Top News

The first three series of a "masterpiece" drama hailed by one fan as the best TV show ever made are currently streaming for free. The Affair hit the small screen back in 2014 and tells the story of a tumultuous romance between schoolteacher Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and grieving waitress Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson), both of whom are married when they click at a diner where Alison works.

ITVX's teaser blurb for the show describes it as a "trailblazing psychological drama about desire, betrayal and the emotional fallout of an affair". The show garnered praised for its rich exploration of complex relationships and clever narrative conceit of showing events from the perspective of different characters, made famous by Japanese master filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

The Affair was created by Sarah Treem and Hagai Levi and ran for five seasons, with the finale dropping in 2019.

Fans have taken to IMDb to shower the series with praise. One gave it a perfect score, calling it "best tv show ever". "They don't make tv shows like this," they added. "This is drama at its best.

• HMRC confirms £17 extra tax charges for state pensioners every month

• Abandoned UK shopping village left to rot after all 40 stores close down

"Superb writing and cast of actors, so much talent in this one show. I wished there were 10 seasons of this because it never gets old, it never gets tiring or dull or pointless like many other shows do.

"Probably season 4 is my favourite because we have travelled so far with these characters that they feel like friends now or people we care about, so human and so fragile and imperfect and real."

Another said it's a "beautiful story of cause & effects", saying the final season "deeply ties up the entire series in a nice well done bow".

"What's great about the show, is that we get to see, feel and experience every characters perspective of what's truly going on, so in reality, we kind of don't know what's going on because we're just being fed different points of view," they added.

"It's up to us to figure out what the real story is." Another called it an "absolute masterpiece" saying it's one of the few productions where "every word matters and the only one so deeply psychological and thrilling at the same time".

"I watch everything, but The Affair is the only thing during which I switch off my phone."

A fourth added: "I was sucked in immediately and ended up binge watching this series! Very good acting and what I love about it is, the depiction of every character's different perspectives in each episode.

"It is such an honest, insightful representation of life and the truth that all human beings experience and see things differently."

In March, the first three seasons of The Affair were added to ITVX where you can watch them for free with ads.

The broadcaster previously confirmed that the fourth series will be added in the summer and the fifth in 2027. You can also stream all five seasons on Paramount, or buy individual episodes on YouTube.