The Round Up – Top 10 TV Picks of 2011

Hello Everyone :-)

Last time I revisited my favourite 5 films of the year so today I’m going to cast an eye back over my top telly picks of 2011 (I know it’s nearly the end of January but there are still sales on and some of this stuff is still available to watch online). There was such a lot of brilliant stuff on telly last year but I’ve tried to narrow it down to a top 10 (a contributing factor to why this post in nearly a month late :-S).

Please bear in mind I am at the mercy of terrestrial television due to a distinct lack of Sky or any other televisual service provider (aside from Freeview) being available in my household. If there’s anything offered up by Dark Lord Murdoch that you think is worthy of being on this list, or you think I might like (I’ve got January boxset fever so anything you can recommend would be good), let me know in the comments below.

So, let’s crack on :-)

10 - Pointless
I’m not very good at a lot of things; in fact I’d say I’m rubbish at doing most stuff. There are, however, two things that I say any time someone asks me what I have a talent for, they are baking and quizzes.
I LOVE quizzing. I go to a pub quiz every Sunday and I watch every quiz show I can (in my house Mondays are known as ‘Quizzing Mondays’ and we watch Pointless, The Chase, University Challenge and Only Connect all in one night) but my favourite has got to be ‘Pointless’. I know there are a glut of game shows and quiz shows out there because they’re cheap to make but ‘Pointless’ is a bit different.
You may not have seen it because it’s on at quarter past 5 on weekdays when most people are travelling home from work. The aim of the game is to get the most obscure answer to the question in hand and score the least amount of points possible. For example, if it was “countries in Africa beginning with E” then the answers ‘Ethiopia’ of ‘Egypt’ would score very highly because they’re countries everyone knows, however ‘Eritrea’ or ‘Equatorial Guinea’ would score less because they’re not as well known and would therefore be the better choice. I love this little twist on the traditional quiz format. I have a huge capacity to retain really useless bits of information (mostly about Disney) so the idea of having to come up with obscure answers suits me to a tee.
Part of the fun is the fact that couples get two chances to win the pointless jackpot so you get to know them more than the usual quiz contestant. Stand out couples for me, Rox and Myth, Dorian and James, they were both legendary, but the best pairing in the show is Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman as the presenter and his ‘Pointless Friend’. Fans of the show will often say that the best thing about it is the banter between these two and I agree. I’m a massive fan of Xander from ‘Armstrong and Miller’ and on ‘Pointless’ he just comes across as such a nice guy and Richard (whose day job is ‘Creative Director of Endemol’), well I’ve just got the biggest crush on him ever, he’s 6”7 of awesome.
It’s not convoluted, there’s no storylines to follow but it’s 45 minutes of great telly :-)


9 - Being Human
After a bit of a shaky second series ‘Being Human’ returned to form in its third outing last January. The introduction of some much needed new characters really gave it a new lease of life. Craig Roberts as teen Vampire Adam has got to be my favourite new character (I also really liked the online spin off series ‘Becoming Human’, I’ve got my fingers crossed it will return with series 4 this year) but Michael Socha (brother of Lauren Socha aka Kelly from Misfits) and Robson Green were both welcome additions to the cast. The idea of the ‘Type 4’, the Werewolf baiting and Nina’s pregnancy all helped energise the show.
I’ve never really warmed to Nina, probably because in the beginning she was a bit of a bitch to Geroge and he’s my favourite character, but in series 3  Sinead Keenan really won me over. I like the polarisation between her character and that of Aiden Turner’s character Mitchell. Mitchell seemed to go to a few dark places in this series and I always found him to be a bit morally questionable but next to Nina’s empathy and compassion it makes him seem really dark.
Speaking of Mitchell, the 3^rd series saw the end of Aiden Turner’s tenure as Head Vampire (due to Middle-Earth based commitments) and it’ll be interesting to see how series 4 copes after the departure of its first lead character. Either way I’ll be tuning in :-)


