The Best TV Shows on VPRO

China is playing an increasingly important role worldwide. Under President Xi Jinping, substantial investments are being made in communication and cooperation and industrious Chinese people are settling abroad in large numbers. Documentary maker and China expert Ruben Terlou visits them in the new VPRO travel series ‘The World of the Chinese’. Who are they, what do they want to achieve and what impact does their presence have on the local population?

Pat & Mat is a Czech stop-motion animated series featuring two handymen, Pat and Mat. It was created by Lubomír Beneš and Vladimír Jiránek.

Sunday with Lubach is a satirical television program of the VPRO network that is presented by Arjen Lubach.

Ruben Terlou, once trained as a doctor, meets courageous go-getters in healthcare in seven countries who try to cure not only the ailment, but also the sickening conditions such as poverty, inequality, pollution and insecurity.

Tegenlicht in Dutch or Backlight in English is a series of television documentaries by the VPRO, a Dutch public broadcasting organisation. Backlight "aims to grasp the quintessence of prominent trends and developments" in the practice of critical journalism, and tries to improve understanding of the intricate inner workings of our modern society.

Fay (14) and Boris (10) discover that their parents secretly replaced themselves by robots. Claudia and Joost each have demanding jobs and even though they try very hard, they are not able to combine their jobs with spending quality time with their children. Boris, Fay, Claudia and Joost slowly realize they need each other as a family and when the robots become uncontrollable, they can only clear up the mess by working together.

De kijk van Koolhoven is a six part series of movie lectures given by director and cinephile Martin Koolhoven. On the basis of scenes from his favorite movies, Koolhoven shares his passion for cinema with the viewers. From Basic Instinct to Jaws and from Dr. Strangelove to Drive, every movie enthousiast can get his fill.

Margôt Ros and Maike Meijer play 40 different characters working in office tower Toren C, an office hell of eight flours, filled with a plethora of ridiculous situations.

Draadstaal is a satirical sketch comedy television program of the VPRO, and CCCP 2 Dutch production company and broadcaster. It was created by CCCP and Jeroen van Koningsbrugge and Dennis van de Ven. The show features lots of recurring stereotypical characters. The program is reminiscent of the work of Van Kooten en De Bie.

Sander Schimmelpenninck investigates the far-reaching influence of social media on our society and politics. To this end, he talks to journalists, moderators, philosophers, lawyers and troll hunters. How does social media use undermine our democracy and why is no one doing anything?

Laura H, The teenager from Zoetermeer takes on a new identity in her search for herself and travels with her husband Ibrahim and two children to the caliphate in Syria. When she shows up at the border in 2016 and says she has escaped and regrets it, doubts about her motives are great. Why did Laura choose to travel to the 'Caliphate'?