Can you remember life before TV box sets?
They changed our television consumption habits – and expectations – forever, and they continue to dominate our viewing lives. A new poll from Sky has found that 64% of British people are going for a box set over a book (rising to 82 per cent when it comes to the under-24s).
The survey also asked for respondents’ picks for the best TV box sets ever. Of course, this is one poll, and it isn’t definitive, but it does give some insight into what British people love and have loved watching. These are the results:
10. Prison Break
The US jailbreak drama, which aired from 2005 – 2009, was  picked by 13.4% of viewers. It’s an insanely addictive watch, even if it did go off the rails a bit in its last season.
The good news for fans is that a reboot is now in the works with nearly all of the original cast, and will air later this year (early 2017 at the latest).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFDMGvrqkaZ/
Also Prison Break star Wentworth Miller is a really great bloke in real life too; he wrote this great post back in March in response to “fat shaming” pics of him run on tabloid sites.
9. Father Ted
The Irish Channel 4 clerical comedy was the choice of 13.8% of telly fans. It’s now over 20 years old, but its genius just seems to grow more apparent with every year that passes.
8. The Sopranos
It has been off the air for nearly 10 years now, but The Sopranos continues to cast a long shadow over TV viewers (chosen by 14.3% of people in this poll). Indeed, in many ways the show still dominates the TV landscape itself – and that final shot in the very last episode still divides people.  Don’t stop believin’.
You can take our Sopranos character quiz here.
7. 24
Damn it Chloe!
The Kiefer Sutherland ticking-clock thriller practically invented binge-watching TV (it was nicknamed “Crack Bauer” after Sutherland’s character Jack Bauer, because it was so addictive). And while the later seasons in its eight year run (plus that recent, shorter reboot series) collapsed under the weight of its own ludicrous plot twists, 24 remains one of the most influential – and enjoyable – hits of this “Golden Age of Television”. It’s still clearly held in high esteem too: 15.6% of people plumped for 24 in the poll.
6. Breaking Bad
The hugely acclaimed drug/crime thriller got 16.2% of the vote – though some people might be surprised that it didn’t poll higher.
You can take our Bad character quiz here.
5. Making A Murderer
The newest entry in the poll (with 20% of the vote), the Netflix true crime docu-series became a fully-fledged cultural phenomenon when it started last December – and it continues to generate headlines. A follow-up series is almost inevitable at this stage.
4. Friends
After the next (Trump-induced) World War, only three things will survive: cockroaches, internet trolls, and Friends repeats. Some 23.30% voted for the US sitcom in the poll. Here’s the question though: does anyone actually own DVD copies of the Friends series? Or is your consumption always TV-based?
You can take our Friends love-interest quiz here.
3. The Walking Dead
The zombie horror-thriller just cannot be killed – fittingly enough – with 27% of the vote, despite some fan grumbling about the quality of the most recent seasons.
2. The X-Files
Bit of a surprise this one – its high placing (with 29.2% of votes) is either due to the age of the majority of respondents (’90s kids, we assume) or the fact that the recent reboot mini-series rejuvenated interest in the sci-fi series. Still, it’s great that such a weird, unlikely hit show can still command an audience.
Plus it inspired a cracking episode of The Simpsons.
1. Game Of Thrones
Probably not the biggest shock in the world, Game Of Thrones comes out on top with 32.7% of votes. Though only time will tell if GoT is to truly command a long-term place in viewers’ hearts and minds the way shows like The Sopranos and Breaking Bad have.
What nobody can deny is that it is the biggest TV show in the world right now, so much so that even if you don’t watch GoT, you know just about everything that’s happening in it – and every character too (test your knowledge of that here).
Honestly, it’s probably easier to just give in and start watching now.
