Breaking Bad review: the chemistry lesson that changed TV
Breaking Bad turned a mild-mannered chemistry teacher into one of TV’s great monsters. Nearly two decades on, does Vince Gilligan’s crime drama still hold up? Here’s why it does.
Reviewed, edited and approved by Editor-in-chief Daniel Sköld · Updated 25 October 2026
Contents
Every man of a certain age has had a chemistry teacher who looked like life had beaten him slowly with a Bunsen burner. Tweed, a tired cardigan, a faint whiff of sulphur and disappointment. Breaking Bad asks what would happen if that man stopped putting up with it. The answer launched one of the most influential dramas of the century.
It first aired in 2008, which in streaming years is roughly the Jurassic period. So does it still deserve a place on your list, or is it one of those shows everyone says you must watch and you quietly never get round to? Short answer: watch it. Here’s the longer one.
Premiere2008-01-20
GenreDrama, Crime
CastBryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Anna Gunn, RJ Mitte
Created byVince Gilligan
Seasons5 seasons · 62 episodes
ChannelAMC
Rated18
Watch onNetflix
90%
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A midlife crisis with a body count
Walter White is a chemistry teacher in New Mexico. He is clever, underpaid and largely ignored, and then he is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and told he has about two years to live. Most of us would buy a convertible we can’t afford. Walter does something else. With nothing left to lose and a family he wants to provide for, he sees the money in the drugs trade and decides his talent with chemistry is worth something after all.
That’s the set-up, and I’ll stop there. The joy of the show is watching one decision lead to the next, each a bit worse than the last, until the man you felt sorry for in the first episode becomes someone you hardly recognise. Vince Gilligan, who created it, famously described the idea as turning Mr Chips into Scarface. Imagine your old O-level chemistry master running a cartel and you’re most of the way there.
Cranston, Paul and a cast with nowhere to hide
Bryan Cranston plays Walter, and it’s one of the great television performances. Until then he was best known as the hapless dad in Malcolm in the Middle, which is part of the trick: he starts out every inch the put-upon suburban father, and the change creeps up on you so slowly you barely notice it. Aaron Paul plays Walter’s reluctant partner in crime, a former pupil, and gives the show its bruised, chaotic heart.
The supporting cast is just as good. Anna Gunn has the thankless job of playing Walter’s wife, RJ Mitte plays his teenage son, and Dean Norris and Betsy Brandt round out a family that makes your own Christmas dinners look calm. Created by Gilligan for the American cable channel AMC, the show ran for five seasons and 62 episodes, which is long enough to get lost in and short enough to finish without retiring early.
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What works, and what doesn’t
Almost everything works. The writing is patient in a way modern TV rarely dares to be: whole scenes play out in silence, and the tension often comes from what isn’t said. The New Mexico desert, shot in scorching yellows and wide empty frames, is practically a character, and it gives the series the feel of a modern western. There’s a streak of jet-black humour too, which British viewers raised on dark comedy will appreciate.
It isn’t a show about a good man going bad. It’s about a proud man finally getting permission to be who he always was.
The flaws are small. The first season is short and a bit uneven, as the show finds its feet, and a few side plots in the middle seasons go on longer than they need to. Some viewers find Walter so hard to like by the later stages that it becomes uncomfortable to watch. That’s rather the point, but it’s worth knowing if you like a hero to root for.
Why critics still rate it so highly
Breaking Bad wasn’t an instant hit. It built its audience slowly, helped by catch-up viewing and streaming, until its final run became a cultural event. Since then its reputation has only grown. It regularly turns up near the top of lists of the greatest TV dramas ever made, and its fan ratings on IMDb are among the highest of any series.
Its influence is everywhere. The idea that an antihero’s slow moral collapse could carry a whole series, that a drama could be as carefully put together as a feature film, and that viewers would happily binge something this bleak: Breaking Bad didn’t invent these, but it made them standard. You can see its fingerprints on British crime dramas too. If you enjoyed the slow-burning tension of Line of Duty or the moral grime of Happy Valley, you’re already halfway converted.
Where to watch Breaking Bad in the UK
All five seasons of Breaking Bad are on Netflix in the UK. It carries an 18 certificate, and deserves it: there is violence, drug use and some unflinchingly grim moments, so it’s not one to put on with the in-laws. If you don’t already pay for Netflix, a month’s subscription is enough to get through it with dedication, although the show tends to cost you some sleep.
Verdict
Breaking Bad is as close to essential viewing as television gets: tight, darkly funny and anchored by a towering performance from Bryan Cranston. Allow for a wobbly first season and it rarely puts a foot wrong after that. It’s for anyone who loves a slow-burning crime drama, and especially for any man who has ever wondered what he might do with nothing left to lose. Just don’t take the hint.
Ashley Isaacs picks what's worth your evening – film, TV, streaming, music and books for men 45 and over with limited evenings and too many subscriptions. Reviews of what's new on Netflix, Prime Video, BBC iPlayer and the rest, crime dramas worth a weekend, and classics worth a second look. What's worth watching, what isn't, and where to find it in the UK.
One of Midcent's writers. Spotted something? Write to ashley@midcent.uk.
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