01 An underseen drama about the personal-computer revolution, one of the decade's best hidden gems.
12 Best Prestige Dramas of the 2010s
By Vlad Zakh · May 12, 2026
Breaking Bad finished just as the decade began and set the bar every prestige drama had to clear, while Succession and Better Call Saul arrived later and showed the format still evolving. Halt and Catch Fire is an underseen drama about the personal-computer revolution, The Leftovers asks what happens after 2% of the world vanishes, and True Detective’s first season redefined the detective show. Fargo gives each season its own tragedy. The Americans, Chernobyl, The Crown, Mad Men and Game of Thrones round out the list.
01 
02 One of the most devastating shows about grief ever made for television.
03 An anthology series whose first season, following two Louisiana detectives, redefined the genre.
04 An anthology crime series inspired by the Coen brothers' film, with each season its own self-contained tragedy.
05 Soviet spies pose as an ordinary American family at the height of the Cold War.
06 A harrowing, meticulous dramatisation of the 1986 nuclear disaster and its cover-up.
07 A small-time lawyer's slow, tragic transformation into the man he becomes in Breaking Bad.
08 A lavish dramatisation of Queen Elizabeth II's reign across seven decades.
09 A media dynasty's children scheme to inherit their father's empire, in one of the sharpest scripts on television.
10 A moody, meticulous look at a 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency and the man at its centre.
11 A sprawling fantasy epic about noble houses fighting for a throne as an ancient threat returns.
12 A chemistry teacher turns meth kingpin, in one of the most complete character arcs on television.
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