The Sopranos

Sky Atlantic, Now

Some TV shows brighten your afternoon. Others change the world. The Sopranos, which you can watch in full on Now, Sky’s streaming service, falls into the latter camp. It was the series that began the “prestige-TV” revolution (albeit building on the prison drama Oz, another HBO original) – and that gave the world the trope of the “difficult man”.

The small-screen anti-hero would in the end become a cliche that needed to be retired. But James Gandolfini riveted us as Tony Soprano, a thug and psychopath who just wants to be a normal guy. His performance would blaze a trail – and be followed by Breaking Bad’s Walter White and Mad Men’s Don Draper, among others. Plus, The Sopranos finishes its six-season run with one of the most daring endings of all time. If you want to lose yourself in front of the screen, there is nowhere better to start. This is Shakespeare with a New Jersey accent.

Only Murders in the Building

Disney+

We’re living through a “cosy crime” epidemic, as demonstrated by the internet-gobbling success of Knives Out: Glass Onion. For a less manic caper, Disney+ has us covered with Only Murders in the Building, a three-hander featuring Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin.

The setting is a ritzy Manhattan apartment block, where the stars play a trio of lost souls bonding over their passion for true-crime podcasts. They became podcasters…