My TV favourites

I'd much prefer to read a book than watch television. I'll quite happily turn off the TV if nothing takes my fancy and curl up with a hot chocolate and my Kindle.

However, there are a few TV programmes I make an exception for and could watch over and over again. They feel 'comfortable' because I've loved them for so long, and they make me forget about everything else just for a minute. They're a bit like a comfort blanket, you could say.

So, which programmes will always put a stop to my channel scrolling?



1. Friends 

I must have seen every episode of Friends about a hundred times by now, and I'm still not tired of it. I might check if there's anything else on if the episode is from Season 6 or 7 (the weakest in my opinion), but on the whole this is absolutely my go-to TV programme of choice. It makes me laugh, sometimes makes me cry, and makes me reminisce about my house sharing days. It does tend to be on Comedy Central whenever I put the TV on, but all ten series are now on Netflix too when I desperately need my Friends fix. I own all the DVDs, but does anyone actually watch Friends DVDs anymore when it's so readily available everywhere else?

2. Neighbours

I used to watch Neighbours religiously when I was a teenager and a student, then working life got in the way and I didn't watch it properly for about eight years. When I was off sick for a while at the end of 2016, I started watching it again and now I'm completely hooked. I spent hours poring over Wikipedia pages to get myself up to date on all the storylines I'd missed (don't judge me, I was recovering and couldn't drive anywhere!), and now I eagerly watch each episode on CatchUp when I get home from work. The hilarity of the ridiculous situations these characters get themselves and other people in to honestly makes my day.

3. Suits

Neil suggested that we should start watching Suits a couple of years ago. I just pretended to watch it at first because I didn't really like any of the other series we'd started watching on Netflix, but it quickly became a bit of an obsession for both of us. After a lot of binge-watching and 'oh, let's just watch one more' moments, we caught up and watched series 7 in real time as it was aired. Due to the unexpected mid-season break, we've watched the whole six and a half series again over the last few months and we're waiting with bated breath for its return later this month!

4. The Big Bang Theory

Although I don't love The Big Bang Theory as much as I love Friends, it's still one of my favourites. I'll happily re-watch episodes of this on E4 whenever Friends isn't on (or if the Friends episodes are from Season 6 or 7!) and I absolutely love Sheldon and Amy. I can't stand Penny, but let's not dwell on that. I must admit that I don't get all the geeky references and it makes me wish I was more intelligent than I actually am, but I still find it hilarious.

5. Outnumbered 

This programme always cheers me up! In some ways it's very relatable, and in other ways it makes me very grateful for my clean and tidy house. Hugh Dennis, Ben and Karen make this programme for me, but I do think they should have stopped filming before the last series as the children are way too old to be funny anymore. As this one isn't shown as often as the others on my 'top 5' list, I always make sure I put it on if I spot it as I'm scrolling through the channels.

What are your go-to TV programmes?