http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jan/12/guardian-50-television-dramasThe Guardian's top 50 television dramas of all time
Our TV critics have voted, debated and decided on a top 50 of classic TV drama series - the results might just surprise you
What do you imagine a TV critic's ultimate viewing pleasure to be? A five-season box-set marathon of The Wire, quite possibly? A drama that digs into the power games of Washington (The West Wing)? You'd be surprised. It seems, at the Guardian at least, they are far more likely to enjoy a beautiful, costumed saga about 1920s aristocrats or a gritty tale about growing up as a lesbian in mid-70s Lancashire.
To find out what the Guardian's TV writers really think is the best TV drama ever made, we asked Nancy Banks-Smith, Sam Wollaston, Lucy Mangan, Sarah Dempster, Mark Lawson, Grace Dent and Richard Vine to rate, and then debate, what they consider the greatest ever series.
The overall winner was The Sopranos, the compelling tale of New Jersey mobsters created by David Chase. They almost all raved about this show, praising it as an original, absorbing and affectionate study of complicated family values. But it only made the top spot by a fraction. Their second favourite was Brideshead Revisited, the 1981 ITV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel about religion, nobility and paisley dressing gowns. The Wire – HBO's widely praised series about Baltimore – attracted plenty of praise, but only ranked at No 14. Mad Men, the tale of 60s New York ad men, made the No 4 slot, just behind Our Friends in the North, an epic 1996 BBC2 series that traced the fates of four people across several decades.
Here's an interesting thing, though: ahead of some great US drama that has attracted such praise and attention in the last 10 years – The West Wing, Six Feet Under, Buffy the Vampire Slayer – comes a raft of British drama from the 1980s. A Very Peculiar Practice, Talking Heads, The Singing Detective, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Boys From the Blackstuff – these are among the "national treasure" series that have seared themselves into our critics' imaginations. "BBC4 and UK Gold should be repeating them but instead they're playing Coast 24 hours a day and bloody Silent Witness," complained Grace Dent.
To reach their verdict, the writers compiled a longlist. There was no period restriction, but the dramas had to be series (or serials) rather than one-offs. They marked the titles out of 20 and we averaged the scores, discounting any series that failed to attract at least four voters on the basis that these were the hobby horses of fanatics – not the greatest TV of all time. At this stage, A Very British Coup, Edge of Darkness and Tenko went by the wayside.
Of course there were disagreements. No one had a bad word to say about The Sopranos, but Richard Vine, TV editor of the Guide, still feels that The Wire was "richer". Mark Lawson thought The Sopranos "exceptionally well written" but considers both The Wire and The West Wing more radical and daring. Grace Dent however thought The Wire "a slog" in parts and said the acclaim had made it "socially painful" for people to admit they weren't wild fans. "It's incomprehensible to lots of people."
more, lots more ...
And this teaser: #31-50 of the list...
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
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