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Time poster

Shows that feel likeTime (2021–)

Guilt, violence and impossible choices – what does it take to survive? Tense, gritty and heartbreaking – Jimmy McGovern's award-winning prison drama, with an all-star cast.

If you loved Time, the closest series we have are Broadchurch (2013), 13 Reasons Why (2017) and Carrie (2026). All three share Time's contemplative and melancholy feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Shrinking (2023).

★ 8.1 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗3 seasons · BBC Onecreated by Jimmy McGoverncontemplativegrittymelancholy
11 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video
Stream it:BritBox ↗

If Time hit the spot, these will too

Broadchurch poster
Broadchurch
2013–2017 · 3 seasons · ITV1
★ 8.3crime · drama · mysteryNetflixPeacock

Both land stillness and grit at once

The difference: Sits closer to mystery than Time does

The murder of a young boy in a small coastal town brings a media frenzy, which threatens to tear the community apart.

13 Reasons Why poster
13 Reasons Why
2017–2020 · 4 seasons · Netflix
★ 7.4drama · mysteryNetflix

Two things both keep coming back to: suicide and mental illness

High school student Clay Jensen lands in the center of a series of heartbreaking mysteries set in motion by a friend's tragic suicide.

Carrie poster
Carrie
2026 · 1 season · Prime Video
★ 7.8mystery · drama · sci-fi & fantasyPrime Video

Both lean on melancholy more than on drama

The difference: Takes it somewhere less gritty than Time does

After her father's sudden, untimely death thrusts her into the unforgiving ecosystem of public high school, Carrie is forced to navigate a viral bullying scandal that tears through her community, the relentless pressure and casual cruelty of the social‑media age, and the awakening of mysterious telekinetic powers that rise alongside her adolescence.

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given
2019 · 1 season · Fuji TV
★ 8.2animation · drama

Both are built on the same subject: suicide

The difference: Trades the grit of Time for an angle of its own

Ritsuka’s lost his spark for music—until he hears Mafuyu sing. One voice pulls him back in, and suddenly, everything starts to change between them.

This Is Us poster
This Is Us
2016–2022 · 6 seasons · NBC
★ 8.7dramaHuluParamount+

Contemplative crime, and it commits to that

Follows the lives and families of three adults living and growing up in the United States of America in present and past times. As their paths cross and their life stories intertwine in curious ways, we find that several of them share the same birthday - and so much more than anyone would expect.

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Locked Up
2015–2019 · 4 seasons · FOX España
★ 7.8drama · crimeNetflix

Common ground in both: prison and prison guard

Set up to take the blame for corporate fraud, young Macarena Ferreiro is locked up in a high-security women's prison surrounded by tough, ruthless criminals in this tense, provocative Spanish thriller.

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Black Bird
2022 · 1 season · Apple TV
★ 8.1drama · crimeApple TV+

The same preoccupation in both: prison

As Jimmy Keene begins a 10-year prison sentence, he gets an incredible offer: If he can elicit a confession from suspected killer Larry Hall, Jimmy will be freed. Completing this mission becomes the challenge of a lifetime.

Barry poster
Barry
2018–2023 · 4 seasons · HBO
★ 8.3comedy · crime · dramaMax

Drama built on grit, twice over

A hit man from the Midwest moves to Los Angeles and gets caught up in the city's theatre arts scene.

Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ poster
Surviving Escobar - Alias JJ
2017 · 1 season · Caracol TV
★ 7.8drama · crime

Crime with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

As the Medellín Cartel crumbles, Pablo Escobar's No. 1 hit man struggles to stay alive and gain respect in the prison hierarchy.

Shrinking poster
Shrinking
2023– · 3 seasons · Apple TV
★ 8.2drama · comedyApple TV+

Melancholy drama in both cases

Jimmy is struggling to grieve the loss of his wife while being a dad, friend, and therapist. He decides to try a new approach with everyone in his path: unfiltered, brutal honesty. Will it make things better—or unleash uproarious chaos?

The Leftovers poster
The Leftovers
2014–2017 · 3 seasons · HBO
★ 8.3sci-fi & fantasy · dramaMax

Melancholy crime, and it commits to that

When 2% of the world's population abruptly disappears without explanation, the world struggles to understand just what they're supposed to do about it. This is the story of the people who didn't make the cut.

Six Feet Under poster
Six Feet Under
2001–2005 · 5 seasons · HBO
★ 8.7dramaMax

The same drama instincts

The difference: 20 years apart, and the 2000s show

When death is your business, what is your life? For the Fisher family, the world outside of their family-owned funeral home continues to be at least as challenging as—and far less predictable than—the one inside.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed series that share Time’s defining feeling.