Over the last few years thanks to the overwhelming success of TV series like Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones, the small screen has been punching well above its weight when it comes to quality entertainment. This year has been another stellar year for English TV. We list the top 10 TV series that rocked the year and had everyone talking.
The Americans
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4D96fPl_hI
Set in the early 1980s during the Cold War, two Soviet intelligence agents pose as a married couple in the US to spy on the American government. Keri Russell and Mathew Rhys who play the Soviet spies (Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings) in the series are exceptional. While Elizabeth is an almost fanatical believer in the fatherland’s propaganda, Phillip begins to realize that maybe the US ain’t that bad after all. Along with their two unsuspecting and American-born children, the Jennings must navigate a minefield of subterfuge and spycraft, especially after they find out their neighbor is a counter-espionage agent with the FBI. Thanks to great performances, split-second, unbridled violence, and a cracking script, The Americans delivers well-paced thrills.
Game ofThrones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsrY52mr7O4
If you haven’t heard of GoT’s famous Red Wedding episode (officially titled Rains of Castamere) by now, then you’re probably living under a boulder the size of Texas. Game of Thrones proved that it was born in blood and will continue to bathe in it for the foreseeable future. The stratospherically popular fantasy series based on George RR Martin’s novels did away with almost half the cast in one fell swoop and didn’t lose a beat, and that’s the hallmark of great entertainment. Season 4 has been set on a knife edge, and the fans are already marking their calendars in their parents’ basements.
Orange is the New Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9-_rXXQj34
Don’t be put off by the title, this Netflix series has as much to do with fashion as…well…we do (you should really see how we dress, we’re an embarrassment). The superb Taylor Schilling plays Piper Chapman, a woman in her thirties who is sentenced to fifteen months in prison after being convicted of a decade-old crime of transporting money for her drug-dealing girlfriend. The girlfriend in question (played by Laura Prepon) happens to be in the same prison. The series follows Chapman into a space where angels and demons cavort freely. From masochistic guards and inmates with hearts of gold, to sociopaths and saints, Orange is the New Black will have you laughing, tearing up, and simmering sometimes al in one episode. Watch it to the end though, the final episode will shock you.
TheBlacklist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGBIimq1I3A
We’ve missed James Spader since Boston Legal ended, but now we know why he kept his scathing wit and beautiful amorality hidden for the last few years. Spader resurfaces in 2013’s The Blacklist, where he plays Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington a notorious criminal who has eluded capture by the FBI for decades. But he suddenly surrenders to the FBI with an offer to help catch a terrorist under the condition that he speaks only to Elizabeth Keen (played by Megan Boone), a young FBI profiler just barely out of Quantico. Spader’s Redman is equal parts Hannibal Lecter (without the cannibalism), and Danny Ocean as he goes about helping the FBI nab the most wanted and most dangerous criminals in the world, while feathering his own nest with characteristic audacity. But what is his link to Keen? Well, we will just have to find out in season two.
Sons ofAnarchy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54DIS3qioo0
Fans are bracing in unbridled excitement for Sons of Anarchy’s seventh season next year, and the show has just gone from strength to strength. The series about a man in his early 30s struggling to find a balance in his life between being a dad and his involvement in a motorcycle club, has captured audiences across the globe with its brand of violent justice, scathing humour, and realistic grit. Season six was a doozy, and there’s no reason to believe that season seven won’t be corker as well. And now that Charlie Hunnam has dropped out of that ridiculous 50 Shades of Grey film all is well.
Doctor Who
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7z6FMCqYrBo
Now in its 33rd season (we lost count about 1976) Doctor Who has never been more popular. The 2013 season also saw Matt Smith bowing out as the good Doctor, and while female fans may have shed a tear, aficionados can’t wait to see how the new Doctor, the grumpy and foul-mouthed Pete Capaldi handles those pesky Daleks. The final episode of 2013 also proved to be the most viewed episode of the franchise, so things are looking peachy.
Veep
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDMbcY9kVII
What happens when you combine the superb comic timing of Julia Louis-Dreyfus the scathing satire of Armando Iannucci? We found out in 2012 when Veep premiered and left us with our sides in splits with its particular brand of profanity-laden political satire. Picture West Wing played by the cast of PulpFiction, but funnier. Dreyfus plays Selina Meyer the US vice-president who finds the job nothing like she expected and everything everyone ever warned about. You can expect to be thrilled.
TheGood Wife
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo_UZh-YPU0
Network TV shows usually fall flat after Season 4, but now on Season 5 The Good Wife is just getting better and better. With Julianna Marguiles (who plays Alicia Florrick) nominated for a Golden Globe this year and the plot thickening this legal drama looks all set to run and run and run. Grey’s Anatomy seriously needs to take a look at this series and figure out a way to make the lead character a little less infuriating. We all root for Alicia, for Meredith? Nah, not so much.
House of Cards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFhJjCmYi1M
Based on the British TV series of the same name, this Kevin Spacey-starring political drama launched Netflix’s foray into streaming TV. And boy did it have an effect. With a cast that would make any feature film proud (Spacey is ably supported by Robin Wright, Kate Mara and Michael Kelly) and directed by DavidFincher House of Cards had everything going for it right from the start. But never one to rest on his laurels, Spacey’s portrayal of Francis Underwood, a Congressman who works to exact revenge on the people who betrayed him, is chilling. A superb script, coupled with great direction and pacing make it one of the best things we’ve seen on TV this year.
Mad Men
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vblL3SmjQdM
The fact that Season 6 of Mad Men turned out to be its weakest yet, and still managed to wow us is testament to its enduring excellence. The series that focuses on admen (and women) in the 60s has been hailed for everything from its sense of fashion, to the amoral sexism of its leading men, namely Don Draper (played by Jon Hamm) and its characters’ penchant for daytime binges and chain smoking. But through it all one thing’s been crystal, Mad Men is one of the most stylish and thought out TV series out there, and if they iron out this year’s creases Season 7 could be a humdinger.













