Top 25 TV and streaming moments of 2023

It has been another cracking year on streaming platforms and linear TV.

As bells jingle, the PA TV Metadata team excitedly counts down to Christmas with an advent calendar of 25 must-see moments from 2023 (in no particular order). Each day in December, we will reveal one top choice from the past 12 months and recall why social media went into meltdown, jaws dropped, a nation laughed or quietly shed tears.

December 1
We begin with the United Kingdom hosting the Eurovision Song Contest on behalf of Ukraine in May on the banks of the River Mersey under the banner of United By Music. Loreen from Sweden became the first woman to lift the trophy twice with her infectious track “Tattoo”, beating crowd favourite Käärijä from Finland with his cacophonous electro-banger “Cha Cha Cha”.

Hannah Waddingham, Alesha Dixon, Julia Sanina and Graham Norton were impeccable ringmasters of a boisterous audience inside the M&S Bank Arena but the final was nearly pickpocketed by drag queens Miss Demeanour, Mercedes Benz-Over and Tomara Thomas with their foot-stomping, rainbow-coloured interval performance. Le Royaume-Uni, douze points.

December 2
Misery has been a steadfast companion of the Roy family since the first episode of Jesse Armstrong’s exquisite black comedy Succession broadcast in August 2018 in the UK and Ireland. In the intervening years, squabbling (half-)siblings Connor (Alan Ruck), Kendall (Jeremy Strong), Roman (Kieran Culkin) and Shiv (Sarah Snook) have schemed, manoeuvred and unapologetically manipulated their way into contention to replace tyrannical patriarch Logan (Brian Cox) on the throne of Waystar RoyCo.

An exemplary fourth and final series concluded in May with a tsunami of bile, finally anointing Logan’s heir as CEO and doling out just desserts to each member of the dysfunctional clan. Other series might have sweetened these bitter pills but Armstrong didn’t waver, engineering a swansong that was gloom-ridden yet deeply satisfying.

December 3
August heralded the return of Netflix’s coming-of-age comedy drama Heartstopper lovingly adapted by Alice Oseman from her webcomic and graphic novel. The second series vaulted its own impressively high bar, emotionally enriching the central romance between schoolboys Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and Nick Nelson (Kit Connor) with sensitively handled discussions of anorexia, sexual identity, bullying and self-acceptance against the backdrop of a class trip to Paris chaperoned by the dynamic duo of Mr Ajayi (Fisayo Akinade) and Mr Farouk (Nima Taleghani).

The eight episodes were an embarrassment of riches from Isaac (Tobie Donovan) taking the first tentative steps to understanding his asexuality and Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney) moving their relationship out of the friend zone to Nick publicly coming out to classmates (“I’m bi, actually”) and Charlie confidently holding a mirror up to Ben (Sebastian Croft) and his abusive behaviour. A tense family dinner in episode seven, aptly titled Sorry, was the icing on a scrumptious rainbow cake.

December 4
Filmed on location in West Yorkshire, Sally Wainwright’s crime drama Happy Valley has been an awards magnet since Sarah Lancashire first walked the beat as divorced police sergeant Catherine Cawood, proudly winning coveted Bafta masks for Best Drama Series in 2015 and 2017. There is no reason to suspect the third and final series, which held viewers in a vice-like grip at the beginning of the year, won’t three-peat in February.

A sensational swansong brought Cawood face-to-face with her tormentor, serial killer Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton). You could hear a nation collectively hold breath during those closing 15 minutes, culminating in a final act of hellish self-destruction that is seared into our memory almost a year later. An audience of 7.5 million viewers tuned in live that Sunday evening to witness a nail-biting yet deeply fitting conclusion.

December 5
Nice guys do finish first. Just ask Ronald Gladden, a solar contractor from San Diego, California, who became an overnight sensation in Jury Duty as the delightfully unsuspecting foreperson of a civil trial between Jaqueline Hillgrove, owner of clothing company Cinnamon and Sparrow, and former employee Trevor Morris. Gladden thought he had been summoned for jury service, blissfully unaware that the judge, court staff, witnesses and his fellow jurors were actors in an unscripted multi-camera comedy designed to showcase his boundless understanding and compassion.

The eight episodes were compulsive viewing and consistently hilarious: Ronald sweetly watching Sonic The Hedgehog to show support for Hollywood actor and fellow juror James Marsden (lampooning himself a treat), Todd’s showstopping inventions including his uber-practical chants (aka chair pants), Trevor foolishly representing himself, Jeannie’s amorous pursuit of Noah. Gladden didn’t allow his moral compass to waver. His sweetness and sincerity shone brightly in the midst of delirium.

