2016 – a year in TV

2016 is now over, and it seems most of 2017 will be people complaining about how miserable a year it was. There was one field that thrived, however, and that was television – here, I’ll take a look at some of the highlights, and some of the most talked about TV moments of 2016.

Let’s head across the pond to begin – murderous shag-a-thon Game of Thrones reduced people to tears with a man holding a door, and zombie radio drama The Walking Dead ruined its biggest moment with an ill-advised cliffhanger. We also saw some exciting new shows – there was a new series based on 1973 robotic theme park film Westworld, with stars including Anthony Hopkins putting in an appearance during its gripping eight-episode run. The Night Of dealt with a brutal murder and an apparent killer who couldn’t remember it, passing between police procedural and courtroom drama but never less than captivating. The same is true of American Crime Story, casting Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson in a retelling of one of America’s most famous cases.

The online world has been staking its claim as home of quality TV. Netflix bought Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, and provided audiences with six more harrowing episodes about the pervasiveness of technology. They also produced a number of fantastic original shows, such as Stranger Things, a love letter to 80s cinema and Stephen King-starring famous kleptomaniac Winona Ryder, and The Crown, which is monarchy Eastenders but a lot better than that sounds.

The soaps continued to be bleak as anything

Not to be outdone, the TV was full of marvellous homegrown programmes. Ironically-named Happy Valley competed in the misery stakes against The Fall, a British response to Scandi-crime dramas which pitted Gillian Anderson against serial killer Jamie Dornan (this, Fifty Shades of Grey – he won’t take a role unless he gets to hurt a woman!). Taylor Swift chew toy Tom Hiddleston took the titular role in an enthralling adaptation of Le Carré’s The Night Manager, a Bond audition-in-all-but-name, and Peaky Blinders added more and more A-listers to its blinding gangster drama (this time, Paddy Considine as a terrifying priest).

Meanwhile, the Bake-Off decided to jump ship, leaving fans to lament as they watched the last series on the BBC and weep until their little bottoms were soggy. Following a Jeremy Clarkson punch-‘em-up, a revamped Top Gear was launched – surprisingly, its mix of the world’s least likeable host and humour that was dead on arrival failed to win over audiences. The soaps continued to be bleak as anything – a particularly upbeat episode of Coronation Street saw Kylie Platt being fatally stabbed and dying in her husband’s arms – and talent shows continued to numb the cultural conscience. Highlights included shaved wookie Honey G and Ed Balls becoming more influential than the Labour Party.

Many of these shows are going to continue in 2017, and there will no doubt be a lot more fantastic programming, so keep your eyes on the small screen this year!