The Chisholms (1979-1980)

Retired archaeologist Judith Potts lives alone in a faded mansion in the peaceful town of Marlow, filling her time by setting crosswords for the local paper. During one of her regular wild swims in the Thames, Judith hears a gunshot coming from a neighbour's garden and believes a brutal murder has taken place.

When the police are reluctant to believe her story, Judith finds herself forming an unlikely friendship with local dog-walker and empty-nester Suzie and unfulfilled vicar's wife Becks as they start an investigation of their own. Eventually asked to assist with the official police investigation, headed by newly promoted Tanika, the women must piece together clues, grill suspect witnesses, and face down real danger as they work against the clock to stop the killer in their tracks.

Upload is a sci-fi sitcom that takes place in the near future, where people who are near death can be "uploaded" into a virtual afterlife of their choice. In 2033, secretly romantic Brooklyn-born Nora works customer service for a luxurious virtual reality environment. When handsome L.A. party boy Nathan's self-driving car crashes, his high-maintenance girlfriend uploads him permanently into Nora's VR world. Nora starts as Nathan's customer service "angel", but becomes so much more as she helps him find friendship, love and purpose.

Hailed as one of the best sci-fi novels of the decade, Dark Matter is a story about the road not taken. The series follows Jason Dessen, a physicist, professor, and family man who – one night while walking home on the streets of Chicago – is abducted into an alternate version of his life. Wonder quickly turns to nightmare when he tries to return to his reality amid the multiverse of lives he could have lived. In this labyrinth of mind-bending realities, he embarks on a harrowing journey to get back to his true family and save them from the most terrifying, unbeatable foe imaginable: himself.

Shōgun is set in Japan in the year 1600 at the dawn of a century-defining civil war. Lord Yoshii Toranaga is fighting for his life as his enemies on the Council of Regents unite against him, when a mysterious European ship is found marooned in a nearby fishing village.

The Simpsons is the longest running scripted show in US television history. It captures the adventures of Homer, Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa who are living in a fictional town called Springfield.