10 sci-fi, fantasy and history shows to binge over Thanksgiving break
By Dan Selcke
The Crown
Want something that’s still rich and sumptuous but not quite as smack-you-in-the-face confrontational? You can’t do much better than The Crown, currently streaming on Netflix. This show dives into the British royal family, tracing the reign of Queen Elizabeth II from her coronation in 1953 all the way up through the early ’90s, and there are two more seasons to go.
The show works on a lot of levels. The acting is great, with heavyweights like John Lithgow, Matt Smith, Olivia Colman, Helena Bonham Carter and Gillian Anderson all rotating in and out of the cast, which changes as the characters age. The sets and costumes are top-notch. The scope is impressive but the drama is very intimate, with most of it hinging on small-scale family dramas writ large across history. It’s a cozy show perfect for the longer, colder nights of autumn.
The most recent season ups the stakes by bringing in two towering figures from British history: Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana, who join forces to make the new season the best yet. Now is the perfect time to catch up on this slow-burning historical drama.
His Dark Materials
Streaming on HBO and HBO Max, His Dark Materials is an adaptation of Philip Pullman’s popular fantasy book trilogy of the same name, following children Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) and Will Parry (Amir Wilson) as they grapple with supernatural forces beyond their control, in the process encountering talking polar bears, murderous witches, knifes that can cut through dimensions, bloodthirsty golden monkeys, physics and literal angels.
His Dark Materials is a young adult series that doesn’t quite feel like any other young adult series out there. It has a quiet, literary bent to it — if you prefer your fantasy shows more low-key, this is a good option.
The show is in the midst of the second of (we hope) three seasons on HBO, so now is a good time to catch up so you can enjoy the finale with everyone else.