Five series you must watch in 2022

The top five Netflix series you must watch in 2022

1. ‘The Umbrella Academy’

It's probably the most famous fictional series in Netflix history, and it's also one of the few that can stand perfectly on its own without any reference to other shows. It follows a young boy named Eric Drakes as he discovers his powers, spends time with Dr June Cooper, learns to speak animals, and begins to learn about the world around him in an unexpected new way. He soon finds out what it takes for him to live up to these standards and is put through very tough situations but still comes out stronger, stronger than him that he never imagined. This will definitely be your go-to show if you want to keep an eye on some things while you're stuck at home during the pandemic.

3. 'The Queen'

It's hard to imagine how long this show has been running, but it's only just started airing right now – so there are still a lot of episodes to come, and it could easily get even more thrilling once it hits our screens later this year. I'm really looking forward to seeing why it was chosen by the New York Times as one of their Most Popular TV Shows last week, especially after taking into account all the hype and controversy it generated. With a cast including Kristen Stewart, Lily James, Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Dafne Keen, Richard Egan, Idris Elba and more, it sure sounds like it would be a great one to watch at least over Christmas and New Year's.

4. 'The Half of It'

If you haven't watched this yet, then hopefully I've convinced you to – you'll have to see this. That might not sound particularly original, but you do need to watch it. Even though we don't actually know who dies or how this story ends, we learn pretty much everything about them from this first episode. Some people say it's better than it's made out to be, others think it's better than they thought. Either way, I'd recommend watching this if you haven't, and if you haven't seen it you really need to.

5. 'The Mandalorian’

If you've seen Star Wars movies before, it might seem odd to watch Star Wars series of its era, but I guarantee you'd love this. It's different, fun, extremely well-staged, extremely well-written and incredibly engaging. While this version of Star Wars might not necessarily be better than the trilogy, it's something different we've never seen before; Star Wars is far too predictable! They even got rid of the Force Awakens and replaced her with a fresh start, making us assume her death was either caused by a mysterious accident or by Thanos himself somehow killing her. So, what do we expect when she emerges? Well, we get to spend more time with Finn, Poe, Chewy, C-3PO and Luke, which makes us want to learn more about the history of Star Wars and the stories behind Star Wars and beyond to find out whether Star Wars will turn out to be worth it. As for the main characters – well, for me they're all good, they're all great, and you won't be able to tell them apart.

One thing I'm hoping Star Wars fans will enjoy is how many characters they introduce in each episode, to be honest. Not only did season one cover all seven Star Wars eras, it introduced two additional non-Star Wars era pieces in the form of The Bad Batch and Ahsoka Tano. And Season one doesn't even include the Death Star Saga but brings back Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, and also introduces Kylo Ren for his final appearance. Another huge element that makes this series exceptional is that you get to hear every voice in the franchise for the first time. It's always so strange listening to Star Wars actors speaking without knowing who to listen. But thankfully this is becoming the normal thing.