While the Game of Thrones finale may have aired in May 2019, the show continued to remain popular with Nigerians through 2020, emerging as one of the most-watched shows on Showmax for the year.
The Emmy-award winning show shared the 2020 most-watched international series list alongside other Emmy winners like Succession, Vikings and Insecure.
Here are the top 10 most-watched international series on Showmax in 2020, in alphabetical order.
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With a total of 59 Emmy awards, Game of Thrones is one of the most-awarded shows in television history.
The show centres around the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and follows a web of alliances and conflicts among the noble dynasties, either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from it.
All six episodes of GOT are available for binging on Showmax.
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His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama series based on the novel series of the same name by Philip Pullman, which includes Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.
The show centres around a young girl named Lyra, who is an orphan living with the scholars at Jordan College, Oxford. It’s set in a multi-world reality, with the action moving from one world to another, beginning in an alternative world where all humans have animal companions called daemons, which are manifestations of the human soul. Both seasons of His Dark Materials are currently available for binging on Showmax.
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Starring Nigeria’s very own Yvonne Orji, who nabbed a 2020 Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy nomination for her role as Molly, Insecure has maintained an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 96% across all four of its seasons.
The show centres around best friends Molly and Issa (series creator, Issa Rae) as they navigate friendship, love and career against the backdrop of their Africa-American community in Los Angeles, California.
All four seasons of Insecure are currently available for binging on Showmax.
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Throughout the course of its six-season run, Power remained popular with Nigerians.
The show centres around New York City nightclub owner, James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), who doubles as a drug kingpin to an elite clientele, which gets in the way of his attempts to turn his legitimate business into a wide-ranging empire.
All six seasons of Power are currently available for binging on Showmax. A spin-off of the show, Power Book II: Ghost premiered in September 2020 and all 10 episodes are also currently available for binging on Showmax.
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Set in the coastal town of Bristol Cove, Washington, known for its legends of once being home to mermaids and mermen for centuries, the show opens with the arrival of a mysterious young woman (Eline Powell) who begins wreaking havoc upon the small fishing town while looking for her captured older sister (Sibongile Mlambo) who was abducted at the hands of the local military. Marine biologists Ben (Alex Roe) and Maddie (Fola Evans-Akingbola) work together to find out who and what drove this primal hunter of the deep sea to land.
Nominated as 2018’s Breakout Show at the Teen Choice Awards, Siren has a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus says, “Siren turns traditional lore on its tail with a unique, well-paced show that presents dangerous, violent mythical creatures in a surprisingly empathetic and exciting light.”
All three seasons of Siren are currently available for binging on Showmax.
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Strike Back is an explosive military series that follows Section 20, a branch of the British Defence Intelligence Service that undertakes dangerous missions across the world. The action really picks up when disgraced American mercenary Damien Scott, a former Delta Force Commando, teams up with the anti-terrorist group and joins their mission to save the world.
The cast and story changes through the seasons as the team faces threat after threat.
The Washington Post described the first season of the show as “a surprisingly stylish and addictive new counterterrorism series.”
Showmax has seven seasons of Strike Back available for binging.
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Winner of Best Drama at both The Emmys and Golden Globes in 2020, Succession has been described by The Globe and Mail as “the kind of masterpiece no movie can match.”
The show centres around filthy rich media tycoon Logan Roy (Brian Cox), one of the most influential people in the world, and his family. When he discovers his time on Earth is running out, he has to appoint a family member to succeed him at the head of his mega-company, Waystar Royco.
The trouble is, all his family members and close associates are just about as terrible as he is – and they all want their cut.
Both seasons of the show are available for binging on Showmax.
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Based on the bestselling novels by Lev Grossman, The Magicians follows a group of New York magic students who discover a fantasy world that threatens our own.
All four previous seasons of The Magicians have been nominated for Best Fantasy TV Series by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, while Season 5 has a 100% critics’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. TV Fanatic calls it “…without a doubt a satisfying conclusion to an amazing five-year series,” while The Verge says, “The Magicians is a joy to watch moment to moment.”
All five seasons of the show are available for binging on Showmax.
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The Passage is an American thriller television series based on the trilogy of bestselling novels by Justin Cronin.
The show focuses on Project Noah, a secret medical facility where scientists are experimenting with a dangerous virus that could lead to the cure for all disease, but also carries the potential to wipe out the human race.
When a young girl, Amy Bellafonte, is chosen to be a test subject, Federal Agent Brad Wolgast is tasked with bringing her to Project Noah. Ultimately, however, Wolgast becomes her surrogate father, as he tries to protect her at any cost.
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After six seasons, Vikings, which is set in ancient Scandinavia, still has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.5/10 rating on IMDb.
Created by BAFTA nominee Michael Hirst (Elizabeth, The Tudors), Vikings won its first Emmy in 2020 – a case of 13th time lucky – for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.
Happily, it’s had more success at other shows, picking up 35 awards internationally, including the Satellite Award for Best TV Drama and the 2021 Critics Choice Super Award for Best Action Series.
The latest episodes of Vikings season 6B are currently available for binging first and only on Showmax.
