A BBC ranking of the “greatest TV series of the 21st century” has sparked a debate.
BBC Culture polled 206 TV experts from 43 countries and asked them what their ten favourite shows were. The pollers then scored and ranked these separate lists to produce the ultimate top 100 list.
Crime drama The Wire earned the number one spot, while Mad Men came second. In third place was Breaking Bad, while Fleabag was fourth.
Game of Thrones came fifth out of 100 and Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You earned the number six slot. There are, of course, 94 more series that make up the full 100 so if you want to see the full list, you can do so here.
Regardless of the critics’ expertise, people are never satisfied and reacting to the list, some people were miffed that shows like Doctor Who and It’s a Sin were not included:
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Doctor Who aside, where's Years and Years?
— Colin Hicks is still wearing a mask 🇪🇺 (@docfilth) October 19, 2021
No Doctor Who? pic.twitter.com/s1S3XvWj3P
— Hall-Owen: Flux (@TimelessOwen) October 19, 2021
Where's renewed Doctor Who????
— Májka 🌈🪴 (@DedkovaMarie) October 19, 2021
Doctor Who has been a 21st century phenomenon - no place on the list?
— Philip Marsh 💙 (@PhilipM04217017) October 19, 2021
It's A Sin not being on that list is also a huge miss.
I'm happy with Fleabag being there, but no Doctor Who or It's A Sin?
— Philip Marsh 💙 (@PhilipM04217017) October 19, 2021
I am presuming the revised series of Doctor Who was not eligible......
— Herald of Creation (@Heraldofcreatio) October 19, 2021
#TVOfTheCentury @BBC Where's "It's a Sin"??? Definitely one of the best shows ever and on a par with "I May Destroy You"!
— Alex Chambers (@verydopey01) October 19, 2021
Others thought some shows were ranked too highly and others weren’t ranked high enough:
Hannibal is way too low at 97. https://t.co/odfBEDipgH
— Paul McCluskey (@pgmccluskey) October 19, 2021
The Wire & Mad Men in their rightful places 😃 But Deadwood should be much higher!
— 🎃👻 The Headless Scotsman 👻🎃 (@GrumpyScotsman5) October 19, 2021
Fleabag at 4…get in the sea
— Kevan Christie (@KevanChristie) October 19, 2021
Not everyone criticised it though and some thought the list was pretty comprehensive:
Surprisingly not a bad list. https://t.co/M8ER7uVuLq
— Wolfy von Salzburg (@Richard_B_IV) October 19, 2021
It's virtually all drama and comedy but the shows I've watched are in a pretty accurate order here. https://t.co/VnojONVHoM
— Paul Huxley (@HuxTweets) October 19, 2021
While others hadn’t even watched many of the top rated series:
I have only watched 20 of these TV series. How about you? https://t.co/M4a80OUfFQ
— Hayley Jary (@Movietopia) October 19, 2021
Only ever watched two of these shows. Don’t think I’ve missed out!
— Robert Hardy (@RobertHardy6) October 19, 2021
The 21st century was only been happening for 21 years so we look forward to seeing what the next 79ish years has in store.
