The best TV show podcasts: love Gangs of London? Adore Bridgerton? The Crown superfan? Here’s how to geek out

Sky released the first episode of an official Gangs of London podcast yesterday and it looks like it’s going to be brilliant fun. It is being hosted by the show’s director Corin Hardy, which means tonnes of insights about filming and production, plus, hopefully, some gossip from behind the scenes.

Sky is billing it as “not just another reaction show – it is an essential companion to the main series” – which is exciting news indeed for Gangs of London fans.

But podcasts about TV series are not a new idea – for years now some of the world’s biggest shows have produced podcasts so fans can get down and geeky with all the minutiae about their favourite series. So if this sounds like your cup of tea, here are the other official podcasts it’s worth getting involved with.

The Official The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Podcast

Amazon interestingly chose to wait until after the season finale of its blockbuster show before releasing this podcast. Dropping the entire eight-episode library on October 14, the podcast boasts exclusive interviews with the cast and crew (including Morfydd Clark, who plays Galadriel and showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay), deep diving analysis and “Easter egg moments” – which sounds intriguing, to say the least.

It’s been hosted by actress Felicia Day, who is apparently a Tolkien superfan and can be found on Amazon Music for free.

The Official Game of Thrones Podcast: House of the Dragon

Since dropping in late August, House of the Dragon has become a Monday night staple. But now that the first series has almost reached its conclusion, you may need this official podcast to fill the show’s gaping hole in your life.

Hosts Jason Concepcion (X-Ray Vision) and Greta Johnsen (WBEZ’s Nerdette podcast) have been getting together each week to discuss all the episode’s drama, answer fans’ questions, and interview cast and crew members (so far they’ve spoken to director Miguel Sapochnik and stars including Emily Carey, who plays young Alicent Hightower, Fabien Frankel who plays Ser Criston Cole, and Olivia Cooke, who plays the older Alicent Hightower).

The Crown: The Official Podcast

Ongoing since in November 2019, when it was launched to run alongside the third series of The Crown, the Netflix show’s official podcast is hosted by Scottish DJ and presenter Edith Bowman and provides fans those much-coveted extra details about their favourite show.

Past podcast interviewees included creator Peter Morgan and cast members Olivia Colman, Gillian Anderson and Helena Bonham Carter. Will the podcast be returning with season 5 in November? We haven’t seen any news about it, but we certainly hope so.

HBO’s Succession Podcast

If your nerves can handle it, why not enjoy more Succession drama with this official podcast, with interviews with the show’s leading actors including Brian Cox (Logan) Jeremy Strong (Kendall), Sarah Snook (Shiv) and Kieran Culkin (Roman).

Journalist and host Kara Swisher also speaks to Succession’s creator Jesse Armstrong, production designer Stephen Carter and goes on episode ‘deep dives’ with famous fans including NBA governor Mark Cuban and (very bizarrely) political pundit Anthony Scaramucci. For those who were stunned by the final, we recommend going back and listening to the podcast episode about it as Armstrong talks through its creation.

Bridgerton: The Official Podcast

This podcast has been produced by Shondaland, the production company founded by Bridgerton showrunner Shonda Rhimes, so there really is no better place to find behind-the-scenes Bridgerton content.

The podcast started back in February 2021, a couple of months after the launch of the first series. It includes interviews with composer Kris Bowers and choreographer Jack Murphy, Bridgerton’s historian Dr. Hannah Greig, producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers, and the show’s leading actors including Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey.

Since there’s still a tonne of time to wait before the third series is released (series two came out in March) why not go back and listen to these podcast episodes, and allow yourself to be transported back to Regency-era London.

Downton Abbey: The Official Podcast

Despite Downton Abbey concluding in 2015, the show’s official podcast was released in March this year, to coincide with the release of the film Downton Abbey: A New Era which came out in the UK in April.

In the 11-episode ‘re-watch podcast’, hosts broadcaster Anita Rani and Rotten Tomatoes Awards Editor Jacqueline Coley go through each season, interview actors such as Michelle Dockery and Laura Carmichael about their leading roles, speak to members of the production team and discuss the history of the Twenties.

The Chernobyl Podcast

Given that Chernobyl was a truly harrowing five-part limited miniseries, it’s fascinating that HBO thought audiences might value an accompanying podcast. But perhaps they were right - after all, in almost every scene there was so much to unpack (both historically and production-wise).

So although it’s been three years since Chernobyl was released, you might still find listening to this podcast interesting. It has the series creator, Craig Mazin, and host Peter Sagal discussing the true stories behind the episodes. There are six episodes in total, and you can expect discussion about the scenes that didn’t make it to the small screen, filming locations, the real event and where they took liberties adapting the show and why.

The first episode of Gangs of London: The Official Podcast is available now. The next four episodes will be released daily on October 20, 21, 22 and 23