The Best TV Shows on BBC Three

Every BBC Three Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Notable series such as Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Little Britain from BBC Three first graced the screens in 2001 and 2003. With its programming history stretching from 2001 to 2024, BBC Three offers an impressive lineup of over 20 shows. Stay up-to-date with over 20 of BBC Three’s elite series, with our list refreshed for October 2025.

  • Fleabag
    Fleabag (2016)8.3

    A portrait into the mind of a dry-witted, sexual, angry, porn-watching, grief-riddled woman, trying to make sense of the world. As she hurls herself headlong at modern living, Fleabag is thrown roughly up against the walls of contemporary London, with all its frenetic energy, late nights, and bright lights.

  • Ideal
    Ideal (2005)8.1

    Sitcom about a small-time dope dealer and his strange collection of acquaintances.

  • Doctor Who Confidential
    Doctor Who Confidential (2005)8.1

    Doctor Who Confidential is a documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation to complement the revival of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Each episode was broadcast on BBC Three on Saturdays, immediately after the broadcast of the weekly television episode on BBC One. The running time of the first two series was 30 minutes, being extended to 45 minutes in the third. BBC Three also broadcast a cut-down edition of the programme, lasting 15 minutes, shown after the repeats on Sundays and Fridays and after the weekday evening repeats of earlier seasons. Described as focusing on the human element of the series, Confidential features behind-the-scenes footage on the making of Doctor Who through clips and interviews with the cast, production crew and other people, including those who have participated in the television series over the years of its existence. Each episode deals with a different topic, and in most cases refers to the Doctor Who episode that preceded it. There have also been two episodes of Doctor Who Confidential broadcast apart from the showing of Doctor Who episodes: in November 2006 an edition subtitled "Music and Monsters" was produced going behind the scenes of a televised concert of soundtrack music produced as part of that year's Children in Need appeal, and on 3 January 2009, a special edition was broadcast to announce the actor chosen to play the Eleventh Doctor.

  • Normal People
    Normal People (2020)8.1

    Marianne and Connell weave in and out of each other's lives in this exploration of sex, power and the desire to love and be loved.

  • The Mighty Boosh
    The Mighty Boosh (2004)7.6

    A British comic fantasy containing humour and pop-culture references. Episodes often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and rap. The show has been known for popularising a style called "crimping"; short acappella songs which are present throughout all three series.

  • The Real Hustle
    The Real Hustle (2006)7.6

    A team of hustlers - Alexis Conran, Paul Wilson and Jessica-Jane Clement, try out some notorious scams on ‘marks’, filmed with hidden cameras. The aim is to reveal how scams work so that the viewer can avoid being ripped off by the same con.

  • Gavin & Stacey
    Gavin & Stacey (2007)7.5

    Gavin is an ordinary boy from Billericay, Essex. Stacey is an ordinary girl from Barry Island, South Wales. They’ve spoken on the phone every day at work for months but they’ve never actually met… until now.

  • A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
    A Good Girl's Guide to Murder (2024)7.4

    Five years after the death of schoolgirl Andie Bell, Pippa Fitz-Amobi sets out to uncover what really happened to her. Sal Singh, Andie's boyfriend, admitted to the murder before taking his own life, but Pip doesn't believe he's responsible and teams up with Sal's brother Ravi to uncover the truth. If Sal Singh isn't a murderer and the real killer is still out there, how far will they go to keep Pip from finding out the truth?

  • Torchwood
    Torchwood (2006)7.3

    The exploits of a team of people whose job is to investigate the unusual, the strange and the extraterrestrial.

  • Little Britain
    Little Britain (2003)7.2

    A zany comedy show with Matt Lucas and David Walliams, featuring characters from all over Little Britain.

  • RuPaul's Drag Race UK
    RuPaul's Drag Race UK (2019)7.2

    RuPaul has made the trip across the pond in search of a queen with the most charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent in all the land.

  • Being Human
    Being Human (2009)7.1

    Deciding to turn over a new leaf, a group of friends who also happen to be vampires and werewolves move into a house together, only to find that it is haunted by ghosts of people who have been killed under mysterious circumstances. As they deal with the challenges of being supernatural creatures, their desire to be human bonds them.

  • Bad Education
    Bad Education (2012)6.9

    Young teacher Alfie Wickers is "the worst teacher ever to grace the British education system" – at Abbey Grove School, in Watford, Hertfordshire.

  • Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps
    Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps (2001)6.8

    Sitcom about the lives and loves of five twenty-somethings in Runcorn.

  • Cuckoo
    Cuckoo (2012)6.8

    Cuckoo is every parent's worst nightmare - a slacker full of outlandish, New Age ideas. Ken is the over-protective father of a girl who's impulsively married an American hippie on her gap year.

  • Thirteen
    Thirteen (2016)6.8

    Today is the day Ivy Moxham will escape from the cellar that's been her prison for the last 13 years. Today is the day she'll return to her home, to her family, to her life. Today is only the beginning.

  • Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star
    Glow Up: Britain's Next Make-Up Star (2019)6.7

    A talented cast of aspiring makeup artists live and work together as they attempt to prove their potential to industry professionals from a multitude of worlds from fashion to film. With regular eliminations, the challenges not only test their skills under pressure but also give them the opportunity to unleash their creative vision with jaw-dropping results.

  • Starstruck
    Starstruck (2021)6.7

    A drunken New Year's Eve hook-up becomes far more complicated for Jessie when she discovers her one night stand is actually a film star.

  • Lip Service
    Lip Service (2010)6.5

    Sex, lies and true love in modern Scotland. Following the lives and loves of a group of twenty-something lesbians living in Glasgow.

  • The Apprentice: You're Fired!
    The Apprentice: You're Fired! (2006)5.0

    The Apprentice: You're Fired!, sometimes named You're Fired!, The Apprentice: You're Hired! or You're Hired!, is a British television show made by the BBC and filmed at Riverside Studios as a spin-off from the reality TV hit The Apprentice. It was hosted by Adrian Chiles from 2006 to 2009, and Dara Ó Briain took over as host in 2010 after Chiles' move to ITV. The programme airs in a 30 minute slot after each episode of The Apprentice finishes. It was originally shown on BBC Three, but moved to BBC Two in 2007. Its format is similar to that of Big Brother's Little Brother and Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two. The final episode of each series is renamed "The Apprentice: You're Hired!" and involves interviews with the winner, the runner-up and Lord Sugar himself, and a reunion with all of the former candidates.