December 6
Last year, when England beat Germany 2-1 at Wembley Stadium to claim the UEFA Women’s EURO crown – the team’s first major title – TV commentator Gabby Logan memorably remarked, “You think it’s all over? It’s only just begun.” Her words resonated in July as The Lions and head coach Sarina Wiegman headed to Australia in search of a nation’s first World Cup victory since 1966. Ranked fourth in the world at the time, the team eased through the group stages and there were goals aplenty in the semi-final as England broke the host’s hearts to set up a tantalising showdown with Spain for the title.

It was a scrappy, nerve-jangling affair on August 20 with a single goal from Spain’s left back Olga Carmona ultimately separating two sides, both making their first appearances in a Women’s World Cup final. Viewing figures on the night peaked at over 14 million in the UK and Ireland and England’s imperious goalkeeper Mary Earps deservedly collected the coveted Golden Glove award for her heroics. Football proudly came home for the summer.

December 7
Meaty performances and flavourful writing were always on the menu of the first series of Christopher Storer’s mouth-watering comedy drama The Bear starring Jeremy Allen White as an award-winning chef, who returns to Chicago to save his late brother’s ailing restaurant. The seventh episode, entitled Review, served up an emotional meltdown in the kitchen in a breath-taking 18-minute single take.

The sixth chapter of season two, Fishes, was equally audacious and impactful. A lip-smacking smörgåsbord of guest stars including Jamie Lee Curtis, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, John Mulaney and Jon Bernthal turned up the heat to boiling point on a traumatising family Christmas dinner. Deliberate long takes in the episode allowed tension to build, crescendoing with a head-on collision of anguish and frustration.

December 8
It was wonderfully fitting that Lee Sung Jin’s darkly comedic drama Beef came out of nowhere in April to collide head-on with the zeitgeist. Oscar nominee Steven Yeun maintained a perfect simmer as the cash-strapped contractor with a sizeable chip on his hunched shoulders, who pressed the self-destruct button after an innocuous road rage incident with Ali Wong’s fiery-tempered entrepreneur. Unwelcome aggressions and petty retaliations wrecked professional reputations and personal relationships, then co-star Maria Bello met one of the year’s goriest demises.

The final episode was the wildest trip, compelling the feuding drivers to accept responsibility for the smouldering wreckage of their lives courtesy of hallucinogenic berries and talking crows. “I don’t want anyone to see who I really am,” correctly observed Wong’s bad mom, sporting the physical and psychological scars of this jaw-dropping game of one-upmanship. All’s well that ends badly.

December 9
The sweaty-palmed, visceral thrill of a video game is frequently lost in translation to the screen but 2023 defied expectations with a tour-de-force adaptation of post-apocalyptic survival horror The Last Of Us, overseen by showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann. Beginning in January on Sky Atlantic, the nine-part series remained true to its harrowing digital origins, accompanying smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) and 14-year-old ward Ellie (Bella Ramsey) as they departed Boston’s quarantine zone and ventured into a wasteland ravaged by the cordyceps fungal infection – home to terrifying, flesh-hungry victims of the outbreak known as runners, stalkers and clickers.

The tender bond between Pascal and Ramsey’s chosen family underpinned every emotional sucker punch including the death of a family member in the bravura opening salvo. The third episode, entitled Long, Long Time, was a masterclass in melancholia, introducing viewers to tender scenes between survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman) and his terminally ill partner Frank (Murray Bartlett), who planned to marry before they fulfilled an assisted suicide pact. The couple’s final day together, set to composer Max Richter’s lament On The Nature Of Daylight, concludes with Bill staring into the eyes of the man he loves and reiterating, “You were my purpose.”

December 10
Two heads were better than one in Dead Ringers, a wickedly funny, gender-flipped subversion of David Cronenberg’s 1988 film, which gifted Oscar winner Rachel Weisz two meaty roles as co-dependent gynaecologist twins, Elliot and Beverly Mantle, at the forefront of championing women’s health. Prime Video birthed all six episodes simultaneously one Friday in April, denting work-from-home productivity with the promise of a six-hour binge of gore, profanities and gallows humour.

Weisz was magnificent as the self-serving siblings, who sacrificed morality at the altar of their twisted desires, aided and abetted by screenwriter Alice Birch. She cranked up the creepiness from the opening scene and served us a feast of misery and discomfort in episode four with a toe-curling dinner party that exposed the mirror-imaged Mantles for the monsters they truly were. “You awful, awful girls!” spat their mortified father (Kevin McNally), unable to bite his tongue any longer. Such devoted and depraved sisters.

