TV Of The Year 2025 - Part 5: The Top Ten
10 - Cassandra. (Netflix) - This year’s surprise foreign language find came from Germany. Zapping between 1972 and the present day, it’s about a family and a house operated by a killer robot. If you haven’t discovered it yet, you’re in for a treat.
9 - How are You? It’s Alan Partridge (BBC) - Steve Coogan’s comic creation at his agonising best. Some of the comedy set pieces in this series, especially when Alan regresses to childhood, are the pinnacle of physical comedy. Preparing these pieces on film made the end result more satisfying than his previous in-studio as-live excursion. Merits several rewatches. A comedy masterclass.
8 - Riot Women (BBC) - Sally Wainwright’s comedy drama is a delight. Admittedly it might chime more with the over 60s, and people who’ve ever been in bands, but I’m hoping it reached more than just that. I have but one quibble: that signature tune. It’s really hard to do original pop music convincingly in a drama, and “Riot riot, we won’t be quiet” was pretty cringeworthy.
7 - The Paper (Now/HBO) - The idea of a follow up to The Office didn’t bode well, especially after last year’s dreadful Australian version, but this show by US Office creator Greg Daniels truly delivered. Turns out Downhill Gleeson can do comedy, and so can the rest of this marvellous ensemble cast, including the Italian woman from season two of White Lotus. Who saw that coming?
6 - This City is Ours (BBC) - The first thing I’ve seen from a writer called Stephen Butchard, excellently taking the family crime drama seriously and putting some twists on it. An impressively strong cast, splendidly directed.
5 - The Rehearsal (Now/HBO) - Every review you’ll see of Nathan Fielder’s bizarre documentary comedy series will tell you it’s impossible to explain and you really have to see it. That’s because it’s impossible to explain and you really have to see it. We were lucky enough to see seasons one and two in a row this year. I’d tell you more but, well, see the sentence before last.
4 - The Gold 2 (BBC) - The first season of Neil Forsyth’s The Gold was my Number One in 2023, and the follow up maintained that quality and originality. His Shakespearian style of breaking up the drama with soliloquies elevates the drama without ever disturbing the pace. This storyline, deviating a lot from the known facts, enabled some enjoyable flights of fancy.
3 - Pluribus (Apple TV) - Apple his one good show every 6 months, but when it’s this good you can almost convince yourself it’s worth keeping up the subscription. One of the most innovative science fiction concepts in years, from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul’s Vince Gilligan, it has you “what-iffing” along with it throughout. At time of writing I have no idea how it ends, but it’s going so well it’s made the top three already.
2 - Blue Lights 3 (BBC) - This show won the tear-jerking award hands down. I’m welling up at every turn, and it’s never through sentimentality. It’s the tension of following characters you really care about being put through excruciating drama. It has what the early series of Line Of Duty used to have, with the extra spin of being set in Belfast and really getting inside the situation there. I have no idea what else authors Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson have written, but they are talents to look out for.
1 - The Studio (Apple TV) - Did I say something about Apple having one good show every 6 months? I realise there are five of their shows on my chart, so I may have exaggerated. I have watched every episode of The Studio at least twice, and will no doubt watch them again. It is quite simply perfectly made film comedy. And anyone who thought the one-take shots in Adolescence were an achievement, you ain’t seen nothing till you’ve seen The Studio. The comedy makes you cringe and laugh out loud, the film-making had me applauding at one point, and the Emmy Awards episode may be 30 of the best minutes of television comedy made this century.
And there we have it. I'm sure you'll disagree, how couldn't you? Here's to another great year of TV. See you in twelve months time with my verdict.
Part 1: The Podcasts
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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