Ive been meaning to get round to doing this, as I enjoyed doing it last year. Its a bit late, but following on from my (much more detailed!) countdown of my Top 10 Comics of 2014 is my Top 10 TV Shows of 2014. It was an amazing year for television, with some truly fantastic shows. Here are my faves: 10. THE FLASH Season 1 This was a show I did NOT expect to enjoy. Everything, from my general disinterest in ARROW, to my dislike of the costume in those first revealed pics, to thinking the extended trailer looked goofy as hell, made me sure Id be left cold by this, and so I went into the first episode grudgingly, not expecting to watch any further. I was wrong. Its a sheer delight to watch every week, and manages to remain remarkably faithful to the spirit of the comics. 9. DOCTOR WHO Series 8 Up until now, Ive not particularly been a DOCTOR WHO fan. Ill watch the odd episode here and there, but Ive not been a weekly devotee. But the casting of national treasure Peter Capaldi as the new Doctor made me decide to give this latest series a try. And Im glad that I did. Capaldi was of course superb, bringing a more mercurial, alien quality to the Doctor. But more of a revelation for me was how excellent Clara was as his companion. This was the first series since the relaunch I watched the whole way through.... and Ill be back next year! 8. REMEMBER ME The BBC had a couple of quality drama offerings this year. This one was done in the classic a ghost story for Christmas tradition, managing to draw out a genuine sense of dread and unease from its tale of elderly Michael Palin and the ghost that refuses to let him go. Human drama was mixed with knuckle-whitening tension and crap-yer-pants shocks to make one of the scariest TV horrors in years. 7. THE MISSING Another BBC offering. This one saw James Nesbitt as a father obsessively searching for his missing child. The mystery was gripping, jumping back and forth in time to unpeel various layers of intrigue, with just about every character holding a secret or two. But while we were all hooked on the unfolding mystery of Ollies disappearance, what elevated this was that plot was ultimately in service of character, with the true core of the story the powerful performances. 6. GAME OF THRONES Season 4 GAME OF THRONES remains as mesmerising as ever. This season felt like something of a transitional one, with the pre-credits sequence of the very first episode alone seeming to establish that the apparent core conflicts that had driven the show up until this point were at their end, or at the very least going on the backburner for now. And from there new dynamics were set up, new threats came to the fore, and a status quo or two was turned on its head in shocking fashion. This show will be entering fascinating, dangerous territory going forward from here, as were now getting to the point where were running out of book material to adapt. 5. THE LEFTOVERS Season 1 This show seems to have floated under the radar for many. Perhaps those who loved LOST were disappointed to see creator Damon Lindelof take some ostensibly similar concepts in a very different direction. This too is a world filled with mysteries and unanswered questions, and possible supernatural elements... but the search for answers feels very low on the list of priorities. In this world where a large chunk of the worlds population have suddenly vanished - in what may or may not have been the Rapture - the focus is instead on powerful character drama, and crafting a deeply moving portrait of grief. Difficult viewing at times, but astounding television. 4. TRUE DETECTIVE Season 1 This is the show that really seems to have blown people away and become an instant phenomenon this year. The internet was going crazy with speculation over who the Yellow King might be, what the big twist or revelation over the mysterious killer in a mystery spanning 20 years was going to be... but I think people viewing it like that were missing the point. This isnt one of those types of shows. This was a straightforward crime drama, where the magic came in the execution. The exquisite, cinematic direction of Cary Fukunaga. The intricate, literary writing of Nic Pizzolatto. And, of course, the barnstorming central performances from Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey. 3. ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK Season 2 ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK was the TV surprise of 2013 for me... coming out of nowhere to blow me away. This year, I was prepared and expecting greatness, eagerly looking forward to the new season going up on Netflix. And even so, still I was blown away. This was a masterclass in how to do a second season, in that the showrunners seemed to hone in on what characters worked best and were most popular in the first season, and gave them more to do and more meaty storylines to sink their teeth into. And so the likes of Taystee, Poussay and Suzanne (it feels mean to call her Crazy Eyes) got their time in the sun here. Perhaps the biggest masterstroke of all was the introduction of Vee. After a first season which took care to show how even the worst people had some shred of humanity and decency, Vee was just an utterly vile character who just got worse the more we learned about her. Seeing this rogue element set upon characters wed grown to love and care about really upped the ante. 2. HANNIBAL Season 2 Its kind of astounding that this isnt number 1 on my list, to be honest, and it just goes to underline the ridiculous quality of #1 on my list. But HANNIBAL had an absolutely incredible second season. Right from the beginning, with a jawdropping of course this is a dream sequence which turned out to be a flash-forward, the tone was set and the stakes were established. And so the season unfolds as a colossal battle of wits and wills between Hannibal Lecter and WIll Graham, with Will going from unwitting victim to a prepared, predatory foil. Season 1 started quite grounded and got steadily more horror-fuelled as it went along. Here, the escalation continues, as we plummet headlong into the realm of the grotesque, bizarre and, at times, blackly comic. A friend of mine, also familiar with the books and the previous film adaptations, said it best when they said that Every character that appears instantly becomes the best version of that character. And thats how I felt: HANNIBAL is building a world, a definitive adaptation of a mythology I adore. And yet, even as someone familiar with the source material, this show managed to hit several NO WAY THEY CANT BE DOING THIS!? moments, particularly at the end. Im desperate to see where they go next! 1. FARGO Season 1 While the battle between #1 and #2 was tight, ultimately, there was only one show I could call the best of the year. This was another TV show I was initially quite skeptical about. After all, FARGO is one of my favourite films. I didnt like the idea of doing a sequel or a remake, though my mind was somewhat set at ease by the quality of the cast attached. Thankfully, this isnt really a remake, or even a direct sequel. Instead, it draws on the themes, motifs and some of the locations of the film, and uses them to tell a whole new story, one that feels immersed not just in FARGO, but Coen lore as a whole. Billy Bob Thornton is magnetic as the nigh-Satanic force of evil, Lorne Malvo, sweeping through the small town, and yet Martin Freeman may have been even more despicable as a masterful undercutting of the done-to-death everyman anti-hero archetype. Of course, this wasnt an anti-hero show at all, but a classic exercise in good VS evil, and so it was the forces of good - as represented by Alison Tollman and Colin Hanks - who we truly came to care about over the course of the season. Ive said it several times over the course of the year: FARGO was better than TRUE DETECTIVE. If you loved the latter but never checked this out, you must rectify that error immediately. Epic television.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 01:23:12 +0000
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