Christmas time brings with it, for most of us, an extended break from work and a lot more time to enjoy life to relax while spending the festive period with your family. Sure, there will be plenty of chores to take care of and no doubt some gift wrapping, but on the whole, you should have time to catch up on those Netflix shows you missed.
Netflix has, of course, churned out dozens of shows in 2022; it’s just what they do, and a decent portion of these is infinitely forgettable, but below, you’ll find five series worthy of your attention this Christmas.
We’ve tried to cover every angle, from fun family viewing to shows that should be watched long after your little ones have gone to bed.
Stranger Things 4
If you haven’t caught up on the latest season of Stranger Things, then you should try to do so this Christmas. It’s been off our screens for three years, but thankfully season four sees Eleven and the gang back together, and it’s an explosive edition of the TV program that is now arguably one of the biggest shows on the planet.
This series takes place eight months after the last one and begins with the mysterious deaths of teenagers in Hawkins, which unsurprisingly are connected to earlier unexplained instances in the town. Half of the usual characters are now living in California as they seek to keep Eleven away from the obvious dangers that the area is mired in.
Additionally, Hopper is holed up in a Russian prison camp, with Joyce and Murray attempting to help him escape. These three stories become intertwined, and the whole series is a tad darker than the earlier ones, and it’s a well-put-together series that helps move things along.
One note in preparation for the show, be prepared to hear a lot of Kate Bush’s hit Running Up That Hill, and we mean a lot!
Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Now, this show is far edgier, and a downright terrifying alternative to Stranger Things and may not be a show you’d traditionally watch over Christmas, but it is nonetheless an excellent program that has proven a massive hit for Netflix.
First off, make sure your kids are well and truly tucked in for the night before you sit down to watch it, as it’s not for the faint-hearted. Evan Peters plays serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, and the show charts his unravelling and the horrific acts that he committed.
It’s an unflinching portrayal of a loner who went on to become perhaps the most famous mass murderer of the last century.
The Crown
Yes, it’s back and now has an entirely new cast. Dominic West takes over in the Prince Charles role, Elizabeth Debicki brushes up on her English accent to play Lady Diana and Harry Potter star Imelda Staunton takes the reins as Queen Elizabeth.
The show is as grand as always, with production values at their usual best, where the idea of using stock footage instead of spending vast sums recreating the period is not even considered.
The Crown is at its best when it tells you something new about those people we all know about, and in this series, that does occur, albeit sparingly. Johnny Lee Miller is excellent as John Major, and the episode that delves deeper into the lives of the Al Fayed family is a real triumph.
The Watcher
Now, if you are looking to watch something mindless and easy to consume, then The Watcher may be the show for you this Christmas. It stars quality talent, including Naomi Watts and Bobby Cannavale, and tells the ‘sort of’ true story of a family that moves into a house that may or may not be the subject of stalker activity and more than a little creepiness besides.
A well-off family moves into a new neighborhood, and everything seems just peachy… until it isn’t. The family starts to receive weird notes in their mailbox, which get steadily more chilling, and that, understandably, creeps the hell out of everyone, and the show turns into something of a whodunnit.
There are, of course, more holes in the show than Swiss cheese, but if you can ignore that and just ride the wave of stupidity, then this series is perfectly entertaining though you will be left wondering why A-List talents signed up for the project in the first place.
Inventing Anna
This entertaining miniseries is inspired by the story of Anna Sorokin, who managed to fool countless people into thinking she was an heiress to a fortune and therefore managed to rack up huge sums of money from those seeking to get into her circle. It all fell apart, of course, and she ended up being jailed.
The lead role is expertly portrayed by Julia Garner, who you may know well from her time in Ozark, and it’s an interesting enough show and one that proved very popular with Netflix viewers when it was first aired in February, so if you haven’t seen it yet, then it could be a nice binge-worthy series to consider during the festive period.
Other than these, there are honorable mentions for Ozark, which is an excellent show that came to a dramatic conclusion earlier this year.
Bridgerton’s second series is worth considering but is by no means on par with the first. Then there is Manifest, a show that looked dead and buried when it got started on NBC, only to be revived by Netflix, and has now developed a cult-like status, though we can’t quite work out why.
