly, dark and brooding will love the small town cat and mouse chase in Happy Valley. Just don’t expect it to be even remotely happy.
Binge time: 6 hours! Bargain!
Twin Peaks
“Was Twin Peaks the greatest television show ever made? Of course it was, and there will never be anything like it ever again.” – Angela Cuming, The Spinoff
There’s no better time to go back to David Lynch’s early 90s cheese dream and find out who really killed Laura Palmer. Pop the coffee on and get a pie in the oven.
Binge time: 28 hours-ish if you skip through the opening and closing credits
Top of the Lake
“It’s simply the best television to come out of New Zealand” – Alex Casey, The Spinoff
Following the mysterious disappearance of a 12 year-old girl named Tui in Paradise, Top of the Lake is True Detective meets Twin Peaks meets the most brutal, beautiful Queenstown tourism video you’ll ever see.
Binge time: Only 6 hours!
The L Word
“Steamy, provocative and filled with smart dialogue and richly drawn characters” – The Hollywood Reporter
With the groundbreaking 2000s series arriving on Lightbox on Sunday, The L Word follows a tight-knit group of lesbians living in Los Angeles.
Binge time: 50 hours…
Better Things
“Tackles her subjects – solo mum life, hellraising daughters, showbiz bullshit, midlife crises – with an open, often thorny heart” – Aaron Yap, The Spinoff
Pamela Adlon, longtime comedic sidekick of Louis CK, finally gets the spotlight in this bawdy biographical comedy about motherhood and life in Hollywood.
Binge time: 5 hours for the whole first season, basically a Snapchat video.
White Collar
“A winsome, quick-paced caper that is part Catch Me if You Can, part Shampoo” – Ginia Bellafante, New York Times
Twiddling your thumbs waiting for the new Suits? Try out White Collar, following a convicted criminal hired to work for the same FBI agent who threw him in the slammer.
Binge time: 79 hours if you skip the opening and closing credits (take some time off on Tuesday)
No Activity
“An exceptionally stupid show that made me laugh so hard it frightened my cats.” – Alex Casey, The Spinoff
No Activity is a show about two hapless Aussie cops, wiling their nights away on stake outs and filling the silence with preposterous conversations. Very real and very good.
Binge time: 6ish hours, less than Lord of the Rings.