Favourite TV: House of Dragons and its spinoffs

I love the Game of Thrones television universe—the original series and its two spin-offs, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Few fictional worlds have ever drawn me in so completely. All three have their own tone and scale, but each offers enthralling television filled with fascinating characters, political intrigue, danger and the constant sense that anything might happen.

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones remains the pinnacle for me. I love its unapologetic mixture of nudity, sex and brutal violence, as well as its morally grey characters: good people can turn bad, villains can reveal unexpected humanity, and almost nobody is entirely one thing or the other. The twists are extraordinary, and the knowledge that even a favourite character might suddenly be killed makes every episode feel genuinely dangerous. Add the political scheming, vast fantasy world and incredible battle scenes, and it is easy to see why the series became such a phenomenon.

House of Dragons

House of the Dragon is darker and more tragic than Game of Thrones, focusing on how ambition, grief and the struggle for power can transform a fundamentally good person into someone capable of terrible things. So far, I've been completely absorbed through to the end of the third season, witnessing a once-close family descend into hatred, betrayal and civil war. Its characters are as morally complex as those in the original series, and the enormous number of magnificent dragons makes its battles especially thrilling and spectacular.

Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is smaller, warmer and more intimate than the other two series, which gives it a charm of its own. Its shorter episodes and likeable central characters make it wonderfully accessible, while the friendship at its heart gives the story genuine warmth. It still delivers the danger, intrigue and surprising twists I expect from this world, along with one incredible fighting scene that proves a battle does not need thousands of soldiers or dozens of dragons to be completely gripping.

Favourite TV: Black Mirror

Black Mirror feels almost tailor-made for me. It is a science-fiction anthology series that explores our increasingly complex relationship with technology and the unsettling consequences it can have for individuals and society. Science fiction is my favourite genre, and I’m fascinated by high technology, its possibilities and the ways it might transform our lives—for better or worse. I love that the series is often unsettling and extremely dark, yet every so often surprises me with an episode that is genuinely moving and heart-warming. Above all, it is wonderfully unpredictable, filled with clever twists that completely change how you understand the story—and I absolutely love a good twist.

Favourite episodes

THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF YOU

• People can record their memories. A husband discovers his wife had an affair and his baby is not his own. 

WHITE XMAS

• Joe is a simulated consciousness in a pretend discussion with another guy, all part of a ploy by police to get him to confess to murder of his ex wife's father and his child. He confesses.  Policeman punishes him by setting computer over weekend to one minute = 1000 years.

NOSEDIVE

• In a society where everyone is constantly given a star rating for every interaction for social credits, a woman goes into free fall. Best scene: In prison lockup, never feels so free.  

HATED IN THE NATION

• Rogue Autonomous Drone Insects kill people with #DeathTo hashtag. They have been hacked as part of a ploy to kill all those who voted. 

METALHEAD

• Bella journeys to a warehouse. A robotic guard known as a "dog" hunts her. At end, it turns out the world has been taken over by the dogs. 

COMMON PEOPLE

• Subscription-based neural implant to keep his wife alive, with invasive features like involuntary advertising and sleep to power grid.

We're addicted to Spooks

The British version of 24 and better in many ways. More realistic. Better acting. And a whole lot less predictable in terms of who is going to make it to the next episode or not. That's not to say we don't like 24 - we love it. But Spooks is sublime. And as addictive as crack cockaine. We are on season 3 already. Thank goodness for DVD box sets.

Favourite TV: Rome

Ally and I have just finished the 12 episodes of the TV series, Rome. And it's been a joy. This is without doubt the best historical (and possibly best ever) TV series I have ever seen. The sets are extraordinary and very realistic (in fact, "Rome" comprises the largest set ever made), the acting is superb (most of the actors are British) and the plot (although historically accurate) totally sucks you in. Of course, the fact that there is plenty of gratuitous nudity and sex doesn't hurt either!!!

All in all, this is a great series and I can't wait to see season 2.