Aidan Turner and Bella Mclean at the launch of Jilly Cooper’s RIVALS (Image: Getty)
It was the year that saw the end of Vera – tara, pet – the fall of Gregg Wallace and the rise of , the quick-witted blind comedian who made TV history by winning Strictly’s treasured Glitter Ball trophy.
Richard Gadd’s darkly comic stalker-drama Baby Reindeer attracted viewers, awards and a £133million lawsuit. And yet more stars fell from grace, none more disgracefully than pompous news anchor Huw Edwards who pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children.
Terrestrial telly had a few belters but by and large and ITV execs are averse to taking risks and seems content to stuff our screens with so-so quizzes, over-stretched soaps and half-baked cookery shows.
When it came to water-cooler moments, the streamers continue to outperform the old guard.
My show of the year was RIVALS (Disney+) a playful comic drama set amid a 1987 TV franchise war. On one level, it was trash – broad, filthy, and frequently in bad taste; but it was also engaging and funny, a soapy romp, like Dynasty crossed with confessions of a country squire. Disney’s lavish adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s 1988 bestseller packed in snobbery, lechery, and off-colour remarks guaranteed to horrify Gen Z bedwetters. Series two is in the works.
The best docu-drama was Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. The ITV mini-series blew the lid off the long-running Post Office scandal. In a true story worthy of Kafka, 736 postmasters were prosecuted for crimes they did not commit due to defective Horizon accounting software.
The show, written by Gwyneth Hughes, outraged millions and galvanised the government into action. Yet disgracefully Alan Bates has yet to be compensated.
There were two great historical dramas. The spellbinding Disney+ series Shogun. about rival warlords in 17th Century Japan, was beautifully shot, faithfully adapted and, occasionally, realistically brutal.
But BBC1’s Wolf Hall: The Mirror & The Light was just as impressive. Superbly written and acted, the fall of Mark Rylance’s Thomas Cromwell was drama at its best, losing credibility only for the antique furniture – it was new then! – and the colour-blind casting.
The best talking point was Baby Reindeer, a torrid tale of stalking and sexual abuse inspired by Richard Gadd’s life. Gadd played Donny Dunn, a comedian so witlessly unfunny it’s a wonder he hasn’t been booked for Live At The Apollo.
Worst Drama was a clear win for BBC1’s The Way. Michael Sheen’s deranged dystopian tale of a Welsh workers’ uprising featured a talking teddy bear and a Masonic orgy – that’s some initiation ceremony…
The stand-out contemporary drama was BBC1’s backstabbing and debauched banking series Industry which hit full corporate meltdown. The most over-rated was ’s One Day – I never believed they were a couple – and the smartest video game spin-off was Fallout (Prime), a post-apocalyptic series that blended action, drama, sci-fi and a grim alternative future.
The best docu-series was Clarkson’s Farm (Prime). The worst was ITV’s Gino & Fred: Emission Impossible.
If BBC1’s The Traitors continued to be the most addictive ‘reality’ TV show, the worst were a packed field ranging from ITV’s pointless flop revival of Big Brother to ’s Buying London the tone-deaf UK take on Selling Sunset.
In a parallel development The Apprentice relied more and more on cooking tasks. Why? Why does the ability to cook mean you’d make a great entrepreneur? Would Sugar have told a young : “Okay pal, you’ve got these ideas for Space X but I’m afraid your bangers were over-done and your mash was lumpy – you’re fired!”
Apple TV’s Slow Horses continues to be the greatest spy drama of our times, while ’s 3 Body Problem was the most complex and thought-provoking grown-up alien-menace saga in town.
The year’s worst show was BBC3’s witless sitcom Smoggie Queens, which beat ITV’s Piglets for the coveted Worst Sitcom crown. The best was Gavin & Stacey which bowed out in style on Christmas night, saving Yuletide telly in the process.
Mainstream channels are chockful of yesterday’s quiz and gameshows. The only one that works is Gladiators, the rest are a crime against television.
In other crime news, TV’s best cops were the hard-press Belfast rozzers of BBC1’s Blue Lights, with The Responder a close second. But let’s hear it for TV’s best villain: Antony Starr’s super-powered tyrant Homelander on Prime’s The Boys.
The Best Supernatural Crime Series was True Detective: Night County (Sky Atlantic).
Michael McIntyre’s Big Show continues to sparkle in the depleted Entertainment category.
Elsewhere we saw a terrible failed comeback from on C5’s Cast Away; and a sad one as Iron Mike Tyson ran out of steam in his bout against Jake Paul.
In alleged political satire Hislop and co seemed to believe was still in power (Have I Got News For You). But worst satirist was Adam Hills (The Last Leg), and the best by a country mile is the USA’s fearless Bill Maher.
Staying with politics, TV’s worst interviewer remains Evan Davis. The smuggest is Justin Webb; and the worst commentators are Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart.
GB News were fined £100,000 by Ofcom in October for breaching impartiality rules, although viewers outside the Westminster bubble might argue the do it relentlessly. At least books guests he can argue with.
The year’s most unsavoury TV image was Victor pleasuring his clone on American Horror Stories. Runner-up? Splinter’s unsavoury “love train” of clones on The Boys.
The best unexpected twist was Oz killing his young sidekick Vic on The Penguin. The funniest new animated series was Channel 4 import Kite Man, Hell Yeah!
Best actor of 2024: Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall). Runners-up: Gary Oldman (Slow Horses), Shaun Evans (Until I Kill You).
Best actress: Cristin Milioti, The Penguin. Runner-up: Anna Sawai, Shogun.
Star of the year: .
TV irritations of 2024: Ed Balls interviewing his wife on Good Morning Britain. Celebrity Mastermind contestants who are neither. Sob stories on everything from SAS Who Dares Win to Dragon’s Den. The inflicting ropy pop acts onto the Proms. Soaps’ tedious reliance on disasters – how many serial killers could live in walking distance of the Rovers? How many times can they destroy the Queen Vic?
Small joys of TV: The scenes on The Traitors where they all sit around that round table and convince themselves that they know who is a traitor and who isn’t, based on no evidence whatsoever. Michael McIntyre’s Midnight Game Show segment, with Bradley Walsh. Danny Dyer as Freddie on Rivals. Freddie Flintoff’s heart-warming Field Of Dreams. Rude and raucous pop comedy Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
Reasons to be cheerful about 2025. Must-see returning shows include Reacher (Prime, from Feb), comedy-drama The White Lotus (Sky Atlantic), this time in Thailand, Stranger Things (Netflix), Daredevil: Born Again (Disney+) and Charlie Brooker’s brilliant Black Mirror (Netflix) which includes a sequel to his Star Trek inspired USS Callister episode.
BBC1 has high hopes for period crime drama Dope Girls, there are more female hoods coming in Disney’s A Thousand Blows. Game Of Thrones fans will love Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms, a prequel set a century before House Of The Dragon.