Box Set Binge: BrainDead, Hannibal and Raised by Wolves

Box Set Binge: BrainDead
(Image credit: CBS)

Stuck for something to watch this weekend? Sit back and enjoy streaming stand-outs BrainDead (Amazon Video), Hannibal (Netflix) and Raised by Wolves (All 4)

Have a peek at these top shows available on streaming services Amazon Video, Netflix and All 4...

BrainDead (Amazon Video)

In Washington, D.C., government business is grinding to a halt due to budgetary disagreements and politicians are acting weird. To casual observers, it may seem that nothing is out of the ordinary about this state of affairs - but fresh-faced government employee Laurel is about to make a shocking discovery about the odder-than-usual behaviour in the corridors of power: alien bugs have landed on Earth and are eating the brains of Congressmen and Capitol Hill staffers!

That’s the premise of political-sci-fi-comedy-thriller BrainDead. Catch the entire first series on Amazon Video now...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLdzS6R40nU

As the series opens, documentary film maker Laurel Healy (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) agrees to take a job in the Capitol Hill office of her brother, Senator Luke Healy (Danny Pino), in order to secure funding for her next film. Meanwhile, a sizeable meteor is recovered in Russia and transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in the US for analysis.

When the lights go out in the science lab and there’s no one around, a colony of ant-like alien bugs that were nesting in the meteor escape and head out into the Washington night – spreading through the city, climbing into unsuspecting victims’ ears and infecting their brains. On her first day in her new role, Laurel meets a constituent who is concerned about the behaviour of her husband – who was chief engineer on the ship that transferred the meteor to the US.

As Laurel digs deeper into the strange goings-on and the mysteries of the meteor, will she be able to identify which political power-players have been infected by the alien bugs? Is there a way to stop the spread of the otherwordly ants? It’s enough to make your head explode!

Box Set Binge: BrainDead

BrainDead's Laurel (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) (Image credit: CBS)

Hannibal (Netflix)

Not for the faint-hearted, psychological thriller Hannibal is based on characters created by author Thomas Harris and focuses on the relationship between FBI investigator Will Graham and forensic psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter. The entire first series is available on Netflix now…

Gathered for dinner: Hannibal stars

Gathered for dinner: the cast of Hannibal (Image credit: Company/REX/Shutterstock)

Will Graham (British star Hugh Dancy) is a gifted criminal profiler, able to get inside the heads and under the skin of serial killers and psychopaths – his empathetic abilities even stretch to him being able to visualise exactly how the gruesome crimes were carried out. Will is recruited by the FBI’s head of Behavioural Sciences, Special Agent Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne), to help investigate a series of killings in Minnesota. Crawford also draws noted psychiatrist Dr Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen) into the case – and Dr Lecter takes a keen interest not only in the investigation at hand, but in Will personally.

Dr Lecter is fascinated by Will’s ability to visualise the disturbing crimes he’s investigating. The renowned psychiatrist develops a strong connection with Will, whose mind is tortured by his dark visions. But it soon becomes clear Lecter, himself, is harbouring dark and sinister thoughts – he’s a cannibalistic serial killer playing twisted games with the FBI.

As the series progresses, Will becomes increasingly unstable, unaware of how he’s being manipulated by cunning Dr Lecter (who continues to indulge his unspeakable appetite). With each episode of the first series named after an element of French cuisine, this psychological thriller is sure to give you food for thought...

Box Set Binge: Hannibal

Hannibal star Hugh Dancy (Image credit: Company/REX/Shutterstock)

Raised by Wolves (All 4)

Enter the colourful world of the large and lively Garry family in two series of C4 sitcom Raised by Wolves, available now on the channel's streaming service All 4...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPL37RpxOuk

Written by sisters Caitlin and Caroline Moran, and loosely based on their upbringing on a Wolverhampton council estate, the series follows single-mum Della Garry and her six home-schooled children. Among the socially-isolated siblings is hormonal 16-year-old Germaine (Helen Monks), who is besotted with local bad boy Lee Rind; smart and wry Aretha (Alexa Davies), 15; and bookish Yoko (Molly Risker), 13.

Unconventional mum Della (Rebekah Stanton) is a force to be reckoned with – acerbic, capable, and convinced the apocalypse is coming. In an early episode, the survivalist matriarch takes all the kids out to forage for free food. Grampy (Philip Jackson) is often thrown into the familial mix, too, dispensing his ‘wisdom’ to the Garry brood.

Follow the Garry clan’s fantastically funny trials and tribulations on All 4 now.

Box Set Binge: Raised by Wolves

Family values: the Garrys (Image credit: Adam Lawrence)