Television fans were in for a treat in 2022 and some truly awesome television was on display.
Check out the full list of our favourites below:
SAS: Rogue Heroes
Leave it to Steven Knight to bring to life the full-on, action-packed and thoroughly outrageous true-life story of the formation of the famed British Special Forces unit the Special Air Service or the SAS. And there was no doubt that SAS: Rogue Heroes rocked! With a kick-ass cast including Connor Swindells as Colonel David Stirling, Jack O’Connell as Paddy Mayne and Alfie Allen as Jock Lewes, SAS: Rogue Heroes was an explosive action series that showed some of WWII’s greatest heroes at work, and the series stomping punk rock soundtrack helped to turn up the volume as Stirling and the boys brought a new style of warfare to play on the battlegrounds of North Africa circa 1941.
Welcome to Chippendales
With an equal mix of flash, flesh, sex appeal and murder, Disney+’s Welcome to Chippendales is a true crime opus with a serious bite to it, and audiences members had to look twice at star Kumail Nanjiani as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, as he really turned up his acting talents. Starting as an intrepid dreamer turned successful entrepreneur and ending up as an infamous murderer, Banerjee’s sordid fall from grace makes for addictive television and this series hooks you in right from the start. The heat is turned up the whole way through and it makes for one intense watch.
The Peripheral
The vision of the future took one hell of a leap forward in Prime Video’s exciting and thought-provoking science fiction adrenaline rush The Peripheral. And this is television at its most vivid. Starring Chloë Grace Moretz as Flynne Fisher, this is a role and narrative that completely redefines her talents as an actress and it was an addictive watch. With its luxe vision of the future, and intense cyberpunk energy, The Peripheral marks one of the best debuts on Prime Video all year and the audience will be psyched up by this.
1883
In television land, one showrunner currently reigns supreme. Rancher-turned-screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has been redefining the words ‘true grit’ when it comes to long-form storytelling, and following in a new path for his groundbreaking western opus Yellowstone, Sheridan took us back to where it all began with 1883. Sam Elliot, Tim McGraw and Faith Hill brought a hard-edged intensity to this series as we watched James and Margaret Dutton stake their claim on the west and bullets flew and blood was spilt in this series. But all applause must be lauded on the performance of newcomer Isabel May as Elsa Dutton who completely stole the show and who made one hell of an impression on audiences.
House of the Dragon
This year audiences returned to the land of Westeros and the age of ‘Fire and Blood’ with the reign of the Targaryen Dynasty. And this was an epic for our times. Operatic and grand in its scale, House of the Dragon was an absolute beast of a television series and dragons soared and the fire burned! With exceptional performances from Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Milly Alcock, Olivia Cooke and Emily Carey, this was a series that completely ensnared the attention of audience members and it was an epic watch that honoured the power of high fantasy at its best.
Reacher
With power and force, rising star Alan Ritchson stepped into the colossal frame of 6’5, 240-pound ex-military policeman Jack Reacher in Amazon Prime’s Reacher. And this series was nothing short of AWESOME! Fans have long waited to see an actor of Ritchson, size, stature and presence step into the boots of the formidable Reacher. And his hero hit hard. With its terrific crime drama elements and heavy action moments, Reacher was a hell of a debut and it took audiences by storm. Ritchson laid the beat down on as Reacher and when this lobe hero strolls into town you’d better look out.
The Terminal List
Noted Hollywood heavy hitter Chris Pratt changed everything up as he locked, loaded and was ready to go down range in the all-out action, conspiracy thriller The Terminal List, which made for one hell of a debut on Prime Video. And audiences were in for one hell of a firefight with this series. Adapted from the best-selling novels by former Navy SEAL Jack Carr, The Terminal List was an action series that got stuck in and delivered one hell of a bite. Pratt made a serious transformation as former NAVY SEAL Troop Commander James Reece, who was betrayed by shadowy forces sets out for revenge and delivers it with the edge of a tomahawk and a serious dose of ‘extreme prejudice’. The Terminal List was a series that didn’t muck about and audiences looking for their adrenaline hit were well taken care of with this series.
Pam & Tommy
True life is truly stranger than fiction and the all-out tale of sex, drugs, rock ‘n’roll, videotape and the internet that underpinned the infamous Pamela Anderson-Tommy Lee sex tape was played for audiences in all its layered complexity in Pam & Tommy. Led by three incredible performances from Lily James, Sebastian Stan and Seth Rogen, this was the ultimate story of why you should never judge a book by its cover and with its raging characters, steamy sex, frantic media storm and complex story of love and relationships, Pam & Tommy was a story that completely wrapped you up in its storytelling and was one of the best series released all year.
