It is surprising that the critically acclaimed show, The Wire, only squeezes in at number 14 with a number of 80’s BBC dramas – A Very Peculiar Practice, Talking Heads, The Singing Detective, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit and Boys From the Blackstuff – listed in the top ten.

Barely-a-drama, one of the longest running British TV dramas, Grange Hill, sneaks in at number 50, so one could presume that teen drama, My So Called Life, might have been 51. The Guardian critics were also swayed by the ‘primetime’ status of soaps, Coronation Street and Eastenders, giving them a place in the top 50 whilst omitting noughties hits Lost, Dexter, Deadwood and Spooks.

Also missing from the list is hard nosed prison drama, Bad Girls, which regularly pulled in over 7 million viewers in the UK across it’s eight seasons. The shows popularity has continued to rise since it went off air with growing demand for boxsets and a US remake through HBO on the way.

Channel 4 show, Queer as Folk, which follows the lives of three gay guys living in Manchester sits at number 13 on the list. Lesbian drama, the L Word is at number 36, ranking higher than 24 (now in it’s 8th season with talks of a 9th) at number 39 and cult classic, the X Files, at number 45. These are all dwarfed by Buffy the Vampire Slayer which is awarded 22nd place on the list – were the critics bitten by Sarah Michelle Gellar?

My top 5?

1. The Sopranos
2. The Wire
3. The L Word
4. Cracker
5. Twin Peaks

The Guardian list in full:

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