Catterick
Catterick is my favourite baffling TV show. It stars Vic and Bob and a stellar backup cast – Reece Shearsmith, Tim Healey, Mark Benton, Matt Lucas and Morwenna Banks. It starts off innocuously enough with Carl Palmer (Bob) returning to Catterick to visit his brother Chris (Vic) but quickly descends into anarchy. The extremely loose plot centres around the criminal antics of mummy’s boy Tony (Shearsmith) but there are more tangents than a geometry conference. From ripped up posters of George Clooney and haunting dance routines to Chris Rea and Foreigner, Catterick should be top of your TV destinations. Tom Whelan, South Shields
Monkey Dust
I first caught a glimpse of the sharp, dreamlike animation Monkey Dust back on BBC Three in the mid-2000s. I was mesmerised by its dark slice of post-millennium British life. Every week, each episode played somewhat the same, but with a tragic, twisted or nightmarish spin befalling the sad bunch of urban dwellers. Why did Clive perform depraved acts with German businessmen, his father in-law, or a dog and some peanut butter? How did Divorced Dad survive his dire ending every week? I haven’t seen anything this dark or hypnotic since. Liam, 40, Amsterdam
The OA
I don’t know what the hell it was about. Inter-dimensional travel. Time travel. Long philosophic conversations that went nowhere. I remember being up at 2am in the morning watching it and thinking: oh my God, I have entered the twilight zone. Where am I? Gaverne, 56, London
Mrs Davies
Nobody else seems to have heard of this, but Mrs Davies, starring Betty Gilpin, is brilliant, funny and bizarre. It starts off straightforwardly enough with a flashback to a medieval secret society and the holy grail, then back to modern day and a crimefighting nun in a world ruled by a benign AI. From there it gets odder each episode until it finally comes together and makes sense. It was only ever meant to be one season, so it’s all tied up without too hefty a time commitment. Claire Shepherd, south Wales
Legion
Legion is by far the best baffling TV show of recent times. It’s a Marvel spin-off with no superheroes. Instead we get an evil entity nesting in the brain of a paranoid schizophrenic, Aubrey Plaza getting stuck in a wall and Jemaine Clement getting stuck in a 1970s-themed mind palace. It has an amazing cast and production design – and it is bananas but brilliant. I’m off to rewatch it now! Caroline Westbrook, London
The Leftovers
Two per cent of the world’s population are suddenly gone, and the people left behind, along with us viewers, are trying to figure out why. Each episode and season became weirder than the last, but the central mystery and tight writing, along with the excellent cast including Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston and Liv Tyler, kept me hooked. I still don’t really understand how it ended, but what a ride it was. Mark Hawksley, 46, Wisconsin, USA
The Prisoner
I always loved The Prisoner for its fascinating and slightly menacing atmosphere. This beautiful Italianate village was everything the 60s did best in design, colours and music. Patrick McGoohan, No 6, had been abducted and was kept prisoner in this gilded cage for obscure reasons, all to do with the secret services apparently. Rebelling against the system was useless, and as for escaping, forget about it, because a huge white balloon would pursue and eliminate you by smothering you on the beach. It was scary, baffling and the dissociation between the psychedelic décor and the sinister purpose of its masters made the show eternally spellbinding. The Prisoner remains a cult series for exactly that reason. Catherine Laz, 63, London
Westworld
Westworld quickly became more of an art installation than a drama. I gave up trying to understand what was going on and just got lost in the beautiful visuals. The show also had a great title sequence and powerful theme music, but making sense was not a priority. When I heard it had been cancelled, I didn’t care because I had no clue what had happened. Ben McCrory, Manchester
Nowhere Man
The one-season show Nowhere Man (1995-1996) was in many ways the US version of the equally perplexing British show, The Prisoner. The protagonist has his identity erased and he is constantly pursued because of a photograph he has taken, which contains elements of an unknown conspiracy. The show revels in reversals, betrayals and devastating reveals and no one is who they purport to be. Meanwhile the photographic negative at the heart of the struggle fluctuates between red herring and impossible touchstone. The whole affair concludes, much like The Prisoner, with an answer that invites even more questions and leaves both the protagonist and the viewer further unmoored from certainty. Howard Kistler, 60, Richmond, Virginia
Dark
If you’ve seen Dark, you already agree. And if you haven’t, you are about to discover the most confusing, mind bending, brilliant TV show to ever exist. Without spoiling too much, it’s about a boy who goes missing, cause and effect, free will v determinism, and a very literal grand(mother) paradox. Watch it, follow along with the ever evolving family trees that were released as supplements with each season, and be baffled that Netflix cancelled the creators’ follow-up after one season. Paul Clayton-Rana, 43, Hitchin
Patriot
Don’t be put off by the name. It’s a conflicting web of spy intrigue, workplace comedy, detective drama and surrealist masterpiece centred around a depressed folk musician and his tracksuited brother trying to do their hapless best for global geopolitics. Expect Beastie Boys montages, weird side characters and unforeseen consequences across Luxembourg and Milwaukee. Patriot is hysterical, complicated and heartbreaking in equal measure, all anchored by Michael Dorman’s bemused sweetness as he does terrible things. Full of confusing tension, yet somehow still guffawingly funny throughout. Charlotte Kingston, 45, Bournemouth
