Best Crime Series
Was it just me, or is there more crime dramas - and detective dramas - than ever? Not that I'm complaining (most of the books I read too tend to be crime-ish now, or sci-fi, and I guess the telly I watch reflects that too.)
Broadchurch
No list on 2013 is complete without Broadchurch on it. Even from the start I loved it - the acting, the cast, the cinematography, even the writing (Chris Chibnall's far better at 'realistic' drama than spaceships and swords, it seems). Really lives up to the hype - even the electrifying ending (which I didn't guess - even if many other people did!). Blogged about it here. Curiously, my mum thought it was too slow and boring, but she's wrong.
Top of the Lake
Slightly too highbrow, too arty, with lots of intelligible New Zealand locals (almost needs subtitles!) and little exposition. This was yet another slightly grim crime series, but head and shoulders above the rest in terms of gorgeous scenery, dark crazy themes, and mysterious storytelling, and great twists. I really got into it by the end.
Endeavour
Very classy, very pretty and captivating mysteries. I've never seen the original Morse series (though I've started reading the books) - this came first, and it's a series of very good mysteries.
The Great Train Robbery
Quite slow and meandering, but a fine reenactment of the robbery and the police side of things from 50 years ago. It's very classy (CSI 1963! super) but gripping and very nicely done.
Also worth mentioning: Ripper Street (most of it's two series aired this year - strong Victorian cop show), What Remains (very suspenseful mystery, unashamedly contrived, with loveably bonkers final scenes), The Fall (grim serial killer drama, classy as hell). ITV's Poirot/Marple serials (generally well done, EIGHT new ones this year! - and I've caught up on a few old ones. Curtain and Endless Night particularly were amazing). Swedish crime dramaseries Arne Dahl (good, overblown long thrillers with good character development), Luther (returning, looking pretty and well told - I caught up with series one too, the first ever episode is a masterpiece), Scott and Bailey, Father Brown (cosy short mysteries), Mayday.
Best Unrelentingly Bleak Series
An extra category - and I'm not counting Broadchurch in it, cos even that had some humour in it. These ones didn't.
The Village
Very bleak and depressing (I sense a theme here..), but very well told and shot. One of those lovely epic dramas, but set in a rural Northern village from a hundred years ago. At times, at it's best, it's very moving, and very special.
The Returned
A French series about zombies... wait, come back! This wasn't really about zombies at all (apart from the odd bit of cannibalism), more like ghosts - as four or five dead people return to a quiet village and unsettle their grieving loved ones. Why are they there? Your guess is as good as mine - but aside from getting very few answers this year, this show just oozed a classy, eerie atmosphere and suspense. (Alright - it was slow!)
Also worth mentioning: Top of the Lake and The Fall (see above), and The Mill (fine period drama from C4, in all its grubby authenticity).
Best Series I Often Found Frustrating
But there's also some really good TV shows that I loved... well, after a while. At first they rather irritated me. There's a new trend for the confusing, filmic, muttery drama series, and here's some of them that - whilst being excellent - took me some time to warm to.
The White Queen
Lavish as ever - I loved the first episode's containedness, gorgeousness and great plot, but then it suffered under the following two or three episodes of rushed historical events, muttered exposition and a cast of thousands. For a while I hated it - but by the end of the series it calmed down into a smoother, much better watch. Don't read up on the history if you don't want to know what happens, even though it helps you to follow the plot, as it's pretty accurate actually, depicting the end bits of the War of the Roses, and the reign of Richard III. It's just a shame history wasn't a bit more... simple.
Peaky Blinders
BBC Two's lovely gangster drama set in 1919, up north, to the sound of the coolest rock songs and arty visuals. Another one of these shows without much exposition, and an unconventional plot, so I thought it a bit mystifying at first, but go along with it, if only for the ride. Or something.
Dancing on the Edge
Started off slow (a ninety minute opening episode, too), but a great cast, oozing class and quality like The Hour (much missed), and jazz songs you wouldn't realise weren't authentic. But I did find it odd - stuff happening, but not much depth or subtlety - or mystery, by the end of it. Frustrating to watch at times, with the plot too, but glossy and memorable. (There's also an extra, very odd 'documentary' episode!)
