From Killing Eve to Bodyguard and Queer Eye – which TV series born in 2018 will you still be binging in years to come?

While the UK plunged deep in the darkest depths of despair, television made sure we were dragged out of our Brexit doom to bring what was undoubtedly a monumental year on the small screen.

From sobbing over helpless guys being made over by the fab five on Queer Eye, to crying a collective scream when Julia Montague was blown up in Bodyguard, 2018 gave birth to a sleuth of instant classics.

While the likes of The Walking Dead and The X Factor reached their expiry date and are firmly ready to be put in the bin for 2019, Metro.co.uk has handpicked our favourite new series of the year which will still be binged in years to come.

Killing Eve

Initially released on BBC America in April 2019, Killing Eve took its sweet time before it became the colossal success it is in the UK today.

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The six-part series followed Sandra Oh as a borderline sociopathic MI5 officer Eve Polaastri who becomes obsessed with actual sociopath assassin, Villanelle.

It was as thrilling and comical as it was stylish, thanks to writer Pheobe Waller-Bridge, star of Fleabag. And despite its lead Sandra Oh scooping all the big accolades, it was 25-year-old Scouse Jodie Comer who captivated millions and is no doubt the biggest part in making this one of the greatest success stories of 2018.

Sally4Ever

Julia Davis absurd branch of comedy flew to a whole new level to satisfy fans of Nighty Night and Camping in Sally4Ever. The Sky Atlantic and HBO series followed crazed nightclub singer Emma who manages to gatecrash the life of bored office worker Sally.

Before Sally knows it, a spontaneous night out flips her life upside down as her dull fiancé David moves out, her new lesbian lover moves in and her life is packed with wild sex and terrible life choices.

The Haunting of Hill House

Its been a long time since TV was actually bolt-the-door and watch with the light on terrifying, but The Haunting of Hill House was the very first time a series was uttered in the same breath as The Exorcist, The Shining or Psycho.

Lifted from the 1959 novel of the same name, also responsible for the 1999s The Haunting, the Netflix horror followed a family over two timelines, during their brief residence at Hill House and the repercussions which followed into their adulthood.

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Millions were genuinely reduced to vomiting, but carried on watching regardless, while Stephen King himself hailed the show as a work of genius.

The Circle

Just when you think youve seen it all in reality television, along came The Circle.

Channel 4 basically nailed how Big Brother should have evolved in the digital age when eight contestants were left to fend for themselves in an apartment building with just social media as a means to communicate with each other.

Players could chose to be themselves or take on the identity of a catfish, with just one goal to become the most popular member of The Circle – using any means possible.

Kicking off to moderate success, through word of mouth The Circle became the go-to water cooler topic of conversation in every office, and suddenly the death of Big Brother was an easier pill to swallow.

Channel 4 have not only promised another series, Netflix are taking the show worldwide.

Homecoming

Julia Roberts was one of the few genuine movie stars left yet to take the plunge into television before 2018, but Homecoming was easily some of her best work in years.

Taken from the podcast of the same name, Amazon Primes thriller follows Heidi Bergman, a former caseworker at a special facility set up by the Geist Group to help soldiers with PTSD return to civilian life.

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Although, as we follow her years later Bergman has no recollection of her time at Geist and soon realises that she became an important cog in what was a very dangerous machine.

Dynasties

David Attenborough has been hailed for many things but a gambler isnt one of them. Dynasties, however, was perhaps the biggest risk of his career so far.

Driven by anguish at the worlds lackluster response to climate change, each episode honed in on one central character as we watched them protect the family against nature, each other, and their biggest threat, humanity.

We were introduced to David the chimp, the heroic primate who fought and almost died at the hands of rival aspiring leaders, before we saw wolves devoured by crocodiles, lion cubs fatally poisoned by human pesticides and cameramen break that golden rule of intervention to rescue a school of trapped penguins.

Queer Eye

Can you believe we only met Fab Five, Jonathan Van Ness, Tan France, Bobby Berk, Karomo Brown and Antoni Porowski at the beginning of 2018? Netflix rebooted 2003s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, dropping the straight guy, to help anyone looking to not only makeover their wardrobe, but their entire life.

Since launching in in February, Queer Eye has not only become essential Sunday sobfest viewing, its one of the most important moments in pop culture of recent years.

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At its core, Queer Eye is essentially men asking other men for help. Its the perfect example of kindness, compassion and vulnerability that men have been trying so hard to avoid, but so badly need.

Quite simply, its fabulous.

Wild Wild Country

The thirst for true crime did nothing to slow down in 2018 and Netflix have become the all-you-can drink bar for £6.99 a month to satisfy that quench.

Wild Wild Country was easily the most WTF docuseries this year; a shocking account of a utopian community which found itself at the centre of one of the most elaborate American scandals of the 21st Century, yet somehow went relatively under the radar.

With confessions from all the key players and their opponents, what unfolds through the course of the six episodes is genuinely beyond belief.

Bodyguard

If theres one series which truly captured the nation in 2018, that series was undoubtedly Bodyguard.

Jed Mercurios BBC thriller came out of nowhere to become the single most successful drama on the BBC since records began as Richard Maddens David Budd failed to protect the UKs Home Secretary, Julia Montague.

Was he a hero? Was he a terrorist? Budds allegiance was shrouded with uncertainty right until the finale – easily the most stressful 75 minutes of television since Maddens infamous demise in Game of Thrones.

And thanks to colossal ratings and the power of the fandom, Budd could well be back on screens in 2019.

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