THE BEST UK TELEVISION PROGRAMMES OF 2017

By James V. Ruocco

To take time out from your busy daily schedule, sit down, pop open your desk top and make a list of  all the UK television programmes that were broadcast or streamed in 2017, is massive. Yes, bloody massive.

Think about it, where do you start? What do you choose? What do you omit? What impressed you the most? What was the major standout? And finally, what kept you awake at night because it was just so bloody brilliant?

Daunting?

Not, really.

Cheeky?
Sort of.
Time consuming.

Of, course.

Fun?
Oh, yes.
To begin, you have to glance back at everything you watched, month by month, week by week, day by day. Then, you make a list, in no particular order, listing all the programmes under consideration for the best of the year.

Finally, you review your choices and edit and place them in order of importance from top to bottom. And then, you're done.

It's as simple as that.

Quick, easy, to the point, and completely diverting.
It also helps to lock the door, turn off your mobile, feed the pets and send your children and nanny off to Burberry, Harrods, the Waldorf or some cheeky West End musical.

And, finally, (this is rule of thumb), according to the Prime Minister (no names, please), keep your favorite refreshment handy.

My choices:

The Last Post (BBC One)

The Crown (Netflix-UK)

Call the Midwife (BBC One)

Emmerdale (ITV)

Man in an Orange Shirt (BBC One)

Apple Tree Yard (BBC One)

Broadchurch (ITV)

Tina and Bobby (ITV)

The Miniaturist (BBC One)

Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One)

Howard's End (BBC One)

The A Word (BBC One)

Eastenders (BBC One)

Hollyoaks (Ch. 4)

Coronation Street (ITV)

 

Little Boy Blue (ITV)

Grantchester (ITV)

 

Babs (BBC One)

 

Doctor Who (BBC One)

 

The Moorside (BBC One)

 

 

 

Casualty (BBC One)

 

Holby City (BBC One)

 

Victoria (ITV)

Silent Witness (BBC One)

 

Liar (ITV)

Motherland (BBC Two)

Kat & Alfie: Redwater (BBC One)

 

Love, Lies and Records (BBC One)

 

Black Lake (BBC Four)

 

King Charles III (BBC Two)

Quacks (BBC Two)

Queers (BBC Four)

 

Little Women (BBC One)

 

 
The Loch (ITV)

 

 
Trust Me (BBC One)

  

 
Ill Behavior (BBC Two)

 

 
The End of the Fucking World (Ch. 4)

  

  
Gwaith/Cartref (S4C)

 

 

 
The Queen's Christmas Message (BBC One) (ITV)

 

Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy (ITV)

The Halcyon (ITV)

Gunpowder (BBC One)

Riveria (Sky One)

The Russell Howard Hour (Sky One)

Mrs. Brown's Boys (BBC One)

Sandringham: The Queen at Christmas (Ch. 5)

This Morning (ITV)

Breakfast (BBC One)

Lorraine (ITV)

Joe Orton Laid Bare (BBC Two)

Prime Minister's Questions (BBC Parliament)

The Highway Rat (BBC One)

Six Nations Rugby (BBC One) (ITV)

Birds of a Feather (ITV)

Two Doors Down (BBC Two)

The Windsors (Ch. 4)

Upstart Crow (BBC Two)

Ackley Bridge (Ch. 4)

Sheridan (ITV)

Carols from Kings: A Celebration of Christmas (BBC Two)

A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong (BBC One)

Overshadowed (BBC Three)