2025 served up some great television shows just like any other year.
But what were the best in Pomona's view?
As we head into 2026, grab your last mince pie and guzzle your last glass of mulled wine.
Here's our Top Ten countdown of the TV shows we reviewed this year, with a bulky list of honourable mentions.
10. BIG BOYS, SEASON THREE (Channel 4)
It's no mean feat starring in a sitcom like 'Derry Girls' which managed to end perfectly.
But to do it twice, take a bow Dylan Llewellyn.
From the off, it was clear that Jack Rooke's sweet sitcom about his university years was heading towards a tragic denouement.
However in a magical final episode, Rooke chose not to give us that outcome and instead gave us a glimpse of what life might have been like for Jon Pointing's Danny.
It was a masterstroke for a sitcom whose third series was hugely impressive.
9. WHAT'S THE MONARCHY FOR? (BBC1)
David Dimbleby's three part examination of the Monarchy in Britain knocked Rebecca Miller's superb Apple TV exploration of the life and career of Martin Scorsese out of our top ten list.
That is how good it was.
The veteran BBC broadcaster surprised many viewers with a probing docuseries that really looked under the bonnet of the British Royal Family.
Raising intriguing questions about the political influence of the Royals, their wealth and their attempt to control their public image, it was a controversial watch.
But it was also an important one which made you want Dimbleby to be given a licence to look at other international institutions.
8. THE ASSEMBLY, S1 (ITV)
Who would have thought a question and answer show fronted by a group of neurodivergent people would end up being one of the most revraling?
Yet this is exactly what happened as ITV unleashed the group on David Tennant, Danny Dyer, Jade Thirwell and Gary Lineker.
Part of the joy was watching these celebrities being dragged into uncomfortable territory with some very blunt questions.
But there was also something very touching about watching celebrities dropping their guard and celebrating an extraordinary group of interviewers.
More of this, please.
7. THIS CITY IS OURS (BBC1)
This Liverpool gangster series may have bore a lot of similarities to the Irish drama 'KIN' but it was great value for money.
Scouse actor James Nelson Joyce really seized the moment in a rare lead role as a trusted drug gang lieutenant about to betray his boss played by Sean Bean.
But this was a show packed with great performances from Julie Graham's formidable matriarch to Jack McMullen as her hot headed son, Saoirse Monica Jackson as a wronged moll to Hannah Onslow as Joyce's girlfriend.
Unbearably tense and intelligently written by Stephen Butchard and Robbie O'Neill, once it ended viewers were inevitably keen for more.
Thankfully, Series Two is on the way.
6. DOPE THIEF (Apple TV)
If ever there was a show that flew under the radar in 2025 and needed more trumpeting, it was 'Dope Thief'.
Unravelling over eight episodes, Peter Craig's miniseries followed the adventures of Brian Tyree Henry and Wagner Moura's low level criminals in Philadelphia whose perfect scam goes horribly awry.
Violent, messy and unrelenting, this was a gripping thriller with great performances from Henry, Moira, Marin Ireland, Dustin Nguyen, Spenser Granese and 'Pulp Fiction' star Ving Rhames.
It also featured epic action sequences including a jaw dropping gun battle outside a hospital.
Spread the word. This is a drama that deserved more love.
After a third season that felt like it was paving the way for seismic change, 'The Bear' duly delivered.
While Oliver Platt's Cicero ran a clock to possibly signal time up for the Chicago fine dining restaurant, Ayo Edebiri's Sydney wrestled with a career defining decision after receiving a tempting offer from a rival restaurant.
Meanwhile Jeremy Allen White's confidence was rocked as his plan for a different menu each day earned lukewarm reviews.
His increasingly fractious relationship with Ebon Moss Bacharach's Richie also threatened to derail the restaurant.
This was top class television drama, placing the FX series in the ballpark of some of the greatest TV shows to hit our screens.
4. UNFORGIVABLE (BBC2)
In a year when British television shows on Netflix tackled difficult subjects, Jimmy McGovern's drama tackled the thorny issue of paedophilia and its aftermath.
Bobby Schofield took on the unenviable role of a troubled young man who is released from prison after abusing his nephew.
McGovern's typically daring drama explored both the impact on the victim and their family and the perpetrator's attempts to put his shameful crime bi d him.
So good was his writing that it provided a platform for Schofield, Anna Friel as his sister and the victim's mum and Anna Maxwell Martin as a former nun trying to rehabilitate him to shine.
If there is any justice, this powerful drama should figure strongly in next year's BAFTA nominations.
3. THE NARROW ROAD TO THE DEEP NORTH (BBC2)
Jacob Elordi and Ciaran Hinds starred in this epic Australian miniseries based on Richard Flanagan's Booker Prize winning novel.
Both turned in barnstorming performances as the younger and older versions of the same character, Dorrigo - a doctor haunted by lost love and his experiences as a prisonet of the Japanese during the Second World War.
Directed with typical flair by Justin Kurzel, this was breathtaking in its beauty but also shocking in terms of the savagery some characters were exposed to.
And while Hinds and Elordi were outstanding, there were impressive supporting performances too from Odessa Young, Olivia de Jonge, Show Kasamatsu, Essie Davis and Simon Baker.
A hard hitting show about trauma, Kurzel's adaptation provided some of the most haunting images on the small screen in 2025.
2. TASK (HBO/Sky Atlantic)
HBO's crime drama shared similar themes to 'Dope Thief's but was an even more stunning drama about most souls in the American heartland.
Tom Pelphery was superb as a garbage man who falls foul of a biker gang in Pennsylvania after raiding their drugs houses in a spate of robberies.
When one goes badly wrong resulting in the gang taking a child, it sets him eventually on a collision course with Jamie McShane and Sam Keeley's scary Hells Angels duo.
But it also brings Mark Rufalo's alcoholic former Catholic priest turned FBI agent into a manhunt for the boy and those who were involved in his disappearance.
Twisty, bloody and extremely tense, Rufalo was a particular joy while Brad Inglesby's screenplay was one of the best crafted not just this yeajr but any year.
1. ADOLESCENCE (Netflix)
Winner of eight Emmys, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham's Netflix drama achieved something quite remarkable - sparking debate not just in the UK but around the world about the manosphere.
Owen Cooper turned in a jaw dropping performance as a teenager accused of murder after having his mind warped by misogynistic content on social media.
Graham also turned in a heartbreaking performance as a dad who starts to realise how polluted his son has become.
Directed with great flair by Philip Barantini, each episode was a masterclass in screen acting and fluid filmmaking.
Not only did it spark debate in Parliaments around the world, 'Adolescence' was so reversed it faced calls for it to be put on the school curriculum in many countries
That is a phenomenal achievement.
Honourable Mentions: LOCKERBIE (Sky Atlantic), HACKS, S3 AND S4 (HBO/Sky Atlantic); THE STUDIO, S1 (Apple TV); BILLY JOEL: AND SO IT GOES (HBO/Sky Documentaries); AMANDALAND S1 (BBC1); SUSPECT: THE SHOOTING OF JEAN CHARLES DE MENEZES (Disney+); TOXIC TOWN (Netflix); STICK, SEASON ONE (Apple TV+); BOYZONE: NO MATTER WHAT (Sky Documentaries); THE CELEBRITY TRAITORS (BBC1): FILM CLUB, S1 (BBC3); CHANGING ENDS, S3 (ITV); DEATH BY LIGHTNING (Netflix); MR SCORSESE (Apple TV+)
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