December 11
A triptych of 60th anniversary specials beginning in late November welcomed back David Tennant as the Doctor and Catherine Tate as steadfast companion and sparring partner Donna Noble, whose memories of previous escapades were restored as the duo tumbled down various rabbit holes with a sonic screwdriver occasionally in hand. The hour-long adventures heralded the screen debut of an otherworldly creature called the Meep (voiced by national treasure Miriam Margolyes) and a poignant final appearance by Bernard Cribbins as Wilfred Mott.

Social media went into meltdown after the third episode, The Giggle, which returning showrunner Russell T Davies had teasingly described as, “nuts, completely mad, frightening”. True to his word, Davies boggled minds and smacked gobs with the eagerly anticipated regeneration of Tennant into the 15th timelord Ncuti Gatwa, having almost as much fun as the instalment’s toymaker villain, played with a theatrical flourish and an exuberant lip-sync of Spice Up Your Life by Neil Patrick Harris. Donna’s response to the delirium unfolding before her eyes was perfection.

December 12
Pomp and pageantry were out in full force on May 6 ahead of an additional Bank Holiday when a dewy-eyed nation settled down to watch live coverage of the coronation at King Charles III beginning with the procession of the King and Queen Consort’s in the Gold State Coach from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey flanked by the Sovereign’s Escort of the Household Cavalry. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, placed the St Edward’s Crown on the King’s head at Westminster Abbey, followed by the sound of trumpets and gun salutes across the UK.

Kirsty Young, Huw Edwards, Sophie Raworth and Claire Balding shepherded BBC viewers through the historic events while Julie Etchingham and Tom Bradby fronted ITV’s coverage and Kay Burley and Anna Botting were figureheads on Sky. Rain and a low cloud base may have curtailed a celebratory flypast but helicopters and the Royal Air Force’s aerobatic team, the Red Arrows, still greeted The King, Queen Camilla and members of the Royal Family on the Palace balcony to patriotic whoops and hollers from crowds thronging The Mall.

December 13
It was exceedingly grim up north in late March – specifically on the cobbled streets of Weatherfield – when Coronation Street stunned viewers with an acid attack on Daisy Midgeley on her wedding day. Stalker Justin Rutherford confronted the bride-to-be in the Rovers Return holding a glass filled with a clear liquid and snarled menacingly, “Nobody’s going to want you after this”. Unexpectedly, wedding chauffeur Ryan Prescott stepped into the line of fire and sustained life-changing injuries.

The storyline had been sensitively crafted with support from The Katie Piper Foundation and Acid Survivors Trust International (ASTI) and provoked feverish debate on social media. The devastating aftermath of the attack elicited stellar performances from Ryan Prescott and Charlotte Jordan and they subsequently collected three coveted prizes, Best Dramatic Performance, Scene of the Year and Best Single Episode, at the British Soap Awards.

December 14
Six series, 60 episodes, seven decades of cultural and political shifts. Peter Morgan’s multi-award-winning historical drama bade farewell to the longest reigning monarch in British history with 10 instalments split across November and December. The opening tranche scrutinised the final days of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), recreating the indelible image of her in a Tiffany blue swimsuit on the diving board of Mohamed Al-Fayed’s yacht. Sombre self-reflection shrouded the second act, ushering Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton) and the Royal Family into the 21st century via the headline-grabbing romantic vacillations of Prince William (Ed McVey) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy).

The concluding six episodes surfed on the ripple effect of tragedy in 1997 Paris and heralded the wedding of Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Camilla (Olivia Williams). Morgan’s script for the finale, entitled Sleep, Dearie Sleep, was directed by Stephen Daldry who had helmed the show’s first episode. There was an undeniable tug of heartstrings as The Queen planned her own funeral, fulfilling her commitment to a nation until the programme’s nostalgia-tinged final frames.

December 15
Thanks to Love Island, First Dates, Too Hot To Handle, Love At First Sight and an ever increasing list of variations on a lovestruck theme, viewers gleefully right- and left-swiped swooning hopefuls throughout the year. However, few shows generated as much rabid online discussion as I Kissed A Boy. Launched in mid-May under the banner of “the UK’s first ever gay dating show”, the frothy eight-part series (plus reunion special) paired 10 single gay men at a luxurious masseria in the Italian countryside and heightened the tension of a first meeting by asking each pre-matched duo to lock lips before they exchanged a word.

