Da Vinci's Demons Season 1

Right now you can watch Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 on and — and it holds up to as much attention as you give it. The show says what it needs to say in a single season, no filler. Its 8/10 TMDB score, built from 701 ratings, reflects a title that consistently delivers. Tom Riley sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

There is a reason Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 keeps coming up in conversation. Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 takes its time building the world its characters inhabit, and the patience pays off. Everyone knows that Leonardo da Vinci was an extraordinary artist, sculptor and inventor, but this evocative and involving cable drama paints a portrait of the consummate Renaissance man who, as a twentysomething, was a passionate ladies' man, swashbuckling swordsman and intrepid adventurer. The series opens with da Vinci receiving a commission from the Medicis to create an Easter spectacle in Florence. Later, he's hired to build war machines; investigates the source of demonic possessions at a convent; meets a mysterious Turk; has a chilling encounter with Vlad Dracula; and constructs a suit for underwater transportation. Tom Riley and Laura Haddock lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was aired in 2013. The performances in Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. The consistency throughout is what elevates it — not every moment is the best, but none of them are a reason to stop watching.

For anyone looking for storytelling that takes its characters seriously, Da Vinci's Demons Season 1 delivers. If you have run out of similar titles to watch, this is a strong next pick. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single week. Tom Riley is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.