Also worth mentioning: Top of the Lake (there's a running theme to this), Burton and Taylor (muttery, but with really good casting... even if I've never seen them in real life much to compare them to!), The Great Gatsby (the film - although the book was quite hard 'to get'. I wrote about them here - but yes, an odd film to love)
Best New Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series
Orphan Black
A very intriguing import, about a woman who discovers there's other people who look like her. Sounds a bit crazy - it's a sci-fi (ish) thriller - but it plays differently to how you'd expect, in that it's actually very very fun. Tatiana Maslay as the clones deserves every award going, as I kept having to remind myself that these characters were all played by the same actor. Really really lovely.
Utopia
Again, only technically sci-fi. Super stylish, hyper realistic and very awesome... and very disturbing! This was gripping from the start - a conspiracy, comic-booky drama, with violent assassins and... well, I'm doing it a disservice. Like nothing else this year, highly recommended - and it's coming back.
In the Flesh
After Being Human, BBC Three aired a zombie drama... wait, come back! This was completely different to your usual horror, actually being a self-confessed rural kitchen-sink drama exploring what it's like to be dead. The gradually unfolding main character and situation is what made it - the first episode's slow, but it improved into something really special.
Also worth mentioning: The Returned (see above), Neverwhere (not telly, but epic radio drama with one of the best casts ever, and best stories too. Basically, incredible - and I've never experienced the originals), Agents of Shield was alright superhero-ish action fluff.And of course returning stuff like Doctor Who - but more on that later.
Best (Other) New Series
The best of the rest (alright, I can't think of any more categories!).
Frankie
The complete opposite to most of these - a light, breezy antidote to the violence and misery on this list. But it's also a very well made series, about a district nurse played loveably by Eve Myles. It's not all sweetness and light though - there's a stalker, relationship problems, and obviously, death. The plot's good, and it's miles better than anything similar on ITV.
The Americans
An American show - a slow paced, tense spy series, about a pair of Russian spies posing undercover in 1981 as a typical all American family. It's a great, solid and rewarding watch - no huge explosive set-pieces or secret volcano lairs, but pure drama with a good cast.
The Escape Artist
Another one of these BBC mini-series: this one, starring David Tennant as a lawyer, was an economical, solid, effortless thriller, with a great twist of a final episode. And just a cut above most dramas.
Privates
Odd title - it's a BBC daytime drama shown last January about 1960s conscripts to National Service. But it's a lovely series, with unfamiliar actors (well, except Alex Vlahos), and juggles the plots and themes superbly over the five episodes, to keep you watching.
Also worth mentioning: I discovered Borgen, easily the best Danish political soap I've seen this year. The Wrong Mans (fine thrilling drama, with laughs). CBBC's documentary 'I am Ethan' (top notch - and Who related). Lucy Worsley's A Very British Murder (very enjoyable, about the history of crime solving!). Irish gangster drama Love/Hate (shown on 5 - action packed, pretty darn good), The Wipers Times (an excellent period piece, despite being overly long, packed with humour and cynicism), The Whale, Gangsta Granny. And The Tractate Middoth and The Thirteenth Tale were two very good ghost stories shown at Christmas.
Best Returning Series
A second series (or even more) is often hard to do. But these shows kept the quality up this year in my opinion...
Call the Midwife/Last Tango in Halifax
A second series can be tough - more of the same, especially as the first series is often hailed as the best thing since sliced bread. But these two series - both real hits, both which I loved the first time around - came back with the same quality, the same cast too, and really stunning telly. Call the Midwife made me weep with the always painful abortion sequence, pre-watershed (no blood, but intercut with bright red nail polish...) Last Tango developed the characters realistically and showed the wedding of the year, as well as the best acting, writing, directing, etc...
Wolfblood
A great set of 13 new episodes gave us our old Wolfblood gang back, plus new characters and expanded the characters and the world they lived in. A very strong, realistic serial with heart and - wait for it - bite. I also watched back the whole of the first series from last year when it was repeated on BBC Three!
Wizards Vs Aliens
The first series was alright, if small and sometimes too silly - the second really knocked it out the park though with its risk-taking stories. The Thirteenth Floor in particular is a fantastic adventure with bold twists, and the finale is amazing. But all the stories were good, ranging from high comedy to tragedy - between this and Wolfblood, it's breaking the boundaries of traditionally 'children's telly' (And Young Dracula too, not on this year).