Pop siren Dannii Minogue sported a dazzling array of jaw-dropping outfits and wholly inappropriate high-heeled footwear in the guise of Cupid, introducing new singletons to the mix to force participants to affirm their commitments or swap partners at the night-time Kiss-Off. A wonderfully diverse and inclusive cast of instantly relatable men from different backgrounds earned our tribalistic affections, sharing their experiences in touching heart-to-hearts that raised a rainbow flag on meaningful LGBTQ+ representation. Lovebirds Dan and Ollie, who first locked eyes in episode four, quickly became a power couple, leaving everyone in a lather with a frolic in the outdoor shower that the editing team navigated with steamy aplomb. The BBC has already commissioned I Kissed A Girl.

December 16
Greed was exceedingly good… viewing in Netflix’s thrilling competition series Squid Game: The Challenge, which tantalised 456 real-world players with the largest lump-sum cash prize in reality TV history (4.56 million US dollars) in exchange for coldly eliminating rivals in sadistic games of luck and skill recreated from the award-winning South Korean survival drama plus some lip-smacking new tests. The price of failure may not have been death like the Emmy Award-winning phenomenon created by Hwang Dong-hyuk, just bruised egos and battered prides, but contestants still flung themselves through the emotional wringer in pursuit of glory and a seven-figure bank balance.

A breathless opening sprint – Red Light Green Light – was diabolically familiar and the Glass Bridge was a tour-de-force of vertiginous production design but programme makers had a few tricks up their sleeves, engineering twists that wrenched apart alliances and exposed uglier aspects of human nature when cold hard cash is on the line. The streaming service sustained tension by releasing the series in three parts, saving a sweat-drenched finale for early December that crowned a worthy champion.

December 17
Beginning in mid-June at Edgbaston, the 2023 Ashes series rekindled an acrimonious sporting rivalry between Australia and England dating back to the late 19th century. Ben Stokes led the home team into battle with wicket keeper Ollie Pope as vice-captain to wrestle back the cherished terracotta urn from the current holders captained by Pat Cummins. A nail-biting opening match concluded with Australia edging victory by two wickets and a second victory for the visitors at Lord’s left England teetering on the edge of defeat. Then the fightback began with England winning the third test but a hard-fought draw in the next encounter at Old Trafford guaranteed Australia would retain The Ashes.

During the final test at The Oval, bowler Stuart Broad announced his retirement from all forms of cricket and he proceeded to give viewers a farewell performance to remember, hitting a six off his final ball in the batting order. The delirium reached fever pitch on a rain-delayed day five with the bowler becoming only the second England player (after James Anderson) to take 600 wickets in his Test cricket career including the final two wickets of the match, to tie the series 2-2.

December 18
The title of the award-winning comedy whodunnit created by Steve Martin and John Hoffman made clear from the outset that the Arconia apartment block located on Manhattan’s swanky Upper West Side was a deathtrap in the most literal sense and terminating a resident was just as likely as terminating a lease. The third series concluded in early October with the twisted logic of who supposedly killed actor Ben Glenroy (Paul Rudd) on-stage during the opening night performance of Death Rattle, penned by Oliver Putnam (Martin Short).

The truth about Ben’s surprise second demise – a tumble down the lift shaft of the Arconia – was straightforward yet satisfying and resolved the burning question of whether stellar new addition to the cast, Meryl Streep, would be exiting stage left in handcuffs. However, the episode’s scriptwriters John Hoffman and Ben Smith saved the loudest gasp for the curtain call, apparently killing off one of the show’s most beloved characters in a cool, clinical fashion to neatly bait the hook for a delectable fourth series.

December 19
Resourceful Russian Empress Catherine (Elle Fanning) and husband Peter (Nicholas Hoult) attempted to make their marriage work in the third series of the critically acclaimed comedy The Great created by Tony McNamara, Oscar-nominated co-writer of The Favourite. It was inevitable that death would ultimately part the couple, as decreed in their marriage vows and the history books, but the jewel in the Lionsgate+ crown gleefully defied expectations in August with a shocking sixth episode entitled Ice.

The Great has frequently lived up to its snappy title since the launch of Lionsgate+ in the UK and it was a bold move on McNamara’s part to dispatch a key character in such a shockingly casual manner. However, the element of surprise cannot be underestimated for series with a weekly release strategy and the ripple effect of Peter’s demise gave Fanning an opportunity to flex her acting muscles.

December 20
When the final episode of long-running Australian soap Neighbours broadcast in late July 2022 on Channel 5 after more than 35 years of emotional trauma on Ramsay Street (replete with a nostalgia-soaked return for Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue as Scott and Charlene Robinson), fans of the show lamented the end of an era. Before the year was out, Amazon Freevee announced it would be resuscitating the small screen stalwart with many beloved characters and some fresh faces to sow seeds of desire and betrayal in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Erinsborough.

