41
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
The first half of Kimmy’s farewell – season four concludes next year – smartly used the idea of its main character being a victim in recovery to tackle a host of difficult, very 2018 issues. That it did so while maintaining a pinging cacophony of silly gags was remarkable. Read more
42
Stephen: The Murder That Changed a Nation
A sober, exhaustive three-part documentary about the killing of teenager Stephen Lawrence, showing with careful rigour why the pain it caused and the questions it raised are still with us, 25 years on. Damning, shamingly relevant television. Read our full review
43
Informer
A twist on the old grizzled-veteran-plus-idealistic-rookie cop show: Paddy Considine and Bel Powley were counter-terror police, exploiting reluctant informant Nabhaan Rizwan. A politically astute drama that pulled off a terrific last-episode shock. Read our full review
44
The Terror
The Arctic in 1846 was an immediately engrossing location for a horror anthology fed by cold blood. Tobias Menzies led a fine cast of seafarers, slowly frozen into battle with an unseen creature, and each other. Classy, but brutal. Read our full review
45
Trust
Somewhat overlooked in a rush of big autumn dramas, the saga of the Getty kidnapping repaid those who dived into its iPlayer box set. A juicy true story, myriad fascinating subplots and Donald Sutherland commanding the centre? Quality. Read our full review
46
Reporting Trump’s First Year: The Fourth Estate
An answer to the question “name something good about Donald Trump”: he’s made newsroom documentaries vastly more interesting, as evidenced by this intriguing reveal of how America’s most esteemed organ, the New York Times, has struggled to cope. Read our full review
47
Civilisations
A sort-of remake of the Kenneth Clark classic, but with three presenters and a subtly more inclusive, pluralised title. The scope and ambition were similar, as 10 episodes lectured us gainfully on how art and society enmesh. Read more
48
Ordeal By Innocence
Sarah Phelps drove deeper into her niche – as a writer who extracts the raw, bloody humanity from Agatha Christie books – with another jet-black examination of terrible, shameful people, embodied by an embarrassingly good cast. Read our full review
49
Ozark
Laura Linney and Jason Bateman’s amateur criminals broke even badder in season two of a show that’s too well acted and too irresistibly, addictively dark for any of its manifest flaws to register. The year’s juiciest guilty drama binge. Read our full review
50
Stewart Lee: Content Provider
“That’s right! Clap the things you agree with!” After the Comedy Vehicle, a film of Lee’s touring standup show gave fans just what they wanted: an even more meta tirade, often directed at them. The extended riff on Brexit deservedly went viral. Read more