The Best TV Shows on VPRO

What do you do when you lose everything and have to start all over again? Ten-year-old Lucas, the middle child of a wealthy family, lives in an expensive neighborhood in a large house, equipped with every luxury. Everything changes completely when Lucas, while searching for his Sinterklaas surprise, finds a large box of unpaid bills. Father Maarten turns out to have enormous financial problems and the family loses everything. The family is evicted and, with the help of their cleaner Nina, finds shelter in an old office building among other new poor people. While father (Jeroen Spitzenberger) and mother (Hadewych Minis) have a hard time with themselves and each other, and big brother Thomas (15) and sister Emma (7) have a terrible time getting used to the new situation, Lucas tries to make the best of it with the highest goal: a Merry Christmas for the whole family.

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

Bernhard, schavuit van Oranje is a Dutch television program depicting the more than only turbulent life of a prince consort. It is a compelling drama concerning a man who tries to be himself, but must survive deep crises, finally to see the real meaning of love. Within the Dutch royal family there is actually no more talked about character than Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld. Whether it concerns Greet Hofmans, extramarital affairs, or Lockheed, Prince Bernhard faced a lot of scandals throughout the course of his life. Besides this he was, and is a person, loved by many as a war hero. A man of extremes. In four parts Prince Bernhard tells the tale of his life. Not only through the spyglass, but especially to his grandson's wife, Princess Máxima of the Netherlands, who will be soon the Queen next to Prince Willem-Alexander. In a way, she takes the same position as Prince Bernhard did in his life. In their conversations and discussions it becomes clear how much they are different, but also how much they are the same. For Princess Máxima this is sometimes very confronting. The tale drags us throughout the course of the Prince's life, from Soestdijk, his beloved German Reckenwalde, Berlin, London, Argentina and Canada.

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.

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

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.

Koolhoven's view is a series of film lectures given by film director and cinephile Martin Koolhoven. Using scenes from his favorite feature films, Koolhoven shares his love for cinema with viewers. No dry critiques and academic treatises, but enthusiastic speeches and inspired observations: Koolhoven is above all an enthusiast.

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.

"Keek op de week" was a satirical television program by the duo Kees van Kooten and Wim de Bie. In it, Van Kooten and De Bie discussed current events, usually through sketches featuring their various characters. They often held "conversations" with these characters via a screen, which in reality was just a blue screen. They also provided commentary on the news in a columnist-like style. The rug beater logo of Van Kooten and De Bie's "Simplisties Verbond" was still present, though placed modestly in the background. The song "Duke of Iron" by saxophonist Sonny Rollins served as the show's theme music.

Buitenhof is a Dutch political interview programme produced by the NPS, VARA and VPRO Netherlands Public Broadcasting and broadcast on Nederland 1 on Sunday mornings. The first edition of Buitenhof aired on 7 September 1997, when it succeeded the interview programme Het Capitool. The programme takes its name from the Binnenhof, The Hague, which includes a place Buitenhof. Buitenhof is highly influential, and is regularly visited by the nation's top politicians, policy makers, representatives of the trade unions and employers' federation, and opinion makers. The format also includes a column item, presented as of 2009 by Désanne van Brederode, Max Pam and Jos de Beus. Former columnists include Ronald Plasterk, Paul Cliteur, Joshua Livestro and Herman Philipse. Peter van Ingen, Jeroen Smit and Clairy Polak are the programme's alternating presenters. Buitenhof itself made news in 2000, when visiting Vlaams Belang politician Filip Dewinter was smeared with chocolate, on camera, by anti-fascism activists. The programme is also broadcast each Sunday on the international television station BVN.

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?

A manless world, a nuclear missile on Amsterdam, a collective brainwash, and suffering as a recipe for success. Six filmmakers drag the viewer into their most terrifying fantasies.