Entertainment For Lively Minds
Another list to argue about!
Posted by Uncle Monty on 12 January 2010 - 10:59am.
The Guardian today published its critics' assessment of the top 50 TV dramas ever. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/12/guardi...)
Some surprises on there (for me at least): The Wire's not even in the top 10, A Very Peculiar Practice is; Battlestar Galactica only makes it halfway down (quite possibly my No 1); Doctor Who's not on it at all whereas Grange Hill makes it in at 50. I'd have certainly expected the first Criminal Justice on there, and Life on Mars seemed quite likely too.
The one I'm most intrigued about is no 16: How do You Want Me, which I've never heard of but, having read about it, sounds good.
List to follow in first post...
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Here it is
1. Sopranos
2. Brideshead Revisited
3. Our Friends in the North
4. Mad Men
5. A Very Peculiar Practice
6. Talking Heads
7. The Singing Detective
8. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
9. State of Play
10. Boys From the Blackstuff
11. The West Wing
12. Twin Peaks
13. Queer as Folk
14. The Wire
15. Six Feet Under
16. How Do You Want Me?
17. Smiley's People
18. House of Cards
19. Prime Suspect
20. Bodies
21. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
22. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
23. Cracker
24. Pennies From Heaven
25. Battlestar Galactica
26. Coronation Street
27. The Jewel in the Crown
28. The Monocled Mutineer
29. Clocking Off
30. Inspector Morse
31. This Life
32. Band of Brothers
33. Hill Street Blues
34. The Prisoner
35. St Elsewhere
36. The L Word
37. The Shield
38. Brookside
39. 24
40. The Twilight Zone
41. Pride and Prejudice
42. Red Riding
43. Oz
44. The Street
45. The X-Files
46. Bleak House
47. The Sweeney
48. EastEnders
49. Shameless
50. Grange Hill
Number 16
I thought I was the only person who still remembered How Do You Want Me?, let alone enjoyed it. And even I prefer Moran in Black Books.
Having watched it again on DVD recently
HDYWM? wasn't anywhere near as good as I remembered
genre
I remember it as a comedy. Am I wrong?
I still think
Minder and Auf Weidersehen Pet should qualify - they were far more realistic, better acted and scripted than half of those mentioned on the list.
Some good stuff there though.
A Very Peculiar Practice
was wonderful although it suffered a speedy shark jump when they shifted the location to Poland for the third series (renamed 'A Very Polish Practice')
AVPP
It's not available on DVD anywhere
That's why I didn't feel bad about torrenting it :-)
I've got series 1 ..
..on DVD.Must have snapped it up during a small window of opportunity.Got it from Amazon I think.Didn't realise that it wan't available anymore,would have liked to get s2.
As it's no longer commercially available
You might want to take a look at http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3944280/A_Very_Peculiar_Practice__Series...
"A Very Peculiar Practice, Series 2.
A Very Peculiar Practice was a British comedy show from the mid-1980s -very dark in it's humor, with extreme characterization and bizzare situations, set around a University Medical Practice.
The main characters were Dr Steven Daker (the new, young, impressionable one), Dr Jock McCannon (the old, alcoholic, world-weary one), Dr Bob Buzzard (the bitter, egotistical, abrasive one) and Dr Rose Marie (the feminist, bisexual, politically motivated one). Add to these a smattering of students, lecturers, the regular love interests for Dr Daker (Lyn in Series 1, and Greta in Series 2) and the strangely compelling nuns that roamed the campus causing mayhem. Then throw in plots that cause emotional, physical, or mental reactions, and sit back to watch.
Series 2
1. The New Frontier (2 Mar 88)
2. Art And Illusion (9 Mar 88)
3. May The Force Be With You (16 Mar 88)
4. Bad Vibrations (23 Mar 88)
5. Values Of The Family (30 Mar 88)
6. The Big Squeeze (6 Apr 88)
7. Death Of A University (13 Apr 88)"
Deadwood,
should be included,along with Granada's Sherlock adaptations I would of thought.Edge of Darkness anyone?
I thought
Edge of Darkness might have made the list.
Should
Should have made the list. And probably the top 10.
I, Claudius
A glaring omission surely!
Peers at list ... sees Cracker at 23....
stops reading list.
Tutti Frutti
?
Corrie in Yorkshire shocker
Have a glance at no.26 again...but only in the print copy!
Yep No Claudius,
No GBH, no Who
Worst list ever
Cardiac Arrest
The first thing Jed Mercurio did for TV. Although he called himself Jed Mclure then. I wasn't sure about this so I Googled it. First response? Another post I made about this last October..
Anyway. A great series. With Helen Baxendale playing the make-you-bite-lumps-out-of-the-coffee-table-sexy Dr Maitland.
I have watched and enjoyed 34% of the list.
I'm not sure what this says about me.
(I really must try to finish a drama series sometime...)
No, but seriously, I finished the entire Sopranos the other night (not all in one go, obviously...) & I'm still reeling. Its greatness will remain undimmed for many years, I suspect.
The mini-series & seasons 1 & 2 of Battlestar landed on the mat this morning... hurrah, more TV!
You are so lucky
...to have all that great viewing still to come. Try not to waiver when you hit the pointless boxing episode in S2 - it gets back to form swiftly and, with three little words, blows your mind at one point.
Nice one!
I'm snowed off again today... Viewing opportunity! Hurrah!!
I've seem the first hour of the miniseries, & already like it. I never watched the original as a kid, but was aware of it - love the way they are fighting a teched-up enemy with antiquated gear.
Hmmm....
Can't say I'm that mad about The Sopranos. Watched one or two, did nothing for me.
Any list of top TV dramas that doesn't include Edge of Darkness is very dubious. One of THE programmes from the '80s that undoubtedly stands the test of time. If Bob Peck did nothing else in his life, at least he could say: "I was in Edge of Darkness. So there."
Off the top of my head, a few favourites that I would have liked to see on the list: A Very British Coup, Jute City, Your Cheatin' Heart (my abiding memory is John Gordon Sinclair in a trenchcoat that gets in a progressively worse state in every episode), Millennium, Alias, Jonathan Creek and, finally, the criminally ignored Slings and Arrows (could be classed as a comic look at a Canadian theatre, but the scenes of the productions are extremely moving).
When I watched the first fews eps
of The Sopranos, I wasn't too sure. I was in post-Wire comedown. The Sopranos seemed too domestic, too soapy (almost...) but I stuck with it & got totally hooked. These slow-burn dramas are like that, and noone has time to watch all of them. I decided to invest & was rewarded. James Gandolfini is amazing - he owns every scene he is in. The supporting cast are outstanding too. Monstrous as the are, you get to care about the characters - quite a feat. But I accept it ain't for everyone.
Millenium..
..should certainly have been included.Re-watch it often.
The lack of Edge of Darkness (should be in the top five)
kills this lists cred as far as Im concerned.
Private Schultz anyone?
Genius.