Also worth mentioning: The Sparticle Mystery (another great children's series - a fantasy drama with all child actors, trying to find the adults - great old-school, watchable fun, like playing in the woods). Final series of Being Human (great ending to the show, revitalised for the final stretch - especially with Phil Davis, and also Kate Bracken) and Misfits (much improved on last year's also). Black Mirror (executed perfectly, most of them), The Paradise (still lovely, with glorious design and over-acting). Doc Martin (consistently light and funny - don't be snobby). And Horrible Histories - very very amusing and brilliant as ever
Best Bit of Doctor Who
An odd year for Doctor Who - but a good one on the whole, with an eight episode series (also called, just, a series) and two specials. The one in November, The Day of the Doctor, was superb - as were highlights like The Crimson Horror and The Bells of St John. Let's not mention some of the episodes though, nor the Doctor or Clara's character development...
However there was also two star highlights of the year elsewhere:
An Adventure in Space and Time
A one off drama, completely different to Doctor Who, about its origins. I'd heard a lot about the drama and the history behind it already throughout the year - it's beautiful, absolutely magical. David Bradley is (was?) William Hartnell, and Mark Gatiss skilfully compressed an awful lot into 90 minutes. It's almost perfect.
The Five(ish) Doctors
Pretty much as good as the Doctor Who anniversary special, but a comedy, and with a tenth of the budget (probably). Star studded, bloody hysterical, one of the best things ever.
Best Show I Watched from Years Ago
State of Play
One of the best TV series ever, quite possibly? A perfect storm of conspiracies, politics, journalism and mystery - if a little too long (six hours). It's also got a now A-list cast, including John Simm, David Morrissey and Bill Nighy.
Casanova
This reminded me how much I love Russell T Davies - it screams 2005 Doctor Who with David Tennant and the music and the fun, fast cutting. And it does that trick of making you laugh and cry at the same time.
Also: Finally saw Ashes to Ashes after only seeing the final one-and-a-half series (just as good as Life on Mars, perhaps better). Danger UXB (a very thrilling old wartime series). The original Pride and Prejudice (I read the book first, too, the BBC series is marvellous), Margaret (the Thatcher drama that is all about politics, with a fine cast), Land Girls (a strong series from a few years back, soap style), Eric and Ernie (accomplished and infectious - no wonder it won a Bafta). And as a family we've been watching Bergerac (the crime drama set - mostly - on Jersey. we've seen all of it now, it's mostly really good).
I didn't watch that many films this year, certainly not at the cinema - but I did see Alien, Avengers Assemble, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, Brideshead Revisited, Attack the Block, Young Sherlock Holmes, A Field in England, Indiana Jones, Starter for 10, The History Boys and Source Code, so that made up for it. And not telly, but Big Finish's last Eighth Doctor series on the radio was excellent, a real high point (as is discovering Round the Horne and Cabin Pressure, two of the solidest, funniest radio comedies). And I finally got round to reading all of Sandman, if in a fairly jumbled order. And I read lots of books, too many to mention. And, of course, I got on the radio myself, as part of Chain Gang, which was very lucky (and it wasn't half bad either).
Disappointments
Southcliffe was very naturalistic, arty, but without a plot and so grim it's almost unwatchable. Death Comes to Pemberley was lavish, if sombre, but I didn't like the lacklustre ending. Masterchef's format this year was very repetitive.
Catching up, the film version of The Time Traveller's Wife doesn't quite work, and doesn't feel like how I imagined it when I read the lovely lovely book - well, I was warned. Mars Attacks is far, far worse than I remembered back when I was younger. And after getting round to read them for the first time, I found some of the short stories of HP Lovecraft to be a bit heavy and a struggle to read, sadly.
Maybe I shouldn't have ended on such a downbeat paragraph... but 2013 was a good year for telly, and 2014 (even thus far) looks to be great too. It's striving for better things, it's more filmic, more nuanced, more varied than before.(And with all the dramas I watch I should probably go into the industry myself... let's call all this "research", eh?)
