Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, The Good Place... yadda yadda yadda.

If you're looking for some new pub ammo, we recommend checking out these 12 brilliant TV shows and recommending them to all your friends. Talk up these underrated gems and everyone will think you're super-cool – promise.

1. The Exorcist

Available on Syfy UK, Amazon Prime Video

Nothing is ever going to touch William Friedkin's 1973 film classic – but even though it lives in the shadow of a movie masterpiece, Fox's Exorcist series is actually pretty compelling stuff.

The key here is commitment to the material – the power of belief, if you like. Like the original, the show mostly prioritises chills over spills, but doesn't shy away from violence and gore when required. Like NBC's Hannibal before it, it's quite remarkable what The Exorcist is able to get away with on network television.

It's full of terrific performances too, particularly from "old priest" Ben Daniels and "young priest" Alfonso Herrera, which help make this Exorcist easily the best adaptation of William Peter Blatty's novel since the first film, comfortably rising above a string of inferior sequels. - Morgan Jeffery

2. Shots Fired

Available on FOX UK

Probably one of the most controversial yet substantial TV shows of its time, tackling the current issue of racial divide, and shedding light on similar recent events highlighted by the Black Lives Matter movement.

In a role reversal, the series follows a lone African-American police officer (Tristan 'Mack' Wilds) who racially profiles and kills an unarmed white college student. Sound (un)familiar?

The ensuing outrage of the community in a North-Carolina town brings to light the neglected murder of a black teen from the local area. Shots Fired explores the complications of black, white and blue and essentially puts the shoe on the other foot. - Shyvonne Thomas

3. Counterpart

This new show from US cable channel Starz is everything you hoped Channel 4's Electric Dreams would be – an engrossing, intelligent and adult science-fiction drama. Counterpart is an espionage story told through a Philip K Dick-esque lens connecting two parallel Earths, one which took a different path post-Cold War.

With Oscar-winner JK Simmons leading an impressive cast – including British talent such as Olivia Williams, Nicholas Pinnock and Harry Lloyd – it's no wonder that it's scoring 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. A second season has already been commissioned so now is the time to get on board the Counterpart bandwagon. - Cameron K McEwan

4. Channel Zero

Available on 5Star

This horror anthology series tackles a different "creepypasta" (basically, internet urban legend) each season and the three to date — Candle Cove, No-End House and Butcher's Block — have all been truly unsettling and creepy viewing.

The six-episode run and anthology format give it a freedom that means you genuinely have no idea what's coming – which, when it involves creatures who literally eat your memories, is about as scary as you can get. Channel Zero constantly delivers images that haunt you long after the season is over, making it without doubt the best horror series around.

We're not sure we've ever seen anything like the tooth child in Candle Cove, and it has haunted our dreams ever since. - Ian Sandwell

5. American Vandal

Available on Netflix

You might well have heard of Netflix's American Vandal, but if you haven't seen the eight-part series, you've probably dismissed it as a one-joke Making a Murderer / Serial spoof.

It does indeed start out along those lines, expertly taking off the earnest tone and narrative gimmicks employed by the current rash of true crime docu-series.

But across its first season, something happens. American Vandal – a show about a troublesome high school slacker accused of spray-painting 27 dicks on faculty cars – digs deep into US teen culture and the struggles of adolescence.

The end result is something funny, sad and compelling. We can't recommend it highly enough. - MJ

6. This Country

Available on BBC One, BBC Three on iPlayer

Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper's mockumentary has just returned for series two on BBC iPlayer, so there's no better time to introduce yourself to the Mucklowes.

Likely to be almost too painful for people who grew up in a village, This Country is a sharply observed look at life in the country with all its quirks and challenges. Most importantly, it's consistently hilarious, wringing big laughs without needing to resort to over-the-top sitcom moments, largely thanks to the engaging performances of the two creators and stars.

Add in one of the funniest characters that you never actually see in Kerry's mum (also voiced by Daisy May Cooper), and you have the best mockumentary since The Office. - IS

7. Easy

Available on Netflix

Joe Swanberg – a major figure in the cinematic mumblecore movement, which emphasises naturalistic acting and dialogue over plot – brings his very particular style to series television with Easy.

