Best TV shows of the year 2024, 20-11: Doctor Who, Mr Bates and more
One Day and Fallout feature as we continue to celebrate the very best of 2024's TV shows.
As 2024 draws to a close, it's time to reflect on the TV shows that kept us hooked throughout the year. From thrilling new dramas to the return of beloved classics, this year's line-up has been nothing short of exceptional.
Today (29th December), we’re spotlighting the shows that landed in the 20-11 range of our top picks. Expect surprises, fan-favourites, and critical darlings – plus a fresh entry that's took viewers by storm.
Read on to discover what made these standout shows unmissable moments of television in 2024 – and don't miss out tomorrow when we continue our countdown, revealing the elite top 10 series, including the highly anticipated show that has earned the prestigious title of No. 1 TV series of the year.
- Best TV shows of the year 2024, 50-41: Sweetpea, Gladiators and more
- Best TV shows of the year 2024, 40-31: Until I Kill You, Shogun and more
- Best TV shows of the year 2024, 30-21: Wolf Hall, Shrinking and more
20. Big Boys
Available on Channel 4
Whenever I’m feeling sad, I think about Big Boys and can instantly feel the serotonin flooding my brain.
Jack Rooke’s beautifully brilliant comedy about the unlikely friendship between newly out Jack, whose beloved dad died in the first season, and top lad Danny, whose fraught relationship with his own dad was spotlighted this time around, continued to be an utter delight in its second outing, which follows them and their wider friendship group as they navigate their second year of university.
Once again, it was the funniest show on the box by a country mile, courtesy of Rooke’s distinctly English, Love of Huns humour that truly never misses. But what makes Big Boys so impressive is just how seamlessly the writing balances its commitment to delivering a lorra lorra laughs with heartfelt, sincere moments that smack you right in the feels and stay with you long after – from a conversation about the power of chosen family to a birth scene that should win all the awards.
Big Boys is a stunning, unashamedly camp, labour of love that is returning for one last hurrah in the New Year. I will miss it dearly when it ends. – Abby Robinson, Drama Editor
19. Mr Bates vs the Post Office
Available on ITVX
A testament to the phenomenal power of television, few would have predicted the impact this relatively unassuming drama would go on to have after it aired last January. The Horizon IT scandal is regarded as the most widespread miscarriage of justice in UK history, but it wasn’t until Toby Jones and Monica Dolan helped bring the plight of subpostmasters like Alan Bates and Jo Hamilton to the fore that the nation – and the government – sat up and took notice.
The compelling four-part drama, also starring Will Mellor, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Katherine Kelly, matches the emotion and urgency of the real-life story. – Frances Taylor, Previews Editor
18. X-Men '97
Available on Disney Plus
Let's face it – at pitch level, a revival of a 27-year-old animated series sounds like an exercise in niche nostalgia and X-Men '97 could very easily have been just that: a cynical cash grab designed to plug into the nostalgia of older fans.
In actuality, this remarkable show was nothing of the short – clearly crafted by a creative team who adored the original (which aired for five seasons between 1992 and 1997) but who weren't so slavishly devoted to it that they were afraid to take big storytelling swings, this sequel somehow pulled off the seemingly impossible: capturing everything that made its predecessor so wonderful while ruthlessly pushing the narrative and the characters therein into bold and even shocking new territory.
No mere rehash, X-Men '97 managed to work on two separate, seemingly contradictory levels, evoking fond childhood memories while also functioning as a properly grown-up drama.
The end result was easily one of the best things Marvel has put out this year – or any year. – Morgan Jeffery, Digital Editor
17. Under the Bridge
Available on Disney Plus
In an era where true crime dramas are hardly in short supply, it gets harder and harder for a series to truly stand out, but Under the Bridge did just that.
Based on the shocking murder of teen Reena Virk, the series is based on non-fiction book of the same name by Rebecca Godfrey and stars talented Presley family scion Riley Keough as the writer who returns to her hometown and is reunited with old friend and local police officer Cam Bentland (the exemplary Lily Gladstone).
Together, Godfrey and Bentland grapple with their own respective traumas as they become embroiled in a mystery that encompasses films of ethnic discrimination, toxic ideals surrounding femininity, the American Dream, the nature of evil, and the capacity for cruelty in children. Special shout outs must also be awarded to the young cast, particularly Vritika Gupta as the isolated and mistreated Reena.
