Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The Joy of Lists


I know all the reasons why 'best of' lists are stupid, but I can't resist a good list, like the Guardian's list of the fifty best television dramas: an especially interesting window into the views of the British chattering classes concerning US and British series, and a good cheat sheet for those who haven't seen many of the British honorees...

The top ten:

Sopranos
Brideshead
Our Friends in the North
Mad Men
A Very Peculiar Practice
Talking Heads
Singing Detective
Oranges are Not the Only Fruit
State of Play
Boys from the Blackstuff

I disagree with so much of this: "Wire" at #14 is appalling, for example. But I will say this: If you haven't seen "Our Friends in the North" or "State of Play", you really should.

UPDATE:

Our Friends in the North is seemingly lost to the world of home video. The above picture, however, will amuse Daniel Craig fans.

5 comments:

David Chute said...

Neither "X-Files" nor "24" is rated high enough. And no "Deadwood"? Please.

Tulkinghorn said...

Exactly.

But there are so many programs on this list that my friends have never seen -- Clocking Off and Shameless (which together with State of Play give Paul Abbott more listings than any single writer) and This Life, in addition to the ones I mentioned above -- that it seemed worth a go.

A quick check tells me that Our Friends in the North -- nine 70 minute episodes covering the lives of a half a dozen people from 1970-2000 and starring Daniel Craig and Christopher Eccleston among others -- is not available on DVD in the US. Shame.

David Chute said...

First thing I checked on Netflix. Rats.

Adam Thornton said...

Three cheers for The Singing Detective! It's time to go back and watch it again.

David Chute said...

Tulk and I were bemoaning recently the non-existance of Potter's "Blackeyes" on DVD -- or anywhere else, apparently. Not even on the huge 100-quid BBC Home Video boxed set. (A must-have for Gina Bellman completists.)

This is why normally law-abiding citizens resort to BitTorrent.