We gathered in a secret room from which no one could leave until the
judging was completed, to debate and fight to the death to decide which
of the shows should be awarded the title of Best TV Drama. Choosing
which shows made it into the judging process was a difficult decision.
We decided on choosing shows which had either finished its run (
) because, otherwise, we would have more shows than we know what to do with.
was
a bit of a wildcard but, due to its almost world wide popularity, it
was an obvious addition. Regrettably, this meant many shows were missed
out including the likes of
. Now was to
decide how exactly to pick who faced who. In a highly scientific
process, we put the names of all 12 shows into a pot, which was named
The Pot of Destiny by nobody, and picked out two shows at random. Now we
have our shows, our judges and our “system”, let the battle commence!
We kick off the proceedings in style. We don’t mess around in our
judging. No one is safe (even though the first round was picked entirely
at random). Debate kicked off with those in camp
Breaking Bad
feverishly defending its originality, its grittiness and most of all,
it’s rock solid science (which has apparently been confirmed as
definitely rock solid by someone on the panel).
The Sopranos
camp were equally as defensive with discussion of its groundbreaking
dream sequences (they have talking fish in them!) as well as the fact
that, without
The Sopranos,
Breaking Bad would
probably never exist. In the end, the similarity of a certain bath tub
sequence in Breaking Bad to something in 1997’s Lee Evans slapstick
masterpiece
MouseHunt, gives the edge to
The Sopranos.
The Sopranos takes the first round, but not without a fight.
Round 2: Twin Peaks Vs. The Sopranos
Not content with taking down the titan of our time,
Breaking Bad, the veteran,
The Sopranos, pops up again for the second round, this time facing David Lynch’s mindbending soap opera
Twin Peaks.
The Sopranos was feeling a bit tired after the first bout, so much of the second round belonged to
Twin Peaks. Following similar arguments to
The Sopranos in the previous round (that, without
Twin Peaks, much of modern television would not exist) as well as picking up on the fact that it is often batshit insane,
Twin Peaks
looked to be leading the round. The phenomenon that surrounded it was
of much discussion, leading us to discuss what it would have been like
in the age of the internet and fans discussing theories more freely ala
Lost. In the end, however, it was let down by the fact it had such an awful lull in the second series, in which it basically became
Dallas but
with David Duchovny in drag, and the threat of cancellation by the end
forcing the writers to wrap it up as quickly as possible.
The Sopranos took the punches but was too sturdy on its feet. An announcement that
The Sopranos taught one panelist how to cook Italian food was the KO it needed.
Twin Peaks only had cherry pie and damn good coffee.
Round 3: The West Wing Vs. Lost
Two entirely different competitors here, allowing
The Sopranos
to have a little break before its next bout. Round 3 was perhaps the
most equal fight of the entire competition, despite the two shows being
almost entire opposites. Things didn’t look too strong for
Lost
to begin with. Much was said about there being too much hype
surrounding it, that ultimately let it down, as well as a dip in quality
in the middle and an awful finale to the show. The problem of throwaway
characters, particularly a certain couple named Nikki and Paulo, also
allowed
The West Wing to get a blow in. However, as discussion
went on, we all found ourselves naming moments and characters we really
loved, with general consensus being that Benjamin Linus could
potentially be one of the best characters of the 21st Century.
The West Wing was considered much less well known than
Lost,
but made up for it in witty and poignant dialogue, courtesy of a Mr
Aaron Sorkin, that made it much more accessible for a show about
politics. Points were made too that no character is merely filler and
each one has a role to play, even if some romantic subplots were really
bad. Plus,
The West Wing has Martin Sheen in its corner, which is always a winner. Unfortunately for
Lost, the fact it was, at times, so incohesive and packed with filler episodes was too much to ignore.
The West Wing took this fight by a whisker.
Round 4: Doctor Who Vs. The Killing
The lightweight but experienced Saturday nighter
Doctor Who went up against Scandanavian Dark Destroyer
The Killing in this face off in a stark contrast of styles.
Doctor Who
showed its camp, almost playful popular appeal while throwing in a few
sinister episodes here and there, particularly in the form of the
introduction to the Weeping Angels, Blink.
The Killing, on the other hand, was dirty and gritty, getting as much blood out as possible. It felt like quite an unfair battle, as
Doctor Who is very much for its audience of those just sitting down with the family after their dinner.
