TV Of The Year 2025 - Part 4: 25 to 11
24 - Toxic Town (Netflix) - oh hello, another true story. Also another Not The Post Office Scandal contender, but better than The Hack.
23 - The Chair Company (Now/HBO) - genius. This is brilliant comedy, by Tim Robinson who, I confess, had passed me by before. Hard to describe, you really have to watch it.
22 - Sirens (Netflix) - adapted from a stage play, which had a much better title (Elemeno Pea), this had a great attitude and a very original world. I mean it’s millionaires in big mansions, and maybe some people die, so perhaps it has components we see a lot of, but this has outstanding qualities.
21 - IT Welcome to Derry (Now/HBO) - most gruesome telly of the year, and a lovely wit. The Stephen Kingiest load of Stephen King you’ll see, full of easter eggs and self parody.
20 - Stick (AppleTV) - Wins the prize for Most Formulaic Writing of the year, and that’s a good thing. Every beat is a masterclass in comedy script story structure. And even though you can see the moments coming, realise the tropes as they’re happening, and hear the cogs going round as a watch it, it delivers a brand of old fashioned ensemble character the like of which I’ve not seen since MASH.
19 - White Lotus 1 2 and 3 (Now/HBO)- Somehow we’ve crammed all three seasons into one year, which is a joy and a mixed blessing. The third isn’t as good as the first two, but it is some of the best writing on TV at the moment, so enjoys the highs with the lows.
18 - Adolescence (Netflix) - Much higher in many TV Of The Year charts, I know, but on reflection I’m not sure the while is greater than the sum of its parts. The “oners” , those single camera long-takes that made it special, are outshone by another show that comes higher up my chart and puts them to, I feel, better use. This show certainly was a moment, entered the national conversation, and won the Post Office Scandal award. But I like seventeen other show more, so there.
17 - Upper Middle Bogan (ABC/Netflix) - Okay, this is higher up than it might have been had I discovered it when it was new, a dozen years ago. But it’s an Australian sitcom, and a damn good one, that’s coothie and we love it. Recommended, however light you might find it.
16 - Amandaland (BBC) - Sitcoms are thin on the ground these days, so thank heavens this, one of the few BBC1 had on this year, was a quality bit of work. Maybe not as strong as Motherland, but close, and smashing. And genuinely funny too,
15- SOS Rogue Heroes 2 (BBC) - The first series was a guilty pleasure, this time you clean forgot to even feel guilty. It’s dark, emotional, heart rending, and surprising at every turn. I dare say it’s based very loosely on the true stories, but if ever there was an excuse for printing the legend, this is it.
14 - What It Feels Like For A Girl (BBC) - A splendid find. I’m guilty of overlooking a lot of drama on BBC Three, especially when it’s teen oriented, so this semi-autobiographical story of a trans teenager, who’s not afraid to portray themselves as an absolute git so much of the time, was one I was glad I found a stuck with. For tears and feels it ranks as number three.
13 - Hacks (Now/HBO and also Amazon Prime) - Seeing all 4 seasons of this in one year has been a comedy treat. One of three industry insider comedies in my top twenty, for what it’s worth, and after last year’s abysmal The Franchise, it’s good to be reminded it’s not that area that was off-putting , it was how it was done. And our second top queer drama of the chart. The characters are so real in Hacks that it hurts.
12 - Bookish (U&Alibi) - You wait all chart for an iconic LGBT telly show, and three come along in a row. On the most ludicrously named and impossibly hard to find cannel, "U&Alibi", I'm amazed anyne has even managed to see it. Mark Gattis gave us a smashing cozy comedy crime series with a closeted gay hero just after the war. In a bookshop. I can’t be the only person who loved it.
11 - Traitors UK & US 3, NZ 2, & Celebrity 1 (BBC + various) - Bracketed by SAS Rogue Heroes, I’m realising this five-in-a-row section of my chart is camp as Christmas. Celebrity Traitors was the icing on the cake for a year of a format that saw Alan Cumming improve on his first year, with his alleged celebrity competitors being joyously awful throughout; Claudia presiding over a third civilian season that was in danger of derailing itself with some of its contrivances; and a New Zealand series that screamed low budget but was the second most enjoyable of them all. Celebrity was pure dead brilliant, and gave us a moment of feeling live TV was about to survive the decade. Don’t worry, the feeling passed.
Which leaves only The Top Ten...
Part 3: The Sequel Zone, and Jury’s Out
Part 4: 25 to 11
Part 5: My Top Ten TV of 2025
*****
My Top TV of... 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2011 • 2009
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Richard The Third (Colour) | Doctors Who? Colouring | Socks Do Shakespeare | Kids Comics Annual 2026 |
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Richard The Third (bw) | Findlay Macbeth | Prince of Denmark Street | Midsummer Night's Dream Team |
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Shakespeare Omnibus | Comic Tales From The Bible | Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories | Space Elain |
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