‘Masterpiece’ drama series hailed as ‘best TV show of all time’ arrives on ITVX

The first three series of a "masterpiece" drama hailed as the "best TV show" are now streaming for free in the UK. The Affair premiered back in 2014 and tells the story of a tumultuous romance between schoolteacher Noah Solloway (Dominic West) and waitress Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson), both of whom are married when they meet at the diner where Alison works.

ITVX's teaser intro to the show describes it as a "trailblazing psychological drama about desire, betrayal and the emotional fallout of an affair". It was 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 broadcast in late 2019.

Fans have taken to IMDb to shower the series with praise, with one giving it a 10/10 and hailing it as the "best tv show ever". "They don't make tv shows like this," they added. "This is drama at its best.

"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 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."

Another called it 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."

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

The broadcaster has confirmed that the fourth series will be added in the summer and the fifth next year. You can also stream all five seasons on Paramount.