The Killing
had been so influential in the future output of BBC4 and, in some
senses, popularised subtitles on British TV. The popularity of
The Killing led to the explosion of such shows as
Spiral, a gritty French detective drama that feels like
Law & Order with a shot or five of espresso, and
Wallander. In this regard, and the fact that Moffat’s decision to throw twist upon twist at
Doctor Who just to see what stuck led The Doctor into some stupid directions, meant
The Killing took this round. You can’t fault their jumpers really!
Round 5: Upstairs Downstairs Vs. Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey came into this competition as a sort of
wildcard. We didn’t hold much hope for the Yorkshire-bred aristocrats.
The similarities to
Upstairs Downstairs let down in the originality stakes. Much like
Doctor Who
it relied too much on capturing that tired, post-Sunday roast crowd
that just want something nice to watch. It did have a few hefty punches
in the form of Maggie Smith’s performance, providing a much needed
respite from the routine soap opera style stories.
Mad Men, on
the other hand, had a stylish flourish to it. Sure it was drunk and had
probably just come from getting off with someone not their wife, the
look inside the world of advertising in Cold War America is too
interesting to pass up on. Witty dialogue and likeable (but also
loathable) characters really makes
Mad Men stand out. Plus, with Alison Brie on your side it’s hard not to take the round.
Mad Men wins it, almost unanimously.
Round 6: Mad Men Vs. The West Wing
Mad Men had a relatively easy first round, against the altogether too soapy
Downton Abbey,
but things weren’t going to be so easy, now we’re in the latter stages
of the competition. It has its merits, of course, with some excellent
storylines, diverse range of great characters and stacks and stacks of
style; there’s a reason why it’s the show that made AMC a channel to
really watch for original programming in the US. But there was something
about
The West Wing that set it apart. They both have engaging
and witty dialogue, nearly anything that comes from Roger Sterling’s
mouth is…well…sterling, but Aaron Sorkin’s magic touch pushes
The West Wing just ahead. Much was said about how
Mad Men was very much style over substance, preferring to show off beautiful suits and gorgeous locations.
The West Wing focuses a lot on the politics but it doesn’t shove it in your face.
Mad Men is clear which side many characters fall on, with the Republicans being a little villainous.
The West Wing lets you make your own mind up. Of course, you can’t really falter
Mad Men for that, seeing as it is set in the 50s/60s, an entirely different time period but, ultimately, Sorkin’s touch on
The West Wing just edges as the deciding vote sways in President Jed Bartlet’s direction.
Round 7: The Wire Vs. The Killing
As we went into this round, we could feel the room getting a little
bit chillier. Unfortunately, our Scandanavian jumpers were not helping
to fight the predicted destruction of
The Killing by the first appearance of our star fighter,
The Wire. Even after the spirited performance against
Doctor Who,
The Killing camp faltered against
The Wire, mainly because everyone was unanimous that
The Wire truly was a fantastic show. Both are impressive in scope, with
The Killing not only focusing on those trying to investigate the murder like any
CSI series but also taking into account the lives of the families, the school friends and even the politicians affected by it, and
The Wire basically
looking at everyone (and I mean everyone) at least marginally affected
by the Baltimore slums. It was decided that the scope of
The Wire, covering everyone from the drug dealers, to the police, to the media, far triumphed over that of
The Killing. Cozy jumpers aren’t going to save you this time!
Round 8: Spooks Vs. The Sopranos
Spooks came in as another wildcard. Again, much hope wasn’t
held for this plucky spy drama but a spirited performance made it seem
as though, for a while, it might topple the titan that is
The Sopranos. Once the topic of
Spooks
came up, almost everyone had something to say showing that it really is
a stalwart British drama that never really dipped in quality throughout
its entire run. Everyone could point to a moment they really enjoyed;
usually the death of a main character showing that no one in the show
was really safe (a pretty ballsy move for the writers). But coming up
against
The Sopranos, it seemed to falter. The ultimately poor
characterisations focusing more on the explosions and twists, lets it
down against a show entirely devoted to family relationships. Much of
the problem with
Spooks is that it often reuses many plot lines, beyond the series arcs which, again, when coming up against someone like
The Sopranos
with emotive and original storylines. It took us 7 rounds, but we
finally have our first round of judges abstaining, showing how much the
people do quite like Spooks. Ultimately, however,
The Sopranos sends
Spooks to sleep with the fishes.
