There was a time when ITV was mostly watched for the news, game shows and a variety of early evening soap operas. Seen by some as lower-brow than the BBC and Channel 4, the network seemingly understood its role and stuck to it.
Not so these days. Thanks to the age of the streaming service and the 2022 relaunch of its free online platform, ITVX, the broadcaster is now as synonymous with drama, film, documentaries, and comedy series as its main rivals. And it shows no signs of stopping.
Here then are three hidden gems you can now binge on ITVX.
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters
If you remember the Monkey Tennis scene in I’m Alan Partridge you can’t fail to wryly smile at the title of this ITVX reality show.
It was surely pitched in jest.
However, an ITV executive clearly thought it more than a joke and decided to take the plunge, so to speak. And thus we have a show where British celebrities of varying grades, including Sir Lenny Henry, are almost literally thrown into the deep end to face a variety of man-eating sharks.
And all for our entertainment.
Weirdly though, instead of being car crash level viewing, Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters is compelling, relevant and interesting viewing, while also managing to highlight the plight of sharks in today’s ecologically challenged planet. It’s bonkers, but works!
Now, all I’m waiting for is Monkey Tennis hosted by Katie Price and I can retire from TV writing once and for all.
Cracker
In 2025, we take for granted that there always seems to be a gritty and adult crime show on TV for us to become obsessed with. But everything has to start somewhere, and in the UK especially it is fair to say that Cracker was the genesis of what we have today.
Running from 1993 to 1996, this ITV crime show created by the legendary Jimmy McGovern (The Lakes, Unforgivable) and starring the late, great Robbie Coltrane (Harry Potter…) introduced us all to dark and grown up crime stories where good and bad are not as black and white as we would otherwise hope.
Coltrane stars as Dr Edward “Fitz” Fitzgerald, an anti-social, obnoxious and deeply troubled criminal psychologist working alongside the police to catch the very worst criminals. Although incredibly gifted, his personal life is in constant turmoil threatening to overwhelm him and affect the cases he works on.
Shocking, bold, tense, and absolutely compelling, Cracker pretty much invented modern crime television and the idea that a damaged and morally broken protagonist works perfectly within a well written narrative.
It’s all on ITV and well worth a watch – if uncomfortable at times.
Scrubs
Think about pretty much every comedy show you love today. Now think about the way it is filmed, and its use of meta commentary, surreal cut scenes, self-deprecating characters, and random, yet perfectly chosen “needle drops” that transform scenes.
Everything you know and love has in likely been influenced by Scrubs.
From its inception in 2001, the sitcom set in a hospital was seen as groundbreaking. With superb writing, actual laugh out loud moments, and a cast of memorable, well-defined characters, it gripped us across its 182 episodes over a nine year run.
It also had the uncanny ability to both make you burst out laughing and burst into tears while watching the same episode – such was the quality of the writing and the talent in the performances.
Now, more than 15 years after it was cancelled, a 10th season has been commissioned, so here’s you change to catch up with the previous nine in preparation. You won’t be disappointed.