8 - Torchwood: Miracle Day
Similarly to ‘Doctor Who’ (which we’ll come to later), 2011’s series of ‘Torchwood’ had its critics.
There were some new characters and they were dealt with quite well. After initial niggles Esther and Rex won me over. Despite the unrealistic romance with Dr Juarez and Esther’s infuriating naivety there’s no faulting their performances. Another pairing that I enjoyed were Jilly Kitzinger and Oswald Danes. I actually feel bad for Bill Pullman because he was giving such a good performance and then, an episode before the end, the writers turned Oswald into a total nothing but the 8 episodes prior to that he was by far the most interesting character. Lauren Ambrose made a brilliantly fabulous bad guy. I want the entire wardrobe she sported through the whole show.
I said at the time, the thing that has drawn audiences back to ‘Torchwood’ time and again is the central relationship between Captain Jack and Gwen and in ‘Miracle day’ Eve Myles and John Barrowman were on form. 
It’s because of this pairing that episode 2 of ‘Miracle Day’ was my favourite of the series. It was so tense and exciting and Eve Myles pitched it perfectly for the whole 60 minutes.
I think ‘Miracle day’ is easy to criticise because it’s naturally going to be compared to its near perfect predecessor ‘Torchwood: Children of Earth’. They’ve tried to capitalise on the success of ‘Children of Earth’ by keeping the format of having one plot span the entire series but it falls down because, where ‘Children of Earth’ was 5 taut, lean and relentlessly thrilling episodes of Sci-Fi excellence, ‘Miracle Day’ was spread a little too thinly over its 10 episodes, to quote a famous Hobbit “Like butter over too much bread”.
The twist at the end of the series… well you can have your own opinion about that but I’m quite excited to see where they take it.


7 - The BBC F1 Coverage
As a self confessed sports-a-phobe this is a bit of an odd choice but F1 falls in the middle of the Venn diagram of ‘Sports’ and ‘Things I like’ (incidentally the only other thing that occupys that space is ‘Darts’).
I love the BBC anyway, but I think their coverage of the Formula 1 2011 season was exemplary. The team behind the show have made, what is to my mind, the perfect sports show. It’s informative, entertaining and comprehensively covers every aspect of the racing calendar. Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard and Eddie Jordan have such brilliant, matey on screen chemistry it is impossible not to warm to them. I have a soft spot for Jake anyway due to his CBBC heritage but considering he came into this job as a relative unknown, the way he’s won over the F1 audience has been brilliant.
I am so gutted about the half and half coverage spilt between the BBC and Sky for the 2012 season. Hopefully it won’t be at a detriment to the BBC coverage but it’s going to be a challenge to make it a cohesive season for fans like me who will only be able to see half of all the races. I wish the BBC team the very best of luck with the 2012 season and ‘Go McLaren’!


6 - The Hour
This was always going to be in my top 10 :-) Nothing else this year has felt more like it was written just for me. Granted, it had its critics but with a sizzling central cast, it’s one of my stand out shows of 2011.
Burdened with early (and ridiculously unimaginative) comparisons to HBO’s unmitigated success ‘MadMen’ it seemed like ‘The Hour’ had a lot to prove. Of course in reality it was an entirely different entity to ‘Mad Men’. It had a kind of Film Noir quality that was wonderful but paired against moments of real comedy or tenderness. I got totally swept up in it.
The detail is a delight. I love all things vintage and I must say the set dressers did a fantastic job, it all looked genuine. This is a feat in itself but when you combine it with the storyline it just makes everything feel authentic.
As far as ensemble casts go, this is one of the best of last year. The smaller roles like Sissy and Issac were as well realised as the central trio of Hector, Bel and Freddie which was lovely as, all too often in these kinds of shows, the smaller roles get forgotten.
Andrew Scott (Moriarty to all ‘Sherlock’ Fans) gave a small role a big impact in the episodes in which he appeared. Likewise Julian Rhind-Tutt as Angus McCain wins the award for character that most made my skin crawl. He is such a weasel it’s unbelievable.
If you read my blogs at the time it will come as no surprise to you that Ben Whishaw’s performance as Freddie is my stand out from this series. He really is superb and I’m not surprised he’s gone on to bigger, better, more MI5 shaped things. He makes Freddie leap out of the screen and into your heart.  I just fell in love with him, the character’s relentless pursuit of the truth, his passion and that heartbreaking unrequited love he has for Bel, he’s just adorable.
I’m really pleased ‘The Hour’ has been given another series, I think it’s unfortunate scheduling didn’t do it any favours and perhaps pushing it back to after August would do it the world of good. I’m excited.

