Box sets to binge: How to watch 'The Sopranos', 'This is Us', 'The Wire' and more in the UAE

With more and more streaming services launching in the region, we have access to a host of celebrated TV series in their entirety here in the UAE.

But between Amazon Prime, Netflix, OSN Streaming (formerly Wavo) and Starzplay – the four most prominent streaming services in the Emirates – keeping up with which shows you'll find where can be tricky.

There is a wealth of great TV out there, available to be streamed online from start to finish – from multi-series hits such as Breaking Bad and The Sopranos, to more current award winners, including Big Little Lies and Fleabag; gripping dramas such as This Is Us and Mad Men; as well as comedies including Veep and 30 Rock.

Here, we have tracked down a host of English-language shows and listed where exactly you can watch them online in this handy guide. The shows have been complied alphabetically and separated by genre.

Where to watch drama TV series in the UAE 

'Better Call Saul'

Three of the five AMC and Netflix-made seasons of the Breaking Bad spin-off are available to watch.

Netflix: Seasons 1-3

'Big Little Lies'

The TV adaptation of Liane Moriarty's book, starring Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep in season two, is available in its entirety on OSN's streaming service.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-2

'Boardwalk Empire'

Catch up on all five seasons of the American Prohibition era period drama.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-5

'Breaking Bad'

All five seasons of the acclaimed American crime drama, starring Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, are available.

Netflix: Seasons 1-5

'Dawson’s Creek'

Indulge your inner teen with a six-season-long trip down memory lane with Katie Holmes, James Van Der Beek and Joshua Jackson.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-6

Starzplay: Seasons 1-6

'Downton Abbey'

For a slice of British TV period drama, all six seasons are available on Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-6

'Game of Thrones'

For the handful of people who haven't watched Game of Thrones, all 73 episodes of the adaption of George RR Martin's fantasy series are available.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-8

'Grey’s Anatomy'

If medical series are your thing, you have 15 or 16 series to catch up on with this long-running drama, depending on your streaming site of choice.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-16

Starzplay: Seasons 1-15

'Homeland'

The spy drama series is available with a number of providers, but the eighth and final series is only (currently) shown through OSN.

Netflix: Seasons 1-7

OSN Streaming: Season 8

Starzplay: Seasons 1-7

'House'

Here's another hospital drama to get your teeth into in full, this time starring Hugh Laurie in the main role.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-8

Starzplay: Seasons 1-8

'Killing Eve'

Crime drama Killing Eve returns to screens this week, but if you're not abreast with the antics of MI5 officer Eve and assassin Villanelle, catch up with OSN.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-2 (showing season 3 from Monday, April 13)

'Lost'

All six seasons of castaway drama, Lost, which wrapped up in 2010, are available to stream.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-6

Starzplay: Seasons 1-6

'Mad Men'

Step back in time to 1960s New York with this period drama, starring Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss.

Netflix: Seasons 1-7

Starzplay: Seasons 1-7

'Orange is the New Black'

The prison drama has seven gripping series to offer on Netflix.

Netflix: Seasons 1-7

'Sex and the City'

Fashion, friends and New York City: before the films came Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte's six-season show, which you can watch in full.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-6

'Stranger Things'

We know that a much-anticipated Stranger Things 4 is coming at some stage this year. Spend self-isolation catching up on series one to three.

Netflix: Seasons 1-3

'Suits'

Before she was the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle was Rachel in Suits. She appears in seven of the nine series.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-9

Netflix: Seasons 1-8

'The Americans'

This spy thriller series has a cult following. It stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as Russian agents, posing as a regular American couple during the Cold War.

Starzplay: Seasons 1-6

'The O.C.'

For anyone looking for a dose of noughties nostalgia, time spent with Summer, Seth, Ryan and Marissa in California's Orange County will be time well spent.

Starzplay: Seasons 1-4

'The Handmaid’s Tale'

An adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, which may feel all too real at times. Two of the three released series are available on Starzplay; a fourth is scheduled for global release in autumn.

Starzplay: Seasons 1-2

'The Sopranos'

Often hailed as one of the best series of all time, watch all 86 episodes through OSN's streaming service.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-6

'The Wire'

Another lauded series to spend your time at home catching up on, if you're yet to watch it. Or simply spend the time in isolation revisiting the 60 episodes of premium crime drama.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-5

'This is Us'

The American family drama is available to stream, in part, via Amazon Prime. The only problem you face, after falling in love with the characters, is having to wait until season four is available in the UAE.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-3

Where to watch comedy TV series in the UAE 

'30 Rock'

The comedy series had a seven-season-strong run globally, but you can get a fix with the first three series on Starzplay.

Starzplay: Seasons 1-3

'The Big Bang Theory'

All 12 series of the family-friendly comedy are available in the UAE.

Starzplay: Seasons 1-12

'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'

Crime comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine is available in full, when you know where you're looking.

Netflix: Seasons 1-6

OSN Streaming: Season 7

'Community'

Community ran from 2009 to 2015, and all six series are available to stream.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-6

Netflix: Seasons 1-6

'Fleabag'

Phoebe Waller-Bridge's Fleabag may only have a total of 12 episodes, but at just under 30 minutes each, it offers around five-and-a-half hours of great TV to keep you busy.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-2

'Friends'

After some confusion at the beginning of the year, the UAE kept Friends on its streaming sites, much to the joy of fans that rewatch the 10 seasons regularly, as there are no plans for HBO's streaming service, HBO Max, to come to the region in the near future.

Netflix: Seasons 1-10

Starzplay: Seasons 1-10

'How I Met Your Mother'

All nine seasons of this easy-watch comedy, with in-jokes aplenty, are available in the UAE.

Netflix: Seasons 1-9

'Parks and Recreation'

Another ray of sunshine in TV comedy form, Parks and Recreation could be the show to give you a much-needed virtual hug. Starring Amy Poehler, Aziz Ansari, Nick Offerman and Chris Pratt, it follows the often absurd antics of a US government office. Treat yo' self to watching ... if you haven't already.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-7

Starzplay: Seasons 1-7

'South Park'

Yes, there are a total of 23 seasons (and 307 episodes) of this switched-on and very adult cartoon, but 16 are available here in the UAE. That takes you up to 2012 in the show's timeline, offering 237 episodes.

Netflix: Seasons 1-16

'The Office' (USA)

Only the American version of Ricky Gervais's mockumentary is available in the UAE – and at nine seasons, it will certainly keep you busy.

Amazon Prime: Seasons 1-9

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-9

Starzplay: Seasons 1-9

'Veep'

An astute political comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the vice president of the United States. All seven series are available in full.

OSN Streaming: Seasons 1-7