Finished Stranger Things? Here’s what you should watch next!

Loads and loads and loads of spoilers - you have been warned!

It’s been over a month since the third season of Stranger Things dropped on Netflix. If you’re anything like us, you eagerly devoured the eight episodes when they were first released, leaving you bereft and having to make conversation with your flatmates instead of chain-watching episodes, and damning yourself to high hell for not rationing the precious instalments. To make things worse, we don’t even know if there will be a season four yet! The horror!

But, if you need some excellent viewing to tide you over until Stranger Things is (maybe, probably, potentially) returning to your screens, we’ve got you. From the similarly spooky world of The OA to the calamity capers of The Goonies, here are some excellent options for your viewing pleasure.

The OA

Watch if: You need more spooky sci-fi in your life.

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Watch it on: Netflix

Why? Missing the unnerving science fiction moments of Stranger Things? Can’t get enough of Eleven’s powers? Then give The OA a go. Sadly the series has been cancelled, but if you haven’t seen the first two seasons it’s well worth a watch. There are a lot of similarities between Eleven and The OA lead, Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling), as both turned up out of nowhere (Prairie was missing for seven years, whilst Eleven escaped from the lab she was experimented on in), and both series gradually revealed their origin stories.

Fun fact! Some fan theories believe the two TV shows are set in the same universe. Could there be a crossover in the future?!

The X-Files

Watch if? You wanna see more supernatural butt being kicked.

Watch it on: Amazon Prime

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Why? If you loved watching Eleven take down the Demogorgons, or Joyce being a total badass saving Will, then give The X-Files a try. It follows FBI agent Fox Mulder (believes in aliens) and doctor Dana Scully (sceptic) as they investigate X-Files (unsolved cases that could include paranormal phenomena), with similarly scary happenings to Stranger Things.

Fun fact! David Harbour (who plays Hopper in Stranger Things) has said that his favourite ever episode of TV is an episode in season six of The X-Files, called ‘Field Trip’.

Twin Peaks

Watch if? You miss the mystery of Stranger Things.

Watch it on: Available to buy on Amazon and Google Play

Why? If it’s the elaborate mysteries that gradually unravel you’ve loved in Stranger Things (like what had happened to Will in series one, or how the Mind Flayer was trying to take over in season three), then try Twin Peaks. David Lynch’s iconic, genre spanning show first came out in the ’90s, and follows Agent Dale Cooper as he tries to solve the death of high schooler Laura Palmer. After being cancelled in 1991, it then returned in 2017, so you’ve got plenty of binge watching to be getting on with.

Fun fact! Artist Ed Benguiat designed the typeface used for Stranger Things’ logo, and the Twin Peaks opening titles!

Dark

Watch if: You want more eerie supernatural drama.

Watch it on: Netflix

Why? The German Netflix show will have you chain-watching, just like Stranger Things does. Without too many spoilers, it follows a generation spanning mystery, which follows the aftermath of a disappearing child and how different people cope with it. And also time travel. You’ll probably find you watch the entire two series of Dark in a weekend. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Fun fact! Don’t be disappointed when you finish the first two seasons of this – a third is on the way.

The Goonies

Watch if: You’re missing Steve and Dustin’s capers.

Watch it on: Netflix

Why? In season three of Stranger Things we see Steve and Dustin team up with Robin and Erica. Firstly to work out what a mysterious Russian code they hear over walkie-talkie is saying, and later to break in (and then break out of) the mysterious Russian’s underground lair. What with Steve and Dustin’s secret handshakes and the elaborate, often ridiculous, plans to try and save the day, it’s reminiscent of The Goonies.

Fun fact! And this isn’t the first time Stranger Things has felt similar to The Goonies. Throughout the three series the show’s creators The Duffer Brothers have played homage to the legendary film, with the most obvious reference being in season two when Bob (played by Sean Astin, who also played Mikey in The Goonies) is helping Joyce (Winona Ryder) and some of the kids try to work out how to find a location on a map that Will (Noach Schapp) has drawn. Mike (Finn Wolfhard) tells him: “That’s the objective, find the X!”, with Bob responding “What’s at the X? Pirate treasure?”. Of course, The Goonies sees the gang of kids follow an old treasure map to try and find some pirate gold!

Back To The Future

Watch if: You want to feel like one of the gang.

Watch it on: Netflix

Why? In the penultimate episode Dustin, Erica, Robin and Steve are laying low after escaping from the underground lair they’d ended up in. With Robin and Steve still intoxicated by the truth serum they’d been subjected to, Dustin and Erica decide to hide out in a cinema that’s showing Back to the Future. Hilarity ensues when Robin and Steve escape the cinema and can’t make head nor tail of the baffling plot – with one of the best moments of the series coming when Robin tells Steve: “So I wasn’t totally focused in there or anything, but I’m pretty sure that mom was trying to bang her son!” If you like the wacky sci-fi moments of Stranger Things, or just want to see what the cast were watching, this is one for you.

Fun fact! There are loads more homages to Back to the Future throughout the series, including the scene where Nancy and Jonathan are late to work in the first episode (which is similar to when Marty McFly was late for school in the beginning of Back to the Future), plus the similarities between Starcourt Mall and Twin Pines Mall.

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