Feature

Top 20 TV shows of 2013

Ed Williamson,
Matt Looker,
Rob Young,
Luke Whiston,
Iain Robertson,
Neil Alcock

31st December 2013



10. The Americans

Channels: FX, ITV
Starring: Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys, Noah Emmerich

I had a funny relationship with The Americans. It was on ITV, for a start, which more or less guaranteed it'd be terrible, and once I'd started catching up on the ITV Player, an on-demand device scrolling through which is akin to a mogadon coma interrupted hellishly by Paddy McGuinness talking to you from your bedside seat, I kept questioning why I wasn't racing through it at a greater pace. Everything was in place: a great premise, good 1980s period detail, two engaging leads. But I was going several days between episodes. Had ... had I lost the will to watch TV? Would I have to resort to books and human contact?

No, as it turned out. Episode four plays out against the backdrop of Ronald Reagan's assassination attempt, and it anchored me into the time period straight away. Now we were cooking: backroom intelligence agency dealings like Homeland with mullets; sudden, tightly-shot fight scenes exploding all over the screen out of nowhere; a touching plot about looking for love in an arranged marriage. The Americans has begun with a seemingly finite premise - the Jenningses can't stay undercover forever - but then so does everything else these days. And I don't even know when the Cold War ended, so it'll still be a surprise for me. Ed

Defining moment: The title sequence. I know, I know, but I just love it.

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9. Elementary

Channels: CBS, Sky Living
Starring: Jonny Lee Miller, Lucy Liu

Is anyone Sherlock Holmesed-out yet? Between C-Batch's modern-day Sherlock on TV and Downey Jr's modernised Victorian Holmes on the big screen, did we really need another contemporary take on the supersleuth? This time with even more artistic liability taken, essentially turning the World's Greatest Detective into an autistic junkie with - gasp - a female Watson? The answer is yes, of course we did.

Because for all of our reservations about those crazy yanks ruining what is arguably our most interesting literary creation with their sensationalist changes, Elementary has become one of the most entertaining shows on telly. And that's pretty much all down to Jonny Lee Miller's wonderfully jittery performance as the detective. His tightly wound obsessive behaviour has been honed perfectly in time for the latest second season and Miller now seems entirely comfortable in the role, effortlessly garnering laughs when required but also pathos during more sensitive scenes.

The show also now seems more comfortable with its own origins, introducing familiar characters into the fray including Holmes' brother Mycroft, Inspector Lestrade, Moriarty and Irene Adler (even if a reveal about the last two characters is enough to anger loyal Doyle-ists). Thankfully, for all the show's insistence on exploring Holmes' roots and his progression towards humanity, it's never better than just being a mystery-of-the-week show, proving that you don't need Moffat's quick-fire dialogue or Guy Ritchie's slow-mo boxing to make the character work. Matt

Defining moment: The season one finale, which saw Holmes apparently bested by Moriarty and relapse with an overdose. And yet it was all a ruse planned by Watson to win the game between the two nemeses. That's right, Watson saved the day...

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8. Homeland

Channels: Showtime, C4
Starring: Damian Lewis, Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin

In the simple, binary-choice parlance of the online commenter - and, increasingly, professional TV reviewer - everything is either shit or amazing. In 2013 Homeland, if you believed what you read rather than, you know, actually watched the fucking thing, had now become shit, and deserved to be lambasted as if it'd shagged your sister and never called her back.

Though it admittedly suffered a dip in quality due to a (narratively unavoidable) series of Brodyless episodes in season three, let's get real. Homeland was still packed with more tension, twists and swarthy men with sinister beards than just about anything else. Mandy Patinkin stepped up to the role of male lead with a performance steeped in the frustration of the righteous: Saul's one-man crusade to neutralise the threat of a rogue Iran kept being thwarted by bureaucracy (ie people insisting he should maybe consult the President first) and he was cuckolded in his own home, leaving only his mighty beard for consolation. Claire Danes' bottom lip emerged as a serious contender for a Golden Globe.

Though it seems to have reached an obvious conclusion, season four is coming. My instinct tells me no, but my head says yes: they've hit the heights before and they can do it again. There's got to be another mad beardsman they can use. Ed

Defining moment: In the season premiere, Quinn completes an assassination mission but accidentally kills a child in the process. In the aftermath, he begins to question what constitutes the greater good, in a way that quietly informs the rest of the season right up until the finale. As ever, the moral line shifts before the characters even know they've crossed it.

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7. The Walking Dead

Channel: AMC, FOX, Netflix
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, David Morrissey, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson

It's fair to say that the zombiegeddon show has lost much of its original impact over the last few years. It's still an engrossing drama that feels wholly original, but it just doesn't seem as groundbreaking as it used to. Mind you, when the opening episode features a torso-less cadaver crawling towards the screen, it's understandable that the show might struggle to find ways to still shock its audience.

And yet, for all complaints that the show has become a little dull or that it loses focus when it doesn't have a clear antagonist, it still manages to reel us all back in with frequent Holy Mother Of Fuck moments. So, taking into account the tail-end of season three and the beginning of season four (thanks, scheduling), we have seen lots of walking in the woods, lots of deliberate conversations, lots of general farm duties and one drawn-out storyline where the single biggest threat to the group seemed to be the common cold. But then we've also had surprise twist reveals about the Governor, huge shoot-outs, horrific ordeals and, of course, shocking main character deaths. All this and the greatest headshots outside of Call Of Duty.

The fact is, it may have lost a lot of its initial sparkle, but it still manages to be one of the boldest, most audacious shows on TV right now. Which, I guess, isn't difficult given its content. You don't see bloody corpse entrails on Come Dine With Me, do you? Matt

Defining moment: The end of Andrea. In a drawn-out, ticking timebomb death, the Governor stabs Milton in the gut and leaves him to die locked up with a tied-up Andrea. As he leaves to let fucked-up nature take its course, he neatly sums up the show's survivalist theme: "In this life now, you kill or you die. Or you die and you kill."

More Walking and Deadening


6. Fresh Meat

Channel: Channel 4
Starring: Jack Whitehall, Joe Thomas, Charlotte Richie, Kimberley Nixon, Zawe Ashton, Greg McHugh, Faye Marsay

Remember I blabbed on last year about how good Fresh Meat is, saying it nicely bridged that gap between Peep Show and The Inbetweeners? Well, a year has passed and nothing's really changed: Fresh Meat still remains one of the best British comedies around. And Ed seems to agree, seeing as he's bumped it up by ten places.

Unlike some shows that can struggle to find a reason to reunite the cast for a new series, a uni-set sitcom has a built-in reason to bring everyone back. And so the housemates embark on their second year. JP's looking to take advantage of the freshers ("the second year is Spear Year"), Vod and Oregon return from South America, albeit not together, and innocent first-year housemate Candice gradually has her mind warped by the sheer bants of the household.

Once again the whole cast are given plenty to do: no one is left out, not even the newbie. While series two focused on Whitehall's JP, this series has been all Vod. We meet her damaged and alcoholic mother, she goes to therapy, marries a Mexican and leaves him in a Rochdale shopping centre. Sign me up for another term at Manchester Medlock University. I promise my grades will improve. Rob

Defining moment: After a few episodes of will-they-won't-they, socially awkward but loveable Howard FINALLY gets it on with new housemate Candice, giving hope to nerdy men everywhere.

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