The Best UK Television Programmes of 2018

By James V. Ruocco

Injustice. Heroism. Revolution. Romance. Poverty.
19th century France.
Babies. Midwives. Nuns. Doctors.
London of the 1960's
A bodyguard. A home secretary. An affair. An explosion. A murder.
The Tardis. Time travel. A female doctor. Who?
Mysterious murders known only as ABC.
A Christmas message from the Queen.
Teenage angst with a comic twist in Derry, Northern Ireland.
A member of Parliament conspires to murder his homosexual lover.
Two champion figure skaters win the Olympic gold medal in Sarajevo.
A counterterrorism  officer. An informant. A fatal turn.
Holby City General Hospital and its emergency room.
The 1993 Warrington bomb attack which left two boys dead.

Bloody Hell!

Let the games begin.

The British television games, that is.

What's the plan?

The "best of the best" for 2018.

Just cheers....not jeers...for telly's finest offerings.

But first, let's backtrack and not do a runner.

Let's review.

Let's play critic.

Let's lock the doors.

Let's turn off the mobile.

Let's be highly subjective.

Blimey!

Where do you start?

What do you choose?

What do you omit?

What did you skip after ten minutes because you didn't like the premise, the leading man or the leading lady?

What impressed you the most?

What was the big standout?

What kept you awake at night because it was just so goddamn bloody brilliant?

What was worth "binging" for eight to ten hours in a row?

What show or shows made you camp out in your jammies for the entire day?

What did Buckingham Palace watch following afternoon tea? A walk with the corgis? Or Friday night dinner?

To begin, there are notes, lots of them.

There are lists, lots of them.

Then, there are the programmes themselves, grouped in no particular order.

Just titles, titles and more titles.

Month by month, week by week, day by day.

Not that hard, really, especially if you take great notes, which I do from studies at university and my younger days at Eton.

Then, you make a list, from top to bottom, naming all the programmes under consideration for the best of the year.

Once that is completed, you review your final choices, call the Queen or the Prime Minister for insight, and then place everything in order of importance.

It's as simple as that.

It's quick.
It's fun.
It's cheeky.
It's gratifying.
It's dramatic.

It's decidedly English.

It also helps to lock the door, feed the pets, put the kettle on, order takeaway, send the children out the door with Mary Poppins or Lin-Manuel Miranda and oh, yes, keep a bottle of Armagnac handy along with a secret smattering of mince pies, Belgian chocolates and Victoria sponge cakes from Claridge's.

My choices

"Les Miserables" (BBC One)

"A Very English Scandal" (BBC One)

"Call the Midwife" (BBC One)

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" (BBC One)

"Patrick Melrose" (Sky Atlantic)

"Mother's Day" (RTE One/BBC Two)

"Bodyguard" (BBC One)

"The ABC Murders" (BBC One)

"Vera" (ITV)

"Emmerdale" (ITV)

"The Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle" (BBC One)

"Informer" (BBC One)

"Mrs. Wilson" (BBC One)

"Death & Nightingales" (RTE One/BBC Two)

"Silent Witness" (BBC One)

"Care" (BBC One)

"Doctor Who" (BBC One)

"Torvill & Dean" (ITV)

"Ordeal by Innocence" (BBC One)

"Coronation Street" (ITV)

"Evita: The Making of a Superstar" (BBC Two)

"Victoria" (ITV)

"Casualty" (BBC One)

"Holby City" (BBC One)

"Hollyoaks" (Channel 4 )

"The Russell Howard Hour" (Sky One)

"Derry Girls" (Channel 4)

"Mrs. Brown's Boys" (BBC One)

"Strictly Come Dancing" (BBC One)

"Eastenders"  (BBC One)

"Innocent" (ITV)

"McMafia" (BBC One)

"Gwaith/Cartref" (S4C)

"Home and Away" (Channel 5)

"The Graham Norton Show" (BBC One/BBC Two)

"Neighbours" (Channel 5)

"Lorraine" (ITV)

"This Morning" (ITV)

"Prime Minister's Questions" (BBC Parliament)

"House of Commons" (BBC Parliament)

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

"Carols from King's" (BBC Two)

"Click" (BBC News)

"Prime Properties" (BBC Parliament)