Yes, Paul lobbied hard for Game Of Thrones and House Of Cards, Jenny wanted 24 Hours In & AE in there, and Hannah insisted that Big School be included (we all loved The Undateables), but in the end we could only pick 20 and wrestled in our Christmas onesies to determine who made it onto our prestigious list. But, in our opinion, we've picked some crackerjacks!** **
So what do we remember about 2013's TV? There was some brilliant drama this year, as well as uplifting documentaries, crazy reality and other great bits and bobs. We can talk and talk, but that's no fun. Lists are FUN! Without further ado, here's our Top 20 TV shows of the year. What do you think? Do you have your own favourites?
20. Splash! (ITV)
Everyone scoffed at the idea of a celebrity diving contest (and they still do) but Splash turned out to be a big hit and that’s because there’s just so much to love about this show.
You’ve got celebrities stripping off to their Speedos (well, the men at least), celebrities hurling themselves off the top board (or even off the side) and ending up black and blue. Then you’ve got Olympic darling Tom Daley who can make a diver out of anyone (including Shameless’ Tina Malone). But the best thing about it is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a laugh.
**19. The Happenings (Watch) **
This gets onto the list because there was genuinely nothing like it on television this year. From the makers of Derren Brown, it showed two illusionists – Barry and Stuart – travel to two towns in the US and two towns in the UK to try and make them believe something very strange was happening.
Whether it be trying to convince locals that there had been an alien landing or that they were psychic, some of the illusions were jaw-dropping.
17. The Sound Of Musicals (C4)
Channel 4's peek behind the scenes of the cut-throat world of West End musicals quietly slipped on to Tuesday nights and became our new guilty pleasure. (We urge anyone who missed this four-part series to tune into On Demand forthwith).
From the new young producer trying to get her (appalling) production off the ground (the immense joy at snapping up ex-Emmerdaler Ben Freeman as her leading man says it all), to the bigwig of the theatre so plastered in fake tan it's incredible there was any left for the Strictly contestants. Delightfully over the top and as camp as it gets, this was a joy to behold.
16. The Great British Bake Off (BBC2)
You know exactly what you’re getting with GBBO and once again it delivered (so much so it’ll make the jump to BBC1 next year), even though many people’s opinion of Paul Hollywood had changed for the worse after various newspaper revelations.
As ever he and Mary were firm but fair, Mel and Sue an absolute joy and we also loved the contestants this year – Glenn, Howard, lovely smiley Kimberley, Ruby and eventual winner Frances were all fab.
15. Made In Chelsea (E4)
Over to SW3 where Spenny, Louise, Lucy, Jamie, Binky and co were shovelling more plums into their mouths (not really but they certainly sound like they are) and busy dealing with the everyday dramas of such pressing matters like who's dating who and which person's ex is now going after someone else.
We were onto series six but still this show is our all-time guilty pleasure and we still can't get enough of the bitchiness, awkward dinner parties, swanky trips abroad... and Binky's mum.
14. Last Tango In Halifax (BBC1)
It’s easy to dismiss this series as easy-going mid-week throwaway drama, but this second series had us on the verge of tears every week.
Once we got through the blubbing threshold, we were left to admire the acting skills of Anne Reid, Sir Derek Jacobi, Nicola Walker and Sarah Lancashire – all absolutely superb – as the series revolved around Alan and Celia’s wedding and the fall-out before and after.
13. Fabulous Fashonistas (C4)
This one-off made Twitter go into meltdown, and we can see why – it was so heartwarming and brilliant we didn’t want it to end. It told the story of six women with an average age of 80 glamming up and dressing the way they wanted, not how society dictated they should.
They all proved that age is just a number and looked, as the title suggested, fabulous.
12. Downton Abbey (ITV)
The return to Downton Abbey did not disappoint, with a mourning Lady Mary moping about in black following the shock death of that nice chap Matthew Crawley. Baby George was pretty much forgotten about but never mind that as we were all too much in shock over the violent rape of maid Anna to think about much else for most of the series.
We left off with Edith up the duff out of wedlock (gasp!), some posh blokes fighting over Lady Mary (who's ditched the black in favour of some lovely purples) and Bates dicing with trouble again when the bloke who attacked his missus (hello, Nigel Harman) ended up dead.