The high-profile return of Neighbours: A New Chapter in mid-September gifted the opening words to Susan Kennedy (Jackie Woodburne) and relied on a soap opera staple – a wedding – to reintroduce viewers to irrepressible bounder Paul Robinson (Stefan Dennis), Harold Bishop (Ian Smith), Mike Young (Guy Pearce) and their “good friends”. A satisfying twist carried the show through an eventful first week, establishing a cycle of four episodes a week available exclusively on the ad-supported, free streaming service.

December 21
Change is inevitable in television to keep viewers engaged but at the beginning of 2023, few would have predicted that the winds of change would reach hurricane force as they roared through ITV’s long-running magazine programme This Morning, leading to the departures of lead presenters Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby in the space of six months. The June 5 edition of the programme was one of the most eagerly anticipated of the year, welcoming back Willoughby to address newspaper headlines in an emotional monologue, flanked by co-presenter Josie Gibson.

“Firstly, are you OK? It feels very strange indeed sitting here without Phil,” she began, addressing viewers directly in a speech that lasted approximately 80 seconds and affirmed a desire to heal for the health and wellbeing of everyone on both sides of the camera. Viewing figures peaked during the episode at more than 1.6 million as Willoughby looked forward to The Morning returning to “a place of warmth and magic”.

December 22
The 14th series of The Great British Bake Off opened in characteristically light-hearted fashion with a pastiche of The Godfather replete with Paul Hollywood dressed as mob boss Don Pauleone and doughballs wedged in the corners of his mouth. “Welcome to the family,” he told new co-host Alison Hammond, who joined Noel Fielding at the revered gingham altar for an innuendo-laden opening episode dedicated to cake.

For the Showstopper round, contestants were asked to deliver an animal-shaped bake in four hours and 52-year-old retired cabin crew and volunteer Nicky tipped most of the judges into tittering delirium by opting to make a chocolate and rum sponge in the shape of a beaver because she had once dressed up as the semi-aquatic rodent. The finished confection, lovingly christened Norman, looked delightful but Paul was deeply disappointed by the lack of moisture in Nicky’s sponge. “I don’t like dry beavers,” concurred Alison.

December 23
Since the November 2019 launch of Disney+, supported by the premiere of The Mandalorian, a galaxy far, far away has expanded with new live-action series that plug narrative gaps between the Star Wars feature films: The Book Of Boba Fett starring Temuera Morrison as the opportunistic bounty hunter, Obi-Wan Kenobi starring Ewan McGregor as the exiled Jedi Master, and Andor starring Diego Luna as the thief turned revolutionary destined to strike a hefty blow to the Empire.

In August, Rosario Dawson reprised her role from The Mandalorian as former Jedi knight Ahsoka Tano in an eight-part adventure set after the fall of the Empire, which pitted her noble warrior against dark forces loyal to cunning Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). After months of feverish fan speculation across social media, episodes four and five delivered the reunion that all Padawans craved. “There’s hope for you yet,” an old friend told Ahsoka before disappearing into thin air.

December 24
More than 35 years after David Beckham and wife Victoria first met at Old Trafford at the apex of former lives – the number 7 shirt for Manchester United under Alex Ferguson and Posh in the Spice Girls – fascination with the celebrity power couple endures thanks to their endeavours on and off football pitches and fashion catwalks. Social media exploded in October with the release of a four-part docuseries directed by Fisher Stevens about Beckham’s rise from humble East London origins.

Indeed, the seemingly innocuous issue of childhood provided the opening episode, The Kick, with arguably the moment of the entire series when Victoria recalled meeting David for the first time and the closeness of their respective families. “Both of our parents worked really hard, we’re both very working class…” she beamed, nestled on a sofa. “Be honest…” interjected her husband, poking his head around the door and derailing her train of thought. “What car did you get your Dad to drive you to school in?” he continued with a thinly veiled impish grin. Cut to Victoria: “In the 80s, my Dad had a Rolls Royce.”

December 25
Soap operas trade heavily in births, deaths and marriages for ratings-grabbing storylines, and that was certainly the case in March when Doctors killed off one of the most beloved members of staff at the fictional doctor’s surgery in Letherbridge. Receptionist Karen Hollins (Jan Pearson), a mainstay on the show for 14 years, was found dead at home on the sofa by her husband Rob (Chris Walker) without any advanced publicity to warn viewers to have hankies at the ready.

The element of surprise worked brilliantly and viewers were stunned by the surprise departure. Karen’s passing was felt profoundly on screen, mirroring emotions in homes across the UK, and actors Pearson and Walker went on to collect Best On-Screen Partnership at the British Soap Awards. Parting was exceptionally sweet sorrow.