Since Ireland entered it’s much talked about ‘cold snap’, I’ve been spending my evenings snuggled up on the couch with everybody’s favourite mobster, Tony Soprano. The Guardian released their “Top 50 Television Dramas of All Time” today and with my seal of approval and a hoard of Emmy Awards, it’s no surprise that The Sopranos tops the list of the best dramas on the box.
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?
- The Sopranos
- The Wire
- The L Word
- Cracker
- 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
