“The book is better.”

It’s a sentence you hear often when it comes to adaptations of books for the screen, and sometimes it is definitely true. But, and we say this as fans of books, there are plenty of TV adaptations that are as good as the books they’re based on, and some (and you might want to whisper this) are even better than their source material.

The long form nature of television means it can be better suited to adaptations than films, where you need to squeeze everything into a couple of hours. With television, you can spend episodes getting to know characters and their motivations, and really get a feel for the world they live in.

Book adaptations have become must-see TV, from Game of Thrones to The Handmaid’s Tale and beyond. And it’s not just modern television where book adaptations shine, with classic series like the 1995 Pride and Prejudice still standing up to today’s viewing.