50 Chloe (BBC One/iPlayer) It was excruciating watching social-media obsessive Becky (a brilliant Erin Doherty) persist with a fake identity in order to escape her dowdy life and fit into a glossy, affluent crowd. “Stop!” you wanted to scream at the screen, sick with anxiety that she was about to be found out. But as it became clearer that she was doing this to find out what happened to her old school friend, Chloe, whose life seemed so perfect online, you started rooting for her to continue the charade and get to the bottom of it. What we said: Chloe is a fierce, fresh sort-of-murder-mystery as keenly scripted as it is paced, and whose many threads are held firmly together by an outstanding performance from Erin Doherty. Read more 49 Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams Cricket is still so dominated by the wealthy and privately educated. In this affecting three-parter, the famed cricket player wanted to lift the lid on classism in the game – so he went back to his hometown of Preston to introduce a group of initially suspicious local teens to the closed-off sport. By the end, it was perhaps the most life-affirming documentary of the year. What we said: Field of Dreams allows the tensions between stardom and selfhood, and Flintoff’s own success and wider social concerns, to be dealt with in a satisfying way. Of course, trying to get a handful of state-school kids into cricket is not in itself a major blow for the levelling-up project. But the sport’s exclusivity is a symbol of a much larger class problem that continues to bedevil British society. Read more 48 Ellie and Natasia (BBC Three/iPlayer) Just when the sketch show seemed to be on its way out, Natasia Demetriou and Ellie White delivered a tremendous comedy treat. Despite some sketches being unwaveringly niche, the duo’s writing and committed performances kept us hooked – and the neverending Saturday Kitchen applause skit had us on the floor. What we said: Ellie and Natasia achieves one of the most elusive goals in comedy: it rings true. To have characters say things you can absolutely imagine people like these saying, exaggerated by a small and very precise amount for comic effect, is a rare joy. Read more 47 The Dropout (Disney+) This real-life tale about the Silicon Valley fraudster Elizabeth Holmes – who was the youngest self-made female billionaire in the US, until the rumours started – was anchored by such a remarkable lead performance by Amanda Seyfried that it made Jennifer Lawrence drop out of playing the founder of Theranos in a planned film. As she told the New York Times, “we don’t need to redo that. She did it.” What we said: Seyfried keeps our attention – even our sympathy – as Holmes’s desperation to make a name for herself and prove that her intelligence and drive are worth something tangible slips further and further into corruption and lies. Read more 46 SAS Rogue Heroes (BBC One/iPlayer) Steven Knight’s follow-up to Peaky Blinders was a thrilling, boisterous ride anchored by a terrific cast. Following the exploits of the Special Air Service during the second world war, a trio of renegade soldiers in Cairo hatch a plan to attack Nazi supply lines from the desert instead of the sea. Big and brash, it certainly made for rollicking Sunday night viewing. What we said: A lot of fun, old boy! Read more 45 The English (BBC Two/iPlayer) Hugo Blick’s beguiling western was a stunning tale of loss, love and vengeance beautifully told. It followed Lady Cornelia Locke (Emily Blunt) – a woman out for revenge for the death of her son – whose path to Wyoming collides with pawnee scout Eli Whipp (Chaske Spencer), who is heading home to claim his rightful land. What ensues is a classic wild west adventure, but with a female lead giving the finest performance of her career. What we said: The English is, simply, not going to be for everyone. But anyone who can endure “a cool execution” is going to find an awful lot to love about this surprisingly brilliant – and funny and tender and interesting and cinematic – show. Read more 44 Love Life (BBC One/iPlayer) Anna Kendrick led the opening season of this underrated series – an anthology of the relationships in her character Darby’s life. This time, William Jackson Harper stepped into the central role of Marcus, a thirtysomething man who navigates dating in New York after getting a divorce. Just as before, his story is told through a tender, funny and occasionally devastating script. Marcus is a good guy but he isn’t perfect; it’s refreshing to see such an honest portrayal of the mistakes men make in relationships. The pandemic episode was particularly close to the bone for anyone who spent time pondering what they really wanted from a partner during those times. What we said: Love Life is always going to be a deeply romantic series, despite the wobbly routes it takes to get there. That’s part of its appeal, and it does romance impeccably. But it avoids being too sickly sweet, throwing in a touch of realism so all those meet-cutes don’t overwhelm. Read more 43 The Walk-In (ITV) Jeff Pope’s true-crime drama about the rise of neo-nazism in modern-day Britain was sad, disturbing and all-too true to life. We followed Matthew Collins’ (Stephen Graham) efforts to infiltrate and derail National Action, one of the UK’s most dangerous far-right groups. The show was particularly effective and disturbing in showing how fascism can take in the angry and disillusioned. What we said: The point of The Walk-In, of course, is that there are no loners. Fascism collects the lonely, the dispossessed and the disenfranchised, and gives them a group identity. The numbers swell under the right conditions, which began to align during Brexit and have only ripened, thanks to further impoverishment and pressures … Read more 42 The Outlaws (BBC One/iPlayer) This comedy thriller co-created by Stephen Merchant returned on sparkling form for its sophomore outing. Our crew of lovable offenders found themselves in even more compromised positions. As the stakes ratcheted up, so did the laughs. A deft balance of humour and genuine danger. What we said: The thriller element is only half of what makes The Outlaws an upgraded sitcom. We’re really here for the sweet, gentle drama of watching the characters learn that their marked differences are not a problem, as they all share the same secret: they are alone and lost because they don’t know what to do with their lives. Read more 41 Barry (HBO) After a three-year absence, the hitman with a passion for amateur dramatics returned for his darkest and funniest turn yet. Barry (Bill Hader) is back to what he knows best – contract killing – while his girlfriend Sally (Sarah Goldberg) is hitting it big in the acting world. Things got progressively more shocking and by the end of the series, it was a bona fide chiller. What we said: It might nominally be a comedy, but it is able to match the intensity of the most propulsive of dramas. This is TV unafraid to plumb the depths of humanity, with a grin on its face. Read more