Succession, Sky Atlantic/Now
All has been said about Jesse Armstrong’s brilliance in creating this show. Nothing more needs adding. Some people think this year’s offering hasn’t been as good as previous ones, and it did lose pace slightly mid-series, but even when not quite at its best it’s still better than all the rest.
It’s a Sin, Channel 4
Russell T Davies’s funny, moving, clever, tragic and quite devastating series about the Aids epidemic of the 1980s and the despicable way that gay men were treated was lauded to the rooftops, and rightly so. Olly Alexander’s performance as Ritchie Tozer, a young, vibrant man with HIV, was the stand-out.
Showtrial, BBC1
This beautifully written and performed drama about two posho Bristol university students on trial for the murder of their friend was a gem, chiefly because of a virtuoso performance from Céline Buckens as a messed-up, spiky rich girl.
Help, Channel 4
Jack Thorne’s compelling, heartbreaking drama about the care home scandal during lockdown — when elderly people died in their droves, many sent from hospitals, untested, to spread the virus — was fearless, shaming and brilliantly performed by Jodie Comer and Stephen Graham.
The White Lotus, Sky Atlantic
A joyous, satirical takedown of the obscenely wealthy on holiday in a luxury Hawaiian paradise, which they manage to turn into a hell with their breathtaking entitlement. Not to be missed — it’s hilarious.
Advertisement
Time, BBC1
Jimmy McGovern’s unforgettable drama about an alcoholic school teacher (Sean Bean) sent to prison for killing a cyclist while driving drunk was excellent. Written like a punch to the face, it was a visceral lesson in prison’s endless purgatory.
Unforgotten, ITV
Chris Lang’s dark but consistently high-quality series (spoiler alert) saved its biggest, most shocking gut punch until last. Nicola Walker as DCI Cassie Stewart was unexpectedly killed off, leaving the audience reeling.
Mare of Easttown, Sky Atlantic
Grim though this tale of murder and abuse in a small, poverty-stricken Pennsylvanian town was, it was utterly compelling. This was largely down to Kate Winslet playing an unhappy, rude, junk food-eating grandmother cop. It was certainly not a vanity role, but it was her finest performance yet.
Squid Game, Netflix
Some people weren’t particularly enamoured with this dystopian South Korean survival drama featuring a murderous version of grandmother’s footsteps, but a great many more were. Even if it’s not your thing, it was a TV phenomenon of 2021 and one of the UK’s most watched shows, although it still wasn’t as popular as Strictly or Bake Off.
In My Skin, BBC3
Kayleigh Llewellyn’s drama is a jewel, the story of a schoolgirl in Cardiff trying to bluff a happy family life when the truth is that her mother is ill with bipolar disorder and her father is a violent drunk. The writing is funny and scalpel-like, with excruciatingly real dialogue and wonderful, award-worthy performances from Gabrielle Creevy as Bethan and Jo Hartley as Bethan’s mother, Katrina. A unique piece of work.
And one turkey . . .
Advertisement
Angela Black, ITV
It wasn’t just that this was a tawdry drama trading on female fear and domestic violence, with Joanne Froggatt’s character getting a tooth knocked out by her husband, it was that it traded gleefully on female fear. The six-part story became an utter nonsense about gaslighting and featured not a single character that seemed remotely to fit into the real world. No one knows people like this, thank God.
