As the year winds down and the Geektown Awards remain open for voting, I wanted to do something a little different. This list is not based on reader votes, data, or polling of any kind. It is simply my own personal “editor’s choice” ranking of the returning TV shows I enjoyed the most this year.
Some of these will undoubtedly feature heavily in the Geektown Awards. Others might not. That is fine. This is one editor’s end-of-year countdown, based on what stuck with me, what impressed me, and what I could not stop thinking about once the credits rolled.
And just a reminder, the Geektown Awards are still open for voting until Boxing Day!
So, with that firmly established, here are my top 10 returning shows of the year.
10. Mythic Quest Season 4 (Apple TV)
A bittersweet entry, as this season marked the end of the road for the dysfunctionally brilliant team at Mythic Quest. Season 4 saw Ian and Poppy clashing over their Elysium expansion, while David finally attempted to assert something resembling authority. The comedy remained sharp, particularly in its skewering of the games industry’s obsession with monetisation and burnout, but it was the emotional core that really landed.
The cancellation news was a blow, but credit where it is due. The re-edited finale gave these characters a genuine sense of closure rather than leaving things unresolved. It was a classy move and a fitting farewell to a show that consistently understood both the absurdity and the humanity of creative chaos.
9. Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 (Paramount+)
It remains baffling that this show was cancelled, especially after a final season that proved it was one of the strongest entries in modern Trek. Season 5 leaned hard into The Next Generation aesthetic while balancing multiverse-level sci-fi stakes with the usual lower-decks nonsense.
Mariner and Boimler were finally allowed to grow into officers who genuinely earned their pips, without sanding off their neurotic edges. It was affectionate, clever, and frequently more emotionally resonant than its live-action siblings. It went out on a high, but it deserved at least one more run around the galaxy.
8. Severance Season 2 (Apple TV)
After an agonisingly long wait, returning to Lumon Industries felt both unsettling and inevitable. Season 2 wasted no time dealing with the fallout of the Overtime Contingency, expanding the mythology in genuinely disturbing ways. The deeper dive into the Eagan family’s grand designs added scale without sacrificing the show’s creeping dread.
Adam Scott continued to be excellent as Mark’s two lives bled further together, but Tramell Tillman’s Milchick somehow became even more unsettling. With Season 3 confirmed, it now feels like Severance is driving deliberately and confidently toward a properly strange and definitive conclusion.
7. Reacher Season 3 (Prime Video)
Adapted from Persuader, this was a grittier, more claustrophobic season that thrived on tension rather than road-trip sprawl. Putting Reacher undercover shifted the dynamic in interesting ways, and the season leaned heavily on sustained suspense rather than sheer momentum.
Alan Ritchson remained perfectly cast, but the physicality this year really came into play with the introduction of Paulie, finally giving Reacher an opponent who felt genuinely formidable. With Season 4 already completed for 2026, the show continues to deliver exactly what it promises, without overcomplicating itself.
6. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 (Paramount+)
If Season 2 was experimental, Season 3 was fearless. The resolution of the Gorn storyline was unexpectedly brutal, before the show pivoted into a wildly varied run of episodes that jumped from comedy to noir to outright horror.
The Hollywood Noir murder mystery episode was a standout, giving Paul Wesley space to play against type in a delightfully strange way. The tonal swings will not be for everyone, but Strange New Worlds has earned the confidence to take risks. Visually, it remains the most striking Trek series to date, with an ensemble that continues to deepen these legacy characters rather than simply recycle them.
5. Foundation Season 3 (Apple TV)
Foundation has quietly grown into the most epic science-fiction series currently on television. Season 3 introduced The Mule, with Pilou Asbæk delivering a chilling, physical performance that grounded the show’s vast conceptual scale.
The major time jump allowed the narrative to reset once again, while Lee Pace continued to dominate as a slowly unraveling Day within the Cleonic Dynasty. Dense, political, and visually spectacular, this season left the galaxy in an alarmingly fragile state. The wait for Season 4 already feels far too long.
4. The Last of Us Season 2 (Sky Atlantic)
This was never going to be an easy watch, and the series did not attempt to soften the blow. Adapting the first half of Part II, Season 2 leaned hard into themes of grief, tribalism, and the brutal consequences of revenge.
Bella Ramsey delivered an extraordinary performance as Ellie’s grief hardened into rage, while the introduction of Abby was handled with impressive care and moral complexity. It was harrowing rather than entertaining, but also one of the most powerful pieces of television this year. The cliffhanger is cruel, but narratively necessary.
3. Andor Season 2 (Disney+)
Tony Gilroy absolutely stuck the landing. Structuring the final season as four three-episode arcs, each jumping forward in time, gave the story an escalating urgency that mirrored the rapid growth of the rebellion itself.
Cassian’s evolution into the figure we meet in Rogue One felt earned, while Mon Mothma’s political storyline was often as tense as any action sequence. Andor remains proof that Star Wars can be mature, political, and entirely compelling without leaning on Jedi or nostalgia. A near-perfect run from start to finish.
2. Stranger Things Season 5 (Netflix)
The final chapter arrived swinging. Set in the autumn of 1987, Hawkins is effectively a war zone, and the military occupation angle injected a fresh desperation into the show’s DNA.
Reuniting the core cast paid off enormously, particularly in the quieter character moments between the chaos. Part 1 has set the stage for what feels like a genuine cultural event, with the promise of an enormous finale still to come. If the landing sticks, Stranger Things will be remembered as one of Netflix’s defining achievements.
1. Slow Horses Season 5 (Apple TV)
It should not be possible for a spy thriller to be this funny and this tense at the same time, yet Slow Horses makes it look effortless. Season 5 adapted London Rules with glorious confidence, spinning what starts as office gossip into a city-wide crisis.
Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb remains one of the great TV characters of the decade, grotesque, abusive, and constantly three steps ahead of everyone else. The balance of razor-sharp dialogue, tightly staged action, and utter workplace incompetence is unmatched. It is the most consistently entertaining show on television right now, and worth an Apple TV subscription all by itself.
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