Russell T Davies, whose five-part drama It’s A Sin centred on the lives lost to Aids in the 1980s, has been named the most influential name in television in an annual list compiled by industry experts, with the drama’s leading star, Olly Alexander, taking second spot.
Strictly winner Rose Ayling-Ellis, whose performance raised awareness of hearing impairments, came third, while the creators of Squid Game, Hwang Dong-hyuk, and Succession, Jesse Armstrong, two of the biggest international television shows of 2021, completed the top five.
The RadioTimes.com TV 100 2021 list, recognised the top 100 people in front of and behind the camera in 2021, according to leading figures from across the creative industries, including Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s director of content, and Anne Mensah, the vice-president of content at Netflix.
Davies’s Channel 4 drama was “far and away” the obvious winner, said Morgan Jeffery, the executive editor of entertainment website RadioTimes.com. He described It’s a Sin as a “beautiful tribute to lives lost to the Aids epidemic – a stunning piece of work, it challenged stigma, sparked conversations and even led to charity drives raising hundreds of thousands for HIV charities”.
Davies, whose previous successful works include Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, and the 2005 revival of Dr Who, was acclaimed as a “powerhouse of ideas” and “one step ahead of the trends”, by Nicola Shindler, the executive producer at Quay Street Productions.
Alexander, who played Ritchie in It’s a Sin, was described as “central to the show’s impact, vividly bringing to life the realities of the Aids crisis in the 1980s in the gay community” by Zai Bennett, the managing director of content at Sky.
Ayling-Ellis, the first deaf actor to star in EastEnders, had “defied stereotypes to prove that hearing impairments need not be a barrier”, said Moore. Of her appearance on Strictly, Moore added: “That electrifying moment in the middle of primetime TV when she covered Giovanni’s ears and danced without sound for 10 seconds, 10 million people experienced the world through Rose’s eyes and ears. It was mesmerising and an extraordinary tribute to the deaf community.”
Kate Winslet made the top 10 for her performance in Mare of Easttown, as did the teenage tennis player Emma Raducanu for winning the US Open. Stephen Graham was also in the top 10, with judges hailing his “extraordinary year”, including his nuanced performance as Tony in Jack Thorne’s Help to his Bafta-nominated chef in Boiling Point.
The England men’s football team at the delayed 2020 Euros was also a highlight, coming in 10th position.
The full top 100 can be seen at radiotimes.com/tv-100-2021.
