Telly Highlights 2023
This isn't everything I watched last year, but I wanted to call out some of the things that have stuck with me in different ways. There might be minor spoilers but I have tried to avoid giving away any big plot secrets
The Woman in the Wall
The Morning Show
I loved the first series of this female led show, with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon as two very different journalists tackling the 'Me Too' fallout and Covid whilst experiencing it themselves in different ways. I didn't much like series 2 which felt a bit angsty and Succession-lite to me, but series 3 was back with a bang, still exploring the same issues but then layering on the depth of the misogyny and associated deliberate blindness, in a way which encouraged us to be angry again. The Succession-y type stuff continues, with the exploration of the financial pressures on media companies to downgrade their investment in news, which linked strongly with the other thread which was the storming of the Capitol building, which allowed consideration of all sorts of other morality in journalism. The men all play pivotal and ambivalent roles in this, with Steve Carell in series 1 and John Hamm playing a charming baddie in series 3. And then there's Billy Crudup who has had a really long narrative arc, and I have really enjoyed the way he has played his role with a mix of monster, bravado, insensitivity and vulnerability. Series 3 ended at a great spot, and although it didn't tie everything up I was fine with that. Series 4 has been confirmed though, and I am keeping my fingers crossed we don't dip again.
A sci-fi time travel story based on the graphic novel by Si Simon (and artists), and with Stephen Graham as Elias Mannix in the thick of the action, this was a rip roaring mystery adventure across four time periods. We open in present day with D.S. Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) discovering a body while policing a fascist march, then also meet Detective Charles Whitman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) discovering the same body in the same place in 1941, then finally we head back to 1890 to meet a final detective, Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller) doing exactly the same. Woven into this is our detective from the future, D.C. Maplewood (Shira Haas). So far, so confusing, and indeed it was very confusing for a large chunk of the time, but it was the exciting type of confusion that kept me watching more. 
The first series with Sean Bean was quietly excellent and so I was a bit worried about a second season. But with an excellent cast including Jodie Whittaker and Bella Ramsey I decided to give it a go. This time set in a women's prison, we got a wider view of the system, particularly through the different narrative arcs. Bella Ramsey was excellent again, and had me absolutely rooting for Kelsey - this young actor has already done great things and they are an absolute green light for me to watch anything with their name attached. Jodie Whittaker had a pretty depressing storyline but did a great job with it. Tamara Lawrance playing Abi was heartbreaking. There are obvious comparisons to be made with Orange is the New Black, and it did a similar job in showing how the system works and the effect that has on the humans within. It was a bit predictable in places, but the light it shone on the system made me angry in a good way on more than one occasion, particularly watching a prisoner being released with just a tent in a week when our Home Secretary claimed being homeless was a lifestyle choice. 
This has been around for ages, but it was recommended to me recently, and it is a lot of fun. A fantasy where a couple on a retreat to reinvigorate their relationship, accidentally find themselves inside a musical. Played with tongue so far in cheek it sticks out a mile, everyone involved in this looks like they are having a lot of fun with the various cliches. Alan Cumming deserves a special mention as the closeted town mayor, and I enjoyed the interplay between Melissa (Cecily Strong) and Josh (Keegan-Michael Key) as the disaffected couple. I am not a musicals aficionado, so there were many occasions when I knew there was a clever reference being made, but didn't understand it, but actually I managed to have fun anyway. Although it's a bit predictable, as each episode is only 30 minutes long, each one is a little bundle of lightness and easy to slot into your day for a touch of silliness.
Series 1 of this Australian comedy came out in 2021, but I only caught up in early 2023, and timed it just right to pick up the second series pretty quickly afterwards. Fisk is a cynical and put upon middle aged woman in a world which constantly underestimates her and her ubiquitous brown suit. She has moved back to town to live with her father and his partner after her marriage breaks up and she takes a new job as a lawyer in a small dysfunctional firm. Each episode is fairly low stakes, but manages to navigate (and sometime step really hard on) all sorts of cultural touchpoints, with a regular cast of people who are stereotypes but who manage to also show us a little bit of depth too. I can't say there is a lot of character development really, but each episode is packed with lots of clever little vignettes which make me laugh a lot. 