Though each episode focuses on a radically different collection of characters, the series is always set in Chicago and always, one way or another, comes back to its major themes of sex, romance and relationships in the 21st century.

Easy is of a very particular flavour and won't be for everyone, and as with every anthology series the quality from episode to episode can be variable, but when it's at its best, the show is smart, charming and makes you think.

Oh, and some phenomenal casting – Dave Franco, Jake Johnson, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Aubrey Plaza are among those to have appeared – doesn't hurt. - MJ

8. Mary Kills People

Mary Kills People does exactly what it says on the tin: Hannibal's Caroline Dhavernas plays Dr Mary Harris, who, alongside her work at Eden General Hospital's emergency department, has a sideline in providing assisted suicide.

Dark, witty and provocative, Mary Kills People builds on a unique premise to weave in twists and turns without ever compromising the show's reality.

There's a lot going on here: comedy, drama, philosophy. But a stellar lead performance from Dhavernas is the glue that holds all these genres together and the end result is something a bit special. - MJ

9. Search Party

Available on All4

A mystery series for Generation Y, the first season of Search Party follows "lifelong doormat" Dory (Alia Shawkat) and her eclectic gang of self-absorbed friends as they hunt for the missing Chantal Winterbottom (Clare McNulty).

Each season is made to binge-watch – 10 hilarious, weird but engaging episodes, at 22 minutes a piece – with the second run daring to get even darker and becoming even more addictive in the process.

We defy you not to fall for this show's offbeat charms. - MJ

10. Dark

Available on Netflix

Hailed as the new Stranger Things when it first hit Netflix, this complex German time-travel horror series hasn't caused the levels of buzz we might have expected.

This could be because it's very complicated, following three different time lines involving multiple characters at different ages, but take it from us, there are serious rewards for the patient.

Once you're hooked, Dark has you... and the good news is, a second season is incoming. - Rosie Fletcher

11. High Maintenance

Available on Sky Atlantic

With the second season of its delightful New York dope-dealing dramedy airing on HBO in the US right now, a 'Season 3 commissioned' letter nestled snugly in its back pocket, High Maintenance picked a good time to finally land on Sky Atlantic to show Brits what they've been missing.

Created by ex-husband and wife team Ben Sinclair (who also stars as 'The Guy', the show's episode-linking drug dealer) and Katja Blichfeld, High Maintenance is slightly deeper than the high concept suggests, telling the story of NYC's varied inhabitants through the eyes of their shared Crypt Keeper of weed.

Wrapping the New York grittiness of Girls and the surrealist humour of Party Down around Short Cuts-style vignettes is a smart move, the 'where are we going to end up this time?' more-ish-ness of our nameless sort-of protagonist undercut by the characters they meet, and the lives that they lead.

It's Martin Scorsese's After Hours through the bottom of a bong, and we hope it's a hit here, too. - Matt Hill

12. Marvel's Runaways

On the surface, Runaways appears much the same as any other show about middle-class teenagers. You've got the jock, the pretty girl, the emo, the wannabe cheerleader, the nerd and the social-justice warrior, all trying to fit into the clichéd American High School Experience™.

So far, so stereotype-y. Oh, but there's one tiny thing that sets it apart from the rest. The kids discover their parents are super-villains.

But far from being 'Superhero Gossip Girl', Runaways seamlessly tackles a range of themes throughout its first season that could not be more relevant to young people today; from growing up and questioning authority figures to the much darker realms of sexual assault, mental health and racism.

This is also a show that celebrates diversity. If you're one of the people clamouring for more women, more BAME representation and LGBT+ superheroes in the MCU, well, this is Marvel's answer and we're giving them an A.

The first two or three episodes stick to the much-utilised Marvel formula, but once it starts digging beneath the surface stereotypes, hold tight, because this show is NOT what you think it is…

You'll just have to wait for a UK broadcaster first. - Lexi Watson