Telly review of the year
Dec. 22nd, 2006 03:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
altarielMy year's best telly.
Spooks: Best season EVER. It was as if the production team looked around, realized no-one else was going to step up and make drama about politics, and then slammed down hard on the accelerator until you were gasping for breath. Better than I'd dared hope for.
Rome: Yes, yes, technically this was last year. But I got the DVDs this year, so it counts all over again. Lovingly, lavishly made; sharply, brilliantly scripted.
The West Wing: Which unexpectedly turned around after more than a season of episodes so bad I could hardly watch even through my hands. Also - Alan Alda.
Life on Mars: You could just enjoy this show as Seventies coppers. Or else you can sit and give its kaleidoscope another twist, and think about what it has to say - about British society, about mass culture, about nostalgia, about authority, about where we were once and where we are now, and what has been lost and gained in between.
Doctor Who: More specifically, 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and 'Love and Monsters'. 'The Girl in the Fireplace' used the format of the show so knowledgeably and lovingly and perfectly that I cannot imagine what the writers might craft next. And 'Love and Monsters'... How amazing that something like that got made and transmitted. How fabulous to have someone sit and say to primetime Britain: "Don't be afraid. Life is scary, and life can hurt - but every chance and risk you take to love will be worth it." What a way to use your powers for good.
Spooks: Best season EVER. It was as if the production team looked around, realized no-one else was going to step up and make drama about politics, and then slammed down hard on the accelerator until you were gasping for breath. Better than I'd dared hope for.
Rome: Yes, yes, technically this was last year. But I got the DVDs this year, so it counts all over again. Lovingly, lavishly made; sharply, brilliantly scripted.
The West Wing: Which unexpectedly turned around after more than a season of episodes so bad I could hardly watch even through my hands. Also - Alan Alda.
Life on Mars: You could just enjoy this show as Seventies coppers. Or else you can sit and give its kaleidoscope another twist, and think about what it has to say - about British society, about mass culture, about nostalgia, about authority, about where we were once and where we are now, and what has been lost and gained in between.
Doctor Who: More specifically, 'The Girl in the Fireplace' and 'Love and Monsters'. 'The Girl in the Fireplace' used the format of the show so knowledgeably and lovingly and perfectly that I cannot imagine what the writers might craft next. And 'Love and Monsters'... How amazing that something like that got made and transmitted. How fabulous to have someone sit and say to primetime Britain: "Don't be afraid. Life is scary, and life can hurt - but every chance and risk you take to love will be worth it." What a way to use your powers for good.