I have already written about this show a lot, (see here, here and here) but couldn't do a review of the year without tucking it in again. Season 1 came out in 2022, and Season 2 in 2023. Both seasons in their different way have tapped into the discourse around LGBTQIA+ representation and rights, the sexualisation of culture, and particularly the generational divisions in attitudes. Inclusive and diverse, the books and particularly the tv series focus on a group of queer young people at school, living their lives and falling in love. Notable for being designed as young teen suitable, it gained a following in the wider LGBTQIA+ community, as well as plenty of people who just enjoy a very well made drama, and as a result appeared on many mainstream 'best of 2023' lists this year. Intricately put together, each scene is packed full of incidentals that add context or depth to the main story being played out. Beyond the excellent performances from the leads, it's notable for its stylised cinematography, lighting and set design which is never afraid to use graphic novel and other visual tools to illustrate feelings or move the story along. It also has a soundtrack that uses great indie and pop artists to add meaning or context; top tip is to watch it with the subtitles so that you don't miss the additional layers added by the lyrics. And as a bit of icing on top it's also packed full of little Easter-eggy treats which get the addicts coming back for another go. I am already seated awaiting season 3. 
I wrote about season 2 earlier this year (here) having watched it within hours of it being released. Written by Neil Gaiman, season 1 did a fantastic job of bringing the novel to life, and adding a whole other dimension in terms of the relationship between Arizaphale and Crowley, the angel and fallen angel working together to prevent the apocalypse. That other dimension was largely due to the chemistry between Michael Sheen and David Tennant who really do feel like they were made to balance each other. Season 2 was fairly light in terms of the story but did have John Hamm and a load of interwoven small stories of love and adventure that kept me watching all of the way through. The last 15 minutes though contained a 'moment' which as well as launching a thousand fanfics, will set up series 3.
The politics that gets dragged into this long running tv show never fails to amaze me, but in a way that shows its power. With the era of Jodie Whittaker's doctor coming to an end, and the return of Russell T Davis, the few new episodes this year have been a bit of 'back to the future'. The déjà vu is not just in relation to the welcome return of David Tennant and Catherine Tate, but also the fretting about wokery, but it was ever thus (although last time round the term 'woke' wasn't around in the same way). I didn't watch Chris Chibnall's output in the same way as earlier iterations but I still thought Jodie Whittaker did an excellent job. I was delighted to see Ncuti Gatwa get to be the next Doctor and can admit to a few nerves about the interim return of Tennant's version. In fact, Tennant's Doctor was as lovely as always, with lots of running about, fast talking and silliness that characterised that era, as well as some plot points that I suspect will become important in the 2024 series. I enjoyed seeing Bernard Cribbins for the last time and the lovely send-off he was given, and I thought that Yasmin Finney did an excellent job as Rose, showing she is more than her Heartstopper persona. The bigots still watch of course, so there was a fuss about references to gender and transphobia, the casting of a non white actor as Sir Isaac Newton, and lots of ableist grumbling about a wheelchair user also being able to stand. But that last episode The Giggle, with Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker had that wonderful dance sequence and so I found myself adding 'Spice up your life' to my Spotify for the Christmas season. And then we had the very clever regeneration which gave both actors a great moment or two, plus a sweet resolution for the fans of the tenth doctor. The Christmas episode was a fairly light one, but as is now traditional, we were introduced to the new doctor and companion, together with some suitably Christmassy villains and a very silly story. I feel ready and excited for the Gatwa era.
I loved seasons 1 to 3 of this show, and thought it was rounded off very well, so was more than a bit surprised to see that season 4 had been commissioned. I had my fingers and toes crossed that they managed to make it land but sadly it just didn't despite lots of inclusion and representation and some great performances. So, what was wrong? Firstly, I think the problem was that the story arc of the main characters was really over, and so in respect of Otis and Maeve, all that this series did was take away the deliciousness of not knowing. There were good and important storylines about asexuality and gender transition, which were all well acted, but sadly they just felt worthy and a bit tacked on somehow rather than engaging. And even Eric, one of my favourite characters, who continued to be brought to life perfectly by Ncuti Gatwa had a storyline about religion and sexuality that just went from something interesting and meaningful to just overwrought. I got what they were trying to do, but it just didn't feel rooted in the previous tone of the show. And even Dan Levy as the American professor couldn't get me to love it this time. I think also they all got a bit too old to play sixth formers and it made it harder to suspend disbelief, however hard I tried. So, some lovely and worthy components, and although I will watch 1-3 again , I will probably just try to forget all about the last little hiccup.
