Amidst all the streaming behemoths that have come to dominate the landscape in the past 15 years, there are also smaller, more boutique offerings that are filled with interesting shows and movies worth watching. If you’re interested in sampling some shows from across the pond, then BritBox is the best place to start.
The streamer is filled with British series that seem designed to remind you that they do things differently in the U.K., especially on TV. We’ve pulled out three great shows, all available on the streaming service that you might never have heard of. Regardless of what you’re looking for, you’ll hopefully find something interesting here.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the best new movies to stream this week, as well as the best shows on Netflix, best shows on Hulu, best shows on Amazon Prime Video, and best shows on Disney+.
A specific look at the immigrant experience in America, Three Little Birds tells the story of three Jamaican women who immigrated to the U.K. in the 1950s and 1960s. The series is based on real stories about the immigrant experience and examines the discrimination these women felt and the community they created in their new home.
Few shows are so careful about depicting the realities of this particular corner of British life, and Three Little Birds is an important reminder of the way immigration has shaped the culture of Britain that we know today.
You can watch Three Little Birds on BritBox.
There are tons of police shows on BritBox, but The Responder sits on more unique ground. The series tells the story of urgent responder Chris Carson (Martin Freeman) as he works a series of night shifts in Liverpool.
As he attempts to save lives amid a variety of high-stress situations, Chris is also dealing with his own deteriorating mental health and the corruption that threatens to consume all the good he’s done. Featuring an incredible performance from Freeman and the kind of relentless pace that only the best medical shows are able to maintain, The Responder is well worth your time.
You can watch The Responder on BritBox.
An adaptation of one of Charles Dickens’s most beloved works, this version of Oliver Twist features several remarkable performances and has the extended runtime to really dive into every aspect of the novel.
Timothy Spall and Tom Hardy star, but what’s most remarkable about the series is the way it forefronts the poverty and desperation at the core of Dickens’s original novel. Oliver Twist will likely be adapted dozens of times in the years ahead, but this 2007 version is one of the very best.
You can watch Oliver Twist on BritBox.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.