"The book is better than the show" is a phrase that I dread saying but can't help admitting on many occasions. As both a bookworm and TV obsessive, I am constantly comparing whether a TV adaptation actually lives up to the source material – especially when it's a series I have already spent hours imagining in my head.

Will all the world-building I absorbed from the page translate to an hour-long episode on screen? With casting, set design and costume all playing a major role, here are five TV adaptations that I believe are as good as, if not better than, the books.

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Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman bring Sherlock and Watson to life

Sherlock

After studying Arthur Conan Doyle's texts, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, at university, I was

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