Top 20 TV shows of 2011

5. Game of Thrones

Channels: Sky Atlantic, HBO
Starring: Sean Bean, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke

Combining swords, sex, sorcery, Sean Bean and anything vaguely reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, HBO's adaptation of A Game of Thrones put a lot of fears to rest when it turned out to be every bit as epic as George R. R. Martin's acclaimed source novels. It was - as the kids say - awesomesauce, effortlessly delivering fantasy to the masses in a way that got nerds and non-nerds chatting about TV together, instead of hanging about in their parents' basements and wherever non-nerds spend their time. Sports centres, or somewhere.

Not being a follower of the fantasy genre, I very nearly made the mistake of writing off Game of Thrones as tedious lip service for the fanboys. Almost the entire first half of the season is spent establishing an overwhelming number of characters, relationships, locations, races - there's a lot of background that simply can't be shoehorned into ten one-hour episodes. So when major characters were seen getting books out of ye olde library, I began to wonder if the whole thing was going to be scenes of such tiny detail that I'd be begging for some exposition. But then Gregor Clegane decapitated a horse with his gigantic sword and suddenly everything made sense.

Game of Thrones exists to put the audience through the wringer, building up characters and then unceremoniously dumping them out of existence like yesterday's leftovers - often with flashes of quick, extreme cruelty, or in ways that'll have you shouting at the box. Of course if you had read the books then you knew what was in store, but for the rest of us we were gifted with some quality telly, and it goes without saying if you do decide to give it a whirl before season two hits in April next year, just don't get too attached to anyone... Luke

Defining moment: Syrio Forel - former First Sword of Braavos - defeats the Lannisters' guardsmen with just a wooden training sword, cementing his place as the most badass swordsman in the realm. And then Meryn Trant turns up, sealing Forel's fate. Or does he...?

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4. Community

Channels: Viva, NBC
Starring: Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Chevy Chase

It's witty. It inspires animated gifs. It has in-jokes, references pop culture and references references to pop culture. If there was any doubt Community was the internet's new favourite show, then all you need to do is look at the online outrage caused by the show's mid-third season 'hiatus'. Truly it is the new Arrested Development: destined to go down in flames as the funniest little show that was never given a proper chance.

We've raved about Community before, but that was only part-way through its first season, and the show has really found its stride since then. A comedy following a study group at a failing community college, it transcends the usual sitcom tropes not only by being aware of them and commenting on them (film nerd Abed is our man on the inside) but by turning them on their head, neutralising any story thread that's in danger of becoming cliche (so long, Jeff loves Britta). Thankfully, this means the show's writers can concentrate on crafting fun situations, rather than worrying about 'story arcs' or finding the new Ross and Rachel (even if it already has the new Joey and Chandler).

Too funny to be cheesy and too cool to be smug, Community has cracked the 'Friends formula' of having any two players together in one scene and still having a different dynamic. Gags range from snappy one-liners ("I have the weirdest boner") to season-long payoffs (the 'Beetlejuice' sight gag blows the mind), but the real comedy comes from character, which has been consistently brilliant since lesson one. It even manages to make Ken Jeong funny, with luckless loser Senor Chang the latest in a long line of TV punchbags.

Whether it's cancelled tomorrow or gets six seasons and a movie like it deserves, we love Community to bits and you should too - even if creator Dan Harmon did call our Kirsty "fucking tedious" on Twitter. That hiatus must have hit him pretty hard. Ali

Defining moment:


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3. Frozen Planet

Channel: BBC
Starring: David Attenborough

Let's get one thing clear: I don't care if they filmed the polar bear cubs in a zoo. Yes, they would've have been best off saying it in the ten-minute "here's how we did this" bit at the end, but it wouldn't have made any difference to me. I don't watch that bit, because I think it spoils the magic. When you see someone do a great card trick, are you desperate to know how they did it, or is it enough just to wonder at it and take pleasure in that?

Wonder is precisely what Frozen Planet sells you: wonder at the beauty of the natural world. But just as much as there is oohing and aahing at breathtaking, ice-laden landscapes and glorious high-def animal close-ups, there is brutal, shocking violence. Most of the animal kingdom lives in a state of perpetual hunger and jeopardy from larger predators, and an honest nature documentary can't shy away from that fact. Frozen Planet shows elephant seals and polar bears fighting to the death among themselves for mating rights, penguins laying the smack down on their own kind over the last surviving chick of the litter, and an unforgettably dramatic chase scene in which a wolf kills a bison after a fight whose winner you can't predict until the end. We are mercifully spared the final ripping apart of the carcass, but not much else.

If the BBC's remit is to inform, educate and entertain, you can't argue that Frozen Planet doesn't do all three. Raise mealy-mouthed objections about journalistic integrity if you will, but ask yourself whether you'd rather they got amazing shots without interrupting the narrative flow to tell you it came from a zoo, or just didn't bother at all and let their budget go towards Strictly Come Dancing instead. Ed

Defining moment: A peaceful underwater haven is interrupted by an ice stalactite that rips its way, sinister and unrelenting, to the sea bed, where it freezes to death thousands of unsuspecting starfish. The mugs.

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2. The Walking Dead

Channels: FX, AMC
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Sarah Wayne Callies

With vampires and werewolves now popping up everywhere, from films and TV shows to pencil cases and lunchboxes, it was only a matter of time before someone turned to the next go-to in the supernatural world: zombies. But the moaning, lurching undead have long been a subject of ridicule. Ever since Shaun Of The Dead and 28 Days Later, zombies are either hilariously ineffective or supercharged with speed to make them scary again. But in stepped Frank Darabont and his plans for this comic-book adaptation, which has given us a glimpse of gory, eviscerated dead people so terrifying you'll want to take a shotgun to your own grandmother's head just in case.

And it's not just about the ungrateful dead rising up to kill those still with a pulse. With our hero Sheriff Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln, suddenly rivalling Hugh Laurie for Best American Accent by a Brit) waking from a coma and finding his family on the road with a group of strangers, there's enough drama and conflicting character dynamics than in an entire issue of All About Soap magazine. Very specifically, there's the issue of Rick's wife shacking up with his best mate while both thought he was dead, and taking any opportunity to play Repopulate The Human Race whenever they were far enough away from the hordes of killer corpses.

But, of course, it's really all down to the horror with a show like this, and it never disappoints. As zombies stagger about with flaking flesh, muscle tendons on show and, on more than one occasion, the entire lower half of their body missing so that they crawl along the floor dragging their entrails behind them, there's more blood and gore to satiate even the most sadistic of goths. And that's without mentioning the frequent, uber-cool shotgun headshots that it takes to put these suckers down. So awesome. Matt

Defining moment: After leaving racist bully Merle handcuffed on a roof surrounded by zombies, the group returns the next day to find just his hand, sawn off at the wrist. And we're still waiting for him to show his face again and get revenge.

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