The Cutprice Guignol

Before we dive into the blogging content proper of 2024, we must bid farewell to 2023. And that means taking a moment to salute the best TV (and worst movies) of the last year. I chose to write about my favourite episodes from this year – this isn’t an exact representation of shows that had amazing full season arcs (I’m thinking of From, The Burning Girls, and Slasher, for example), but it does let me get into why I enjoyed these special slices of TV just as much as I did. To the list!

5. The Sixth Commandment – Episode One

I’ve loved everything Sarah Phelps has done for the BBC, and this fictionalized adaptation of a real-life murder case is one of her best. Though I would say the rest of the series belongs to the brilliant Eanna Hardwicke, this first episode belongs to Timothy Spall as his first victim. I’ve made no secret of what a huge fan I am of Spall and his work, and this is truly a sumptuous treat of character work from him. It’s a tender, affecting performance that really grounds this story in the human first and foremost, and the echoes of it through the rest of the series are, for me, the highlight of The Sixth Commandment.

4. Brassic – Christmas Special

Look, I promise this list will not just be me raving about performances from over-sixties character actors in the British canon turning up for one incredible episode. But that’s just what this also happens to be, alright? Imelda Staunton puts in a simply outrageous performance in this fantastic Christmas special, serving as a surprisingly perfect scene partner to the always-excellent Joseph Gilgun. The Christmassy tone fits with Brassic’s slightly bittersweet outlook as a show, and an exceptionally fun turn from Greg Davies as the villain lifts this episode into the best thing the show’s done this year. Everyone’s having fun, and also Imelda Staunton’s there with a fat blunt – what more could you want?

3. The Fall of the House of Usher – The Tell-Tale Heart

I had my doubts about this season as a whole, but Mike Flanagan can always deliver on the high-stakes horror, and The Tell-Tale Heart was, by far, the standout in House of Usher in those terms for me. T’nia Miller stars (in the most outrageously excellent wardrobe you’ve ever seen) in an adaptation of the Poe short story, dripping with a grim inevitability as things spiral towards their horrible climax. It looks great, sounds great, builds beautifully, and feels like the most natural modernization of all the stories in this show. It’s almost as good as that one episode of The Simpsons that does The Tell-Tale Heart subplot, and that is the biggest compliment I can think of.

2. Inside No. 9 – 3 by 3

I thought long and hard about what Inside No. 9 episode from this year’s excellent season belonged on this list, but when it came down to it, there was just one that I think stood out above the rest. 3 by 3 wasn’t just a really good episode of the show, it was a fantastic little TV event. A fake episode was listed in this time slot, with 3 by 3 serving as a “replacement” for it, and I love it when horror steps out of the confines of it’s story to mess with us a little in real life. Lee Mack is excellent as the host trying to manage the pilot of a swiftly-disastrous quiz show, and it was such great fun to engage with the buzz around this episode as it came out. It stands well on it’s own, but, at the time of broadcast, it was something exceptionally special.

1. Doctor Who – Wild Blue Yonder

What can I say? I’m a fan, and I like to be fan-serviced. That fanservice, for me, involves sticking David Tennant and Catherine Tate together as the Doctor and Donna against a sci-fi horror backdrop and giving me some of the best pathos, drama, and comedy I’ve seen all year in the process. I’ve had a lot of time for the new Doctor Who we’ve had this year, but Wild Blue Yonder felt like a downright indulgent treat. Doctor Who remains one of my favourite shows of all time, and this was an episode that pulled me right back to the place I was in when I first fell in love with it: amazed by the quality and imagination on show, falling in love with Donna all over again, and looking past the dodgy special effects because everything else is just so much fun. I adore it. I’ve watched it three times already. And, by this time next year, I’ll probably have watched it a dozen more.

What were your favourite single episodes and full shows of the year? Let me know in the comments!

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(header image via BBC)