Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

99p is too good an offer to miss out on

by Casimir Harlow
Movies & TV Shows Article

27

Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

Although Disney+ may be brimming with endless content, for roughly the same annual price - thanks to a 3 month discount that expires on 15th April - those on lockdown could find a whole lot more original content and unexpected gems on the Amazon add-on channel, Starz. We take a look at the best of what Starz offers, currently available for 99p a month.

Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

10. Magic City

Jeffrey Dean Morgan's cool-as-Danny-Ocean failing hotel owner strikes up a deal with Danny Huston's mob boss in late 50s Miami, leading to no end of trouble at his deluxe resort. Magic City didn't seek to go anywhere very fast, but somehow still seduced you with its luxurious sun-drenched setting, smooth players in their cool suits and relentless nudity. It's got a strong cast too, with support from Bond girl Olga Kurylenko, Road House's Kelly Lynch (also in Starz's Mr Mercedes), The Expanse's Steven Strait, The Outsider's Yul Vasquez, and even The Godfather's James Caan himself, and whilst it was abruptly - though unsurprisingly - cancelled, there's still much to enjoy here, not least from the always watchable leads Morgan and Huston, who deserved stronger material to work their magic.

Starz follow-up: season two, which picked up the pace


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

9. Spartacus: Blood and Sand

Undoubtedly a strong contender for the top title on this entire list, Spartacus is only further down this list due to the fact that it's been around for a decade and you really should have already seen it by now. One of Starz's flagship originals, the blood-and-guts, sex-and-violence period actioner provides far more than just swords, sandals, sex, sweat and slo-mo style, actually drawing you in with decent characters, committed performances, complex political machinations and - to top it all off - welcome ultra violence. Absolutely tremendous 10/10 viewing.

Starz follow-up: make sure you watch all four seasons, including the integral prequel series Gods of the Arena, then the second and third seasons Vengeance and War of the Damne


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

8. The Act

A painful examination of motherly love gone too far, mental illness, Munchausen by proxy, and just plain stiflingly toxic family relationships and abuse, True Romance's Patricia Arquette (recently strong in Escape at Dannemora) is scarily good whilst Slender Man's Joey King is unrecognisable as the young, trapped daughter. Based on a true story - and garnering some measure of criticism and controversy along the way - the mini-series is well worth checking out, if you can stomach it.

Starz follow-up: Sweetbitter


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

7. Perpetual Grace

Strange and often hard to place, with quirky black humour and dark events that wouldn't leave it wholly incomparable to the excellent Fargo TV series, Perpetual Grace has a few interesting ideas but mostly hooks you by basically having Ben Kingsley tear up the landscape in one of his trademark super-articulate psychopath roles (he's basically like a cousin of his character from Sexy Beast). With a strong supporting cast including Westworld's Jimmi Simpson, Carlito's Way's Luiz Guzman, Justified's Damon Herriman and Lost's Terry O'Quinn as a dogged Texas Ranger, it's only a shame that the show never made it beyond a 10 episode limited run.

Starz follow-up: the late Dennis Hopper in two seasons of the watchable Crash TV series


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

6. The Spanish Princess

Continuing the powerful combination of authentically decadent period detail, strong character-driven drama, and political machinations galore, The Spanish Princess takes up the mantle after its two royal predecessors, shining a spotlight on Henry VIII's first - and arguably most important - wife, Catherine of Aragon, whose marriage (or more specifically, divorce) with Henry effectively led to the splitting of the Church.

Starz follow-up: prequel series The White Princess, with Killing Eve's Jodie Comer, and the prequel to that, with Rebecca Ferguson in The White Queen


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

5. Counterpart

This ill-fated show shouldn't be judged on the fact it was, much like many Starz original shows, cancelled before its time, with J. K. Simmons absolutely compelling at the centre of this Man in the High Castle-esque sci-fi spy thriller series, which involves a portal to a parallel Earth, and no end of complications that ensue from the connection between the worlds. Add Clear and Present Danger's James Cromwell, The Shadow Line's Stephen Rea and The West Wing's Richard Schiff into the bargain and it won't be long before you wonder why they ever cancelled it.

Starz follow-up: There's a second season of Counterpart with double the J.K. Simmons.


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

4. Mr Mercedes

The first of two King-themed entries, this is one of the legendary author's few non-supernatural stories, a hard-boiled noir thriller headlined by the excellent Brendan Gleeson as a beleaguered retired cop who is being taunted by the killer behind one of the worst of his old unsolved cases.

Starz follow-up: Two more seasons of Mr Mercedes and counting


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

3. Castle Rock

One of the best Stephen King productions which King didn't actually, technically, write, is this wonderful fictional medley universe that does for King's films what Once Upon a Time did for Disney and fairytales, bringing the many familiar characters from King's most (and least) famous stories into the same strange town for unsurprisingly supernaturally-themed mystery horror trouble. Although it's initially a slow-burner, the show proved immensely satisfying, particularly for avid fans of the writer's work.

Starz follow-up: Lizzy Caplan's foot-hobbling entry in Season 2


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

2. Pennyworth

We have a Batman-less Gotham, a Robin-led Titans TV series, and a Batwoman TV series, a Batman-less Joker film kick-starting a likely Batman-less dark villain franchise, so what else could be possibly milked from this universe? How about a prequel series about Alfred? The show that nobody wanted - a fact made even worse when fans realised that Sean Pertwee, who was excellent in the role in Gotham, wouldn't be playing the part - actually proved to be surprisingly solid, charting the Bond-esque exploits of a young, ex-SAS Alfred in a steampunk alternate London. With Gotham's Danny Cannon working behind the scenes, perhaps the end results shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise, but for those missing their Gotham fix, this is well worth checking out.

Starz follow-up: Kelsey Grammar on commanding form in Boss


Top 10 Starz Original TV Shows

1. Doom Patrol

DC's Titans - which was picked up by Netflix in the UK - may have been a thoroughly pleasant, gritty, dark and distinctly adult DC series, a far cry from its Arrowverse counterparts, but the fast-tracked spin-off series, Doom Patrol, proved an even more surprising original show. To Titans what Legends is to the Arrowverse, or what Guardians is to the MCU, Doom Patrol's witty, immensely quirky tale of a wildly disparate group of 'superheroes' revels in its weirdness, trading in equal parts sharp wit and unexpected tragedy, giving heart and soul to the likes of Alan Tudyk's Mr Nobody, Brendan Fraser's cyborg Cliff Steele, April Bowlby's shape-changing Rita Farr, Diane Guerrero's multiple personality Jane, Joivan Wade's Cyborg, all under the wonderful leadership of Timothy Dalton's gruff chief. Superb.


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