The Deuce
David Simon’s consistently flawless drama bowed out this year with a third and final season that added Aids, gentrification, abuse and much more to its nuanced portrait of the sex industry. Absorbing, humanising and heartbreaking.
What we said: “The show’s scorn for churned-out, cheap entertainment for the masses is palpable. This is rich television that demands you give it your full attention.” Read more.
The Nest
This Glasgow-set drama rose above the surfeit of primetime thrillers with its shocking central premise of a middle-class couple recruiting a troubled 18-year-old surrogate. With three complex leads – played by Line of Duty’s Martin Compston, Peaky Blinders’ Sophie Rundle and newcomer Mirren Mack – this was easily the BBC’s best thriller since Doctor Foster.
What we said: “As the series has progressed, it has become increasingly obvious that this is not so much a thriller about surrogacy as it is a fierce commentary on aspiration, class and success – on who gets to have ambitions in life and who doesn’t.” Read more.
Tiger King
The quarantine hit that launched a thousand memes. Tiger King introduced us to the eminently sketchy, infinitely bingeable world of Joe Exotic – zoo proprietor, country singer and possible murderer – and his arch nemesis, Carole Baskin, a self-styled conservationist with some very interesting views on animal welfare.
What we said: “In Tiger King, reality is stranger than fiction and the characters larger than life – their morality and culpability in Joe Exotic’s fall is up to viewer discretion.” Read more.
Save Me Too
Created by and starring Lennie James, and with Stephen Graham, Lesley Manville and Suranne Jones among its cast, the second series of Sky’s thriller ratcheted the intrigue up to 11 as it threw viewers back into the underbelly of south-east London, where traffickers, gangsters and peril bubble just below the surface.
What we said: “It has far more emotional depth than most of its rivals … and stands firm as a gripping thriller. It starts with the kind of bang that insists you pay attention to find out how we got here: in this case, to Nelly, sitting in a car, examining his bloody fists.” Read more.
This Country
This is arguably the best mockumentary since The Office, and the misadventures of bumpkin cousins Kerry and Kurtan (real-life siblings Daisy-May and Charlie Cooper) were both absurd and loving. As well as nailing the frequent banality of country living, the duo captured the nation’s hearts to the end.
What we said: “All of human life is here, in this bleak, hugely funny, intimate, seemingly slight yet ridiculously potent series of six perfectly formed half-hours.” Read more
Belsen: Our Story
Seventy-five years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, this devastating one-off programme told the stories of Holocaust survivors at the Bergen-Belsen camp where more than 50,000 people died, via archive footage and staggering personal testimony.
What we said: “Each remarkable person interviewed in this documentary finds the strength to describe the nightmarish barbarism they endured, and it is clearly difficult beyond belief for them to relive it. But they are doing so in order for it not to be forgotten.” Read more.
Dracula
It’s no easy feat to reboot a story told a thousand times over, let alone twice. But the writers of Sherlock – Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss – did just that when they took on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and to fabulous effect. Gender flips, time shifts and a brilliantly sexy yet vicious central performance by Claes Bang made this a New Year’s delight.
What we said: “It’s a bloodstained love letter to a classic, beautifully and delicately scented with the faintest hint of ham that gothic yarns need; a homage to all the great counts who have gone before, but still entirely its own thing.” Read more.
Cheer
Who’d have thought 2020 would be the year everyone got into cheerleading? The peculiar mix of gymnastics, dance and heartbreaking back stories captivated, as coach Monica Aldama put her young charges through their paces – with scant regard for their physical wellbeing. The sight of teenage girls flipping and falling on their faces is sometimes painful to watch, but it’s impossible to look away.
What we said: “Look what the human body is capable of” you will start to think, as 40 students made entirely of muscle and sinew bend, flip, form pyramids, toss and catch each other midair – and generally disapply all known laws of physics. They are as gods, and if you cannot hope to emulate, you will surely wish to serve.” Read more.
Feel Good
A sitcom about addiction, mental health and toxic relationships might not seem like a barrel of laughs, but at the heart of this six part series is the tender romance between writer/star Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie’s George. It’s beautifully drawn, both painful and touching, but above all it’s funny. And Lisa Kudrow as Mae’s overbearing mother is a joy.
What we said: “Feel Good should make you feel good. It’s not only an immaculately written and paced piece of work and a properly funny comedy, it has also created a delicately and intricately constructed, deeply humane world.” Read more.
Inside No 9
Keeping any show fresh after five series is tough, even more so when each episode features a new set of characters, in a different world, usually with a devilish sting in the tail. But Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith are up to the challenge – and this year’s outings were some of the best, from the classically mind-bending dissection of the magician’s craft that was Misdirection to the surprisingly touching kitchen sink drama of Love’s Great Adventure – Inside No 9 did not disappoint. And that’s without even mentioning the return of some old favourites from Psychoville, their previous hit series. We’ll never listen to Soulja Boy the same again.
What we said: “The show’s ability to surprise goes well beyond hairpin narrative turns. Inside No 9 practises a kind of genre fusion that is still rare in TV.” Read more.
Quiz
Michael Sheen’s uncanny rendition of Chris Tarrant might have captured the headlines, but it was Matthew Macfadyen who stole the show – based on the play by James Graham – with his quietly brilliant performance as Major Charles Ingram. This ITV mini-series, which recreated the Who Wants to be a Millionaire? scandal of 2001, landed at the perfect time for a nation coming to terms with a pandemic, and left many of us questioning what we thought we knew and the justice of that conviction from all those years ago.
