Drama TV shows are specific mode of fiction, often considered as a genre of poetry in general. Drama is one of the literary genres, a composition in verse or prose presenting a story in pantomime or dialogue, which is an imitation of some action. Quite a number of shows have depicted the dramatic mode, blending in with other fiction genres.
Here are the best Drama TV shows on Netflix right now.
In the article
- 1. La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)
- 2. Alias Grace
- 3. Peaky Blinders
- 4. Mindhunter
- 5. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
- 6. Mad Men
- 7. Breaking Bad
- 8. Better Call Saul
- 9. The West Wing
- 10. The Returned
- 11. Halt and Catch Fire
- 12. Rectify
- 13. The Fall
- 14. The Crown
- 15. Person of Interest
- 16. Gotham
- 17. Narcos
- 18. Legacies
1. La Casa de Papel (Money Heist)
A criminal mastermind who goes by “The Professor” has a plan to pull off the biggest heist in recorded history – to print billions of euros in the Royal Mint of Spain. To help him carry out the ambitious plan, he recruits eight people with certain abilities and who have nothing to lose. The group of thieves take hostages to aid in their negotiations with the authorities, who strategize to come up with a way to capture The Professor. As more time elapses, the robbers prepare for a showdown with the police.
2. Alias Grace
Based on the 1996 Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, “Alias Grace” tells the story of young Grace Marks, a poor Irish immigrant and domestic servant in Upper Canada who is accused and convicted of the 1843 murder of her employer and his housekeeper. Stablehand James McDermott is also convicted of the crime. McDermott is hanged, but Grace is sentenced to life in prison, leading her to become one of the most notorious women of the period in Canada. The story is based on actual 19th-century events.
3. Peaky Blinders
Britain is a mixture of despair and hedonism in 1919 in the aftermath of the Great War. Returning soldiers, newly minted revolutions and criminal gangs are fighting for survival in a nation rocked by economic upheaval. One of the most powerful gangs of the time is the Peaky Blinders, run by returning war hero Thomas Shelby and his family. But Thomas has bigger ambitions than just running the streets. When a crate of guns goes missing, he recognizes an opportunity to advance in the world because crime may pay but legitimate business pays better. Trying to rid Britain of its crime is Inspector Chester Campbell, who arrives from Belfast to try to achieve that goal.
4. Mindhunter
Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain’s mind to figure out how he thinks. That’s the job of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. They attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their damaged psyches. Along the way, the agents pioneer the development of modern serial-killer profiling. The crime drama has a strong pedigree behind the camera, with Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron among the show’s executive producers.
5. The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
After the bodies of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman are discovered, police finger O.J. as a suspect and prosecutor Marcia Clark takes the case. While his lawyers play to the media, a suicidal O.J. leads police on a slow-speed car chase before turning himself in to face charges of homicide. This dramatization, based on true events, traces the twists and turns of O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, examining behind-the-scenes gambits on both sides of the court. The pursuit, arrest, and trial were among the most widely publicized events in American history. The trial, often characterized as the ‘Trial of the Century’ because of its international publicity, culminated after eleven months on October 3, 1995, when the jury rendered a verdict. An estimated 100 million people nationwide tuned in to watch or listen to the verdict announcement.
6. Mad Men
Mad Men is set primarily in the 1960s – initially at the fictional Sterling Cooper advertising agency on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, New York City – later at the newly created firm of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce (later named Sterling Cooper & Partners), located near the Time-Life Building at 1271 Sixth Avenue. It focuses on the day-to-day business of the advertising agencies, as well as the personal lives of the characters, thereby depicting the changing moods and social mores of the United States throughout the 1960s. Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) is the focus in the series, initially as the talented creative director at Sterling Cooper, and later as a founding partner at Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce, and so the series tracks the people in his personal and professional lives.
7. Breaking Bad
Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can’t get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels.
8. Better Call Saul
He wasn’t always Saul Goodman, ace attorney for chemist-turned-meth dealer Walter White. Six years before he begins to represent Albuquerque’s most notorious criminal, Goodman is Jimmy McGill, a small-time attorney hustling to make a name for himself. He’s a forceful champion for his low-income clients, an underdog whose morals and ambitions often clash. Jimmy works with private eye Mike Ehrmantraut, a former Philadelphia cop and recent transplant to the Southwest. Mike has a specialized skill set – he’s a “fixer” of sticky situations – that Jimmy soon learns to appreciate.
9. The West Wing
Cutthroat presidential advisers get their personal lives hopelessly tangled up with professional duties as they try to conduct the business of running a country. Fictional Democratic President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet suffers no fools, and that policy alienates many. He and his dedicated staffers struggle to balance the needs of the country with the political realities of Washington, D.C., working through two presidential terms that include countless scandals, threats and political scuffles, as well as the race to succeed Bartlet as the leader of the free world.
