Over the three lockdowns that we have had to endure, the amount of television that we have watched has increased immensely. The trend for binge watching whole series in one go has become the norm for many people but should we be indulging in this or not?

Before the advent of streaming services, we watched a programme and then we had to wait a week before we could watch the next episode. The anticipation that was felt whilst waiting for the next programme was great and many people would discuss with friends what they thought might happen next. Now that anticipation has been mainly taken away as when people are watching a series they can usually just continue to watch the following episode immediately. This may suit some viewers who cannot tune in regularly at the same time each week to catch up, but some people may feel that the series is over too quickly because they have watched it in one day.

The key to this dilemma is balance, that is to say it is ok to binge watch some episodes but perhaps not a whole series especially if it is a drama series where there is a lot happening in each episode and the viewer can lose track of plot lines and characters.