5 - Fresh Meat
The most recent creation from Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong ‘Fresh Meat’ garnered more praise as it went along. A winning combination of a great script and brilliant cast made ‘Fresh Meat’ a really enjoyable series to watch. Zawe Ashton (who I’ve only seen briefly in ‘Misfits’ prior to her outing as Vod) is such a brilliant comic actress; her scenes with Howard are my favourite. Also, Jack Whitehall has been a revelation. I know it’s not really a stretch for him (he’s a bit posh and is playing someone who’s a bit posh…) but there’s a massive difference between doing stand up and comic acting and I think he’s done it really well. Stand out episode of the series, definitely the student demonstration. I love how Josie slowly takes control of the day (I’m not ashamed to admit I recognised a lot of myself in her in that respect) and Vod and Oregon and the Pigs blood, it was just a great  hour of television.
I think it was advertised as more like The Inbetweeners in University but that isn’t what it is. It’s humour is a lot more mature and I like how they’re not afraid to be sad (JB’s Dad’s and Oregon’s Horse’s deaths are SO SAD and Kingsley and Josie’s relationship is definitely tragi-comic), they’ve got quite a nice balance between light and shade.
I’m really pleased ‘Fresh Meat’ exists. It bridges a gap between shows like ‘The Inbetweeners’ and ‘Skins’ that are about 16-18 year olds and stuff like ‘She and Him’ about a couple in their mid twenties. Can’t wait for series 2.


4 - Doctor Who
A lot of criticism was lobbied at this year’s series of Doctor Who and I think almost all of it was unfounded. ‘It’s too complicated’ they cried! ‘Too scary for kids!’ They protested! I’ve never heard such rubbish in my life.
It is true that the storylines have become a little less self contained over the past two series, but is that a bad thing? Having an overriding story arc does mean that, as a viewer, there are things you need to remember, but since when was that something to be discouraged? Adding a level of intellect to a prime time Saturday night show is nothing to be ashamed of, just because a show is on the same schedule as ‘Total Wipeout’, ‘Britain’s got Talent’ and ‘Take me Out’ doesn’t mean it needs to haemorrhage its IQ points and run with the crowd. Personally I LOVE that each episode begets discussion. I look forward to seeing my Whovian mates at the pub quiz on Sunday so we can sit and dissect the previous night’s show. It’s all part of the fun.
Also, the ‘too scary’ thing… grow up! I can assure you, kids like being scared. Why do you think they go crazy for books like ‘Goosebumps’ or shows like ‘Are you Afraid of the Dark’? Why else do they watch ‘Scream’ or ‘Saw’ or ‘The Exorcist’ at sleepovers when they know they’re probably a bit too young to watch it? Because being scared is a massive adrenaline rush and kids love it. I personally don’t think it’s got massively more scary and I’d be the first to know because, as I’ve said before, I’m a massive wimp. So, stop wrapping your kids in cotton wool, they’re fine. If they do get scared, use it to your advantage. Next time they play up tell them that if they don’t behave the Silence will come and get them and watch how quickly they pack it in… (I know… when I have kids I’m going to be a totally EVIL mother!)
In my opinion ‘Doctor Who’ is one of the finest shows we in the UK have to offer and has been consistently wonderful since it was brought back to our screens. Simon Brew from Den of Geek said this “Doctor Who is bold, brave television, with some wonderfully intricate storytelling. It’s a show worth talking about, worth championing, and worth celebrating”. I couldn’t agree more.


3 - Misfits
The changing face of ‘Misfits’ may have some fans up in arms but after seeing how well series 3 handled the departure of Robert Sheehan I’m quietly confident that series 4 is in safe hands. Not as Simon-led as I expected, series 3 was actually held together by an excellent performance by Lauren Socha. I felt she came into her own this series, probably a conscious decision on the part on the director due to Kelly’s increased role in series 4, but it really worked.
The introduction of Joe Gilgun to the cast was inspired. I said it before, his character has a greater depth than Nathan ever did but with just as much humour. Likewise, Matthew McNulty has made an impact as Seth the gorgeous powers dealer but with a great deal more subtlety.
There were some excellent storylines; the Nazi episode in particular was such a good idea, executed brilliantly. The introduction of new writing talent to the show has invigorated it and come next series ‘Misfits’ starts anew with no pre-ordained plots and I am looking forward to it.