10. The Returned
From executive producers Carlton Cuse (“Lost,” “Bates Motel”) and Raelle Tucker (“True Blood”), “The Returned” is set in a small town that is changed forever when a seemingly random collection of locals suddenly reappear. What they do not yet know is that they have been dead for several years, and of course no one is expecting them back. Families are reunited, and the lives of those who were left behind are challenged on a physical and emotional level, as both positive and detrimental consequences accompany the undead’s arrival. “The Returned” is based on the popular, International Emmy-winning French suspense series adapted by Fabrice Gobert and inspired by the feature film “Les Revenants.”
11. Halt and Catch Fire
It’s the early 1980s, and the spirit of innovation in personal computing is about to catch fire. Hot on the trail is a renegade trio – a visionary, an engineer and a prodigy – who risk everything to realize their vision of building a computer that can change the future. Not long after IBM corners the market with its flagship PC, a flaw is discovered in its operation, opening the door for competition. In steps Joe MacMillan, a former IBM executive who now works for Cardiff Electric. MacMillan plans to reverse-engineer IBM’s technology, putting Cardiff in the thick of the personal computer race. He enlists the help of engineer Gordon Clark, who dreams of creating a revolutionary computer, and Cameron Howe, a volatile prodigy who puts her future on the line to join MacMillan’s rogue project.
12. Rectify
Sundance Channel’s first wholly owned scripted series stars Aden Young as Daniel Holden, who spends nearly 20 years on death row for the rape and murder of a teenage girl, before new DNA evidence nullifies his conviction. He returns home, but he’s far from welcomed. He’s an outsider now in a town that remains divided by his alleged crime, and contributing to his uncertain future is the man who prosecuted him – riding that notoriety to become a state senator – is plotting to reopen the case. As he struggles to adapt, Daniel is comforted by support from his younger sister, Amantha, who has always believed in his innocence and has worked her entire adult life to secure his release. Not so for Ted Jr., Daniel’s stepbrother with whom he has no relationship. Insecure and manipulative, Ted is skeptical of Daniel’s motives and will do anything to protect his family.
13. The Fall
The psychological thriller examines the lives of two hunters – one is a serial killer who preys on victims in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland, and the other is a female detective drafted from the London Metropolitan Police to catch him. The local authorities have no suspects and no experience with cases involving sexually motivated serial killers; DSI Stella Gibson has. She heads a task force dedicated to solving the crime spree, with a simple motto: Anyone not part of the solution is part of the problem. The killer? He’s Paul Spector, a father and a husband leading a double life, as viewers learn from the outset. He’s hiding in plain sight, the protagonist in a cat and mouse game that is every police officer’s worst nightmare.
14. The Crown
Based on an award-winning play (“The Audience”) by showrunner Peter Morgan, this lavish, Netflix-original drama chronicles the life of Queen Elizabeth II from the 1940s to modern times. The series begins with an inside look at the early reign of the queen, who ascended the throne at age 25 after the death of her father, King George VI. As the decades pass, personal intrigues, romances, and political rivalries are revealed that played a big role in events that shaped the later years of the 20th century.
15. Person of Interest
Former CIA agent Reese (Jim Caviezel) – now presumed dead – and billionaire software genius Finch (Michael Emerson) join forces as a vigilante crime-fighting team. Using Finch’s program, which employs pattern recognition to determine individuals who will soon be involved in violent crimes, they combine Reese’s covert-operations training and Finch’s money and cyberskills to stop crimes before they happen. Former Army Intelligence Support Activity operative Sameen Shaw joins the pair in their quest.
16. Gotham
James Gordon is a rising detective in the dangerously corrupt Gotham City, where his late father was a successful district attorney. Brave, honest and determined to prove himself, Gordon must navigate the dirty politics of Gotham’s justice system as well as the rise of malevolent villains, including The Penguin, The Riddler and Catwoman. The series also chronicles the life of young Bruce Wayne, who becomes an orphan when his billionaire parents Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered. Gordon becomes a friend to young Bruce as he finds his way toward becoming the iconic caped crusader.
17. Narcos
Netflix chronicles the rise of the cocaine trade in Colombia and the gripping real-life stories of drug kingpins of the late ’80s in this raw, gritty original series. Also detailed are the actions taken by law enforcement as they battle in the war on drugs, targeting notorious and powerful figures that include drug lord Pablo Escobar. As efforts are made to control cocaine, one of the world’s most valuable commodities, the many entities involved – legal, political, police, military and civilian – find themselves in conflict.
18. Legacies
The town of Mystic Falls has a new generation of protectors in this spin-off of “The Vampire Diaries” and “The Originals.” The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted is home to Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter Hope, Alaric Saltzman’s twins Lizzie and Josie, and other young adults who are coming of age as witches, vampires and werewolves, nurtured to be their best selves and overcome their villainous impulses. Together, they rely on ancient folklore and tales to learn how to battle their far-reaching enemies and attempt to keep balance in the world.