What we said: “Once the nuts and bolts are dealt with and the focus shifts to the Ingrams and life among normal humans outside the TV studios, the drama becomes as addictive as Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? proved.” Read more.
Love Is Blind
Just when you thought Flirty Dancing was as weird as reality TV dating could get, Netflix popped up in the wings to say “hold my glass”. The bizarre sight of singletons talking to a wall before professing their undying love to each other (sight unseen) was hard to look away from, and matched by what happened next. It’s difficult to forget watching Jessica feed wine to her dog, or the look on Giannina’s face at the altar.
What we said: “You will be bleary-eyed and shattered from all the shouting you have done, the emotional investment you have made, the WhatsApp messages you have typed to a specially formed group and the heartfelt contributions you have made to various internet forums on the subject.” Read more.
Race Across the World
The first series of this travelogue turned reality contest was a delight, and the second couldn’t have come at a better time. With the chance to travel to South America never having seemed further away, the vicarious thrill of watching the duos explore everywhere from Chapultepec castle in Mexico City to the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia in Argentina, is exhilarating. But what really made it such a joy was the human interactions, from the bickering of siblings Dom and Lizzie as they rediscover their friendship to the wonderfully tender mother/son relationship of Jo and Sam. Roll on series three.
What we said: “Race Across the World is an astounding piece of TV because it captures all the vibrant highs and exhausted lows of travel in all of their raw glory: the flooded hotels, the 18-hour coach trips, the moments of giving up, the bafflingly undesirable toilets, communicating in a nonsensical language halfway between English and Spanish; but also the late-night beers, the dancing with strangers, the helpful locals hand-drawing a map on the back of a notepad, the ecstatic feeling of a comfortable bed.” Read more.
Little America
This anthology series was a sensitive take on immigration in modern America, all based on essays penned for Epic magazine. It was also a hopeful glimpse at what Apple could achieve with its new streaming platform. With stories ranging from an Indian boy having to manage his parents’ motel after they are deported to a Nigerian cowboy tackling racism in the 1980s US, Little America was a poignant reminder of the continuing need for diversity and inclusion in the country and on our screens.
What we said: “A set of small, intimate endeavours that feature no star names and that privilege storytelling above all else.” Read more.
Bojack Horseman
No one would have guessed that a cartoon about a washed-up talking horse would become one of the most incisively satirical and emotionally brutal pieces of TV to have been produced in the last decade. Yet Bojack Horseman’s creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg delivered on the gut punches, cathartic laughs, and perhaps even a glimmer of hope for its menagerie of characters in tinseltown for its sixth and final season.
What we said: “Like The Simpsons or Daria, two of creator Bob-Waksberg’s touchstones, BoJack Horseman can be touching and profound without relinquishing the funny.” Read more.
Normal People
Self-indulgent millennial romp or nuanced exposition of young love and its attendant traumas? Whatever your take on Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel, its small-screen adaptation was a beautiful thing to behold with the on-and-off-again relationship of Marianne and Connell played with nuance and depth by Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal. Producing record-breaking streaming figures for the BBC, the show struck a tender note with viewers during lockdown.
What we said: “It leaves you either wanting more, or relieved that you are not being asked to relive the exquisite agony of first love for any longer.” Read the full review.
Frankie Boyle’s Tour of Scotland
Arch-cynic Frankie Boyle set out on a four-part tour of his home country, trialling new standup routines in clubs from Aberdeen to Glasgow and engaging in local delights along the way. Among the hilarity was Boyle in a treehouse caravan with a hermit, a visit to a commune and a historical re-enactment, all underpinned by a poignant examination of his Scottish identity.
What we said: “If, as he says, there comes a time in every comedian’s career when he turns to travelogues, we can be glad he has arrived at his.” Read more.
Unorthodox
Exquisitely detailed and shot mostly in Berlin, this four-part drama based on the memoirs of Deborah Feldman is a tale of escape from rigid conservatism. It has a breakout performance by 24-year-old Shira Haas as Esty, a 19-year-old Hasidic Jew running from her claustrophobic Brooklyn community, and is an engrossing coming-of-age tale, thriller and love letter to independence.
What we said: “Anyone who feels a need to struggle for individuality against their community, they’ll find some of themselves in the show.” Read more.
Better Call Saul
Bob Odenkirk’s dodgy lawyer Saul Goodman was a passing highlight of Breaking Bad, but in this prequel he had enough riveting backstory to merit five seasons of drama. This penultimate series saw the seeds of his transition to the wheeler-dealer Saul putting pressure on his relationship with Kim and luring him deeper into the cartel’s operations in the process.
What we said: “We won’t like where Jimmy and Kim are going, but we can guarantee it’ll be fun to watch.” Read more.
The Last Dance
Even if you knew nothing about 90s US basketball, no matter – this tale of Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman and the Chicago Bulls’ 1997-98 season still made for riveting viewing. Packed with boxy suits, slow-mo slam dunks and the high-stakes politics of the NBA, the series was a glimpse into the psyche of one of the greatest sportsmen of all time and the context that made and almost broke him.
What we said: “Once you understand the singularity of Jordan’s focus, everything else about him makes sense.” Read more.