2 - Black Mirror
‘Black Mirror’ may only be a 3 episode series but they are 3 exceptionally good episodes. If you’ve not seen them before I warn you, it’s not a particularly happy show. The series, created by Charlie Brooker, looks at technology like it’s a drug and the side effects of things like Twitter, Youtube and a hypothetical internal Sky Plus.
They are unnerving, nauseating and dark episodes of perfectly crafted television. Every episode was directed by a different person and yet they all contain the same unsettling undercurrent and feel very much like a unified series.
The isolated episodes all have terrific casts. ‘The National Anthem’ stars Rory Kinnear at the fictional British Prime Minister Michael Callow. He is a superb actor and makes Callow a character you have great sympathy for. It’s a very cold episode and Kinnear brings some much needed feeling to it.
In episode 2, ‘15 Million Credits’ it’s all about Bing (Daniel Kaluuya) and how his selfless act is taken out of his hands and made considerably more sinister. Kaluuya is superb, the speech he delivers on ‘Hot Shots’ is wonderful and his realization of what has happened to Abi is heartbreaking. I know it’s cheesy but you really do feel his pain. The relationship between Bing and Abi is so adorable. Kaluuya and Jessica Brown-Findlay are so innocent, almost childlike, which makes their relationship seem so real in the artificial, L.E.D-lit world with which we are presented.
The third episode in the trilogy is ‘The Entire History of You’. Toby Kebbell and Jodie Whittaker make a fantastically brittle pairing. Kebbell really taps into that neurosis brought on by this ‘grain’ technology.
It’s hard to put my finger on why I like ‘Black Mirror’ as much as I do, because it is undeniably bleak. Its gadget-paranoia is unnerving but that’s because I see a parallel with my own relationship with technology and I don’t think I’m alone. It is a tragic, yet devastatingly effective series.


1 - Horrible Histories
2011 will be known as the year that everyone else cottoned on to what I have known since 2009. ‘Horrible Histories’ is, without doubt, one of the best things on TV, not just on Kids TV, on TV generally. I love it. I unashamedly love it.
2011 saw series 3 of ‘Horrible Histories’ grace the CBBC channel, the first two series were then compiled into a more grown-up friendly format for Sunday evenings in the form of ‘Horrible Histories with Stephen Fry’. Mr Fry added some grown-up gravitas to proceedings but the fact remained the same, those sketches are fantastic. So many kids TV shows talk down to their audience, it’s easily done but totally inexcusable when there are series like this that demonstrate how to credit children with the intelligence they possess. It’s such a brilliant balancing act that the producers of the show have managed to achieve; between funny and informative, it’s perfect.
The cast are terrific. They get involved in the writing of the show and some who started off as writers are now cast members. I think this has helped make the show as enjoyable as it is because the cast seem to have a real affection for the material they’re performing.
To top off what has been a brilliant year for those involved in the series, the show was given its own slot at the BBC Proms. ‘The Horrible Histories Big Prom Party’ was an unmitigated success. The show was full of some favourite songs form the series and some new sketches created purely for The Proms.
Those who haven’t seen it will scoff at the thought of watching a children’s TV show but I implore you, sit down and watch an episode. I promise, you won’t just laugh, you’ll learn something as well.


So there we have it. Those were my favourite televisual gems from 2011! If there’s anything you think I’ve missed let me know in the comments :-)

Some of my favourite shows from last year have new series coming out over the next 12 months which is terribly exciting! ‘The Hour, ‘Fresh Meat’ and ‘Misfits’ ‘Horrible Histories’, ‘Being Human’ and ‘The Walking Dead’ have all got new series in due to air this year.
I’m super excited and fully prepared to get square eyes!

Goodbye till next time :-)

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