Round 9: The West Wing Vs. The Sopranos
The West Wing is right back out into the ring after its close shave with
Mad Men in the last round. Unfortunately, it’s up against the 4 round survivor,
The Sopranos.
The debate was focused very much focused on the characters here. Both
have a vast array of characters, none of which are really ignored.
The West Wing
gives plenty of screen time to the assistants, such as Donna Moss, as
well as to those movers and shakers such as Toby Ziegler.
The Sopranos gives
as much focus to those being used by the Mafia as to those doing the
shaking down. Each character is given as much focus as the next, in both
shows, and no one is really wasted. No one is introduced if they aren’t
of some importance. The debate brought out that, with
The West Wing, everyone had a favourite character, be it CJ Cregg aka Flamingo or Jed Bartlet, Mr President itself. However, the fact that
The Sopranos
had no great single character did not work to its detriment as it might
do elsewhere. Without one, something might not feel right, but they’ve
brought together a cast which all gel well and it’s the strength of this
cast that sees
The Sopranos take this round.
Round 10: The Wire Vs. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
It has taken 10 rounds for everyone’s favourite high school ghoul
butt-kicker, Buffy Summers, to emerge from the Pot of Destiny. And it
couldn’t have had a worse time. Had it cropped up against something like
Doctor Who or
Lost, there is a chance it would’ve wiped the floor with the competition. But coming up again something as big as
The Wire
is not an easy task. Think David and Goliath but the rocks in the sling
are just eggs; he’s not going down easily and he’s going to make a
mess, but Goliath will still probably crush him. Discussion focused
mainly on how groundbreaking it was. Much like most of Joss Whedon’s
work, it takes a tired genre (in this case horror) and adds a new, often
unlikely, element to breathe life into it.
Buffy somehow
successfully mixed horror with John Hughes-esque teen angst. With each
monster being a metaphor for some aspect of teenage life, it showed a
girl with already too much on her plate in life taking on the burden of
killing monsters. Alongside this, courtesy of Whedon’s scripts,
Buffy’s dialogue has spawned much of popular 90s slang, something not to be scoffed at. But despite the spirited performance from
Buffy The Vampire Slayer it still was, after all, up against
The Wire. It was a battle of language; Whedonisms against
The Wire’s street slang. In the end, the meticulous attention to detail that was present in
The Wire’s street slang, in its attempt to truly capture life on the Baltimore streets, really set it apart.
The Wire is through to the final!
Round 11 (The Final): The Wire Vs. The Sopranos
So we’ve finally reached the final. After 10 rounds of totally
scientific match ups and some often heated (but not quite to the point
of fisticuffs) debate, we’re here. I think most of the judges had money
on either or both getting to the final (unless both were picked out in
the same round earlier on in the competition) so it was no surprise that
the final contained the two juggernauts that pretty much dominated the
competition. But now, here we are; the immovable object meets the
unstoppable force. A battle of equals. Opinions intensified as we really
got down to the nitty gritty of what makes these shows fantastic. The
needle swung one way and then the other as consensus shifted with each
person that spoke in favour of either one. There was no negative
debating here; everyone understood that both
The Sopranos and
The Wire were
fantastic shows worthy of their place in the final. Now it was a case
of just seeing which one just edges ahead of the other. In each area we
explored, both shows seemed to be on par. Both had excellent casts,
great storylines, each portraying a section of America as realistically
as possible. It really was a tough battle between the two. What swayed
the vote, ultimately, was the sheer scale of
The Wire. With so many characters to cover, and so many areas of society,
The Wire does
a lot and, in that regard, should be applauded for its guts in doing
so. However, it does a lot and it does it all so well. Where many other
shows may faulter with the sheer scale, no one part of
The Wire feels
like a weak link. Smaller characters are as good as the main characters
and all the different sneak peeks into different sections of society
weave together so perfectly to create tapestry of life that holds no
punches. It isn’t afraid to delve right into the deepest, darkest
sociopolitical themes in order to get a more realistic picture. This is
not to criticise
The Sopranos, that also has a fantastic set of
characters and storylines, allowing us an insight into immigrant
culture in America as well as American family life, but
The Wire just does so much more. It’s a tough, tough battle but David Simon’s HBO smash hit,
The Wire, takes the crown as
The Courier’s Best TV Drama, not that it’s all that bothered.