11. Doctor Who: The Day Of The Doctor (BBC1)
How much hype did this get? (answer: quite a lot.) Thankfully the 50th anniversary episode lived up to it all, as we saw Matt Smith’s Doctor team up with David Tennant’s Doctor (YES!), as well as John Hurt’s Doctor.
As usual we didn't have a clue what was going on but were swept up in the whole hoopla – we got a glimpse of Gallifrey, and there were some nice doffs of the cap to Doctors past. Great stuff.
10. The Fried Chicken Shop (C4)
What existed only as a pilot got a full series this year, and the genius concept of letting cameras roll in a fried chicken shop was a big hit with us. It provided plenty of laughs but also plenty of poignant moments, too.
It was a place where age, gender, sexuality, race and religion didn’t matter, and all of human life mixed. Real life with real people. And real chicken and chips.
9. MasterChef: The Professionals (BBC2)
Strangely, we weren’t as into the other two MasterChef series this year, but this was a cracker. Some top-notch food, great characters, drama and, of course, Michel Roux Jr and Monica Galetti... this series had it all.
Michel and Monica made for a firm but fair judging team and we love them very much.
8. The Returned (C4)
A French-language zombie drama in our top ten? Mais qui! Not the most obvious choice, but anyone who could stick with the subtitles were richly rewarded with spooky and absorbing drama.
It was the tale of dead people reappearing out of nowhere and acting as though nothing had happened to them, as their families and townsfolk scratched their heads and tried to figure out what happened. There were subtle twists and shock moments galore.
**7. Him & Her – The Wedding (BBC3)
Comedy has been absolutely rubbish on telly this year, but this little gem – starring the fab Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani – was just brilliant. It was all based around nightmare Laura’s wedding and everything that could go wrong did go wrong, but it was so skillfully written and acted it had us chortling and watching through our hands in equal measure. Very funny but very squirmy, too.**
It was so skillfully written and acted it had us chortling and watching through our hands in equal measure.
6. Call The Midwife (BBC1)
If there’s a better all-round drama on television than CTM we haven’t seen it. There’s something for everyone – period drama and fashion, a bit of comedy, lovely heartwarming moments and some dark, distressing storylines. Series two provided more of the same, and that was ok by us.
5. The Fall (BBC2)
Crime drama was THE dominant genre on telly this year, and for many this was the best of the lot. Gillian Anderson starred as the brilliant but glacial DI Stella Gordon, tracking down sexy but creepy serial strangler Paul Spector (Jamie Dornan). Seriously scary, we couldn’t tear ourselves away.
4. Gogglebox (C4)
Already a word-of-mouth cult hit from last year, more people cottoned on this time around and it was the talk of the town. It’s a simple format – we watched people watching telly, who said all the stream-of-consciousness things we wished we'd said when we were watching the same programmes. Our favourites? Posh lushes Steph and Dom, retired couple June and Leon and catty hairdressers
Chris and Stephen were all hilarious.
3. The Graham Norton Show (BBC1)
There’s a reason why Graham Norton continues to entice the biggest stars on the planet onto his sofa – the man can literally chat to anyone. Nothing phases him, he’s incredibly sharp-witted (but never offends anyone) and he clearly loves his job.
To see him hopping about like a five-year-old when he introduces a living legend like Robert De Niro is a joy to behold and watching him doing the Carlton Dance alongside Alfonso, Will and Jaden Smith was a highlight of the year. The man’s a genius.
2. Educating Yorkshire (C4)
One of the most emotionally affecting and uplifting shows we’ve ever seen. We’d already had Educating Essex, but this was next level stuff. Not only did it remind us how hard teachers have to work, but also – and this is something that doesn’t get reported very often – showcased the passion they have for trying to make a difference in young people’s lives.
We were basically punching the air and weeping like babies every time Musharaf and Mr Burton were on our screens.
1. Broadchurch (ITV)
It may seem like the obvious choice, but we honestly can't remember a drama that got the whole nation talking like this. David Tennant and Olivia Colman were fantastic as the tormented cop and local policewoman respectively (as were Jodie Whittaker and Andrew Buchan as Danny's distraught parents), and we were gripped as the search for the murderer of little Danny Latimer twisted and turned.
It was obviously inspired by Scandinavian crime dramas, but this was pretty much perfect, edge-of-your-seat stuff.