I have known '24' addicts to switch their allegiance to M1-5 -- or Spooks, as it's known in the UK. Great characters & acting. After watching series 1, I had to go and buy series 2 the next day.

Grab this one fast. Several plots intertwine -- the terrorist bombing of a passenger plane in DC, the looming execution of a former British soldier for murder in a Florida prison, mysterious manoeuverings by a Blackwater-like group of mercenaries. Jason Isaacs stars as the British ambassador. A bit too glam to be a convincing diplomat, but excellent.

Ah, the great Kenneth Branagh... and the great Henning Mankell. All filmed on location in southern Sweden. Could mystery afficionados ask for anything more??

Costume dramas are one part of what British TV is renowned for, but this one gives the genre a bit of a twist. What might have happened had Elizabeth Bennet decamped from home for 21st century London and left Austen fanatic Amanda Price in her place, just as Bingley and Darcy arrive at Netherfield? Irresistible.

Another great Elizabeth Gaskell dramatization, featuring the wondrous Dame Judi Dench and Michael Gambon, trying to cope with change to their established way of life in the 1840s.

Another one that you'll need a multi-region player to see, but it's one of the classics that made the BBC's name. Set in the English civil war, siblings pitted against each other, witchhunters, cavaliers, etc.

Another intriguing WW2 drama, this one involving female SOE agents in occupied France. V. good, except for Jane Asher.

John Thaw is more familiar as inspector Morse; in this long series, he's James Kavanagh, whose ideals have given way to a reluctant prgamatism, but who remains committed to justice. Character-driven drama; excellent supporting cast.