The way we watch television has changed so much in the past few years. We now watch stuff on the internet without hesitation and are quite happy to while away whole weekends watching the series we didn’t watch on TV back-to-back via a big, meaty boxset. Why is this? It may have something to do with the whole concept of viewers wanting to watch what they want when they want. But it’s not just this wrestling of viewer power back from the channels that makes watching series on boxsets such an appealing idea – US series, in particular, often have 20-plus episodes in a series, which can be a huge watching commitment running to several months. Another reason? US drama series are of such quality these days that they tend to be far more ambitious and far more densely plotted. Sometimes re-watching a series on boxset allows us to really absorb what’s going on and to pick up on nuances we may have missed first time around. Battlestar Galactica’s finale last night on Sky1 (Monday 23 March) is a great case in point. The Guardian, always one to shout from the rooftops about a quality series, argued last week that BG was actually better than their other favourite programme, The Wire. Because the sci-fi series is so much more than a sci-fi series (twisty plot, politics galore, crazy mythical imagery and concepts etc) and there are 20 episodes in a series, I haven’t had the time to watch it on Sky1. However, I fully intend to watch on a boxset soon. The Wire, meanwhile, starts up on BBC Two next week (11.20pm from Monday 30 March) and is another great case in point. I’ve watched a few episodes, and enjoyed them, but didn’t keep up with the schedule. So many people I know know have all the boxsets though – some you wouldn’t normally associate with Wire watching – and it has become a real word-of-mouth success. I’m going to leave these two superior shows out of my top five just because they’re just so obvious boxset material. So what else is worth getting stuck into in a boxset stylee? Read on…

1. The Sopranos
It set the standard and showed that TV could be ambitious, sprawling and complex, and introduced a lead character that you cared about (until he ripped someone’s head off). There was humour, violence and beautifully-written secondary characters. David Chase had the balls to make the final scene one of the most talked about ever, but it’s the family relationships and the Mafia politics that make this very special indeed.

2. Twin Peaks
Back before what’s being called the Golden Age of TV drama, Twin Peaks was out on its own. From the brilliant and cuckoo brain of David Lynch, the series essentially told the story of a daughter and her relationship with her abusive father, but it wrapped this dark story up in so much mystery, mythology, surrealism, crazy characters and genuinely scary scariness it was a must-watch. Yes, it might have aged a little bit and yes, it did go on for too long, but Twin Peaks is still landmark television.

3. Deadwood
Here’s a bit of a (sadly) forgotten series. Played out on Sky1 in this country, David Milch’s ambitious series was set in the frontier town of Deadwood in the 1870s. At its dark, filthy heart Ian McShane turned in a bravura performance as Al Swearengan, the man who wants to control this camp-turned-proper-town at any costs. There’s also the attraction of real-life characters from history – Calamity Jane, Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickock – getting mixed up in town politics. Sweary, gritty and very dirty.

4. Lost
So labyrinthine is Lost’s plot it has shed viewers all over the shop during the past couple of series. Too confusing, too stupid, too everything. Still, it has retained a hardcore cult pool of fans, and watching it back-to-back maybe the answer in understanding what’s going on and getting to grips with the flashforwards and flashbacks.

5. John From Cincinnati
What did David Milch do after Deadwood? He did this very weird, very surreal series, currently showing on FX. It was dubbed as surf noir, and featured the dysfunctional Yost family of surfers and the effect a mysterious stranger called John had on residents of Imperial Beach, California. There were only 10 episodes made until it was cancelled by HBO, and there’s a sense this sort of show doesn’t really fit onto any channel, but if you can get past the weirdness it’s worth a watch.

So what do you think? I could’ve mentioned Dexter, Arrested Development, 24, Prison Break, Sex And The City, Life On Mars, 30 Rock, Californication, The Tudors and Bleak House but I think I’ve flagged up five really decent ways to spend a couple of rainy weekends.