So much has been written about this, anything I say will be superfluous, so I will just say that I thought this was a masterpiece in writing, characterisation and acting, producing high quality drama with an always cleverly placed undertow of farce. The final series which aired in 2023 lived up to all of its promise and delivered more of the same with some real shocks. The joy of the shocking turns in the story is how well they made sense in retrospect, so alongside the 'wtf' there was also the wonderful recognition of the rightness of a story properly coming together. Joyous and worth every penny of my Now TV subscription for this alone.
A coming of age drama about a girl in recovery from an eating disorder, following her as she tries to live a 'normal' teenage life with her gang of friends. I was a bit resistant to this at first, particularly given the similar themes to Heartstopper, even going so far as to have Stephen Fry in a minor but significant role, and a gang of mixed sexuality friends; was this just a copycat? I wasn't sure I was going to like it by the end of the first episode, particularly in respect of the friends and family that I was worried were going to be a bunch of caricatures. In fact, it got a lot more complicated than that, with a few unexpected turns, so that by episode 3 I was properly invested and demolished the rest of the series quite quickly. I liked the approach taken to the eating disorder, and the various family and friend dynamics - but I did some sighing when the stakes here were sometime artificially raised just through not making people talk to each other when in real life they would. I know this is standard for this type of drama, but I think Heartstopper's approach to keeping the joy and communicating whilst navigating real life obstacles has spoiled me a bit. Apart from that minor gripe, I think this is an excellent and enjoyable show, and anything that starts conversation about eating disorders in a way that is not trauma porn or sensationalised gets my thumbs up.
Another series I missed when it first came out, this was recommended to me after I had enjoyed a couple of modern western films (A Strange Way of Life and First Cow). Emily Blunt as Cornelia Locke takes the Clint Eastwood role in this revisionist western about an Englishwoman who comes to America to seek vengeance for the death of her son. There are great performances from Blunt, and Chaske Spencer (as Eli, a displaced Pawke native) who are companions in travelling across the always gorgeous landscapes. The brutality of the theft of ancestral homelands and the associated genocide is woven into the heart of this story, as is the understanding of how modern America was made. There are outstanding performances throughout, We meet Ciaran Hinds as a ruthless and terrifying monster early on, then a picaresque series of characters all looking out for their own self interest in a land where laws and fairness are thinly rooted if at all, and where no-one is around to help you get justice. The old soldiers and the legacy from the civil war are still causing mayhem and then over and above all of this is Rafe Spall standing out as a demented but also cunning and monstrous villain. I loved the way that the different strands of immigration and opportunities were played out here, from well intentioned Tom Hughes as Thomas Trafford, to Black Eyed Mog (Nichola McCauliffe). And then the different ways that the native peoples had adapted or continued to fight long after the battle was lost.
Bodies
Visually an absolute treat, with the cinematography distinguishing between the different time periods, and with flashes to link back to the graphic novel source through panels and split screens. The comparisons between the different time periods, were well done, using the Jewish, Muslim and closeted characters to tease out cultural differences, and I loved that Whitechapel in the East End of London was the central location with all of the associations that come with that for each time period. I loved the game of consequences that was being played out, and the mental chess being played by the characters which made my brain ache on more than one occasion. Despite some clunky dialogue in places, all of the acting was excellent (in particular calling out Gabriel Howell who played the young Elias), and I just tore through this in two evenings. Still not sure I understand the final scene though so I have bought the book to see if that helps.
Time, Series 2
Schmigadoon
Fisk
Heartstopper
Good Omens
Dr Who
Sex Education
Succession
Everything Now
The English
So all of the classic western themes explored here, honour, the law, vengeance, retribution, justice, with really heartbreaking individual stories. And then the wonderful landscapes and cinematography which adds to the sense of yearning and loss that permeates the whole piece, particularly in the complicated and beautifully drawn relationship between Cordelia and Eli. The dénouement of this series is heartbreaking and it stuck with me for days. Harrowing as well as beautiful, and highly recommended.
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