There’s nothing better than finding an addictive series, discovering your new favourite show and visiting new worlds all from the comfort of your sofa.
What often starts as casual evening viewing can escalate quickly, and before you know it you’re seven episodes in, it’s 3am and you’re buried under a pile of empty snack wrappers.
Now, a new study has revealed the most addicting shows of recent years which have gripped viewers all over the world.
According to data from Enders Analysis, Chernobyl is the show that people are most likely to watch until the very end.
Being just five episodes long will have certainly helped the completion rate, but the HBO and Sky drama became one of the most critically-acclaimed TV dramas of all time back in 2019, showing the events surrounding the devastating nuclear disaster in April 1986.
Chernobyl was followed by Sky Atlantic’s Italian crime drama Gomorrah, with the BBC’s Doctor Blake Mysteries and the Bodyguard coming in third and fourth respectively in the addictiveness stakes.
Hawaii Five-O was in fifth place, followed by Succession in sixth. Homeland, Line of Duty and Billions also featured in the top 20 rankings.
Unbelievably, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Friends or Stranger Things didn’t even make the top 20.
The study also revealed the shows people are most likely to give up on, with Karl Pilkington’s Sick Of It topping the list. Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was ranked the second least-addictive show, while Sky 1’s Warrior came third.
The 20 most addictive TV shows
- Chernobyl – Sky Atlantic
- Gomorrah – Sky Atlantic
- The Doctor Blake Mysteries – BBC 1
- Bodyguard – BBC 1
- Hawaii Five-0 – Sky 1
- Succession – Sky Atlantic
- Bad Move – ITV
- Quantico – Alibi
- In My Skin – BBC 3
- Fortitude – Sky Atlantic
- This Country -BBC 3
- The Heart Guy – Drama
- Billions – Sky Atlantic
- Homeland – Channel 4
- Line of Duty – BBC 1
- Doc Martin – ITV
- The Blacklist – Sky 1
- The Capture – BBC 1
- Unforgotten – ITV
- London Kills – BBC 1
The 20 least addictive TV shows
- Sick of It – Sky 1
- Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels – Sky Atlantic
- Warrior – Sky 1
- Kidding – Sky Atlantic
- I Know This Much Is True – Sky Atlantic
- The Loudest Voice – Sky Atlantic
- Dave – BBC 2
- Jett – Sky 1
- What We Do in the Shadows – BBC 2
- Mrs. America – BBC 2
- The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk – BBC 2
- Pls Like – BBC 3
- Der Pass – Sky Atlantic
- Bliss – Sky 1
- The First – Channel 4
- Camping – Sky Atlantic
- Intelligence – Sky 1
- Manifest – Sky 1
- The Name of the Rose – BBC 2
- Will & Grace – Channel 5
Chernobyl depicted the untold story of the real-life figures involved in the nuclear blast in the Soviet Union, with the five-part dramatisation focusing on the lives of those who saw it first hand.
Written by Craig Mazin and directed by Johan Renck, it starred the likes of Jared Harris, Stellan Skarsgård, Emily Watson and Jessie Buckley. It won the Golden Globe for Best Limited Series of Television Film, as well as Best Mini-Series at the BAFTA Television Awards.
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