10 Heroes
I know, I know, it’s gone completely off the rails since series 2, but man, remember how good series 1 was? Remember? It was so new, fresh original and exciting and had everyone raving about it. For that one series of enjoyment, it scrapes in. I’m a generous man.
9 The IT Crowd
Computer geeks! I can't say enough good things about this show, it's brilliant! And scarily accurate, as someone who helps people with their computing, it's bizarre how ridiculous the queries are when someone can't use a compewter! Favourite moments would have to be when they present Jen with a little box with a light on, claiming it's the Internet, and disguising a fire with an old monitor housing to pass it off as a screensaver. Oh, and anything Moss says. Ever.
8 Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace
A comedy entry (that is an entry that is a comedy show, not an entry that I'm joking about), and a show that, the first time I watched it, made me laugh constantly from beginning to advert break and then through the end after adverts. A beautiful parody of cheaply produced horror and over inflated egos with an extra dose of silliness.
7 Being Human
This one just makes it in because it was only just in this decade. But it was absolutely brilliant. Like Doctor Who and Torchwood, it has a uniquely British charm and humour, but then get’s very dark and dramatic. It’s a skillful production that balances both as well as this show does, to sell you the idea of a vampire, werewolf and ghost sharing a house dramatically and build in humour at the daftness of the concept, it’s genius.
6 The Big Bang Theory
How can you not love this show? Enjoyed by nerds and non-nerds alike, for me and my nerdy ways it’s a view of what my life could be like as a sitcom. Also if I were American. And a physicist. Apart from those details it’s exactly the same! Oh, and not so many people fall for my classic pranks.
5 Torchwood
I like Torchwood. Obviously, as it’s in this list. I know that not everyone rated the first series, but hey, there are some classics out there that had absolutely appalling first series and went on to greatness. And there were some pretty good episodes there. A pterodactyl fighting a Cyberwoman? How is that not brilliant? Yeah, some episodes weren’t as good, but I think the end of the series paid off the characters failings from those shows. And then the second and third series just got better and better.
4 Dexter
Came in a bit late to this one, but I love it! It sounded ridiculous to me at first, how can they keep a story going about a serial killer? But they can, and they do it well. Having the killer target only killers and try to adhere to a code to turn his urges to some sort of use is the most fascinating part of it. TV where I root for the murderer is unusual but with Dexter you can make whole series of it.
3 Battlestar Galactica
Back in the 90’s I loved a little show called Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was all the wonder of Star Trek but done a bit differently. One of the key writers on that, and Next Gen before it was Ron Moore. He then went on to re-make a 70’s series that I’d sporadically looked at, mainly for amusement and made the most kick-ass epic adventure.
2 Firefly
In some ways, its a good thing that Firefly was cancelled after only a season. That way I can look upon it as a near-perfect series, there was never a bad episode! That’s an awesome achievement in itself even for just a single 13 episode run actually. But there is no episode of this show that I couldn’t put on anytime and enjoy. Characters that are interesting and instantly likable, each with their own distinct development. Add to that a spaceship, some gunfights and the occaisional explosion and bam, brilliance in a 13 episode set.
1 Doctor Who
The show that’s had the most impact on me this decade. Easily. It’s just blown me away, from it’s return, which I was sceptical about. While the modern effects and better budgets and costumes are all very nice, the best thing is that the show’s stayed true to it’s original spirit. It’s retained it’s unique charm and humour and has stayed very British, which is especially nice when we have very little sci-fi here.
I really wrestle with putting 24 in, it had an excellent first three series, but I haven't enjoyed it as much from series four onwards. Series seven came close but then lost it. And if my logic of including Heroes based on early greatness get's it into the top ten, then how come not 24? It just comes down to my personal feelings then, I can watch bad Heroes much easier than I can watch bad 24.
Star Trek: Enterprise has a reverse effect, it started bad and then the last series got really good. I wanted to put it in, it was the main Star Trek of the decade. But I decided against it, even when it was at it's best, it wasn't any comparison to the first three Treks to me.
Finally, there's the shows from the last decade that I didn't watch and ought to! Based on what I've been hearing from people, I really should have watched:
Supernatural
The Wire
House
True Blood
Lost
I've started on House and The Wire! Though there's a new decade starting, what sort of TV are we going to have now? If I repeat this blog in 10 years, what shows will I be raving about then?
Probably still Doctor Who and Being Human!
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