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The Best TV Shows on ARTE

Every ARTE Show Ranked From Best To Worst

A broadcaster of distinction, ARTE has aired more than 20 shows between 1990 and 2022. For top-tier entertainment, ARTE delivered Mapping the World and Sphinx – Secrets of the History in 1990 and 1994. Peruse our comprehensive roster of ARTE’s top shows, encompassing over 20 distinct series as of April 2025.

  • Cuisines des terroirs
    Cuisines des terroirs (2001)10.0

    A sensual approach to culinary art "on the ground", meeting farmers, winegrowers, restaurateurs and cooks, where gastronomy and the art of living have their roots.

  • 42 – The Answer to Almost Everything
    42 – The Answer to Almost Everything (2021)9.5

  • Cold Case: History
    Cold Case: History (2021)9.0

    Using modern forensic science techniques and criminalistics to revisit the violent murder of an Egyptian pharaoh, the inexplicable disappearance of two young princes, the questionable suicide of a troubled artist, and more cold cases.

  • mare TV
    mare TV (2001)8.5

  • Mapping the World
    Mapping the World (1990)8.4

    Then complex world of geopolitics broken down into ten minute, bite-sized chunks. You'll never sound uninformed at the dinner table ever again.

  • Through the Night with...
    Through the Night with... (2002)8.0

    Durch die Nacht mit … is a German documentary film television series produced by ZDF for Franco-German television channel ARTE. Locations are mainly in France or Germany. The title of the French version is Au cœur de la nuit. Two Celebrities spend an filmed evening together. One of them is the host who sets the location and the program. There is no moderator.

  • 360° - Die GEO Reportage
    360° - Die GEO Reportage (1999)7.6

  • A Very Secret Service
    A Very Secret Service (2015)7.5

    At the height of the Cold War in 1960, André Merlaux joins the French Secret Service and contends with enemies both foreign and bureaucratic.

  • Charité
    Charité (2017)7.3

    Berlin, 1888. After penniless Ida’s life is saved at the Charité Hospital she must work off the treatment costs. While she becomes acquainted with the most brilliant physicians of this era at the world-famous hospital, the self-determined young woman discovers her passion for medicine.

  • 70 Years of Youth Revolt
    70 Years of Youth Revolt (2020)7.3

    A look back at the social movements, revolts and youth subcultures from the post-war period to the present day: after the World War II, the left-bank of Paris became a mecca for jazz and alternative living, youth culture was born with trailblazing American movies, and rock became the soundtrack to a generation that wanted to change everything.

  • Too Young to Die
    Too Young to Die (2012)7.2

    Those who knew them best describe the sensational lives and premature deaths of iconic actors and musicians whose passing left a void in pop culture.

  • No Man's Land
    No Man's Land (2020)6.8

    Dive into the depths of the Syrian civil war through the eyes of Antoine, a young French man, in search for his estranged, presumed to be dead sister. While unraveling the mystery, piece by piece, Antoine’s journey crosses paths with adventurers and anarchists, spies and innocent victims, and provides a unique look on the tragic events in Syria, and the way they affect the entire world.

  • ARTE Re:
    ARTE Re: (2017)6.2

  • Sphinx – Secrets of the History
    Sphinx – Secrets of the History (1994)4.0

    This German format is not a series properly speaking, as it has no permanent cast or script continuity, but presents each time a 45 minutes documentary, usually in part presented as a docudrama (not faction, as close to scientific knowledge as possible, but visually attractive), elaborating a specific historical theme, widely varied, often exotic in the sense of a far time (as far back as prehistoric times) and/or place (around the globe), although some episodes fit together well, chronologically or thematically, but always fit to be watched separately. Usually authentic locations are used, as well as scenes from and/or interviews about the scientific research it is based upon.

  • Xenius
    Xenius (2009)4.0

  • Square
    Square (2012)N/A

  • In the Americas
    In the Americas (2012)N/A

    A travelogue that explores the landscapes, people and histories of North and South America.

  • Destination Wild: India
    Destination Wild: India (2024)N/A

    India's biodiverse landscapes range from vast deserts and dense forests to towering mountains, each contributing to the country's rich tapestry of life. The Himalayas, standing tall in the north, shelter rare and iconic species such as the elusive snow leopards and Himalayan brown bears. Among the dense canopies of the Western Ghats in the south, endangered lion-tailed macaques scour the trees for jackfruit. And lying in the heart of southern India, one of its largest protected woodlands harbours Indian elephants and Bengal tigers. Then finally transitioning to the west, the Thar Desert unfolds, challenging life to adapt to extreme arid conditions. Here, blackbuck antelope and Asiatic lions navigate the vast, sandy expanses in search of food. A tapestry of ecosystems, all within one country.

  • Karambolage
    Karambolage (N/A)N/A

    Words, rituals, objects, references... Karambolage offers an amused comparative anthropology of the locals on both sides of the Rhine.

  • Naked
    Naked (2022)N/A