Weighty, gorgeously shot, and heartbreakingly tragic, Under the Bridge lingers in the memory as one of the moodiest and most meaningful crime dramas of the year. – Lewis Knight, Trends Editor
16. The Bear
Available on Disney Plus
After its first season proved to be a bit of a sleeper hit, hugely popular with critics but less widely watched by audiences, season 2 brought The Bear to even further acclaim and exposed it to a wider viewership. Expectations were therefore sky high for season 3, and sadly they were ones the show couldn’t meet, with this being the weakest season to date. However, that’s not exactly damning – this season was still a finely crafted piece of TV, with the characters still utterly engaging to watch, the food preparation sequences still mouth watering and the comedy still laugh-out-loud.
What the season lacked in propulsive narrative, it made up for with some exceptional one-off instalments, particularly flashback episode Napkins, which gave us a bravura turn from Liza Colón-Zayas who was finally, deservedly given the spotlight. – James Hibbs, Drama Writer
15. Mr & Mrs Smith
Available on Prime Video
Did this show need to happen? Not really. But is it a good thing that it did? This writer reckons so – because the team-up of Donald Glover and Maya Erskine is a match made in heaven. With both bringing a quality blend of dark humour and dramatic heft, watching these two heavyweights throw punches both emotional and physical – across gorgeous landscapes ranging from snowy to sunny, no less – is pretty captivating stuff, even if the show itself often takes its time getting from A to B.
While some may have liked to have seen John (Glover) and Jane (Erskine) get along just a little more, the underlying tension between the pair means there’s rarely a breathless moment here, even in the series’s slower scenes. Throw in a bunch of memorable cameos (Wagner Moura’s 'Other John' and John Turturro’s eccentric crime boss Eric Shane among them) and you have a fun, fresh take on the spy genre that more than justifies its existence. – George White, Sub Editor
14. One Day
Available on Netflix
A beguiling and irresistibly bingeable 14-part adaptation of David Nicholls’s modern classic introduces star-crossed Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew to a new generation – and has made actors Ambika Mod and Leo Woodall exciting new faces to watch.
Studious Em (Mod) and roguish Dex (Woodall) meet at their graduation ball on 15 July 1988 and embark on a friendship that spans the next two decades. A wistful indie soundtrack plays out as they’re drawn together, driven apart and back together again. Just as Nicholls’s book was unputdownable, it’s difficult not to devour this tender and charming series in a single stretch. – Frances Taylor, Previews Editor
13. Ripley
Available on Netflix
Exquisitely shot entirely in black and white, this seductive remake of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel The Talented Mr Ripley stars Andrew Scott as the titular grifter who is despatched to Italy to bring home Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), the genial but wayward shipping magnate’s son who is living on the Amalfi coast with his writer girlfriend Marge (Dakota Fanning).
Ripley does the opposite, inveigling his way into Dickie’s life until things take a very dark turn. It’s a slow-burn thriller with a cinematically noirish sheen. – Jane Rackham, Writer
12. Doctor Who
Available on BBC iPlayer
What a joy to have fallen more in love with Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor this year. Crashing onto our screens at Christmas 2023 as if he’d already spent a lifetime in the role, Gatwa continued to stun as he returned to us weekly in season 14 and there will be no forgetting his performance – just look at the final scenes of Dot and Bubble. He and co-star Millie Gibson won over fans globally, bringing something new to every single episode.
It’s an interesting time for Doctor Who, as the show’s future with Disney remains uncertain. But, perhaps more than any other series, it’s built to survive. And, 61 years later, sitting in front of the telly on a Saturday night and knowing you’ve got a very big adventure ahead of you in the TARDIS is still one of the greatest joys in the world of TV. – Louise Griffin, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Editor
11. Fallout
Available on Prime Video
This drama based on a video game has a similar starting point as Apple TV+’s Silo — something awful has happened, so people now live in big underground vaults — but soon sprints off in another direction. Specifically, Lucy (Ella Purnell) steels herself to leave home and visits the surface, where she finds a strange and scary world full of monsters both human and animal, with danger at every turn.
A successful transplant of the game's rollicking mischief, this is a dystopian thriller delivered with a swagger and a wonky-eyed wink. – Jack Seale, Writer
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