Our TV critic's top 20 shows of 2024: From unmissable high-octane thrillers to cosy crime capers, magnificent costume dramas and nature and science spectaculars - but do YOU agree with his top choice?
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Back in the days when there were just three or four TV channels, how we moaned about repeats. But in this golden age of TV on demand, there are so many great shows we have to save them up for later. Unless you’re lucky enough to watch telly for a living like the Daily Mail team, you’re unlikely to have seen all the five star shows this year has brought us. From stunning adaptations of novels such as The Talented Mr Ripley and The Mirror And The Light, to brilliant comedies like Mandy and Colin From Accounts and moving documentaries on Ukraine or delightful crime dramas such as Palm Royale and Joan, there’s a feast of TV just waiting to be binged.
Here are my top 20 unmissable shows, with high-octane thrillers jostling alongside cosy crime capers and magnificent costume drama ranked against superb nature and science spectaculars. Have I got it right? You be the judge. And is Dame Jilly Cooper’s ridiculously funny bonkfest Rivals really the greatest show of the year? I certainly think so!.
So grab the remote, settle down on the sofa and treat yourself!. . Rivals celebrates Dame Jilly Cooper’s joyful enthusiasm for sex without being seedy. This is sex as slapstick – not erotic, not exploitative, just saucy. It starts on Concorde, with louche aristo Rupert Campbell-Black (Alex Hassell) joining the mile high club with a journalist in the loo as the airliner bursts through the sound barrier. At the climactic moment, corks pop and passengers cheer. After that, the naughtiness never stops.
