John Byrne looks back on the TV shows that brightened up the year, from Martin Freeman in gritty drama The Responder to the satirical Sicilian delights of The White Lotus to the last season of Better Call Saul.
Honestly? 2022 wasn't a great year for telly. Sure, we’ve never had more choice – or so many bills to pay if we want to keep up and don’t have a dodgy box - but I lost count of the amount of shows I either watched half-heartedly or gave up on after an episode or two.
Even the third season of Succession (I caught up with it in the new year) was a bit of a chore. And don’t get me started on the snooze-fest that was the astonishingly dull Conversations with Friends. Just one episode of Lincoln Lawyer had me wondering how my life had taken such a bad turn.
I also had to give up on The Bear. It was so intense it was giving me a headache and putting me off ever eating out again. Derry Girls? It was alright, I suppose. More fun than The Masked Singer anyway.
We all have our biases and here are a few of mine. In no particular order, these are 10 of my favourite TV shows from 2022. Hail HBO!
The Responder
BBC One
The year got off to tremendous start with this tense, downbeat thriller about a man on several edges.
Martin Freeman is nothing short of sensational as Chris Carson, a Liverpool police officer who has been demoted from his position as an inspector and works grim night shifts in the seedier side of the city.
Life is pretty much a calamity for him, both professionally and privately, and this downbeat drama had a permanent air of doom about it, as Freeman’s character struggled on all fronts.
Better Call Saul
Netflix
After six superb seasons we finally said goodbye to the Breaking Bad prequel, sequel and spin-off, which was ultimately an improvement on the original show.
It was a clever idea to take a minor Breaking Bad character – Bob Odenkirk’s crooked lawyer Saul Goodman – and show his transformation from the dull and earnest James McGill.
As well as spinning a great web of a story, Better Call Saul also boasted a superb cast, with Rhea Seehorn topping it all with her outstanding portrayal of Kim Wexler.
The White Lotus
HBO
Mike White’s previous show Enlightened was criminally ignored despite being an extraordinary piece of television – but he’s hit popularity paydirt with this delicious slice of satire.
The first season was great fun, but the second was a more layered show, with Jennifer Coolidge acing it once again as the scatty and self-obsessed Tanya McQuoid.
The setting of posh Sicilian resort Taormina certainly added to the scenery – season one looked stage-bound in comparison – while the final episode was nothing less than a work of art.
This is Going to Hurt
BBC/AMC
I’ve never been a big fan of medical shows, but this dramedy – set in 2006 and based on doctor-turned-comedian Adam Kay’s memoir of the same name - was instantly gripping.
The deadpan Ben Whishaw was inspired casting as junior doctor Adam, and the series had an authentic feel about its characters and situations on an obstetrics and gynaecology ward in an NHS hospital.
The show also had the greatest jaw-dropping, 'I never saw that coming’ moment I’ve witnessed in many years.
The Newsreader
ABC (Australia)
This six-part Australian drama almost sneaked in the back door on both the BBC and RTÉ - but it was a great watch.
Exploring the personal and professional lives of journalists and crew within a 1980s’ Australian newsroom, it featured former Fringe star Anna Torv as Helen Norville, an ambitious female newsreader in a testosterone-fueled industry.
Standing in her way is the gruff Geoff Walters, an old-school news anchor who doesn’t like the way news is moving more towards entertainment and glamour.
How to with John Wilson
HBO
If I had to pick one show out of the lot, it would be this hilarious documentary series created by the eponymous John Wilson.
It wouldn’t be to everyone’s liking as it makes a virtue out of quirkiness, but it’s the most New York show I’ve ever seen. It simply could not be made or based anywhere else.
The series revolves around Wilson filming incidents and interviews with people in various parts of NYC, relating them to a particular subject, for example: How To Put Up Scaffolding.
It's a work of genius.
Abbott Elementary
Disney+
While satire will never go out of style, the same can be said for a sitcom that just makes you laugh and feel warm and fuzzy inside.
As a big fan of Modern Family and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Abbott Elementary neatly satisfies that part of me that wants a show that leaves you with a smile and wanting more.
It’s all about the teachers at an underfunded public school, ranging from Quinta Brunson’s optimistic Janine Teagues to Sheryl Lee Ralph ‘s veteran Barbara Howard. It’s a hoot.
Irma Vep
HBO
Here’s a show that could almost be offered as the epitome of cult viewing. It’s also about as meta as it gets.
A delightful Alicia Vikander stars as as Mira, an American movie star who comes to France to star as Irma Vep in a television series adaptation of the French silent film serial Les Vampires.
Vincent Macaigne steals the show as René, the brittle director of the adaptation. But really it’s about the trials and tantrums associated with putting a TV show together. It’s smart, squirmy and such fun.
Bad Sisters
Apple TV+
In a stroke of genius, Sharon Horgan adapted the sublime Belgian black comedy The Out-Laws and set it in Ireland. Well, Dublin.
It tells the story of the Garvey sisters - played by Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson - who have it in for Duff’s awful husband.
He starts the show in a coffin, and a snooping insurance guy – brilliantly played by Brian Gleeson – sniffs foul play. It’s Big Little Lies, but better. Much better.
My Brilliant Friend
HBO
Prestige TV doesn’t come more perfectly-pitched than this sumptuous adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s hugely popular Neapolitan novels.
The third and penultimate season saw the girls further apart than ever, with Lila and Lenù living disparate lives, one as a successful writer up north, the other as an impoverished factory worker in Naples.
But this series is about a lot more than two girls – now women – and the ties that bind them. It’s about life, love and the intricacies. The moments that matter. Can’t wait for season 4.
Honourable mentions . . .
The English, Barry, Stranger Things, The Staircase, Avenue 5, The Old Man, We Own This City, The Gilded Age, Inventing Anna and All Creatures Great and Small.
