Best of 2011: Television
Show: Dexter
Season: Six
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, David Zayas

After an incredibly lacklustre season five, Dexter got rid of showrunner Chip Johannessen, and replaced him with Scott Buck. All I can say is, thank Christ. Dexter season six is one of the best yet, on par with season two, and series best season four. Colin Hanks and Edward James Olmos were compelling big bad’s, Dexter had gone back to his old ways, all whilst experiencing a crisis of faith, and Deb had gone from her comfort zone of detective to the harrowing new position of lieutenant, all of which were incredibly entertaining. Don’t even get me started on the twists and turns this season took either. There was never a dull moment, as old characters surfaced, relationships took whole new turns, and things were never quite what they seemed. Chip, if you ever read this, take notes from Scott. This is how Dexter is done.

Best of 2011: Television
Show: Fresh Meat
Season: One
Starring: Joe Thomas, Kimberley Nixon, Jack Whitehall, Zawe Ashton

Fresh Meat really snuck up on me. While perusing for TV during the start of the new season, I came across this new show with Joe Thomas and Jack Whitehall, and I thought, well, I like the Inbetweeners, and I like Jack Whitehall’s stand up, so I’ll give this a go. I’m very glad I did, because it’s one of the funniest shows of the year, especially thanks to breakout star Zawe Ashton. Vod is one of my favourite characters of the year, and if I decide to do a top 10 characters of 2011, she’ll be there. Someone who won’t be there though, is Josie, as played by Kimberley Nixon. I don’t get it, I feel like we’re supposed to sympathise with her, and want her and Kingsley together, but I’ve never hated a TV character more, other than Agent Stahl in Sons of Anarchy. Nothing against the actress, just the character. Aside from that, however, if you feel like there’s an Inbetweeners shaped hole in your life, you could do worse than check out Fresh Meat.

Best of 2011: Television
Show: Game of Thrones
Season: One
Starring: Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage

Game of Thrones is one of the best dramas HBO has ever aired. When you have a résumé that includes The Wire, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under and Oz, that is a god damn compliment. It could’ve easily been a fantasy-a-thon, with cool action, and cool kills and just general coolness. But no, HBO doesn’t settle. Ben Wyatt, from Parks and Recreation said it as good as anyone could when he said, “it’s not just for fantasy enthusiasts. They’re telling human stories in a fantasy world.” And that’s the key behind GoT’s success. The gore and sword-fighting certainly helps though. At the end of almost every episode, my jaw would hit the floor in shock. Acting was of the highest calibre, with most of the praise going towards the likes of Sean Bean, Michelle Fairley, Nikolaj Costau-Walder and Emmy award winner/God amongst men Peter Dinklage. If you ever dismissed Game of Thrones as “just a Lord of the Rings kind of thing”, you’ve done yourself a huge disservice by not watching it. HBO hasn’t been this good since the Wire ended.