Tuesday 28 January 2014

My Favourite TV Shows

Inspired by a recent Twitter conversation, I thought I'd run down my  Top 5 all-time favourite TV Shows.





There isn't much more to say here other than the fact that if you were on twitter and following me last night you would have noticed a conversation that I had with a couple of other users about our favourite TV Shows. I'd recently watched Episode 4 of Battlestar Galactica and it had done enough to make its way into my Top 5 Favourites List this early on in its running time - and I decided to put up a blogpost today about my favourite series. So - if you want to do this yourself either in your own blog or in the comments section below (or even on twitter - let me know at @baneofkings with the hashtag #favouriteTVshows and I'll retweet the lists/links that I get).

Without further ado then, let's get on with this.

The Top 5 TV Shows: 

FIREFLY



So much awesome in just one series. The characters were all complete stereotypes but it was a testament to Whedon's writing ability that he made you fall in love with all of them in the first episode alone. The awesome world that the Serenity crew inhabited was first brought to my attention towards the start of last year and I went ahead and brought the boxset and I've loved it ever since. Truly amazing show, and I am seriously contemplating a rewatch soon because it is just that awesome. 

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA


The most recent addition on this list I have absolutley loved the first four episodes of Battlestar Galactica when it started airing on Pick TV in the UK four weeks ago. I haven't yet seen the mini-series but the great narrative, powerful characters and great concept make this an almost inevitable conclusion on my List. Excellent show!

BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER


Another Joss Whedon entry onto my list, this show is awesome and whilst - like Battlestar Galactica, I'm not yet up to date I'm still loving every episode. It's great fun, and Whedon at his best. Season 1 is a bit poor however so if you're one of the few people who haven't stuck with this I'd recommend watching as few episodes from the first season as possible before moving onto Season 2 - which is where things improve considerably, with the finale being one of my favourite moments in TV ever. I'm currently one episode into Season 3 - and loving the ride so far.

GAME OF THRONES



Utterly incredible show - I've loved every second of it. The novels are my favourite series ever and the TV adaption more than lives up to the success. Fantastic, awesome and incredible. I'm behind on this and only five episodes into Season 3 but I aim to catch up before Season 4 - so it should be great fun. 

STARGATE ATLANTIS



Another recent addition, but an incredibly awesome show nonetheless. Wrapping up its five season running time which isn't bad for a spinoff show on Pick TV in the UK this week I jumped aboard on Season 3 and haven't looked back. Excellent show - and as SG1 starts airing on Pick TV in the UK this week (I think) I can't wait to get stuck in.

The Honourable Mentions:
If I were to make this into a list of Top 10 Favourite TV Shows, Here's what would be on that list.

SUPERNATURAL



I love Supernatural. It's a great monster of the week show that really starts to find its groove in Season 2 after average episodes in Season 1  - it's addictive and the definitive show to binge-watch. It may fall back on cliches every now and again but it's still great fun and I can highly recommend it. 

ORPHAN BLACK



The most recent show on this list, Orphan Black is a clone-based science fiction series with some great acting by Tatiana Maslany who really steals the show. It's great, unpredictable and incredibly awesome but it's mainly due to the acting talents of Maslany that make this show a must watch.

ARROW



And the award for the TV series that has undergone the most drastic turnaround over the course of its run goes to Arrow! Starting off very poorly, Arrow matured in the latter half of Season 1 and became something truly special. It's great, and by far and away the best comic book series out there today and really pays off if you can handle the first half of Season 1 to get to the good stuff that the latter half and Season 2 has to offer. 

TORCHWOOD: CHILDREN OF EARTH



Notice how I'm limiting this to Children of Earth and not the entirety of Torchwood. That is because the early seasons of Torchwood have produced some of the worst TV episodes that I have ever seen, but like Arrow, it rises into greatness with what I believe is the best mini-series ever (although I haven't seen the BSG mini-series so that could change) and Children of Earth is essential viewing for science fiction fans familiar with Doctor Who & Torchwood or otherwise. Just watch Children of Earth. You won't regret it and you don't have to crawl through Seasons 1 & 2 to get there first. Utterly exceptional. 

DOCTOR WHO



This show has lost its shine in recent years but its still a great programme to watch. With The Day of the Doctor being the best of the series quickly followed by The Time of the Doctor being one of the worst - the show varies a lot in quality however with the RTD episodes being the most stable (even they have a few problems) and I still prefer Steven Moffat as a showrunner. RTD did give us the best Doctor ever though, in Christopher Ecclestone - as well as the best Companion in Martha Jones, but regardless of who your favourites are it's still a great TV Series.

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