From vehemently disagreeing with our critics’s choice of Blackadder Goes Forth to debating whether series four of Buffy is really better than series six, readers have been vocal below the line. Here are some of your suggestions on the best series we overlooked, and other shows we missed out.
Blackadder II
‘Everyone knows that Blackadder II is the best of the bunch’: feewaybillsnose
Everyone knows that Blackadder II is the best of the bunch. Example: “Now, look, Percy, I don’t mean to be pedantic or anything, but the color of gold ... is gold. That’s why it’s called gold. What YOU have discovered, if it has a name, is some ... green.”
‘Clearly the second series is the definitive one’: Miasma
Blackadder Goes Forth? Sorry, you’re wrong. Yes, the final moments are a brilliant finish to a comedy. But one moment doesn’t a series make. Clearly the second series is the definitive one. It’s the one where they upended the characterisations of Blackadder and Baldrick, a correction that turned it from funny to genius. It’s also the one with 90% of the lines and jokes and moments anyone ever remembers. For me, that series is the pinnacle of British sitcom. The first episode alone is perfection.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, season six
‘It is by far and away the best’: cephus
Sorry, series six of Buffy is by far and away the best. Buffy gets thrust back into the world of the living and has to cope with the difficult transition from teen to adult. In a masterstroke the big bad turns out to be Willow, who can only be stopped after the least battle worthy of the Scobies, Xander, uses his wits to talk her out of it. The show never felt fresher to me than this.
Series four happens to be my least favourite, with a pretty tepid love interest and very uncompelling villains. The first episode, where Buffy fights some mean college vampires, is a bit of a favourite though.
The Wire, season two
‘Award for best series has to go to the second for the sheer novelty’: comebackcpscott
For the small amount that it’s worth, while I do agree that series four of The Wire has many merits - especially as I always identified most closely with Prez in a purely personal way and it was his time to shine - I can’t endorse it as the best. In deciding which series is best one might ask the key question ‘In which does McNulty appear least?’, he being the worst thing about the whole: an actor trained in the House school of accents and a character who’s not tragically self-destructive, just deeply annoying, but I suspect he’s equally present in them all.
That being so, the award for best series has to go to the second for the sheer novelty. I don’t seek to downplay or make light of the real problems of black inner city life in the modern US but it’s not exactly an unknown story. The second series, by contrast, does concentrate on the ‘left behind’ communities in the docks, largely, though not entirely, white. I say this not to make some sort of WhiteLivesMatter type point. I simply point out that those stories are less told. It’s patently the case that from such communities came some of the recent political upset. The second series was, in ways that couldn’t have been known, prescient and that can’t be said of any other[s].
Babylon 5, season 3 - Year 2260
‘One of the best series ever committed to film’: CommanderMaxil
Also to add to this list, Babylon five series three. One of the best series of TV ever committed to film.
‘Best storytelling and character development’: 10huntress13
Babylon five had the best storytelling and character development I have seen in any show, period, and was actually able to tell its complete story in a satisfying manner.
‘I was hooked as soon as I started’: richhods
Hard to choose between two, three and four I reckon. Five suffered as a result of the ‘Will it/won’t it be cancelled?’ uncertainty, but under the circumstances it was surprising that it turned out as good as it did. I have fond memories of watching B5 in real time on Channel 4, in the pre-box set days. Missed the first few episodes, but I was hooked as soon as I started.
The West Wing, season two
‘Two Cathedrals was brilliant’: Acciocloak
Very surprised that the second season of The West Wing (which concludes with the brilliant episode Two Cathedrals) is not among these.
‘Unsurpassed television’: jonboy11
Series two or three of the West Wing easily matches anything on this list, and betters most of it. Unsurpassed television.
‘Peerless’: KarmaAndroid
Where oh where is The West Wing?! Easily the best TV ever made, and season two? Peerless.
Father Ted, all seasons
‘I still laugh out loud’: constantine
No mention of Father Ted - perhaps because all seasons were the ‘best ever’. I still laugh out loud watching repeats.
